Few Final Fantasy titles have been as polarizing to the fan base as Final Fantasy XIII. While not everyone was in love with the game itself, the soundtrack for both FFXIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 were much more well-received. The Crimson Blitz single gives us our first taste of the music for Lightning’s final story, brought to us again by Masashi Hamauzu, who composed XIII’s soundtrack, and collaborated with others on XIII-2.
In essence, this is pure trailer music, both literally and figuratively. The track is used in the game’s debut trailers, and this audio version contains the abrupt transition and clock sound effects heard in said trailer. Because of its nature though, it also gives us an idea of what to expect from the actual soundtrack for Lightning Returns.
The song opens low-key and melodic as the trailer sets up the story and we see Lightning exploring Luxerion. As the action ramps up in the trailer, the song transitions to a heavier rock feel, gradually increasing pace as we see and hear the game’s doomsday clock ticking down.
The final section of the song is an arrangement of FFXIII’s battle theme, Blinded By Light. While I’m a fan of many Final Fantasy battle themes, Blinded By Light is one of my all-time favorites, so this is a very welcome inclusion. It also serves to tie in this final game with the first, despite the drastically different setting and gameplay.
Honestly, you hardly need a review for this little preview song; the track costs less than a pack of gum, and only nine cents more than it costs to swap out your latte’s regular milk for soy milk at Starbucks.