With Masashi Hamauzu having departed from Square Enix, it’s a bloody good thing he left a good swan song in the form of Final Fantasy XIII‘s soundtrack. Sure, it’s not as memorable as Final Fantasy VI or VII‘s soundtrack. But it’s solid. Contary to popular belief; Uematsu is no the only man on planet Earth who can deliver a solid Final Fantasy soundtrack, and Masashi has done a pretty good job from what I’ve heard of XIII‘s so far. But my favourite piece (aside from the awesome battle theme) is one of the character themes.

As is customary for Final Fantasy, each of the main characters has their own theme song. And whilst Final Fantasy XIII doesn’t have a collection of themes as memorable and as iconic as those from Final Fantasy VII. XIII‘s leading lady has a pretty damn good one. It’s great from the word go. The piano, the strings, the mood, everything. But once the melody from the battle theme kicks in, it’s just plain awesome.

It’s not the kind of theme you would expect a character like Lightning to have, going on early impressions of her doing nothing but laying smack downs and shooting people in the face. But from what we now know of her character, it sums her up really well.

Listen: Light (Lightning’s theme)

Composed by Masashi Hamauzu
Final Fantasy XIII
© 2008, 2009 Square Enix