Recruitment Themes

[bethany81707]

Relatively simple, even if trying to distinguish all the themes is less so. What's your favourite song when gaining a new ally? Remixes are grouped for the sake of convenience. I'm fairly sure Hoshido and Nohr's recruitment themes aren't the same but with different instruments...

Edited April 8, 2017 by phineas81707

[Dragoncat]

Together we ride. I love Tellius to death but its recruitment theme isnt as memorable to me.

[De Geso]

Together we ride is the only true man's choice

[Anacybele]

Together We Ride is good, but not better than PoR and RD's With Us!/Stalwarts Unite (RD gives it a different name)! That one is just kickass.

EDIT: Wow, I'm surprised at how hated this one is. No other votes at all. :( I can't imagine why anyone would dislike it. It's honestly SO good. One of the most memorable music pieces ever, imo.

Together We Ride is in Smash though, so I can understand why more people have heard it and are familiar with it.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Anacybele

[Shin]

Musically, I like Join Us the best, although I much prefer the FE4 rendition. Its section in Smash 4's recruitment medley strikes me as fairly powerful, but I can't say any of the theme are bad. Comrades and Together We Ride are pretty good, although I can't say that FE9/10's theme is particularly memorable - I actually had to go find it on youtube to try and remember it!

[Dragoncat]

11 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

 

EDIT: Wow, I'm surprised at how hated this one is. No other votes at all. :( I can't imagine why anyone would dislike it. It's honestly SO good. One of the most memorable music pieces ever, imo.

 

I never said I hated it. It's good, but I heard Together We Ride first because I started with the GBA FEs. I think everyone else is the same way, they don't dislike it, it's just not their favorite, you know?

[Anacybele]

Just now, Dragoncat said:

I never said I hated it. It's good, but I heard Together We Ride first because I started with the GBA FEs. I think everyone else is the same way, they don't dislike it, it's just not their favorite, you know?

I didn't say you said you hated it. It was a generalization, not a direct statement at anyone in this thread. I also heard Together We Ride first because of Smash.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Anacybele

[bethany81707]

@Anacybele I'd honestly rank it second behind my actual vote (Join Us). It's nice and grandiose, and has a hint of success when you successfully nab a potentially tricky unit.

And to be honest, considering the general level of attention I payed the music when I first played Smash and my first experience with Fire Emblem being Tellius, it might actually be my first recruitment song.

[Anacybele]

1 minute ago, phineas81707 said:

@Anacybele I'd honestly rank it second behind my actual vote (Join Us). It's nice and grandiose, and has a hint of success when you successfully nab a potentially tricky unit.

And to be honest, considering the general level of attention I payed the music when I first played Smash and my first experience with Fire Emblem being Tellius, it might actually be my first recruitment song.

I see. That's cool to know then. :)

[bethany81707]

1 minute ago, Anacybele said:

I see. That's cool to know then. :)

To be honest, I prefer Join Us largely because the more subdued grandioseness is more suitable for the majority of characters you recruit.

I would gladly hear a triumphant rendition of With Us when recruiting someone like Xavier or Nino, where the act of doing so is impressive, but if it's someone as simple as a Navarre-expy, Join Us feels more appropriate.

[Anacybele]

Just now, phineas81707 said:

To be honest, I prefer Join Us largely because the more subdued grandioseness is more suitable for the majority of characters you recruit.

I would gladly hear a triumphant rendition of With Us when recruiting someone like Xavier or Nino, where the act of doing so is impressive, but if it's someone as simple as a Navarre-expy, Join Us feels more appropriate.

I've never heard any of the recruitment themes pre-FE7, so I wouldn't know, sadly...

[maybe]

if you count encounter from gaiden shouldn't you also count the castle theme from gaiden (this one)

it plays for a pretty good amount of recruitments so I feel like it's kinda not fair to have one but not the other

encounter doesn't even play in chapter 1, but this does play when you go into a mila shrine where you recruit someone, and those normally have their own music

so i'm pretty sure this is as much a recruitment theme as that is

anyway I have no real preference with the recruitment themes they're all fine I guess

the fe1/3/7 recruitment theme is really nice. my favorite version is probably the book 2 one

the fe4 one is neat too in a completely different way, though the version in fe6 is kinda boring due to being slower

comrades is great, obvious similarity to the fe1/3 one but really good in its own way.

the fe9/10 one is really good, has this grandiose feeling that I really like

the only ones I can't really say anything about are fates since I never played birthright and I don't even remember the one from conquest

Edited April 8, 2017 by unique

[saisymbolic]

Together We Ride, mostly because of the Smash version (which is my favorite). PoR is my favorite game, but I can't even remember the recruitment theme, which may be more about my faulty memory than the song itself.

[Luchi]

The Heroes version of Together We Ride really made me love that recruitment theme again, but FE8's Comrades isn't too far behind. A great recruitment theme from a criminally under-rated OST, imho.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Luchi

[Apollo]

Definitely Tellius'. Together We Ride is a great classic for sure, but With Us! just really appeals to me.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Comrades sounds nice in composition, but there is unfortunately no high-quality update of it, we only have the original version, which is restrained by the GBA's terrible audio quality.

I haven't played a game with Join Us! And I'm not going to spoil it for myself by listening to it outside of its context. The same for Gaiden's and Thracia's.

Together We Ride, well I think it rarely suits the situations where it plays. Partly this I think is because Smash has made it out to be so much more than it actually is. Not to say that is bad, I still like it very much. SD/NM's version- "Come, Join Us" is the best FE series in-game version. Mystery of the Emblem Book 2's (confusing called Theme of Encounter) version ties for second with Blazing's. The original Dark Dragon and the Blade of Light version (also called Encounter) comes in fourth. The Mystery of the Emblem Book 1 version (also called Theme of Encounter) sounds terribly glitchy on a few notes.

I scarcely recall the recruitment themes for Fates, partly owing to me not wanting to actually read the recruitment conversations in the slightest, but from what I might recall, they were a little more mellow than some of the others.

At the end of this process of deduction- I choose With Us!/Stalwarts Unite!

The beta recruitment theme for RD is awful- but, that is why it is beta.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[Great Dane]

I choose Join Us! because it always excites me whenever I recruit someone, and I frequently stall the game just to listen to it more.

Comrades and Together We Ride (The FE11 version mainly and occasionally the original) come close though.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Y'all are sleeping on Gaiden's recruitment. You'll change your tune (as in, your vote) once Echoes releases, but I'd say the Famicon version stands up to these others too.

[Flee Fleet!]

I love FE5 and 8's recruitment theme, so, yeah.

 

[Sire]

For reference, here is a Youtube Video that has all the recruitment themes up to Shadows of Valentia (even including Heroes).
* * * * *
As for me, I ranked I all the games instead of the ones just listed in the poll.

1. With Us! & Stalwarts Unite! (An excellent piece from Tellius, being an epic and grandiose recruitment theme! I prefer the Radiant Dawn version for obvious reasons. Yes, Tellius beats out Together We Ride, despite its countless versions.)

2. Together We Ride (It is the classic recruitment theme. However, it does also have the benefit of having plenty of different versions to pick from. My personal favorite is the Shadow Dragon version, followed by Blazing Blade Sword. Heroes is all right, but it is mostly tuned to trying to hype the player up for the random summons and to lead to disappointment.)

3. Encounter (Holy ****. The more I hear of the original Gaiden, the more I see why its OST is one of the best things ever. It is definitely different to the other recruitment themes [unless we count Awakening], and the Echoes version also sounds amazing. Thing is, the piece is so good both for both the remastered and original NES versions!)

4. Awakening - "Here we are! The Shepherd's Garrison" (A different take on the more upbeat recruitment theme. I love this theme because it represents the strong bonds of an army.)

5. Comrades (While I love Sacred Stones and Comrades is an upbeat tune, the GBA style holds it back against its competition. If only we had a remastered version...)

6. Join Us! (I haven't really played the games, but I think Genealogy's version sounds better than Binding Blade.)

7. Joining a Group (Never played the game. It sounds all right and regal in a sense, but it lacks the intensity or feeling of the others. This also may just be due because I never played Thracia.)

8. Fates - "Guest of the Light/Dark" (Both versions are forgettable. Fates does have some awesome tracks, but the recruitment themes are not to my taste.)

Edited April 13, 2017 by Sire
Made some clarifications. I did not make the video.

[maybe]

47 minutes ago, Sire said:

For reference, here is a Youtube Video that has all the recruitment themes up to Shadows of Valentia (even including Heroes). I went ahead and did all the games instead of the ones just listed in the poll.

smh this video doesnt even have the other ones from gaiden and mystery

[Tamanoir]

On ‎08‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 4:51 PM, Anacybele said:

Together We Ride is good, but not better than PoR and RD's With Us!/Stalwarts Unite (RD gives it a different name)! That one is just kickass.

EDIT: Wow, I'm surprised at how hated this one is. No other votes at all. :( I can't imagine why anyone would dislike it. It's honestly SO good. One of the most memorable music pieces ever, imo.

Together We Ride is in Smash though, so I can understand why more people have heard it and are familiar with it.

I just started playing PoR recently (better late than never...) and this theme is just stuck in my head right now. It may not be the first one most think about, but it's really great

Honnestly, all the themes are so good it's hard to chose. "Together we ride" seems obvious because he let a really strong impression to me bacjk when I played Blazing Sword (Something on it makes it just slightly above most of the themes in the game).

Genealogy's is epic as well, and I just love the battle versions of the theme.

Encounter is pretty amazing, and what I heard of SoV version really pleases me.

Comrades may actually be my least liked version. Still cool, but not as notable as the other.

Thracia's ones is weird, because I'm just oddly found of it. It's not the best, but it's fun.

The most recent ones (Fates and Awakening.) just aren't particularily notable. Not bad, but they lack any impact, and goes out of your head as fats they went in.

So my least would be

1. Together we ride. It's just the most iconic recruitment theme. So many great versions of this simple theme.
2. With us! As of now, it's my favourite musically.
3. Join Us! Pretty simple and epic. Genealogy's battle version was a cool idea.
4. Thracia 776. It sort of have a Mysterys feels to it, with how weirdly pompous it is.
5. Comrades. It's god, just not as remarkable as the other to me
6. Encounter (Gaiden). Encounter (SoV) may be the new number 2 or 3 though.
7. All the others. Once again, not bad, just unremarkable.

 

[TheGreatNothing]

You forgot awakening's theme, but out of the rest... Together We Ride. 

[The Malign Knight]

Comrades(FE8)

It really makes you excited for the new character you have got.

[RJWalker]

Unless something's changed drastically for Shadows of Valentia, Encounter is not a 'recruitment' theme. It plays during a couple of recruitments but most recruitments don't have a theme at all, just the village/town theme of whatever village/town they're recruited in.