Haste2 ranks the VGMC retirees - Finale!

1) Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon - Second Dark Matter Battle
https://youtu.be/XeXGr9WerPg
Prelim score: 10/10
Score: 10/10 (Godly)
Composer: Keisuke Ito, Yasuhiro Kawagoe, and/or Noriko Murakami
VGMC History: VGMC 12 (Lost R1), VGMC 14 (Lost R6 to -(Isoleucine)-)
Favorite part: 0:00 - 0:34, as well as 1:16 - 1:32, https://youtu.be/XeXGr9WerPg?t=76

Wow, what a surprise! Not~! It was no secret that it was my favorite entrant in VGMC 14. Im not claiming SDMB to be objectively the best retiree. But it IS my clear #1 piece of vgm of all time! Its also on a tier of its own, the one and only piece of vgm to maintain the elusive 10/10. Oh, wait, there is linkage alter Im still trying to decide whether that should be a 9.9 or a 10. There are some favorites that are competing with linkage alter, so Im not sure if I want to lower the standard for a 10 because otherwise I might find myself with like fifteen 10/10s!

PSMD will forever be among my favorite OSTs because of what I term the invincible trio: Second Dark Matter Battle, Gentle Slope Cave, and Fire Island Volcano. All are 9.8+ out of ten! But it also has numerous other tracks in the mid-9 range, PLUS some tracks that I havent discovered yet.

A mere two years ago I didnt think much of the Pokemon series in terms of music. I like DPPs soundtrack, sure, but I had little exposure to PMD or later games in the series. I vaguely knew Sky Tower, and that was it. I didnt even know the game PSMD existed until the game got nominated in BOST 5. Anyway, after being introduced to SDMB in BOST 5 eighteen months ago, I just knew I had to get this in the formal contest. However, I was kind of bummed to find out it was in VGMC two years ago and to make matters worse, it lost in the first round on the first day of the contest. Sixteen to twenty nine you gotta be kidding me ;_;. (Spiral of Erebos isn't bad) But that only made me want this in a contest even more I was determined to redeem SDMB once and for all., you know, by at least winning one match. I also had a goal to try and help Pokemon music get retired, cause after 13 years of this contest, still nothing from the series. But yeah, I was pretty nervous about how it was going to do. Not only did it retire, but It went one round farther, enough to nullify any potential argument that it retired only because it had an easy path. Oh yeah, and it somehow managed to survive an 11-2 run in the latter part of SDMB vs. Burning Force Medley to get there--haha, awesome! But yeah, Im ECSTATIC about not only Pokemon retiring, but that my favorite in the series received that honor. Thank you, @DireKrow , for introducing me to PSMDs soundtrack! I may never have gotten into PMD music otherwise.

If you REALLY want to know why I like this so much, in just a few words dat bass!!! in conjunction with the standard PSMD sound production. Its a lot more than that of course, but thats probably the single biggest factor.

It starts off with some chanting...its almost as if some cute Pokemon are doing it :) Perfect way to set up a final boss theme. But you know, I came across a funny coincidence relative to those opening two chords: I was listening to Secret of Mana 2018 OST the other day. I got to The Oracle (the battle against Dark Lich), and https://youtu.be/5jEnB5Zx7vk?t=8604 (PSMD was released in 2015) Yep, way to copy this track almost almost exactly. But the REAL reason its such a funny coincidence is that (because I havent yet completed PSMD) I imagined the final boss setting in PSMD to be like the battle against Dark Lich... =p Off on another tangent, but the 2018 ARM version of Danger in SoM 2018 is really good, IMO! (Even if most of the others are questionable)

Intro: 10/10

Anyway, those chants are just the greatest, with just the right tone to them, and the way they linger over the chimes and these epic piano descending octaves is just. *_* It gives off an exotic vibe. Actually, the tonality is ambiguous here, like its first the key of G but then C gets established right after but it mixes major with minor... always a plus! At 0:13 you get these really cool ascending triplets with ascending in unison (oh MAN I love the crescendo and cymbal), leading into 16th-note stuff (I love how rhythmic subdivisions get switched up here!) But yeah, this intro is just...epicly dark.

Part 1: 10/10

Gotta love the string writing in their little soli, and the way they bridge the intro and main section is awesome, HOLY CARP. That little bit is taken from Partners Theme, but it also sounds like Sophisticated Fight! Anway, after that it kind of follows the feel of the final boss theme from Gates to Infinity, but ups the intensity a bunch. But I am in LOVE with the sound mixing Oh, MAN, that underlying rhythm section mmm, that BASS!!! So darkly electric. It almost sounds like two instruments covering it. Love those percussive sounds on beat 2. The orchestration is so thick I have a hard time identifying everything. Do I hear acoustic guitar chords in there, too? Actually, no, it must be an electric guitar.

This is compositionally my favorite section! The opening chords are really great, so thickyou got a D minor melody vs. a G major movement in the bass that I really like, but yeah I especially like the natVI9 chord at 0:20, a nice dissonant rub in there. Oh, yeah, and the melody here is GREAT, taken from Partners Theme, one of multiple excellent emotional themes in PSMD! But all the stuff supporting it really makes it so amazingly intense. :) Then at 0:27 THIS MUSIC IS TO DIE FOR, taking the intensity up a notch AGAIN. What MONSTER chords here as everything gets unified.. Some of my favorite chords anywhere .

Part 2: 9.3/10

You got a bit of Persona! with those string trills next. Got flute on top doing the Tree of Life theme now! And we get to hear the deep rhythm section sound here, and especially when its highlighted at 0:53!!! But yeah, I just love that bass in conjunction with those hard percussive hits...makes me happy.

Part 3: 8/10

At 1:03 electric guitar takes the center stage, which I used to have a problem with. Yeah, I dont think it fits in with PMD music very well in general, but it actually fits okay here, and its just one little part! I love those ambient sounds at e.g. 1:05. But yeah, the guitar plays the first part of Partners Theme here, and I like that! Nerdy thing I like is, again, triplets --> 16th note rest resolution here! And then the one and only thing I DONT like about the music occurs the way the guitars crescendo and cut off there it doesnt sound good :(