Lurker > Kenri

Completely agreed that the game and the soundtrack are surprisingly great (though my favorite track is Under Construction). Had no idea the album was free to download, so thanks for the tip!

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

That article's pretty bad and doesn't really say... anything... about what the law would actually do, but going to Kotaku's article reveals this:

"It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use a ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person."

Which isn't nearly as bad as "Arizona bans all trolling!!!" I mean, I don't think you'd have much luck arguing it should be illegal to annoy or offend people. On the other hand, terrifying, intimidating, or threatening someone is probably a thing that should be illegal regardless of whether you do it over the phone, over the internet, or in person.

I also have to imagine that 99% of the cases they're envisioning involve two people who know each other in real life, and not SSJGokuroth trolling some Pokemon forum.

It's still pretty dumb and worded way too vaguely though.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Yeah. Or at least two more (not really interested in Rin or Shizune).

You're skipping the two best routes!

...Admittedly, I don't think most people would rank Shizune's route that highly, but still.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Waterworld (SNES)

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

I got like... 41 I think. Missed some really obvious ones. Like ones from games that I've played multiple times.

Oh well. I'm infinitely terrible at everything related to guessing VGMusic, so that wasn't too bad a score, considering.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

If you haven't tried a 1% run yet, you absolutely should! One of the most rewarding playthroughs in video game history.

Agreed.

Makes Metroid Fusion a completely different - and way better - game. In that the survival horror elements become more than just superficial. Everything can kill you in 1-3 hits, so everything is absolutely terrifying to actually fight against.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Why are we doing this? Well, there are numerous reasons. I suppose the most compelling of those would be when everyone from both sites got to talking and said "Wait, why did we merge the forums in the first place?" and no one had an answer.

The last horse finally crosses the finish line.

This is why sites should actually listen to their users about planned changes. :/

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Ira/Ayra.

Also Clea from FE2 and Innes from FE8.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

I guess I'll be alone in saying Arisa was my favorite. <_<; Really cool song.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

The only thing that's 3D is the text bubbles

Uh, this is... not correct. At all.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Symphony of the Night
Dawn of Sorrow
Portrait of Ruin
Aria of Sorrow
Harmony of Dissonance

Circle of the Moon is garbage, Order of Ecclesia is pretty good but some of its approaches to game design are so abhorrent that I just can't put it on the list.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Okay, post in detail tomorrow, but I do want to give a special thanks to todbot1. I never would have gotten 24 in that listening contest if he hadn't nominated what it was. Total luck. >_>

I would also like to extend my thanks for this, though despite having heard the song multiple times in the past few days, it still took me like 45 minutes to identify.

I'm good at this, clearly.

(Also, tomorrow sure is taking a long time to get here!)


Good choice on today's VGMusicoftheDay upload btw, kenri >_>b

Yay, thank you.


Ring a Bell hurts my ears after like two minutes. ><

Something I perhaps should have mentioned in my writeup, because I find it hilarious, is that I hated Ring a Bell the first several times I heard it.

It then proceeded to get stuck in my head for - and this isn't an exaggeration - multiple months.

I don't think Stockholm syndrome would be an entirely inaccurate assessment of the situation here.


Had I not kind of... had my own project here... hijacked, Ring A Bell would have placed highly for me as well, but out of the ones I have heard, lastendconductor would have gotten #1. Though there's still 40-50 songs I simply didn't listen to from this topic, but I'd find it highly unlikely anything would jump past it.

Obligatory reminder - and, to everyone in the topic who is not you, public service announcement - that both CG7 and I would have preferred to have you on board, and only proceeded without your guiding influence hesitantly.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Yay, Dominance. Probably one of my top 10 favorite pieces of VGM... though most people I've shown it to seem to think it's just average. <_<; Still, I felt like it had a better chance of being liked by someone else than most of my top 10, so there ya go.

Thanks again for the invitation, and nah I still don't need an uploader comment.

...Also, that song from Driver is pretty cool, Advokaiser.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

I enjoyed reading the writeups and listening to all of the songs! I'm a pretty hardcore lurker, but when it comes to vgmusic ranking topics, I try and take part in the ones I see! I don't think I spent enough time finding the best songs to nominate this time, but next topic I'll be ready, haha.

Glad you liked it, and if I ever decide to do another one of these I definitely hope to see you again during nominations!


whoa there, let's not say things we can't take back

Oh I wouldn't worry about that, I don't think there's any chance of me wanting to take it back.


And if you want a longer version of it, look up the anime version. It's five minutes long, and the game version only uses about the climax of it. I like the game version a lot more since I consider the last two minutes to be the best part by far and it just feels more powerful in general, but you'll probably like the entire thing more.

Huh, that's pretty interesting. I think I actually agree with you about the game version being better, though.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

And now, some important stats, courtesy of xp! You should all thank him for doing this so I didn't have to.

This shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Lowest score is bestest. Highest possible score is 490, lowest possible is 15. Combined score is just... a combined score, and should be taken with even more grains of salt than individual scores.

Kenri:

swordz9 - 120 (61, 27, 23, 06, 03)
tazzy - 125 (50, 25, 21, 18, 11)
Mycro - 128 (42, 39, 24, 16, 07)
Nio - 156 (69, 55, 17, 10, 05)
SSBDarren64 - 157 (86, 32, 22, 09, 08)
Orochimaru_Fan - 181 (66, 41, 38, 34, 02)
JONALEON - 194 (95, 70, 15, 13, 01)
todbot - 213 (78, 49, 45, 29, 12)
azuarc - 274 (87, 63, 58, 36, 30)
Kamekguy - 274 (98, 68, 43, 37, 28)
KirinATW - 278 (82, 64, 52, 47, 33)
Phase - 282 (91, 77, 51, 44, 19)
Angelo - 285 (90, 74, 54, 53, 14)
Ed - 295 (85, 80, 62, 48, 20)
Mega Mana - 303 (94, 71, 57, 46, 35)
Ace_Killjoy - 316 (84, 76, 65, 60, 31)
agesboy - 340 (96, 92, 89, 59, 04)
FL81 - 362 (99, 93, 88, 56, 26)
electricpiper - 369 (97, 81, 79, 72, 40)
Epyon - 398 (100, 83, 75, 73, 67)

CG7:

Orochimaru_Fan - 143 (67, 50, 13, 07, 06)
swordz9 - 162 (94, 53, 10, 04, 01)
electricpiper - 165 (60, 32, 29, 26, 18)
Nio - 172 (63, 41, 36, 20, 12)
tazzy - 179 (76, 49, 37, 14, 03)
KirinATW - 194 (69, 65, 44, 11, 05)
Mycro - 221 (79, 55, 38, 30, 19)
Angelo - 221 (66, 48, 43, 33, 31)
SSBDarren64 - 227 (99, 62, 56, 08, 02)
JONALEON - 250 (96, 78, 34, 25, 17)
agesboy - 251 (83, 54, 52, 40, 22)
todbot - 265 (81, 68, 42, 39, 35)
Ace_Killjoy - 273 (86, 71, 61, 46, 09)
azuarc - 275 (98, 90, 45, 27, 15)
Phase - 278 (74, 64, 59, 57, 24)
Mega Mana - 283 (89, 87, 58, 28, 21)
Ed - 342 (97, 93, 85, 51, 16)
FL81 - 352 (95, 92, 72, 70, 23)
Kamekguy - 376 (88, 84, 82, 75, 47)
Epyon - 421 (100, 91, 80, 77, 73)

Combined:

swordz9 - 282 (94c, 61k, 53c, 27k, 23k, 10c, 06k, 04c, 03k, 01c)
tazzy - 304 (76c, 50k, 49c, 37c, 25k, 21k, 18k, 14c, 11k, 03c)
Orochimaru_Fan - 324 (67c, 66k, 50c, 41k, 38k, 34k, 13c, 07c, 06c, 02k)
Nio - 328 (69k, 63c, 55k, 41c, 36c, 20c, 17k, 12c, 10k, 05k)
Mycro - 349 (79c, 55c, 42k, 39k, 38c, 30c, 24k, 19c, 16k, 07k)
SSBDarren64 - 384 (99c, 86k, 62c, 56c, 32k, 22k, 09k, 08k, 08c, 02c)
JONALEON - 444 (96c, 95k, 78c, 70k, 34c, 25c, 17c, 15k, 13k, 01k)
KirinATW - 472 (82k, 69c, 65c, 64k, 52k, 47c, 44c, 33k, 11c, 05c)
todbot - 478 (81c, 78k, 68c, 49k, 45k, 42c, 39c, 35c, 29k, 12k)
Angelo - 506 (90k, 74k, 66c, 54k, 53k, 48c, 43c, 33c, 31c, 14k)
electricpiper - 534 (97k, 81k, 79k, 72k, 60c, 40k, 32c, 29c, 26c, 18c)
azuarc - 549 (98c, 90c, 87k, 63k, 58k, 45c, 36k, 30k, 27c, 15c)
Phase - 560 (91k, 77k, 74c, 64c, 59c, 57c, 51k, 44k, 24c, 19k)
Mega Mana - 586 (94k, 89c, 87c, 71k, 58c, 57k, 46k, 35k, 28c, 21c)
Ace_Killjoy - 589 (86c, 84k, 76k, 71c, 65k, 61c, 60k, 46c, 31k, 09c)
agesboy - 591 (96k, 92k, 89k, 83c, 59k, 54c, 52c, 40c, 22c, 04k)
Ed - 637 (97c, 93c, 85k, 85c, 80k, 62k, 51c, 48k, 20k, 16c)
Kamekguy - 650 (98k, 88c, 84c, 82c, 75c, 68k, 47c, 43k, 37k, 28k)
FL81 - 714 (99k, 95c, 93k, 92c, 88k, 72c, 70c, 56k, 26k, 23c)
Epyon - 819 (100k, 100c, 91c, 83k, 80c, 77c, 75k, 73k, 73c, 67k)


Congrats to swordz9, our ultimate winner! And apologies to Epyon.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Whoa, did not expect Mudship to be #1!

Neither did I!


One of the few moments where I prefer the English version of a song over its Japanese counterpart. Ring a Bell oh yeah.

I can never decide on that, personally. I feel like the Japanese version is better, but I think I like the English version a bit more, if that makes any sense.


Isn't it "can't you see your my other half"?

I'm really not sure; I was going by what animelyrics.com told me. >_>; This would make a lot more sense, though it's still kind of awkward.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

3. Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell
Nominated by: swordz9


I'll be honest, here. My top 5 have changed places about a half dozen times so far and if you asked me tomorrow my opinion might be different yet again. But I'll go with this for now. Also: Ring a Bell was a huge favorite for #1 coming into this topic so I'm really glad a couple pieces put up a fight (and some of them even won!)

Ring a Bell is probably my... second favorite track from Vesperia, and that game has an awesome soundtrack so that's saying something. I could go down the list of what I like about it, but really I like just about everything about it so that seems unnecessary. I will say, though, that the only thing I really dislike is how a lot of the lyrics border on being Engrish (for example: "If you're hurt, cry and say 'can't you see your might of the heart'"), because to me the lyrics are mostly quite good. Like, I love the first three lines: "Reaching up for no man's land / To take a breath and take a chance / I walk a thousand nights to change the world", and a lot of the lyrics are of a similar quality. And not only do I like them, but the lyrics are also quite appropriate for Tales of Vesperia and its particular brand of idealism; always nice to see a song with lyrics that isn't like... completely at odds with the actual game.


2. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 - Sasuke Uchiha
Nominated by: Orochimaru_Fan


This was not supposed to happen. I don't even like Naruto. And especially not this particular character. But then, it's not like source material matters at all. It just feels weird.

I almost feel like this piece was created to appeal to me, specifically, because it has a lot of elements I really like. Starting off with a bowed string instrument, that woodwind instrument that comes in at around 45 seconds to shake things up, the subtle vocals around the same time, the piano solo near the middle that breaks up the piece... Absolutely beautiful. It's a tragic piece in the best possible way, and the fact that it's apparently a final battle theme only makes it even more super cool, because now it's also probably one of my favorite final battle themes of all time, if not #1.


1. Atelier Viorate - The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village
Nominated by: JONALEON


And so, here we are.

Despite its kind of weird name, The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village is stunningly beautiful. It uses a lot of instruments, and a lot of them only for a few seconds at a time, and this is representative of the song as a whole. It doesn't do anything for more than a few seconds, but everything it does feels like a logical progression. That's the kind of thing that can be really hit or miss for me. No points for guessing which one it is in this case. In truth it's difficult to pin down even a handful of things I like about this to talk about, because it's so successful as a whole that I don't feel right singling anything out. I think 1:22 deserves special note, though; everything seems to slowly die out in the seconds before that, only to be brought back to life there by an energetic piano section.

It's this whole process of constantly changing, but staying so consistently successful throughout, that led The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village to take #1.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

6. Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light
Nominated by: swordz9


The best track from FFXIII, that I've heard at least, but I think I'm familiar with most of the important ones... Blinded by Light also has the distinction of being an absolutely fantastic battle theme from a series that I honestly don't think has very many really good battle themes (Otherworld notwithstanding). Blinded by Light starts off with some build-up, which is sometimes risky, but it works out in its favor here. The real reason I like it so much, though, is the section from 0:36 to 0:53; it's such a unique and memorable sound, and it's somehow really uplifting. To such an extent that is almost seems inappropriate as a normal battle theme. Should be the "you just got a huge plot powerup and are now in WRECK EVERYTHING mode" battle theme or something.


5. Magical Drop III - KI.MA.GU.RE. [Whimsy]
Nominated by: NioraptH


...So I really hope those voice clips are not part of the actual track but just included in the video to be "cute". Because they are distracting and pretty awful. (And I have since learned that they are, but again, these writeups were written like two weeks ago.) Ignoring those, the music itself is fantastic. When I say I like simple music, which... I'm not sure if I have yet in this topic but CG7 can confirm that I've said it at points in the past, this is really the kind of music I mean. It does change things up a couple times, but each individual part only has a few components and just focuses on making those components really successful. Which they are. God 0:30 through 0:56 is good. I just wish it was longer, even if making it longer just meant having it loop rather than fade out at the end.


4. Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 - Unicorn
Nominated by: agesboy


Amazing. I've never known what to call this style of vocals, but I'm a big fan of it usually and this is not an exception, in fact it's more like Exhibit A. Between the vocals and the instrumentation Unicorn creates such a powerul impression of... powerful impressiveness. Really hope this plays during the game's climax or something because it deserves nothing else. I actually think my favorite part of Unicorn though is 1:13 through 1:40. The war drums and the violin(?) slow the whole piece down and create this tense atmosphere that's finally broken by one last burst of vocals, and it just works so well to end the piece. ...I do wish the whole thing was longer though.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

the top 10, or: the end of the disappointments


10. SoulCalibur V - Venice Rooftops (SCV Mix)
Nominated by: NioraptH


I'm not very familiar with Assassin's Creed or its music, but from the few pieces I've heard, I'm guessing that... uh... particular tune with the vocals (heard here at 0:08 through 0:22) is part of the series' main theme or is somehow important to the story or something? Because it shows up in like every song from Assassin's Creed that I've heard. And this is, for the record, probably my favorite use of it. Venice Rooftops (SCV Mix) is also just an awesome song in general. I love the pairing of the almost haunting vocals with the strings and the constant percussion. Everything works together and plays off of everything else so nicely. Only complaint I have is that it ends abruptly, but I assume that's just an issue with the particular video and not the song itself.


9. Digital: A Love Story - Paper Dolls
Nominated by: SSBDarren64


Whoo, the second and final nominated track from Digital: A Love Story, and probably my favorite from that game (UNIQUE AND ORIGINAL OPINIONS). Paper Dolls is actually off to a good start because I have a weird affection for traffic noises in music; don't ask, I can't explain it, I just like it. And it really only gets better from there, with the last 45 seconds or so being just fantastic. There is one section I'm not that fond of near the middle (at 2:09ish), just because that high pitched squeal is a bit hard for me personally to listen to, but it can't detract from the rest of the piece.


8. Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor
Nominated by: SSBDarren64


The best long track from Umineko, or at least way better than dreamenddischarger; I'm not as familiar with the overall OST as I'd like to be. (Open the field up and Life is the best I've heard, though.) The best parts of lastendconductor are a weird mix of string instruments, an electronic beat, and... train sound effects that eventually morph into normal percussion. It sounds like nonsense, and yet here we are, probably because I like all those things so I end up in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups moment whenever I listen to this (two great tastes, etc). I absolutely think it's longer than it needs to be though, and it's right on the edge of being just too long for me to want to listen to it in spite of how good it is. Doesn't quite reach that point though, and at almost 11 minutes that is truly impressive.


7. Myst IV: Revelation - Main Theme
Nominated by: MycroProcessor


This reminds me of the best songs from Alone in the Dark 2008, and FYI the best songs from that game are really good, so... that might explain why this is ranked so high! The vocals are at once beautiful and frightening; I'm gathering by the comments that this is sung in Myst's constructed language, which is also very cool. I should also admit that I didn't like the very end of this at first, considering it just too loud to be enjoyable to listen to. But after listening to this a couple times I've decided that that final burst of intensity is really what's needed to serve as a counterweight to the slower portions in the middle of the piece.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Kenri, have you heard the original Ever17's Karma?

I have, and I like it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with the 360 version. Certainly isn't an atrocity!

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Nope, I said taking all bets and I meant that!

if you ruin the topic for everyone else i accept no responsibility though

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

unicorn #25 because my luck sucks!

Yeah this did not happen. Though even if it had, one song in the top 25 is still probably better than I've ever done in any ranking topic. <_<


^5

^5


You have good taste.

there are a number of people who would disagree with you there


Do I get an award for most links that died over the course of the topic?

http://achievements.schrankmonster.de/Achievement.aspx?text=15G%20-%20Most%20Dead%20Links


Picked this because I've been prodding a lot of people to play KS.

You are a good person.


Sokyuu no Hikari: Bottom 25. Hopefully bottom 10. The bad pick. It's just bad. Pretty much universally considered so.

well

i was able to oblige you here at least


- Jungle music is FANCY

the fanciest type of music


Jesus, 6 left going into the top 25 (2 for CG, 4 for Kenri), this is crazy!

I know this didn't work out in probably the way you would have liked, but if it's any consolation, now I can subscribe to your youtube channel without worrying about that spoiling my rankings somehow. <_<


Juuuust missed the top 10. That's pretty good though.

I've said this a couple times but it bears repeating: IMO the field here was insanely strong. So, no shame in not hitting the top 10.


In other news, the unranked 10!

Atelier Viorate - The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village
Digital: A Love Story - Paper Dolls
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 - Unicorn
Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light
Magical Drop III - KI.MA.GU.RE [Whimsy]
Myst IV: Revelation - Main Theme
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 - Sasuke Uchiha
SoulCalibur V - Venice Rooftops (SCV mix)
Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor

Taking all bets (again).

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

15. DJ Max Portable Black Square - Stop
Nominated: JONALEON


So the first 12 seconds of this had me writing it off as just sort of "ehhh", but after that it improves tremendously. I really, really like the voice of the vocalist who comes in at about 0:35 so that's part of it. The different styles of vocals and the fact that it changes between them so frequently also really help out the song. I also want to say the lyrics are interesting, but I can honestly only pick out bits and pieces. But yeah, overall it's a really cool song, and I've even started to come around in regards to the intro on subsequent listens.


14. Ever17 (Xbox 360)- Karma
Nominated by: SuperAngelo


Wrong song named Karma (I'll keep mentioning that until I stop mentioning that). THAT SAID this is an absolutely beautiful piece of music. If the entire piece had been like the first 50 seconds, I'd have probably ranked this quite high anyway, because I have a huge weakness for relatively simple piano pieces like that, but it really goes out of its way to elevate itself beyond that. 1:52 is probably the defining moment of the piece for me, the one moment where it stops being merely "really good" and becomes "like, wow".


13. Big Bot Audio Drop - Amity
Nominated by: JONALEON
http://albums.sgxmusic.com/track/amity-game-edit

Man, there is something about this that makes me like it even more every time I listen to it. I guess I do generally enjoy electronic music but I don't think that's the only thing at work here. ...I think what really impresses me about this is the contrast created by the more prominent fuzzier-sounding effects and the subtler, cleaner ones (oh god i am so sorry i am terrible at talking about music i hope someone can parse what i'm talking about here). I also really like what happens at around 2:30, where everything seems to kind of... come crashing down, and then get built back up again; it's a neat effect.


12. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Bowser's Galaxy Generator
Nominated by: todbot


Super Mario Galaxy has possibly one of my favorite OSTs ever (I know I've said that like 8 times but it's been true every time!), and SMG2 was more of the same, which was all right by me. Bowser's Galaxy Generator isn't my absolute favorite track by any means, but it's definitely near the top. PROBABLY BECAUSE I LIKE MY VIDEO GAME MUSIC TO SOUND LIKE VIDEO GAME MUSIC WHICH IS ALSO ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYED BY REAL ORCHESTRAS IN MODERN DAY JAPAN, wait what point was i trying to make there. I think I'll go with that being witty and timely commentary on the terrible people who anti-vote music like this.


11. MS Saga: A New Dawn - Giant G System
Nominated by: tazzyboyishere


I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess this is a battle theme? That's bad if so, because it makes me look like a hypocrite, because I really can't say this completely avoids the issues I've been bashing other battle themes for. Giant G System really just manages to avoid them by being generally awesome, which makes me forgive it for not being unique and using a lot of the same techniques and instruments that show up in a lot of battle themes. That said, I would be remiss if I implied it didn't do anything in particular that is noteworthy, because it definitely does. I really like the sections with the leading bowed string instrument like 0:38 through about 1:56. I'm also a big fan of the use of bells in VG music, and even though they're used subtly here, they help the piece a lot.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

20. Demon's Crest - Beyond the Colosseum
Nominated by: Ed Bellis


Beyond the Colosseum is a song I've known about, and liked, for a number of years, and for whatever reason it's the only song I've ever seen anyone mention from this game. Not sure what's up with that.

In any case, it's indeed really good. It kind of reminds me of Castlevania music, and you know what, that is all right with me. I'm actually a big fan of organs in VG music, and Beyond the Colosseum manages to fake one exceptionally well for an SNES game.


19. Muv-Luv Alternative - Seimei no Honou
Nominated by: Phase


As is perhaps predictable of me at this point, I like the instrument choice here! Seimei no Honou sounds somewhat militaristic, but it also definitely plays up a tragic angle, especially at the beginning of the piece. It's sort of a neat combination that doesn't get used very much. I also really like the way it progresses. The beginning and ending are quite different, but it transitions between the two so seamlessly and gradually that I didn't even notice until I had listened to it a couple times through.


18. Tales of Symphonia (JP) - Starry Heavens
Nominated by: tazzyboyishere


Not my favorite song with vocals from Tales (that would be Karma), but it is really good. Has some cool instrumentation, though I do think that short instrumental section at about three minutes in is the weakest part of the whole thing. AS ONE MIGHT EXPECT from a song like this, the vocals are the main draw here, and I really like the singer's voice, so it's hopefully not hard to see why I'd rate this fairly highly. I also think the lyrics (working off a translation) are surprisingly not awful, though that could just be because I don't mind pure saccharine in my lyrics.


17. King of Fighters XIII - Diabolosis
Nominated by: NioraptH


Whew. After that last one being all hopeful, we get something a little darker. I really need to look into King of Fighters' music in greater detail, because I've heard basically nothing except this and Mutually Exclusive Dichotomy from KoF 2002 Unlimited March, both of which are really damn good. Diabolosis is a tiny bit repetitive but that's about the only criticism I can find with it. It strikes a really good balance of being intense without having too much going on at any one point. Also fun fact: I found myself absentmindedly whistling this today (today being the day I'm writing this writeup, not today the day I'm posting it, for the record), so it must've made a rather big impression on me, considering I can basically never remember what any piece of vgmusic actually sounds like.


16. Klonoa 2 - Ark Ver. 1
Nominated by: MycroProcessor


This song is bizarre as hell and I'm not sure why I like it. Mycro, you should do a post about this song because I'm definitely not going to be able to do it justice. >_> Uh... let's see. The melody seems... strange and off somehow to me, but in a good way. I've really never heard anything quite like this. It sort of makes me think of a shimmering reflection in a pool of water that keeps getting broken up by the ripples. Like trying to listen to the musical version of that. ...I'm bad at this. someone help me.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

25-11, or: my writeups stop making any sense at all


25. Battle Gear 4 - Slippin' Away
Nominated by: tazzyboyishere


For a while now I've been taking shots at electric guitar sections in other songs, but here's an electric guitar-centric song that I really enjoy! Through no fault of its own Slippin' Away kind of reminds me of the cheesy rock music that showed up in quite a few video games in the late 90s/early 00s, but honestly that's probably helping it out here. >_>;

If I ever go on a cross-country roadtrip, I want this playing at least part of the way.


24. Darius Gaiden - VISIONNERZ
Nominated by: MycroProcessor


This song is ****ing weird, and I'm only about 80% sure I actually like it at all. what is up with the darius series having such bizarre music, anyway. Not that I don't appreciate it, even when I don't care for a particular track (sup, B.T. Dutch). But I digress... I think what makes me question whether I even like this song at all is sections like 2:45, which are just chaotic and not very pleasant to listen to, but then I hear the operatic vocals or any of the other things the song does that are really cool and decide, yes, VISIONNERZ actually is pretty awesome.


23. Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself -Battle- (Reincarnation Version)
Nominated by: swordz9


I do enjoy the original I'll Face Myself -Battle-, but it's not like one of my favorites, and to me this version is better in practically every single way. The instrument choice is way more interesting and it does a much better job of balancing out intense sections with less intense ones. I do think the last minute or so is kind of unnecessary though. In any case, this ends up being not just my favorite version of I'll Face Myself -Battle-, but probably one of my favorite songs from Persona in general. ...Still gotta get around to actually playing those games sometime.


22. Okami - Ryoshima Plains
Nominated by: SSBDarren64


Okami has one of my all-time favorite soundtracks of any game, and in general I think its best music was area music (also, Reset ~ Thank You, but counting that is just unfair). Point is, while Ryoshima Plains isn't my favorite area theme from the game (that would go to Northern Country Kamui), it's still really damn good. It's stunning beautiful -- almost as much so as the actual Ryoshima Plains are in-game. In fact I have difficulty thinking of even a single thing to criticize about it, a "problem" that applies to a lot of the best music from Okami. I guess I'd say it goes on a bit long, but really the only time I'd even notice that is when doing a project like this, so it doesn't seem like a valid criticism.


21. Neotokyo - Haka
Nominated by: tazzyboyishere


I'm a fairly big fan of Neotokyo's OST, though certainly not as much as some people. A lot of its music is too cerebral for me, which is to say I have to devote so much effort to trying to figure it out that I can't really listen to it just for pleasure purposes. ...That probably didn't make any sense to anyone who isn't me. Haka is better in that regard than, say, Scrap IO, though. I really like the "lalalalaetc" sections; those might drive me crazy in a different song, in Haka they provide such a great contrast to the rest of the piece that they end up being my favorite part of the whole thing.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

XD biggest difference in rankings so far is DBZ:B2 ending theme

Don't worry, I'll try my best to beat that record before the topic's over.


Incidentally, my worst song for CG7 is my best song for Kenri.

I'm actually disappointed we've been agreeing as much as we have been. That... doesn't usually happen.


And then there was one. Didn't think that would be my last remaining song...

The topic's just full of surprises!


Speaking of which, the remaining 25 on my ranking are, or rather should be assuming I didn't make any mistakes:

Atelier Viorate - The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village
Battle Gear 4 - Slippin' Away
Big Bot Audio Drop - Amity
DJ Max Portable Black Square - Stop
Darius Gaiden - VISIONNERZ
Demon's Crest - Beyond the Colosseum
Digital: A Love Story - Paper Dolls
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 - Unicorn
Ever17 (Xbox 360)- Karma
Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light
King of Fighters XIII - Diabolosis
Klonoa 2 - Ark Ver. 1
MS Saga: A New Dawn - Giant G System
Magical Drop III - KI.MA.GU.RE. [Whimsy]
Muv-Luv Alternative - Seimei no Honou
Myst IV: Revelation - Main Theme
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 - Sasuke Uchiha
Neotokyo - Haka
Okami - Ryoshima Plains
Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself -Battle- (Reincarnation Version)
SoulCalibur V - Venice Rooftops (SCV mix)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Bowser's Galaxy Generator
Tales of Symphonia (JP) - Starry Heavens
Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor


Taking all bets.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

30. Treasure Quest - Prophecy
Nominated by: azuarc


Oh man. This song is a disaster, and yet I love it. I'm especially fond of the chorus, but I feel an odd amount of affection for the entire thing. I don't even like the singer's voice or the lyrics - the bits and pieces I can actually pick out - very much, but I just... like the song. GOD WHATEVER IT'S MY RANKING I'LL DO IT HOW I WANT


29. Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies - Megalith -Agnus Dei-
Nominated by: todbot


So this is a really cool song with the disadvantage of being too long. 6 minutes is about my limit unless a song is really damn good, so this is just a bit too long and slightly not good enough to justify the length... But I definitely do like it. Megalith -Agnus Dei- is at once heroic and imposing, and it absolutely captures the sense of scale that I think they were going for. Part of that is because of the length, but I dunno, I just think it starts to drag around the middle.


28. Yoshi's Story - Love Is In the Air
Nominated by: Kamekguy


I've only played Yoshi's Story once, for a few minutes, years ago, but based on Yoshi's Island my hopes for this were effectively rock bottom. Thankfully it is surprisingly competent. While it doesn't blow me away, it's a cute song and the strings are really appealing to me personally. I can sort of picture this playing on a peaceful, laidback day out in the countryside or something.


27. Final Fantasy X - Rikku's Theme
Nominated by: swordz9


It's weird, my opinion of FFX character themes before this project was basically "Auron and Yuna have the only ones worth talking about, and Yuna is questionable". Now I'd definitely put Rikku's theme in that same category though. It's actually really good, and I think only part of that is FFX just generally have good music. Rikku's Theme is a very relaxing theme which I'm not entirely sure fits her, but whatever. My favorite part might actually be that... harmonica? that comes in at 1:13.


26. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 - Ending Theme
Nominated by: FL81


So the link provided was dead by the time I got around to this writeup. Luckily I had already listened to everything once so I was able to find a replacement, though I think the sound quality is... much worse... which is a shame.

Anyway. I feel like I have talk up the saxophone here because I know CG7 is going to throw a fit about it. It's awesome and absolutely the best part of this. The first 3 minutes of this song are fantastic, but then it goes in kind of a weird direction for a while and it doesn't really mesh with the rest of the song up until that point. So that hurts it, but it's still really cool.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

35. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 - Summer Air
Nominated by: Mega Mana


Not the superior piece of VG music with "summer" and "air" in the title. (Air - Summer Lights, for the record.) I do like Summer Air, though, and in fact it has been on my radar for a while. It's appropriately chilled out for a song named Summer Air, though it does have a few less chilled out moments, most notably that section at 1:36 which... I dunno if I like or not, but it's interesting at least.


34. Last Ranker - This Journey without End
Nominated by: Orochimaru_Fan


There are really only like three or four composers of VG music that I actually know well enough to hear a piece and go "yeah, this is by _____". Shimomura is one of them!

...I only bring that up because this isn't one of my favorite Shimomura pieces. That's not supposed to sound negative because I do think it's quite good; there are just a lot of better ones and I don't even think this one is particularly unique or anything.


33. Legend of Zelda, The: Skyward Sword - Island in the Sky
Nominated by: KirinATW


Some laidback music. I think it reminds me of Lazy Afternoons from KH, but probably only in the sense that both are rather laidback. This is the kind of music I absolutely want to have playing while I'm... I dunno, lying on the beach or something; it's the perfect relaxation music.


32. Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fu-kkatsu BLACK LABEL - Xanadu (Stage 2-B)
Nominated by: SSBDarren64


Man, this has moments that make me want to put it 10 spots higher, and then moments that make me want to drop it 10 spots. 0:20 through 0:50 is a good example of the latter, 0:54 through 1:20 is an example of the former. Overall it's a very cool song, though, even when it's doing something I don't personally care for.


31. Iridion 3D - Planet Iridion Prime
Nominated by: Ace_Killjoy


I'm a big fan of Iridion music, but more Iridion II than Iridion 3D. (See the Sun Burn and Two Years Gone would both have done really well in this ranking, FYI.) I definitely like Planet Iridion Prime, though. I really like the part from 1:07 to 1:22; that absolutely makes the piece for me, though the rest of it is quite good too.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

I think CG7 and I agree less in this set, thankfully.

40. Metal Gear Solid 4 - Main Theme
Nominated by: electricpiper


Another one that I heard for the first time only a week or two before starting this crazy project. >_>; My opinion of it then, and also my opinion of it now, is that the first half of the piece is way better than the second half. The first half has this really great sense of movement and intensity; the second half isn't bad, it's just sort of bland in comparison.


39. Gungriffon: The Eurasian Conflict - Theme of Gungriffon
Nominated by: MycroProcessor


First of all, if this was a competition for best video, this would win. thank you mycro.

Anyway... This is a really strange piece in that a lot of the instruments used don't seem like they would work together, at least to me they don't, but then they... work together. The whole thing just works and I don't really understand it. I especially like that section from 1:17 to 1:37; it contrasts with the rest of the piece but in a way that improves both rather than being jarring.


38. Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology - Widdershin
Nominated by: Orochimaru_Fan


I've mentioned not really liking battle music, but this one gets a pass just for being quite good, even if it's not hugely original. It's intense and uses some interesting instruments; I also really like what it does at 0:22 through 0:29, and a couple other times throughout the piece. ...Actually I'm starting to even go back on saying this isn't hugely original. It really is fairly unique; I think there are even some jazz influences, which is pretty cool.


37. Mario Strikers Charged - Luigi's Theme
Nominated by: Kamekguy


...I have no idea how this theme fits Luigi, unless Strikers in general had this sort of Latin influence in all its music. Except perhaps as a theme for Luigi, it really works, though. Normally the clapping would bug me, but here it adds an extra dimension to the piece; it basically functions as the percussion. I also really like that brass instrument... that whole category of instruments seems to not be used very often in video game music, which is a shame.


36. Baldr Force - Face of Fact
Nominated by: azuarc


I figure I'll need to talk about this eventually and now is as good as time as any: I used to be into JPop, at least to the extent that I was into anime music and most of that was JPop. You might think this would lead to me judging JPop leniently, but... not... really. Especially compared to CG7, as she can attest. <_<

Luckily I don't need to get too mean because Face of Fact is actually quite good! In particular, it has enough interesting stuff going on that even if I were to come down hard on the actual vocals (which for me are sorta unextraordinary), the rest of it saves the song. The distorted voices are a neat effect and really the instrumental portions are quite good. Not my favorite of the genre, but I like it quite a lot.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

45. Donkey Kong Country 2 - Lockjaw's Saga
Nominated by: todbot


Not one of my absolute favorites from DKC, but I do think it's better than a lot of ones people tend to hype up (*coughminingmelancholycough*). I actually like like the sound of water sloshing around that Lockjaw's Saga uses; if it used it too much it might get annoying, but I think a few uses now and then really build atmosphere (also, I just like the sound of water). Speaking of atmosphere, this is definitely an atmosphere piece, but I think it works really well in that regard, so that's fine with me.


44. Fate/hollow ataraxia - Excalibur
Nominated by: Phase


Original link is dead, but I got to it before it went down, so yay.

Cool song. I really like the beginning; it's very dramatic and distinctive. It then segues into a section that goes on a bit long in my opinion, and then at about 1 minute in changes completely in a way that I really like. So, that section in the middle is the only real flaw here, and even then it's not bad at all, I just prefer everything else.


43. Digital: A Love Story - Space Beacon
Nominated by: Kamekguy


I'm not particularly familiar with Digital's soundtrack, but I think I listened to most of it... once? This isn't the best track from it by any means but I have a fairly positive opinion of the soundtrack of a whole. I actually think I like the very beginning of this (the first 45 or so seconds) the most, though none of it is bad by any means.


42. Frogger's Adventures: The Rescue - Forgotten Island Level 2
Nominated by: MycroProcessor


I really like the little bird/insect? chirps used in this; that kind of thing can sometimes be distracting but here they're subtle enough that they just add to the piece. Also like the instruments used, though I can't name... any of them with any degree of certainty. LOOK AT HOW GOOD I AM AT TALKING ABOUT MUSIC GUYS. This definitely sounds like jungle music, and I mean that in the best way possible.


41. Burnout 3: Takedown - Shine
Nominated by: Orochimaru_Fan


My kind of music, or at least sometimes it is. Really smooth and I love how it builds as it goes on. Also like how it keeps introducing new elements and subtly changing itself up to keep from getting repetitive. It doesn't have one stand out section, but that's mostly because the whole thing is so consistently good.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

50. Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis) - Volcano Valley Act 1
Nominated by: tazzyboyishere


Probably what I'd consider the single best track from any Sonic game comes from Sonic 3D Blast, though the Saturn version - that would be Rusty Ruins Zone Act 2. This is... not as good as that, but still quite enjoyable. I like how it's so low in pitch, especially compared to a lot of chiptunes which can be irritatingly high pitched. The beginning is sort of weird but after it gets a chance to get going it's really quite good.


49. Touhou: Ten Desires - Shoutoku Legend ~ True Administrator
Nominated by: todbot


To quote what I said about this a little while ago when xp1337 showed it to me, "I hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE those drum-heavy sections (2:10 through 2:26, for example) which are so slow and not melodic at all and oh my god why do those exist at all." But I still like the piece overall! This is definitely "good Touhou" as far as I'm concerned and if all Touhou music was like this, I'd probably have a much higher opinion of the series' music.


48. Ys Origin - Genesis Beyond the Beginning
Nominated by: Ed Bellis


This is actually a really cool song. It fakes me out a couple times, making me think it's going to go in one direction and then changing that up. That might annoy me in another song, but here the end result is way more interesting than any individual component, so it works out in the best way. Not a fan of that electric guitar-heavy section near the end though; it just seems kind of out of place. Everything until that and after that is awesome though.


47. Iji - Tor
Nominated by: KirinATW


The first time I listened to this, I was ready to hit it with my usual "kind of obnoxious, also noisy and cluttered and directionless" complaint, and even now I really can't say that it isn't those things, but... I sort of found myself enjoying it as it went on. And I have no idea why because it's really not the kind of music I usually like. I guess it just sort of won me over because it does have quite a few things going for it. It has a lot of intensity and is very unique, and I really dig that slower section near the middle of the piece. So the positives manage to outweigh the negatives here.


46. Elder Scrolls IV, The: Oblivion - Wings of Kynareth
Nominated by: Mega Mana


My experience with Elder Scrolls music is mostly limited to being forced by a "friend" to endure 290474246 Explore variants from Morrowind, so SUFFICE TO SAY I was extremely pleased when this was actually good! I have a big weakness for bowed string instruments so that definitely helps this piece out. That said, I'm not a big fan of that section from 1:10 to 1:37; it's weird and doesn't really fit with the rest of the piece in my opinion, in addition to just being less good.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

obligatory reminder that all of these writeups were written some time ago and i have not changed them at all based on what CG7 has posted thus far

55. Grandia Xtreme - Combat 1
Nominated by: NioraptH


Is it just me or does this track have a little Latin flair to it? Definitely not what I was expecting from a game called Grandia XTREME. Needs more guitar solos and explosions and bad punk rock to be XTREME. seriously though that is a dumb name and i'm glad the music is way better than the name would suggest. I don't really like the section from 1:42 to 1:54 but it's short enough to not be an issue. Possibly the best thing I can say about it, though, is that it's rather unique for a battle theme, which is always nice to hear.


54. Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Gensokyo Millenium ~ History of the Moon
Nominated by: SuperAngelo


The funny thing about Touhou music in this topic is going to be the difference in rankings between CG7 (who loves Touhou music) and me (who generally doesn't like Touhou music). That said, it's not going to be as funny as it could have been because nobody nominated anything truly terrible. In fact I actually like both History of the Moon and True Administrator. My general criticism of Touhou music is that it's really cluttered and directionless and same-y, but History of the Moon generally avoids... two of those things. It's definitely same-y though; I'm not sure I could name a single characteristic of this that sets it apart from any other piece of Touhou music aside from just being of a higher quality than most.


53. Wild Arms - Adlehyde Castle
Nominated by: SuperAngelo


Oh man. The first few seconds of this sound SO MUCH like a track from... I want to say Fire Emblem 4? It does kind of go downhill from there in my opinion but I still like it. I'm usually not a big fan of Wild Arms' music, but this ranks among the best from it that I've heard. Just wish more of it was like those first few seconds. >_>


52. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - Jowd ~A Captive of Fate
Nominated by: KirinATW


This is neat. It definitely reminds me of Ace Attorney music which I guess makes sense. I think it would work better as BGM though; listening to it by itself, it gets kind of repetitive, though it's good enough to start with that it being repetitive doesn't bother me too much.


51. Seinarukana - The Bravery
Nominated by: Phase


Original link is dead, but I got to it before it went down, so yay.

Sort of reminds me of Skies of Arcadia's music. I like pretty much everything this does; it develops just enough as it goes to stay interesting without becoming something entirely different. I wish it was longer though. It's trying to be dramatic but at 1:27 it just doesn't have quite enough time to pull that off.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Ha, I actually think I like that version a bit more. It's close, though, they're pretty different.

About tonight's rankings, I have no idea where CG7 is, so I'm gonna give her another hour or so and then just post my rankings and let her play catch up whenever she's next online. <_<

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

MY BEAUTIFUL NOMINATIONS...Aaaarrggghhh!!!

This can't be happening!


I have a feeling I'm being set up for a string of my noms somewhere in the 40's.

Always a possibility!

Unless you're out already.

Like Epyon.


Sad Nio is sad....

I-I'm sorry?


Rock Garden seemed to go over well during Best OST. So did Camanis. My original songs I had leading Tyrian's line-up got pulled based on the comments I got. I understand why someone wouldn't like Rock Garden, but it seems to have more likeability overall than most of the soundtrack. My favorite is Gryphons of the West, but I dunno if I'd get much agreement there.

That said, Space Journey 2 > Asteroid Dance 1.

I like Rock Garden! I just don't like like it. We left behind songs I dislike some time ago though. Like back in the 70s.

Space Journey 2's pretty cool but Asteroid Dance 1 is better. *crosses arms*


Well, sound quality probably seems low because this is exactly how it sounds on the GBA. In my opinion, Sword of Mana pulls off a very different sound than other GBA games and does it well, but I grew up with Secret of Mana music, so eh!

Oh wow, I had no idea it was a GBA game. That... explains a lot. I like to think I'm usually pretty decent about picking out what system a song's from, but I was thinking early PS1 or some such for this.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

60. Nanostray - Sekai Outpost
Nominated by: Ace_Killjoy


Pretty cool song. I feel like a lot of the more interesting stuff happens in the background though; I wish it was a bit louder, because the main beat almost drowns it out. That's not a big issue though. The actual sound quality also seems kinda low but that's just DS music being DS music, so I can't hold that against it.


59. Sword of Mana - Courage and Pride from the Heart
Nominated by: agesboy


Another one where the actual sound quality seems... really low, but whatever. I don't feel like this is a particularly unique or monumental track, but I enjoyed it a surprising amount. I've already mentioned not particularly liking battle themes, and in particular I generally don't like JRPG battle themes, but this one... works. I especially like the percussion-heavy section near the end.


58. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 - Divine Entity
Nominated by: azuarc


Another example of "I'm not crazy about battle themes". In this case though I feel like it has a lot of elements that don't really work together so well. The piano that comes in for a few seconds, like twice throughout the piece. I like it, but not so much in conjunction with everything that comes before it and after it. But I'm being too negative. Overall I think this is a very competent battle theme.


57. Skies of Arcadia - Bombardment 2
Nominated by: Mega Mana


I'm a big fan of Skies of Arcadia and its soundtrack. This isn't the piece I'd really go to for good music from the game (think my favorite is still the Main Theme, which is a bit of an unpopular opinion, I think). I definitely like this, though. It's a battle theme, but not as chaotic as a lot of them tend to be, probably because ship battles in SoA were a lot more strategy-oriented... or at least seemed that way due to the system used. In general I just like the style Skies uses for its music. Not sure if it's actually orchestrated or just fakes it, but in either case it's great to listen to both in and out of the game.


56. Rusty - Queen in the Dark Night
Nominated by: FL81


So this is a Castlevania ripoff game? Queen in the Dark Knight definitely sounds Castlevania-y. It sounds Stage 1-y too so I guess it's fairly appropriate. I feel like this is the kind of song I'd hear in game and think it's pretty good but never really go out of my way to look up again, especially if there were better tracks from the same game.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

65. Dawn of War 2 - For The Craftworld
Nominated by: Ace_Killjoy


I used to really like them, but over the years I've become sort of disillusioned with songs that go with the whole "intense Latin or something-that-sounds-like-Latin chanting" angle, just because it's done so much. That said, this is still quite cool, in part because the chanting isn't the focal point of it, it's just there to provide some extra flavor. It's definitely intense though, and really dark, which I like. At the very end it starts to overstay its welcome a little bit, but whatever, it's not a big deal.


64. Sonic CD - Sonic Boom
Nominated by: KirinATW


Haha, Sonic Boom. What a "great" song. I'm willing to admit that I legitimately enjoy a lot of Sonic music with vocals -- like, I enjoy it unironically. There's also a lot of crap. This is somewhere in the middle. I definitely prefer the part with actual vocals; the rest of the song is sort of a write-off for me and I honestly didn't even remember the song HAD parts without vocals until listening to it and being like, "oh, huh". The lyrics themselves are cheesy, but whatever, they're sort of catchy at least. It's not about Sonic at all though. "There is no circumstance that you can't handle / When you use your mind"? uh-huh. because that's how sonic solves his problems. with critical thinking.


63. Tyrian - Rock Garden
Nominated by: azuarc


I like a lot of music from Tyrian, actually - Asteroid Dance 1 is probably my favorite of what I've heard. This one is... just sort of there. I do like it, but it's not as good as a lot of the game's music. Part of that is this weird fake electric guitar(?) section near the middle of the song that's ridiculous and difficult to take seriously because it sounds so bad. Everything else is fine, if unextraordinary.


62. Blazer Drive - Galuda 003i
Nominated by: Ed Bellis


This reminds me of bad pop music... but in a good way... if that makes sense. I think most of that is the distorted vocals, which I'm not sure how much I like but they're also the most interesting part of this so I consider that a wash! It's definitely catchy, at the very least.


61. Persona 3 - Mass Destruction (Reincarnation Version)
Nominated by: swordz9


Is there a version of Mass Destruction with just the rap sections? Because I used to be like "whatever" about everything else in the song (BABY BABY) but now I think I'm leaning towards it being openly detrimental.

Even then though the rap sections aren't fantastic. I like them, but... I dunno. The lyrics are kinda dumb, for one thing; it's not rapping about searching for pieces of the Master Emerald but I think I'd almost prefer that for humor value, compared to this generic "I'm a freelancer / Do for Benjamins, but I'm not a gangster" bull****.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

70. Warblade - In-Game Music
Nominated by: JONALEON


So this is pretty interesting. I like a lot of what it does; especially like that section from 1:50 to 2:02. At the same time it doesn't overly impress me; at best it has a few sections where I stop and go "okay, that was neat". Don't have very many criticisms here, but I think part of that is because it doesn't take very many risks.


69. Mr Driller Soundtracks - Georian *Solar Eclipse Mix*
Nominated by: NioraptH


Another hard one for me to rank. I like what it does, but at the same time I really want it to be better. At around 2 minutes it's not unreasonably short but it still feels like it barely got started by the time it's over. I do like that woodwind instrument though.


68. Great Gatsby, The - Martini Rag
Nominated by: Kamekguy


That is some ****ing awesome artwork in the video there. Just sayin'. It doesn't affect the ranking at all but people need to know. ****ing awesome. Incidentally, I think that boss is about as far as I got in the game before trying to play on a keyboard got the better of me...

Oh right, I'm supposed to talk about music here... Martini Rag is a very smooth sounding chiptune, which is I guess appropriate to its name. That said, it's waaaay too short (I think a single loop is only like 30 seconds long?) and even disregarding that, all I really think about it is "oh, this is neat. ...next." No staying power, is I guess what I'm getting at.


67. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack - Warship Noah
Nominated by: Epyon


Warship Noah is legitimately pretty cool (in addition to having a cool name). It starts out sort of "whatever" but I like how it builds in intensity. That said I do feel like it's extremely repetitive. ...And that's all I have to say about this.


66. Xenoblade - Unfinished Battle
Nominated by: Orochimaru_Fan


It's called Unfinished Battle because everyone keeps running away from battle to make this song stop playing lolololo [/joke that i think i've used like four times now in reference to this song]

So Unfinished Battle. I'm not a big fan of it and I have no idea why because it's the type of music I generally like. I think part of it is that after you've heard 20 seconds of it, you've pretty much heard the entire thing... or at least I feel that way, I'm sure someone could offer a very thorough analysis of why I'm completely wrong about that. Anyway, my point is that it's... not even repetitive, just stagnant. However those 20 seconds of it are pretty cool so it ends up placing decently anyway.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Super Mario 3D Land

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Oh, cool. My AIM's "TheKenri" but I have a closed list, I think. I guess I'll unclose it. >_>

Tonight's not a good time to IM me though because I'm about to leave. Should be online tomorrow though.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

yes, it was. <_<

unless you count like Phoenix Wright or something but to me that's more of an adventure game.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

75. Super Mario 3D Land - Ghost House
Nominated by: Epyon


SM3DL is a fantastic game. That doesn't affect the ranking, I just wanted to say it because it's true.

Ghost House is like a lot of Mario music from the non-Galaxy platformers, in that it's entirely serviceable in-game but there's really not much reason to listen to it outside of the game. It sounds... nice, but at the end of the day it's not very compelling. I will say that I like it more than a lot of Mario platformer music that I'd level the same complaint against. Like, it beats Athletic, for instance.


74. Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 8 - lixaxil
Nominated by: SuperAngelo


Umineko music is really hit and miss for me. This is at least better than like Mortal Stampede, but Life it is not. It has kind of an interesting beat but I feel like that's all it has going for it, and that can't carry the piece, at least out of context. Also, this could be just me, but it sounds really... grainy or something, and that hurts it a bit too.


73. Mega Man X3 - Gravity Beetle
Nominated by: Epyon


As Epyon is possibly aware, I'm not a big fan of MMX music! In fact I generally dislike it outright! But this is completely inoffensive. It's not great, but it's not the complete cluster**** I like to characterize MMX music as usually being. I do wish it did a little more, though, because it's very one note.


72. God of War 3 - Pandora's Song
Nominated by: electricpiper


I have never understood what people like so much about Pandora's Song, though I do like it... I guess... It's really just sort of... there... for me. It doesn't do anything to make me dislike it, but it also never pops. It's just... there. And now it's here. And we are moving on.


71. Mischief Makers - Trouble Maker
Nominated by: Mega Mana


Man, I have no idea whether this is awesome or terrible, catchy or annoying. It's interesting and fairly memorable at least. I don't think at any point I'm going to be like, "oh man I have to listen to Trouble Maker again", but I have no problems with listening to it right now.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

80. We Love Katamari - Blue Orb
Nominated by: Ed Bellis


Blue Orb was possibly the single hardest nomination of all 100 of them for me to rank. Even after several listens I still haven't figured it out, and worse I don't feel like I'm any closer to figuring it out. What I can say about it is that it's completely unique, completely unlike anything else I've ever heard. That said, it's not... entirely successful. I feel like it never really goes anywhere and, as a result, is very repetitive. All I really want is one higher energy section somewhere in the middle and I feel like this could jump up 30 or more places.


79. Star Ocean 4 - Sacrificial Lamb
Nominated by: electricpiper


Sacrificial Lamb is weird. I feel like I should have a lot to say about it, but... not really. First part is completely uninteresting, the strings are cool, and then the vocals are really ehhhhhh. If it was longer it might've been able to go somewhere cool, but... then again, maybe not.


78. Jet Force Gemini - Sekhmet
Nominated by: todbot


I have... less than nothing to say about Sekhmet. I enjoy N64 music just in general; the N64's... soundchip or whatever the correct terminology is... is probably my favorite of every console with a recognizable soundchip. That said, Sekhmet is unremarkable. It's got a few cool sections (the last minute or so is interesting, for example) but overall the best thing I can say about it is that it does nothing to make me dislike it.


77. Katawa Shoujo - Parity
Nominated by: Phase


So, the good news for you is that Katawa Shoujo is one of my favorite games and I absolutely adore its soundtrack. The bad news is, and this is a rather controversial opinion, I rate Parity... quite low among the game's music. I think it's bottom 10 for me, in fact. Even among just character themes I'd take Generic Happy Music, Painful History, Ah Eh I Oh You, The Student Council, Concord, and Standing Tall over it. >_>;

I'm not even really sure why I don't like it very much. It's bouncy and playful and those aren't qualities I usually in enjoy in music, so that's part of it, but it also has some really cool parts, like 1:23 through 1:39. So it really just balances out around neutral for me.


76. Gradius III - Sandstorm
Nominated by: Ace_Killjoy


Sandstorm's... neat. That's the best word I can use for it, I think. It really only has one trick and what you hear is what you get, but that one trick is okay with me. It's one of those tracks I enjoy listening to while it's playing and then never think about again.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

85-71, or: my writeups somehow get even worse


85. Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck - Dippy the Dinosaur
Nominated by: Ed Bellis


Oh man. I am so glad this song is better than its name and the name of the game it's from; I was worried for a second there. Dippy the Dinosaur (god that name is bad) actually does a lot of things I like. For example, the section from 0:15 to 0:28 and all similar sections. However, it also does quite a lot I don't like; in particular it throws in some silly sound effects here and there that don't really serve much purpose except to annoy me and remind me I'm listening to a piece named "Dippy the Dinosaur". Ehhhh...


84. Blazing Angels - Main Theme
Nominated by: Ace_Killjoy


Is it just me or do a lot of Western-made games these days get orchestrated main themes in a style very much similar to this? It definitely seems that way and I really just sort of group them all together in my mind. I don't dislike the style, per se, it's just a lot of them sound very same-y and generic. To its credit, Blazing Angels goes in a much more somber direction than a lot of them, which differentiates it slightly, though I'm still not a huge fan of it.


83. Legend of Zelda, The - Minish Village
Nominated by: Epyon


There is so little to say about this. It's town music.

...

god what do you even want from me

Okay so. There's nothing wrong with it, really. It's just not very interesting and it can't get a pass for merely being competent. But then occasionally it does a thing I like so it does get a pass for being slightly above competent, I guess? I don't know. It's town music. what do you even want from me.


82. Final Fantasy X - Servants of the Mountain
Nominated by: KirinATW


So I'm a huge fan of FFX's soundtrack, but I've really never understood the love for this track in particular. Yeah, it's pretty good. Okay. But FFX has a lot of good music and most of it is way better than People of the North Pole (which is, for whatever it's worth, the only thing I've heard this track called until now). I like the first minute or so, but after that it shoots itself in the foot in the worst possible way -- by becoming incredibly uninteresting. I don't bust out the boring complaint very often, but it's definitely applicable to that part of Servants of the Mountain.

Anyway, moral of the story is, listen to Someday the Dream Will End instead.


81. Shadow Hearts: From The New World - Great Ghost Dance (With Icaro)
Nominated by: electricpiper


I'm really not sure what to think of Great Ghost Dance. It's really hard for me to rank. Parts of it are extremely interesting; I especially like opening and the vocals and the bowed string instrument, but then it's also incoherent and a lot of the cooler elements get drowned out by the less cool ones. And then it ends and it feels like it's only about half over. I'll just say that it's cool but has some wasted potential and move on.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

I can't say too much right now because it would spoil my later rankings, but as this thing goes on we'll probably be able to comment more on each other's lists.

I will say that I already find parts of her ranking hilarious though.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Today's rankings should be up soon; CG7 will be posting first again if all goes as planned.


I felt that, as an instrument, the vocals were very nice and inoffensive, and as I find most songwriting naturally stupid and dumbed down in order to keep a rhyme scheme, I didn't much mind it. Buuut fair enough I guess.

Someday I will meet someone who cares about lyrics in the way I do.


98 - I really like Poet and Muse. However, I also don't even listen to the lyrics. Vocals are literally just another instrument to me, so I honestly have no idea how ridiculous the words are.

someday.


I almost nominated the non-saxophone version, but I figured it was impossible for anyone to hate saxophones. >_>

I still think CG7 is just trolling in regards to that because the alternative is that it's a position she actually holds.


You've already ousted like my three favorite songs kenri. You're killing my heart ;__;

I am a very mean person.

In this ranking topic, I am (or will be) an especially mean person to about 4 or 5 people in particular. <_<

In fairness I really do feel bad about it!


(or CG7 having awesome music taste)

don't hold your breath

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

90. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Winning Road (Roy's Hope)
Nominated by: SuperAngelo


I love FE6 to death, but it really doesn't have good music, and Brawl didn't really fix that. This is a very middling track that I find myself turning against as it goes on just because I wish it would do something interesting auuuugh. It's supposed to sound heroic and all, but it's a very manufactured kind of heroic that ends up leaving me feeling... nothing at all.


89. Sengoku Rance - Rebirth the Edge
Nominated by: agesboy


...One of several pieces that ended up ranking fairly low just because I tend to prefer simpler, quieter music. >_>; For me, Rebirth the Edge just ends up being chaotic and difficult to listen to. I wish there were more sections like 2:05 through 2:13 because that would break the piece up and make it much more my speed. Also not really sure what's up with the two minutes of silence at the end? I assume that isn't supposed to be there so I didn't really factor it into the ranking.


88. RosenkreuzStilette - Last Battle
Nominated by: FL81


Yeah... This is just not doing it for me. I really don't have many criticisms of it except that it's not my kind of music at all. It has a few neat sections, but overall isn't something I want to listen to again. ...I should probably also mention that I generally don't like battle music, so it doesn't really surprise me that I'm not a big fan of this.


87. Phantasy Star II - Under
Nominated by: azuarc


Another victim of the "just sort of unexceptional" criticism. It's... okay. The kind of music that I'd hear during a game and not really think about while playing the game, and then forget about immediately after it stops playing. Which unfortunately leaves me without very much to say. <_<


86. Castle Crashers - Stage Cleared/The Race Around the World
Nominated by: SSBDarren64


What I've heard of Castle Crashers' soundtrack has been VERY hit and miss. Winterbliss? Big hit. Race Around the World? ...not so much. Even then, though, Race Around the World is, itself, kind of hit and miss. I like almost all of it, to a degree, except for that banjo(?) section, which I can't bring myself to not really hate. Part of that is that I don't think it fits with the rest of the piece, but a bigger issue is that it's just sort of obnoxious. No offense meant to banjos in general though. (Well, some offense.)




(with apologies to agesboy and FL81)

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma