Lurker > Waveshine_2001

I am not sure if I will have time to vote today if it ends today. Maybe in like 8 hours idk.

who knows
Summer Footprints
abstain

I won't have time to vote in match 1, but I do want to say that I finally found a HBR song I actually like through this contest (Solraker). I've heard HBR in previous contests and never cared for any of it until this one song. Unfortunately, it's up against another favorite of mine from Atelier, making this match tough. I thought match 3 would be an easy Summer Dawn vote, but it ended up being the one I actually abstain on. I worked my way backwards which is why I don't have time on match 1.

Wildfire
Hope is the Thing With Feathers
Samudrartha

Oh haha look at the vocal music hater voting for all vocal songs today lol
HSR music isnt anywhere near as interesting as Genshin music for me, but its still solid enough to earn my vote today.

None of my bottom 5 are out and most of my top spots already are out. At this point, Im rooting for RO2, but knowing how this has been going so far for me, I expect it to drop within the next 3.

Also, I swear Im not purposely trying to be contrarian lol
It just so happens that everything I ranked super low hasnt showed up and probably wont show up for a while and everything I ranked super high has mostly showed up already. I expect my entire top 5 to drop before we reach 17th place, and even thats being a bit generous.

When I said my ranking was the most different from the majority in vgmc, I wasnt kidding. Seems that trend continues but to an even greater extreme this time around. At least in the vgmc ranking, my 3rd place was the same and my 2nd place was 1st place despite all my other polar opposite differences from the majority.

I should give myself a nickname at this point. Casual Contrarian works, perhaps? Im otherwise a casual music listener who just so happens to have a lot of opposing opinions to most other people I come across in regard to music.

The only ranking where I expect to generally agree with the majority to any notable degree is the Supradarkys winners ranking which hasnt happened yet. Thats also an entirely different community where my opinions there, while still quite different, are much more close to the average opinion than they are here.

Sheep007 posted...

Nah, I'm not offended or anything, don't stress that. I'm moreso glad to be validated in that other people generally agreed with my taste and thoughts, rather than thinking "oh yeah, I'm glad this shitty album is gone now".

I also think this is a lil different to some VGM contests here, partially because we all vote for what's getting listened to. I'd feel a bit crappy if a song I picked for a contest was getting dunked on. But if people don't like Mitski or King Crimson here (or any of the albums that weren't my choice but I liked), well, y'all voted for it, you knew what you were getting into (this also applies to me realising I don't like Enya after voting for her album). And everything I have listened to for this series is a worthwhile experience as opposed to being bad. I'm just I suppose glad that people got more out of the albums I also got more out of.

alright, Im sorry for misinterpreting you. Admittedly, Im used to seeing people in contest say stuff like thank god this song is out. Worst outcome avoided or somewhere along those lines, so I think I jumped to that assumption when I saw your comment. Its the biggest pet peeve of mine in contests when people do stuff like that.

Won't be nominating but will try vote and stick around. I was pretty happy with last year's results! Both the snubs winner (Nostalgia Op. 3) and the main winner (Harvestella) were among my favorite discoveries. Plus, Genshin did notably well in BOST 2022 too, placing either 3rd or 4th in the main contest!

Sheep007 posted...

Three good elims so far!

lol I hate that wording, but I also tend to be very sensitive towards the idea of celebrating songs being out early (coming from someone who participates in a lot of song contests). Im ok with celebrating songs winning or being sad about songs losing, but celebrating something doing poorly feels like crossing a line imo. Its just rubbing salt into the wound imo. But I dont want to tell you what you can and cant say. Id just really appreciate it personally if you dont call something doing poorly a good thing. Sorry if what I said offended you.

Anyways, my current prediction for #1 is either Led Zeppelin or To Pimp A Butterfly. The latter, to my understanding, is one of the most critically acclaimed albums ever, so Id be surprised if it isnt in the top 5 at least.

Mega_Mana posted...

Wave's write-up does A Day Without Rain good service. It does feel nice and ethereal and gives off that good Pure Moods collection vibe.

Aw thanks! Maybe its the 2000s kid nostalgia in me, but I really enjoyed that album. Yeah, its probably the nostalgia. Im nostalgia biased (as with most things I rank high).

I plan on hopefully doing a vgmc second placers ranking sometime maybe next year? I wonder if Ill still wind up the most different from the average ranking then.

Fluttershy_Pony posted...

Oof. Always hurts to see someone lose their favorite, especially so early. Afraid I didn't have much reaction to this one though... it was like "this is fine, but not really for me".

lol you still think youre the most different from the other rankers?
I think youll take that statement back soon hehe

But anyways, its fine. A bit disappointing, but Ive already accepted that my tastes are wildly different from the average person here after I learned b8ers didnt take too kindly to symphonic music. And then after that, the vgmc winners ranking happen, and we all know how that turned out for me lol

Speaking of the vgmc winners ranking, my #1 was 10th of 16 songs. Not as bad, but according to the stats, I was still the most different from the overall ranking. So if I was the most different back then while my favorite still beat 6 songs, then I cant imagine this ranking would be any different.

I remember in the vgmc winners ranking, I ended up being the person whose ranking differed the absolute most from the overall ranking (iirc). I wonder if this time will be the same?

Savior was mid-tier to me so this isnt really an indicator either way yet. I will say, though, Hope (from the vgmc ranking) was exactly mid-tier to me (8th out of 16), and it ended up placing last. So this is the second ranking in a row where the one I place exactly in the middle ends up dead last. Funny how that happened.

phew, sorry. I was really busy. I'm almost done with the top 25.

Okay, I'm gonna try send my list later tonight sometime after my (long-ish) meeting. Sorry for the wait!

Just a reminder, I will still need at least another day to make the top 25 fyi. Thanks!

@Seanchan

So because GameFAQS is old af, it didn't allow me to send you part 3 of my ranking + commentary until you were able to read at least one of my messages first. Because I don't know when exactly you're going to get to my first two parts and if I'll have time to immediately send you my top 3 after you check them, I guess I have no choice but to post my top 3 with commentary publicly here. I'll put it in spoilers so others don't try and read it (they will read it anyways because of course they will, but I tried...). I apologize for the delay and complications!

Here is the third and final part of my long-winded album + commentary countdown ranking, featuring my top 3:

3. Ragnarok Online II - I was first introduced to this OST through Supra's Best VGM List Contest where someone nominated "Din Don Dan Dan." "Din Don Dan Dan" ended up mid-tier for me where I placed it 18th out of 38 songs. I've since grown to enjoy it significantly more since that contest. Ever since then, this OST has shown up in a variety of video game music contests I've participated in, and, even if it has a couple of songs I didn't vibe with (especially "Pub"), I've grown to largely really enjoy it. I've always enjoyed Celtic/Celtic-inspired music, and this OST ended up being no exception.

I'd like to point out that parts of the melody in "Church" sounds like "The Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera. I wonder if that was intentional?

Speaking of individual songs, "Castanets" is my absolute favorite from this OST and one of my all-time favorite songs from video games, so it's a real shame it isn't even on the "official" OST. Oh well, I still really enjoyed what was on this OST.

Anyways, getting back to the overall album, I knew I was probably going to enjoy the "full" (in quotes because I know this isn't a comprehensive collection of all the songs from this OST) soundtrack even going into this, but I didn't expect to enjoy it this much. Even the vocal parts I previously didn't enjoy back then have kind of grown on me as they remind me of NieR vocals (which I generally like). Overall, this is a pretty consistently incredible album. I would not be surprised if, given enough time and several more listens, it became a top 10 video game soundtrack for me.

2. ABBA - Arrival: Definitely one of my favorite albums from this list. There's not a single song I dislike here, and even my least favorites are still pretty decent at the bare minimum.

"Dancing Queen" in particular is a childhood favorite of mine. I remember as a kid, my family attended a family friend's wedding, and there was a dance stage with a DJ there as well. Shortly after the adults decided to take a break from dancing, this song played. I immediately ran to the dance floor and started dancing for the entire song. Even though I was nowhere near the age of 17 yet, the DJ announced, "Looks like we have our dancing queen! [referring to me]". Definitely among my favorite childhood memories.

1. Enya - A Day Without Rain: This album feels very surreal in the best way possible. Listening to it makes me feel as if I'm in between heaven and earth, between life and death. The slow, repeated instrumentation and vocals just feels so otherworldly. This is honestly such a great album with no misses.

"Only Time" in particular is an all-timer (no pun intended) for me. I also love how the music video for this song showcases Enya walking through stunningly gorgeous sceneries of the four seasons in order, perfectly encapsulating the feeling of time passing and the idea of life being beautiful and diverse yet ever-fleeting. This is the kind of song I want played at my funeral.

Fluttershy_Pony posted...

Presuming the YouTube playlist to be accurate, the full soundtrack is 101 songs & over four hours long, so a lot had to be cut to get it onto a physical album. Though if you meant that question more as "why were these the few songs selected for the album", I'm afraid I don't have any information or guesses on that end.

For the purposes of this album ranking, I'm somewhat glad I only had to consider the 20 songs listed here since it makes my job easier and much quicker. On the other hand, that's quite disappointing that so many songs were cut out, especially the one song that happens to be my absolute favorite from the OST from what I've heard.

A little unrelated to the ranking itself, but I'm looking through the RO2 OST (the last album I will get to), and where is "Castanets?" That was my favorite song from that soundtrack by quite a lot! A shame it's not on the OST list for some reason. It would've been 3rd place in my top 25 pretty easily (as stated before, I'm turning in my top 25 at least a day or two late if possible). I don't know why it's not listed here, but I'm guessing that it was not a piece that played in the game itself. Still disappointing regardless.

I have dmed you my tentative ranking of the albums I did go through in case I run out of time and forget to submit my full list later (since it was 15 albums minimum). I will dm you again with the complete list once I finish (I have 3 albums left).

Seanchan posted...

Allllllright! Finished my listens and got my Songs of the Cycle all sorted out.

Got all the data entered for the 6 who have submitted: me, FoolFantastic, Johnbobb, Mega_Mana, Sheep007, and Fluttershy_Pony.

Paging a reminder to @MaxGalactica, @rwlh, @Waveshine_2001, @Bitto, @PunishedJeezy . Not sure all of you plan on participating but I know a few certainly do.

Hey, thanks for the reminder. Would it be okay for me to ask for at least a day or so extension on the 25 song ranking? I think I can finish the album ranking in time, but I'm not sure if I can finish ranking my top 25 with the current allotted time. Thanks in advance.

Seanchan posted...

If you'd like to participate, all you have to do is listen to and rank the albums above, then send me a PM with that ranked list by September 12th (6 weeks from now). Any narratives accompanying your rankings are also greatly appreciated but entirely optional.

How strict are you on the exact timing of our submission? For example, if I submit mines at 3am Sept 13, will you not count it? Also, what time zone are you in?

Eevee. depends on the level. I might be okay.

I still hope to post some vgmc-related rankings here later on if I have the time. I am, however, short on time nowadays.

whoa, I'll attempt this, but this looks like a lot. I'm not sure if I'll finish or not.

Kenri posted...

It was a little fun I guess? It was definitely nice having meals and meds brought to me so I didn't need to spend mental energy worrying about that stuff. That said I'm not hoping to end up back in the hospital anytime soon.

That's good to know it wasn't all bad just like my experience. Hope you still get better soon though.

This is a super tough one! My cliche answer is that my fave vg song is I Am the Wind, the slightly s***ty R&B credits song from Symphony of the Night. Total nostalgia pick. But I really like some (arguably) higher quality stuff too: Black Rose from Eternal Darkness, Conversation 1 from Fire Emblem 4, Begin Again and Mine from Sayonara Wild Hearts, Cynthia's piano theme from Pokmon Diamond/Pearl, and Buoy Base Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy. Fave OSTs gotta include The World Ends With You, Cassette Beasts, Ollie King, and uhh definitely others I'm forgetting!

OOOH I love SOTN! I am the Wind is great! I think some of my other favorites from SOTN are Wood Carving Partita, Dance of Pales, Wandering Ghosts, and Rainbow Cemetery.
I also LOOOOOOOOOVE the Super Mario Galaxy ost so it's pretty cool to hear you do too! Also, a Cassette Beasts song (Your Inception) just won in a video game music contest I was participating in somewhat recently. It's a good song!

Chocolate! Though I'd take a good vanilla over a bad chocolate. But I love a nice dark chocolate ice cream or a spicy hot chocolate or a lot of generic chocolate candy bars like Twix and Reese's.

To me it depends on my mood. I think I slightly prefer chocolate on most days too, however.

Thanks for responding, and get well soon!

Staff Roll

Probably won't have time for the others, oh well.

BTW if you're curious why Staff Roll is against Blue Sanctuary, here is the reason:
They had the same exact run. They both lost round 1 to a song that made exactly round 5, and then they made exactly round 5 the very next year.

staff roll lost to different world in round 1, the latter of which made it to round 5. Then staff roll made it to exactly round 5 itself a year later.

blue sanc lost to dancing mad in round 1, the latter of which made it to round 5. Then blue sanc made it to exactly round 5 itself a year later.

Match 1:
Easy Mechonis vote. Back in Time really out here reminding me how much I prefer Can You Feel the Sunshine? to it. If the latter was here instead, I'd probably still vote Mechonis, but it would be a lot closer. With that being said, however, Back in Time is still a fun song.

Also, I know deo didn't feel like mentioning it, but I personally feel it's worth noting that I think Mechonis is our first Nintendo winner, and that came a year after what I'm pretty sure is our first SEGA winner (referring to Back in Time). So this match is literally the 90s SEGA vs Nintendo rivalry lol (yes, Mario being here would've been more fitting, but oh well).

Match 2:
I supported both versions of Mechonis (the second being unofficial for me though) at some point, so I actually like them around the same. Abstaining.

Match 3:
Aka needs more recognition because WOW is its ost incredible. Desert-Duo is easily my least favorite here, and it's still great. As someone who nominated both Suna Gin and Castle of Sand, however, the former is literally a top 10 vgm of all time for me, and the latter is probably top 100-200 overall for me. I'll be giving a point to each of them.

I'd also like to personally thank dowolf for introducing me to this ost through his Aka nomination in BOST 6!

Suna Gin >>>>>>> Castle of Sand >> Mechonis (both versions; I'm abstaining) >> Desert-Duo >= Back in Time

VOTES:
Mechonis Field
abstain
+ Suna no Shiro -The Castle of Sand-
+ Suna Gin

Party sans

sorry no blue desserts at the hotel for me ;-; (its close though)

Suna no Shiro -The Castle of Sand-

pretty good finals overall

Let's Go, Mt. Corel!
8:00 (Kind Lady (Funk Disco Extended Mix))
Moai (Nazca no Oka (Long Version))

Party sans
blue desserts at the hotel

5._Opoona - "Blue Desert Hotel" - 7.6/10
I never thought this piece had the potential to retire, but I'm glad I was wrong. The oboe melody with the beautiful instrumentation in the background is lovely. Very delightful to listen to. This would be a favorite discovery if I didn't already know this piece.
Pokemon type: Ground

6.* Path of the Abyss - "Warcry" - 7.5/10 This goes really hard! The melody really makes it stand out in particular. It gives off vague Middle Eastern vibes to me for some reason, which is basically always a plus. Glad to see yet another favorite discovery go far in the contest.
Pokemon type: Fighting

Good
7._Mad Rat Dead - "MAD LAST WORLD" - 7.4/10
This was definitely my least favorite of all my nominations and supports this year, but similar to what I said about being the least favorite of my favorite discoveries, a support is still a support. Glad to see it made it this far. The sax is absolute killer in this piece.
Pokemon type: Normal/dark (think Alolan rattata basically)

8._* Noctuary - "Chromesthesia" - 7.3/10
This grew on me over the course of the contest, eventually barely making the ranks of my favorite discoveries. Synths are very cool.
Pokemon type: Psychic

9._* Aurora Memoria - Philosophical Data Session: 2093 - "Softbank" - 7.3/10
The synths here are so cool! It is second to last on my favorite discovery list, just barely above "Prowler." As I said before, however, a favorite discovery is still a favorite discovery.
Pokemon type: Steel?

10._* jubeat beyond the Ave. - "Prowler" - 7.3/10
The very beginning of the piece sounds like a faster version of the very beginning of "More Than a Feeling" by Boston, which is one of my favorite rock songs of all time. That's honestly pretty cool. The rest of the piece sounds like a nice fusion song. It's my least favorite of my favorite discoveries from this contest but hey - a favorite discovery is a favorite discovery.
Pokemon type: Fighting

11._Let's Tap - "Tap de Papapaya (Long Version)" - 7.1/10
This is a very goofy and fun song that I honestly can't take too seriously because the text-to-speech "Let's tap" just cracks me up every time. It's a very entertaining song that I like largely ironically (but also somewhat unironically).
Pokemon type: Normal

12._Missing-X-Link ~Ten no Yurikago, Togi no Hana~ - "The Blue Sanctuary" - 7/10
This was one of my least favorite songs in vgmc 17, but now it's in the upper 1/3 of the ENTIRE vgmc 18 bracket for me! I've voted for it in several matches this year already. Guess this song was quite the acquired taste. Also, I'd like to point out that this song had a true "Mario 64 Staff Roll" run: it lost round 1 to a song that made round 5, and then it made round 5 the very next year. Funny how that happened. I'm glad it came back if only for me to give it a much-needed second chance and have it grow on me this much.
Pokemon type: psychic, maybe ghost as well I dunno sanctuaries can be haunted sometimes.

Decent
13._The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - "The Merciless Savior" - 6.5/10 I've definitely heard much better from Falcom (like "Genesis Beyond the Beginning"), but it's nice for what it is. The synths and choir really bring this song up from "just okay" to "pretty decent, actually."
Pokemon type: Fighting/dark (fighting for the savior, dark for the merciless)

14._Unicorn Overlord - "Farde Mal Diavolo -Destroy Evil, then Come-" - 6.5/10 Not a fan of those vocals, but the castanets are super cool!
Pokemon type: Fighting (because it's about destroying evil/dark and fighting beats dark)

15._Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception - "Nuedori" - 6/10 Instrumentation is great even if I can't get behind the melody.
Pokemon type: not sure. I'm just going to default to normal type I guess.

Lukewarm/very mixed on it
(nothing)

Don't like it, sorry
16._pop'n music peace - "Crumble Soul (Extended Mix)" - 4.5/10 Vocals really bring it down for me. The distorted flutes are cool, though.
Pokemon type: Ghost

Thanks! I hate it!
(nothing! Yay!)

NOTE:

1. a single asterisk * indicates a favorite discovery from the contest
2. a double asterisk ** indicates a partial favorite discovery from the contest

partial favorite discoveries are songs that I either discovered right before the contest in pre-nomination phase, knew about their existence but didn't listen to the whole thing until this contest, or are rediscoveries (songs I once knew but have forgotten about until this contest reminded me of their existence)

Hbthebattle posted...

A lot of Ground types have low Special Defense, and Fairy types are normally special attackers. Type advantages aren't the be-all, end-all, y'know.

geeee I was JUST gonna post Pokemon types for all the songs alongside my ranking, and I see this! I can't think of any Pokemon type for Nuedori though...It's really funny how we're talking about Pokemon types in relation to Fairytale Poison when I literally discovered Fairytale Poison through making a Pokemon types vgm hypothetical finals list (I already shared the story here earlier I think).

Pokemon types do come through sometimes though! Grass beat Water in the VGMC 16 finals after all.

Oh well, here we go. Ranking + commentary + Pokemon types (I have to split this message up because it's too long):

I am deeply in love with this piece <3
(none. Oh well! I only had like 5 in the entire contest and pre-noms that reached this far up anyways)

Amazing!!

1. [-Aka-] - "Suna no Shiro -The Castle of Sand" - 8.75/10 Deciding between this and Fairytale was hard, but I feel like I enjoy Castle marginally better. The melody, the vibrant instrumentation, and the vocal harmonies are incredible here. It's no Suna Gin, sure, but then again, what is? Still a banger through and through. Pokemon type: Ground/ghost
2. Murasaki Tsurugi - "Fairytale Poison and Solitude" - 8.5/10 I was OBSESSED with this song a little under a year ago. I discovered this song thanks to my "hypothetical Pokemon types finals" where I predicted this song would win a "poison-type" vgm contest after finding it in the VGMC archives. I cooled off on it a bit, but I still enjoy it a lot. Pokemon type: Fairy/poison
3. Enthusia Professional Racing - "Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite" - 8.5/10 I had listened to half of this song a year and a half or so ago, but I totally regret not staying for the full thing! This is incredible! Easily my favorite partial discovery. I love the part where the vocals rise to the..climax? Not sure what to call it, but it gives me the chills. I could easily see this growing on me even more in the future. Pokemon type: Steel/ground

Great!
4._Xenoblade Chronicles - "Mechonis Field" - 7.9/10
Ah, yes, my one and only "phantom support!" I had already supported its remake version in the past, and I was going to support this song the moment I realized it had been nominated, but it actually ended up locking before I officially got to it! Still, I'm kinda counting it as a "support" anyways since the intention to support it was absolutely there. The percussion combined with those amazing synths make for a very unique piece.
Pokemon type: Steel

party sans
blue desserts at the hotel!

I had to stay overnight at the hospital before when I broke my arm as a kid. I had to get surgery because my bone was displaced. As scary as it was at some points, it was honestly oddly fun? I can't exactly explain why but the unusual environment was exciting to me. I just felt like sharing that.

I hope you have a speedy recovery!

Anyways, with that being said, I have some questions:

1. Did you find the hospital fun at all like I did? Or was it just a total pain?
2. What's your favorite video game song and what's your favorite video game OST?
3. Chocolate or vanilla and why?

Suna no Shiro -The Castle of Sand-

Fairytale gonna win here, and while I wish I could vote for it, I feel like Suna marginally edges it out for me here. Happy to see that two of my songs made it this far though!

Blue Desserts at the Hotel. Tasty!
Hall of Concerts

Mechonis Field

Fairytale Poison and Solitude
Suna no Shiro -The Castle of Sand-

Sorry, MLW ;-;
Match 1 is a little painful because it's support vs support. Unfortunately, I actually still have a clear preference, but I won't complain if MLW wins of course.

Party sans

maybe will do match 2 later if I get the time. Maybe not.

At Intelligent Sea
At Tokione

Both matches are quite close (especially match 2, which I took forever trying to decide on). I like how match 1 is just sea vs. sea.

Suna no Shiro -The Castle of Sand-

If I like the story but not the gameplay, I might drop it and watch a walkthrough or let's play instead.

Dragon eevee could be called, "draceon" maybe?

SpoinkRulezz posted...

Ghost.

Phanteon.

LOL I had the exact same name idea.

Cathedral
Breath of the Earth

Mechonis Field

MaxGalactica posted...

Dark Force
Concert Hall

It's probably intentional, although the interpolation is a lot more apparent than you're saying. It's basically throughout the song.

Oh that's pretty interesting. I do realize it's throughout the song, but I wanted to just point out the first instance where I recognized it.