Lurker > loweffortmemes

YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World - Different World 1
Xenoblade Chronicles X - THEMEX
The Blackwell Convergence - I Can See Into Forever

I Can See Into Forever > Different World 1 > 46-:ri9 > THEMEX > JFK Cadence > Terra

Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - Mimic
Chicory: A Colorful Tale - Supper Woods

Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke > Mimic > -(PHENYLALANINE)- > Supper Woods > Atolm Dragon > PowerOne

Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
Guilty Gear -Strive- - Necessary Discrepancy
The Blackwell Convergence - I Can See Into Forever

Passing through the Forest > I Can See Into Forever > Necessary Discrepancy > 46-:ri9 > Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope > memoryfactory.lzh

Gran Turismo 5 - Night birds
pop'n music 10 - Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - The Glittering City of Yusnaan

The Glittering City of Yusnaan > Atlantic Spotted Dolphin > Emmental Catalepsy > Night birds > Time Moves Slow (Home) > An Endless Desert

Donut Dodo - Dodo's Lair
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland - The Wind's Blooming Mountain
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Ancient Makes

The Wind's Blooming Mountain > Ancient Makes > The Dragon's Feed is the People = Dodo's Lair > IroniA > human's figure

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Dreams in a Pie
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Kaze no Ne

Blue Reflection: Second Light - World's End
Sonic Runners - End of the Summer

MATCH 2(?)

Suite Photoconductivity unfortunately sandwiches the part I do like in between less good parts. Third Tune is pretty cool and is really the main part of the song that I enjoy. It's much more appealing to me melodically than the other parts, which don't stand out much to me. Though as a whole, I will say that it has the benefit of not doing anything that I actively dislike, unlike some other Darius songs that have been in the contest before. Well, Fifth Tune starts to approach that territory, but it's not too bad.

World's End is sadly underwhelming for a Blue Reflection song. The piano is nice, but I feel like it doesn't really do anything all that interesting to me. Plus those static-y interruptions towards the beginning of the song are a bit annoying. Though I like the callback to the motif used in the first Blue Reflection songs at 2:32. Still, I like World's End more than Suite Photoconductivity as a whole. It would be a lot closer, though, if it was up against only Third Tune.

MATCH 3

The Grand Finale is decent, but I've always felt like this song was kind of middle-of-the-road.

End of the Summer is so good! Another really great discovery this year from the contest. Honestly, I'd go as far as to say that this is now my favorite Sonic song. I love all the bright and happy emotions this song carries. Especially 1:25-1:59! Love that guitar melody and how the minor chord at 1:29/1:30 colors some of the emotion in that part. I really like that this is the last song in the bracket because it feels like a song to send off a fun adventure.

End of the Summer >> World's End = The Grand Finale > Suite Photoconductivity

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -[PROTEASE]-
DJMAX RESPECT V - Misty Er'a

MATCH 1

Protease is pretty solid. I'd say it's a step above Deoxyribose, but still beaten out by Isoleucine. In other words, it's good but not great like some of the other 13 Sentinels songs I've heard through this contest.

prime #4507 isn't bad either. It doesn't really have much that stands out to me though. It's a lot of nice, classical sounding parts, none of which are especially better than the others. Protease is more of a standout song here, so it gets my vote.

MATCH 2

Misty Er'a is pretty nice with its vocals, and the other instruments work decently well in combination.

Supraspatial has a cool funky melody going on, but I feel like it gets drowned out by all the distortion effects going on in the song.

-[PROTEASE]- > Misty Er'a > Supraspatial > prime #4507

Xenoblade Chronicles X - Wir fliegen
Secret of Mana (2018) - Prophecy
Drakengard 3 - The Final Song

MATCH 1

Terminal Velocity (Act 1) is very cool! I really like all the bright, vibrant melodies here. Sonic Colors songs seem to have a lot of that in its music, which is really nice. "Terminal velocity" also describes the pacing of this song well because listening to this makes me feel like I'm running at Mach speed. Kind of like Sonic, I guess!

Wir fliegen is one of several top-tier Xenoblade X songs in my book. The vocals are great, and that thumping percussion from 1:00 onwards really helps drive this song. But the whole thing is great! Very strong match, but I have to go for Wir fliegen here.

MATCH 2

The 2018 remake of Secret of Mana had some hits and quite a few misses in its soundtrack, but the biggest hit of all with this remake was easily for me the remake of Prophecy. This song is such a great example of how much good instrumentation can carry a song to a top score in my eyes. The way the lead instrument in the flute is brought out in the remake versus the original SNES instrumentation is a huge difference for me. Not that I don't like the SNES version of this song because I do, but the live instrument sound is so much more preferable for me. But the flute isn't the only thing that makes this song so great to me; all the instruments like the drums and guitar that you don't hear any resemblance to in the original song create a lot of depth to this song that I very much enjoy. This is definitely my favorite song to come out of Secret of Mana, both the original and the remake! I'm very happy to finally see it in the contest this year.

I like the metal part more than the prog part when it comes to The Face of the Deep's prog metal style. It's easy to jam out to the drums, and the melody isn't bad or anything, but it's not really the kind of song I'd listen to. Like melodically, it's a bit outside of my tastes and I'm not totally feeling the saxophone in this song, though I definitely understand the appeal of it.

MATCH 3

I love all the heavy, guitar-driven boss songs in Drakengard 3, but The Final Song is a super good song from this game too! Emi Evans' vocals are once again on point, and the way it cycles through the different intoner themes with the instruments and tempo changes is all really cool to me!

Staff Roll is kind of meh. I don't really care for how it cycles through such different sounding parts that all feel like they should be their own standalone song. Some of them seem like they could be good if there was a "full version" of them, but others are less good.

Prophecy > The Final Song = Wir fliegen > Terminal Velocity (Act 1) >> The Face of the Deep > Staff Roll

Such a strong top 4 today! I'd be happy with any of them retiring.

Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - U.N. Owen Was Her?
Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy
Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit

MATCH 1

Fetus of God is decent. I feel like I'd find 0:37 more interesting if it sounded a bit different, but something about it in this song feels kind of overbearing to me. The brief switch to 3/4 time at 0:57 and the organs during that part are pretty cool though and a welcome change.

U.N. Owen Was Her? is a very solid Touhou song! It's actually technically the first Touhou song I ever listened to before I even knew what Touhou was. There are a lot more Touhou songs that I like more, but this one's still pretty good and an easy choice here.

MATCH 2

I've always remembered Gusty Garden Galaxy as a song that stood out in the game. It's just a nice, pleasant song all around. Really feels like you're running off to go on an adventure.

Not really a fan of Rock Castle. A lot of the chords in this song feel sort of like a sensory overload. A lot of things happening at once but lacking the consonance that I typically like. Of course, I'm sure that's part of the appeal in some way for those who like this song, so this is just one of those songs that isn't for me.

MATCH 3

Shard just kind of feels like it's there, to be honest. Nothing overtly positive or negative that I can say about it, but I guess that itself is kind of a negative.

I don't find myself getting all that into Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit either, but there are some parts like 4:19 where I get a little bit interested in the song.

U.N. Owen Was Her? > Gusty Garden Galaxy > Fetus of God > Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit > Shard > Rock Castle

GuitarFreaks V4 & DrumMania V4 ockRock - RVOLUTIN (Full Version)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - The Merciless Savior
Code: Realize Guardian of Rebirth - floatable

MATCH 1

The Lost City is easily my favorite Alto's Odyssey song in the contest! An Endless Desert was okay, and Spirit of the Mountain was a bit better, but The Lost City is a huge step above the other two songs! There are a lot of great melodies throughout the song, and the vocals are the icing on the cake. Good song all throughout!

It's funny how when I was listening to the crowdsource lists' songs and marking them based on my likelihood of supporting them, I listed Revolution as a "strong maybe," but despite my slight equivocation, I not only supported it, it also became one of my favorite discoveries in the contest this year. I just absolutely love j-rock like this. It's so infectiously catchy and really ticks all the boxes for me. Great vocals, great guitar, great drums, great everything! Please give me more "hyper j-rock." I love everything hyper j-rock. From BWLAUTE BEIRRD last year to Revolution this year, it's clear that I'm all for the woahs.

MATCH 2

Merciless Savior is still as great as ever! Such a powerful song, especially with the violin melody. 7 minutes goes by so fast when listening to this song because how much I get sucked into it. Amazing that I had to make one of Merciless Savior or Revolution lose in round 4 of my favorites bracket because that's a championship-worthy match right there. Really goes to show you how strong the right side of Bracket D is for me.

White Palace is pretty nice. Sounds a bit like Moonlight Sonata with the feel of a Hollow Knight song.

MATCH 3

Floatable is another really cool discovery! The vocals are really nice, and the instruments all work really well with one another. The chorus is especially great too!

Will Force is another solid Yasui song that I like for similar reasons as many of his other songs. I wish I didn't have to vote against this song because it's pretty good, but Floatable is just too good to pass up here.

RVOLUTIN (Full Version) > The Merciless Savior > floatable > Will Force > The Lost City > White Palace

Very strong day today!

Little Busters! - Ring Ring Ring!
Karmaflow: The Rock Opera Videogame - The Creator and the Destroyer
Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow

MATCH 1

Hooray! My mistake from last year has been corrected and this is now in the contest! Ring Ring Ring is one of my favorite character themes from Little Busters along with Melancholy of a Noisy Girl. I love its bright and upbeat melody and rhythm. It definitely stands out above some of the other "sugary" themes like Magic Ensemble and Exotic Toybox. I think it's the song's rhythm because here, it's like jumping out of bed and going for run whereas the other two I mentioned are more like a steady march. My favorite song in the game is by far the OP, but Ring Ring Ring is a very good song as well, and I'm happy to see it in this year!

Attack of the Killer Queen is pretty nice as well! Not much to say here, just that it has a good melody.

MATCH 2

I'm not really a fan of MI09: Angel's melodic progression, unfortunately. 2:53 to the end is decent though. From my memory, I liked the other song from this game in the contest more.

I had to do a double take while listening to The Creator and the Destroyer when I saw Epica and Cradle of Filth in the description. I don't know the bands' music super well, but I definitely know of them from being a metal fan, so it was a surprise to see them represented in a video game song! That said, it's sadly underwhelming for a song that boasts two symphonic metal musicians featured in it. Starting with the vocals, I like Simone Simons' voice, but I've never been a fan of Dani Filth's. In fact, his vocals are the very reason I could never get into Cradle of Filth songs even when I like the underlying instrumental. Melodically, I think it leaves a lot to be desired as well. Some of it is good, particularly when the guitar is more front and center, but other parts like 6:15 are not really my thing. As far as symphonic metal goes, I'm a huge fan of Dimmu Borgir and would give that as an example of the kind of symphonic metal I really enjoy. In fact, their album Spiritual Black Dimensions is probably my favorite metal album ever. But yeah, The Creator and the Destroyer unfortunately falls very short of something like that.

Ring Ring Ring! > Attack of the Killer Queen > Dance With the Shadow > The Creator and the Destroyer = Flow > MI09: Angel

Punishing: Gray Raven - NARWHAL
Lost Judgment - Unwavering Belief
Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge - Gambit

MATCH 1

Narwhal is pretty decent. I don't think what it does is my kind of thing, but I can certainly appreciate it!

NARWHAL has some nice melody and vocals going on. I like it the most once the trance part starts at 1:32. Plus, the song name is louder, which means it's better.

MATCH 2

For some reason, 0:12 of Desert Dunes reminds me of The Big Ride from last year's contest, which was also a kaonashi upload (and probably nomination/support too). Unfortunately, I don't like Desert Dunes as much as The Big Ride, but it's still a decent song.

Unwavering Belief has some cool vocals and violins, but there are a few things holding it back. There are a few parts I don't like a whole lot, such as the very dubstep part at 0:59, as well as 4:37. I also feel like I want some kind of peak or climax to the song that stands out among the other parts of the song, which I don't personally experience here. But that said, it's a cool song overall!

MATCH 3

Breaking Pandora isn't very interesting to me. The repeating melody in this song isn't bad, but it's just kind of meh.

I've always really enjoyed the Follin brothers' music. Gambit isn't as good as many other songs from them, but it's still a pretty good song! It has some elements of those lush chords that I like from some of their songs, which is what I like the most about Gambit, though there isn't as much of it as something like 0:49 of Briefing (https://youtu.be/nqnaE-MeGqo?t=49). There are also better melodic lines in other songs like Plok - Beach, but again, Gambit is still a good song either way, and it easily beats its opponent here.

NARWHAL > Unwavering Belief = Gambit > Desert Dunes (Desert) > Narwhal > Breaking Pandora

Not entirely sure what order I'd rank the middle four songs in. They're all fairly close to each other.

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner - Beyond the Bounds
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Theme of D4
Control - Take Control

MATCH 1

Not a fan of Shadoubt Shaps. It's just pretty opposite of what I usually like in music.

I still haven't warmed up at all towards Beyond the Bounds. It's a song that feels like it should be something I like a lot, but I find it a bit underwhelming. I'm probably rehashing what I said about this last year, but parts like 1:45 are nice, but I don't care a whole lot for the chanting-like vocals. And 0:39 just sounds a bit silly to me. But even so, it's a good song and it's the clear choice in this match. Not only that, but I'd take it over half the songs up today as well.

MATCH 2

Theme of D4 has that nice ending theme kind of sound where the credits roll after a happy and/or triumphant conclusion. Pretty nice song!

The Game is Afoot is decent, but nothing special to me. I feel like I've had a similar reaction to other Great Ace Attorney Chronicles songs as well.

MATCH 3

The vocals are a really nice part of the Yoru part of The Gate of the World. Sailing feels more empty without the vocals in Yoru, unfortunately.

Take Control is a really cool song! Not a whole lot to say about it, it's just good metal. I probably wouldn't be able to send this to retirement in any other part of the bracket, so it's cool that I get the opportunity to send it to retirement in my favorites bracket here.

Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late - Beat Eat Nest
Crackle Cradle - Intuition & empty brass

MATCH 1

Flow is pretty cool, though I find myself liking it a bit less today than I feel like I have in the past. Funny enough, despite me talking a lot about liking layered instruments, I think this is the first song in the contest where that's a clear element of the song but I don't end up liking the song as much. I guess just melodically, it's decent, but not exactly something I look for. I find myself liking the song the most when that melody at 1:30 comes in.

Dance With the Shadow is another song where I feel like I don't like it as much as I would a similar song, but it's still pretty good! The vocals are pretty nice. But like with Flow, I find myself wanting more out of this song melodically. Still, it's a pretty clear pick here.

MATCH 2

I like the intro of Variations on a Ra Melody the most! The arps really help carry the mood there. The rest of the song is cool too, but it doesn't ever reach that peak in the intro for me.

Beat Eat Nest is a pretty good song! I like the melody overall with the guitar and piano. It's no Blood Drain -Again-, but it's a solid song with no real flaws I can point out.

MATCH 3

Tree of Life: Roots is a nice song, but it doesn't stand out a whole lot to me. I can appreciate the more powerful melody at 0:56, but even then, I don't feel all that enthused listening to it, unfortunately.

I really enjoy Intuition & empty brass! The percussion really gets the blood pumping, and the melody is some good stuff as well! Very fun and catchy song to listen to.

Intuition & empty brass > Beat Eat Nest > Dance With the Shadow > Variations on a Ra Melody > Tree of Life: Roots = Flow

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest - Battle 2
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth - Contrattacco - Emotional Overload
Tsugunai: Atonement - Battle with the Devil

MATCH 1

Healthy Unicorn Girl is okay. I don't mind listening to it, but there isn't really anything about it that stands out to me.

Battle 2 is a pretty solid battle theme. Good melody and energy to it. Not the best, but nothing to complain about either.

MATCH 2

My feelings on Wicked Child are similar to my feelings on Healthy Unicorn Girl. With this match in particular, I'd take any of my favorite NES era Castlevania songs like Bloody Tears or Aquarius over Wicked Child's opponent. The melody in Wicked Child doesn't stand out to me very much, but I feel like I'd want the instruments to sound different as well. Like a different duty cycle or something. To give a comparison, I have a preference for how the instruments in the Famicom version of Castlevania 3 sound (though I understand that the addition of the VRC6 probably contributes significantly to that).

Emotional Overload isn't really all that special to me either. The guitar and strings are kinda cool, though I don't quite get what I'm hoping for out of them. Difficult match where I don't have strong feelings one way or the other.

MATCH 3

Battle With the Devil is some nice folky stuff. 0:43 especially is really good. Could do without the last 40 seconds or so before the loop point though. To me, there's not much going on during that part.

Tachi is a pretty decent listen throughout. Nothing amazing, but far from bad. Though I'm not a big fan of 2:21-2:47.

Battle with the Devil > Battle 2 > Tachi > Contrattacco - Emotional Overload > Wicked Child > Healthy Unicorn Girl

Kinda meh day today.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout - Crocus
ONGEKI SUMMER - GEOMETRIC DANCE (Long Ver.)
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - liberatedliberator

MATCH 1

I absolutely love Crocus! It's my #1 favorite song in Bracket D and has solidified itself as a big favorite of mine for Atelier series songs in general. When I first heard this during the first crowdsource list, I believe, I knew I liked it, but it took a bit of time for me to reach my current feelings on the song. Eventually, I'd start putting this song on at times when I felt like doing so, and by that point, I knew that the song became quite special to me. This was going to be a day 1 nomination from me, but I actually got beaten to it! I just love the heartfelt emotion this song conveys. The song's great all throughout, but it gets better as it goes on, starting with 1:34. I like the soft and cozy instrumental up to that point, but the change to the more full instrumentation is certainly an exciting one to me. And oh man, what an amazing transition at 2:08! Everything about this part just feels perfect. I think the way the rest of the song sounds after those two transitions reflects a more colorful view that the lyrics portray (e.g., from "monochrome" to "colorful" in how the crocus is described). The change in instrumentation as well as the key change really adds that brighter energy to the song. The chord changes at 3:42 and 3:46 and other times during that part are really nice as well. And on the subject of key changes, the last key change at 4:15 is great as well. This song is also another example of me liking lyrics where I ordinary wouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to them. I have a lot of appreciation for those sappy lyrics with lines like "It's your hand I'll hold to go explore" and "I'll wipe your tears." I feel like it's related to me being a fan of romcom anime and visual novels lol. Anyway, yeah, this song is amazing, and it's clear from how much I gush about it compared to what little I tend to say these days about many other songs (though sometimes I don't have a lot to say about songs I really love either!).

Limitless Cinderella is a cool song too! I like the guitar at 0:04, and 0:45 is pretty nice too. The song has a pretty solid melody overall.

MATCH 2

I've never been a huge fan of Yuki Kajiura's orchestral works, and We've Got to Believe in Something is no exception unfortunately. I just don't really find anything to latch onto and say "wow, that's cool!" Godsibb's pretty much the only song of hers where the orchestra elements was well-suited towards my music tastes. Well, on the video game side, at least, because I really like Magia from Madoka Magica too. It might be because both of those are more "powerful" songs in my mind, and maybe that's more what I'm looking for out of a song like that? Can't say for sure.

There are much better prog sounding songs in the bracket than Geometric Dance, but I like it enough to take it over its opponent. Melodically, it's better in some parts than others. I like it the most at parts like 2:18-2:44 where it's a bit more...diatonic, I guess?

MATCH 3

I like this slightly eerie and mysterious melody that Renata Glasc has. It makes me feel like I'm exploring an old, abandoned mansion.

liberatedliberator is probably one of the weaker of the big zts Umineko songs for me. I've always felt like it took a little bit too long to get going, but once it does get going at the 0:55 mark, it does all the cool melodic stuff one can expect from one of these songs that I really enjoy. And what the song does do well, it sounds great!

Crocus > liberatedliberator >> Limitless Cinderella > GEOMETRIC DANCE (Long Ver.) > Renata Glasc, the Chem-Baroness > we've got to believe in something

Subarashiki Hibi - The Final Smile
SkyGunner - To The Distant Sky
Chrono Trigger - Magus Confronted

MATCH 1

Secret Cave is a pretty cool song overall, but by far the best part is that aggressive acoustic guitar. It's super cool to me. The dramatic strings are nice too. I don't like that last minute of the song as much though.

The Final Smile is one of my favorite SubaHibi songs and my favorite song in Bracket C! The #1 for me in this game goes handily to the OP (and it's probably one of my favorite video game songs period), but this song is my favorite out of all the vocal EDs in the game! And I love all of them except for Cursed Life/Blessed Life, so there's definitely competition there (as an aside, my rankings for the EDs would be The Final Smile > Aboard the Ship Naglfar > The Hill I Could Never Climb > Cursed Life/Blessed Life, with the top 3 all being 9+/10). The szak + Hana duo is such an amazing one! szak has made some of my favorite video game songs with the vocal songs he writes, and Hana is a wonderful singer too! With this song, it has a great shoegaze feel that carries some strong emotions with it. rwlh and I had a conversation once where we talked about how we both liked a quality of this song that he described other songs as being wistful and intense, and I think that's a great way of putting it! The song keeps these strengths throughout its entire duration, peaking with 4:33 until the end. Something about that extra guitar being added to the mix is just absolutely amazing. And finishing off with that softer reverberation of the guitar. Chef's kiss right there. Also, while I typically don't pay a whole lot of attention to lyrics, I like the lyrics in this song (though maybe "like" isn't the best word to use given the theme in the lyrics)! Especially the wordplay with (SubaHibi spoilers) the word "zakuro" meaning pomegranate being used as a double meaning with Zakuro Takashima, one of the characters in the game. I invite you to look at this lyrics video if you're curious! Though, again, keep in mind that it alludes to some spoilery events in the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL1B74qaN-c

MATCH 2

I've still gone back to listen to To the Distant Sky at times even after the contest was over. It's just such a great, pretty song, and I'm always happy to listen to it.

Tenement of the Blue Spirit is really cool too! The repeating melody in the piano is cool, but I like this song the most at 1:05 when the other instruments come in. For me, it creates a more powerful emotion to the song.

MATCH 3

I like the strings and accordion in Angel Rain, but I'm really not a fan of the vocals. I think it's the breathiness of the vocals. The change in the beat at 4:13 is a bit jarring, and I'm not a big fan of how it sounds, but it feels more natural at 4:44.

I've always liked the Magus battle theme. I just think it has a strong melody overall. I especially like 0:49 with the backing trumpet adding to the lead one.

The Final Smile > To the Distant Sky > Secret Cave > Magus Confronted > Tenement of the Blue Spirit >> Angel Rain

Strong top 5 today!

Touhou 4: Lotus Land Story - Alice Maestra
Xenogears - The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky
DoDonPachi Blissful Death Black Label Extra - Mixed Melody (Stage 4)

MATCH 1

I really like Alice Maestra! I don't have a lot of exposure to the PC-98 era Touhou songs, but songs like this show that they can do some of the same things I enjoy from the Windows era songs. Good repeating melodies and good rhythm in the drums when they pick up at parts like 2:02 are what mainly come to mind.

I think the story behind Daredevil is really cool, but unfortunately, I don't really share the view of Daredevil being that one amazing song that the game needed to make it complete. I can certainly understand why many love it with its powerful and emotional sound, but I personally don't get a lot out of it. I guess there just isn't really much of an overlap between this song and the kind of dramatic songs I tend to love.

MATCH 2

The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky makes me feel like I'm trudging through a snowy forest. I like that soft, descending melody a lot and the backing instruments come together very nicely here to create a really pleasant mood!

Field (Late Night) has a really cool mood too! 0:46-1:31 is my favorite part. As always, layered instruments are very nice. That little jazzy part at the end is a bit unexpected, but pretty nice nonetheless.

MATCH 3

They should've named LUCID NIGHTMARE Mixed Melody because I'm more mixed on the melody than Mixed Melody! Some parts like 0:20-0:33 are good while 0:35-1:05 aren't as good. Still, I like it overall.

Mixed Melody might be my favorite discovery that I found post-nomination period! It was pretty decent, but not amazing in the beginning, but man, once 0:53 hits, it sounds like a completely different song to me! The whole song from there on out up to the loop point is absolutely wild and I love it! All the instruments hit just right, and it's a great example of the kind of prog rock sounding stuff that I really enjoy.

Mixed Melody > Alice Maestra > The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky > Field (Late Night) > LUCID NIGHTMARE > Daredevil

Janus5k posted...

where is REVOLUTION in today's poll I demand a recount

Steel Assault - Heart of Concrete
Etrian Mystery Dungeon - Hoist the Sword With Pride in the Heart
Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance

MATCH 1

Precipitous Combat has parts where it sounds like it could be cool but then kinda drops the ball a bit. The biggest example of this is at 1:03 where the melody is getting good for me until 1:05/1:06-ish happens. Other parts of the song are just not very remarkable to me. If only this battle was on the big bridge, I'd like the song more!

Heart of Concrete is one of my favorite discoveries in the contest this year! I think it's my third-favorite song in Bracket C too. Other people have brought up SSH already, but this definitely carries the energy of SSH songs, which pretty much sums up why I like this song so much. Part of it is the quality of the instruments in this song. Especially the very crisp sounding drums. Gotta love when the kicks have just the right sound to them. And speaking of the drums, one thing I always like about these rock songs is the drumming pattern they have. I feel like I'm just praising 4/4 time here when I say this and I swear this is different in my head, but those strong 2 and 4 beats with the tempo the song's being played at always feels really good. Like I have to tap my feet along to a song like this. I think this is also one reason that I tend to like a lot of Falcom songs. Of course, the melody here is very good as well. I knew there were songs I liked from Qwesta with the Devil Engine soundtrack, but it's funny how Forest Investigation didn't do a whole lot for me, but then Heart of Concrete comes out and instantly shoots to the top. I honestly wasn't expecting something like this from Qwesta based on previous songs I've heard, but I'm definitely pleasantly surprised!

MATCH 2

This arrangement of Hoist the Sword With Pride in the Heart is really good! I've said before that I like these arrangements of Etrian Odyssey songs over the FM synth of EO3, so that's one advantage of this song over the original EO3 version. The instrumentation here is great as well. The brass at 1:35 is especially nice, but everything about this song is great.

Chani's Eyes is somewhat decent. Parts like 0:41 are nice with that hint of melancholy, but I feel like I'd prefer them more with real instruments. Then there's parts like 1:31 that I just don't really care for. Similar to Precipitous Combat, there's some good, some bad, and mostly unremarkable.

MATCH 3

Aquatic Ambiance is pretty up there in Donkey Kong songs for me. Granted, with how highly I think of a lot of songs in VGMC, David Wise music doesn't really hold up in comparison, but this song, Stickerbrush Symphony, and Forest Interlude are some of the songs that come to mind for songs I like from him the most.

I have no real comment on Frantic Aspic other than I don't like it at all lol.

Heart of Concrete > Hoist the Sword With Pride in the Heart >> Aquatic Ambiance > Precipitous Combat = Chani's Eyes > Frantic Aspic

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - Kill Command
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius - Break the Limit!
Shin Megami Tensei IV - Battle - b2

MATCH 1

In the Blood is decent, but I don't find it very engaging melodically. It feels like it stays pretty static in how much I enjoy it and never really takes off for me.

Kill Command has a similar problem where after the intro, it feels like it kind of meanders for a while, but I just like what I'm hearing more at a base level of enjoyment. In fact, despite how I just described it, I like it enough overall that I took this song to round 4! Though looking back, it might have been a mistake to take it over Time.

MATCH 2

Break the Limit is still really cool! Looking back at VGMC13, it looks like I heavily underrated this back then given that I took Mining Melancholy over it in round 2, which I absolutely would not do now. The piano melody and the strings at 0:34 are both pretty good. The pace of those kicks is a nice touch too. It's funny seeing Junpei Fujita as the composer here because I always forget that him and Elements Garden have done stuff outside of visual novels. I first knew him from being the composer for the Grisaia series, so it's a bit of whiplash when comparing this song with his VN music lol.

Make This Right has a cool melody with those vocal samples. Unfortunately, it doesn't stack up to Break the Limit in the end. I like this song the most in the middle when the percussion gets more intense, but less so towards the end when the vocals stop.

MATCH 3

[To be finished]

Battle - b2 > E.SNYAPSE > Break the Limit! > Kill Command > Make This Right > In the Blood

art of rally - Remember Me
Tower of Heaven - Indignant Divinity
Metropolis Street Racer - Time

MATCH 1

Remember Me has some bright melodies and chords that I really enjoy!

parvorbital sounded decent for the first 10 seconds or so, but that disappeared pretty quickly. Really don't like the rest of this song.

MATCH 2

The Durandal has some cool chords and overall sound. Feels sort of like a futuristic stealth/infiltration mission.

Indignant Divinity isn't as good as Luna Ascension, but it's still pretty good! Once again, I like the bright melody here.

MATCH 3

Time is really good stuff! Very catchy melody with some good singing and the chords and the synth in the background are some nice touches as well. This is a good example of a song outside my typical VGM tastes that I really enjoy.

Sanctuary-RI is okay. It's not exactly unpleasant to listen to, but I'm not really a fan of it either. But it doesn't get to the point where I feel an active dislike of it.

Time > Indignant Divinity > Remember Me > The Durandal > Sanctuary-RI > parvorbital

Paradise Killer - To The Heart [Vocal Version]
Sonic Unleashed - Jungle Joyride (Night)
The 9th Annual Vanilla Level Design Contest - Abstract Map

MATCH 1

Tyrian Maze - Inner Chamber takes a bit to get going, but I like it overall! 0:40-0:43 with those chimes and pad chords and 1:16-1:36 with the melody and chords once again are probably my favorite parts of the song.

I think I like To the Heart more than Paradise from last year! I like the heart (no pun intended) this song has in how it sounds. A lot of good melodic stuff in this song from the piano to the vocals. The guitar solo is really nice too, but I think it overstays its welcome when it blends in with the vocals because it sounds like it almost interferes with the vocals.

MATCH 2

[To be finished]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Another Winter
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Mor Ardain ~ Roaming the Wastes
LOSTCOLORS - CMYK (FM Arrange ver.)

MATCH 1

I've said before that I can get into weird songs in the right scenario. Neko Nabe...isn't really that scenario. This is more funny to me than something I can appreciate as a song. Soflan-chan was at the high end of "I appreciate this as a song," while Neko Nabe is more akin to Nanmushi's Theme from VGMC13 in the sense of "I don't like this as a song, but I like it insofar as it makes me laugh." And Neko Nabe does indeed make me laugh at how ridiculous of a song it is. 2:00 with the most unenthusiastic singing ever, the random laughter and screaming as the mind succumbs to the weight of Neko Nabe. It's just so "out there" that I have to laugh at it (and not even in a bad way, really lol). Gutsu gustu nya nya!

Another Winter is always great to listen to! I think these upbeat songs from Anamanaguchi are my favorite from them. Blackout City from Bit Trip Runner is another one like that that I really enjoy. But Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game in general has some really good songs.

MATCH 2

This Tunnel Vision is really good trance music! Good melodic loops with a strong beat. 6:15 is the best part where the song stacks those two melodies on top of each other. Super good stuff!

Mor Ardain's a really nice song too. Very catchy, adventurous sound all around. It's not the peak of Xenoblade music, but it's still really good. This is actually a somewhat close match. I think it was a lot closer when going through the favorites bracket, but both songs are very good. Also, the joke for the genre for those who are unaware: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNmfFGLnZi8

MATCH 3

Really don't like Blue Orb. Probably a contender for my least favorite song in the contest, to be honest. It's not melodically appealing, I don't like the glitchiness of the song, and the vocals too are not very good when they get into those higher pitched notes.

CMYK isn't that great either, but it's leagues better than Blue Orb. There's some melodically appealing stuff going on here like at 1:16.

Mor Ardain ~ Roaming the Wastes > Another Winter > Tunnel Vision (HIROSHI WATANABE Remix) >> CMYK (FM Arrange ver.) > Neko Nabe > Blue Orb

The 9th Annual Vanilla Level Design Contest - Abstract Map
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - Twilight of the Gods
Limbus Company - In Hell We Live, Lament

MATCH 1

I don't really get much out of City Trial. It just feels very average, unlike Faded Dream of a Psychomeddler

Abstract Map is really cool! It has a pretty vaporwave feel, which while it can be a hit or miss genre for me, there are some songs I like in it, and this can definitely be seen as one. I like the sampling in this.

MATCH 2

So I don't like Battle! Arceus (Phase 4) for obvious reasons, but I love how ridiculous of a song this is for a Pokemon game. There's something really fun about listening to a song in a game and going "what the hell is this doing here?" Though on top of that, there's something about that genre name coupled with this song that I find really interesting. Just the idea that Arceus is accompanied with this song as if its presence is something incomprehensible seems cool to me. I guess you could say that was a thing with the original Diamond and Pearl's Arceus theme, but this song certainly carries that feeling a lot more.

Twilight of the Gods is probably one of my favorite Fire Emblem songs! I don't know where it ranks within Bracket C, but it's my C2 retiree. I also really love Heritors of Arcadia, which funny enough is also from FE Echoes. Maybe I should listen to more songs from this game. The strings at the beginning and the vocals to the piano part at 0:48, really everything about this song is super good! Even more mind-blowing to me is when I found out that it's an arrangement of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vrC6BPXhlE. The Fire Emblem: Gaiden version is pretty middle of the road for me, but the way it feels completely transformed in the Echoes version is really amazing to me.

MATCH 3

Not a fan of Nature. I don't like the melody, and there are times where it feels fairly discordant to me like from 1:56-2:13. I'm actually not sure if I'd take this over Battle Arceus despite my rankings at the bottom lol.

I really like In Hell We Live, Lament! The softer verses aren't the best, but the chorus is really good! I've had that specific part in my head a lot lately. Though I don't like the vocals in the background during the second time the chorus plays. They sound like they're fighting for dominance over the main vocals when the latter is what I want to hear.

Twilight of the Gods > In Hell We Live, Lament >> Abstract Map > City Trial ~ City > Nature > Battle! (Arceus) ~ Phase 4

Deemo - FEHLT (DEEMO edition)
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 - Move Me
Deltarune Chapter 2 - A CYBER'S WORLD?

MATCH 1

It's funny that I shared some praise for Shade yesterday, including Rance songs, when talking about Sky of Twilight, but I'm voting against the Shade song today. I think Mars is a pretty cool song! Decent melody with the acoustic guitar. I think my favorite part is at 1:37 when the key change and strings come in. With Rance music, I have a strong preference for the faster-paced rock songs like Rebirth the Edge.

FEHLT is really cool as well! The melodies are very neat, and I like the different layers to it. Especially with the chorus at 1:24, which is my favorite part.

MATCH 2

Move Me was a really good discovery back in VGMC14, and I still enjoy it a lot! Those chords in the beginning and the electric guitar are really cool things about this song. I used to be pretty big into D&B like 10 years ago, so I can appreciate that element of it too.

Combat Beneath the Waves' intro is pretty cool and feels like a tense buildup to something interesting, but unfortunately, for me that never really came. I like the strings and all, I just felt like I wanted something more out of the song.

MATCH 3

Similar to Combat Beneath the Waves, Ethnic Cave & Flame's intro felt like it could've built up to something I enjoyed, but I wasn't all that interested in this song either.

A Cyber's World's simple but happy melody is something I like quite a bit! Nice, feel-good song that you can't go wrong with.

Move Me > FEHLT (DEEMO edition) > Mars > A CYBER'S WORLD? > Combat Beneath the Waves > Ethnic Cave & Flame

Ys Origin - Silent Desert
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky - Sky of Twilight
Mad Rat Dead - MAD LAST WORLD

MATCH 1

Silent Desert is some nice Falcom rock goodness. Pretty good guitar melody and great drums as always. The only thing I don't like about this song is that synth at 0:51.

Spirit of the Mountain is pretty decent. 1:05 is definitely the best part of the song for me. The flutes there are really nice.

MATCH 2

Panditah of the 7th Mountain is too ambient for me. There isn't anything for me to latch onto here.

Sky of Twilight is my second-favorite song in Bracket C! I actually didn't make it win the bracket this time! Though it was very tempting to take it in the finals. Sky of Twilight has been in the contest since I started participating in VGMC13, and I was incredibly hooked on this song when I first heard it during VGM13's nomination period. I had it win my favorites bracket every year for the past 3 years, which is a testament to how much I love this song. The combination of Kanako Itou's vocals and the killer guitar riffs and all the other instruments in the song is just perfect for me. I only somewhat recently found out that Shade composed this song, which made me laugh when I first saw that because it made sense in light of some of the Rance songs I really like.

MATCH 3

Morning Bell's a pretty song. It has a very classical feel to it, which is something I can appreciate here even if I'm not the biggest fan of classical music. I guess it's just something about the way classical music is composed that makes a song like this less good to me than other songs that I can describe as pretty.

MAD LOST WORLD has been my favorite Mad Rat Dead song to date! That piano at the beginning is really the highlight of this song. It's really appealing melodically and feels like a "me" thing for a song to do. The rest of the song is pretty good too!

Sky of Twilight > MAD LOST WORLD > Silent Desert >> Spirit of the Mountain > Morning Bell > Panditah of the 7th Mountain

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - Illusionary Blue Flowers
Burning Rangers - Burning Hearts (Burning ANGEL)
Hollow Knight - City of Tears

MATCH 1

Illusionary Blue Flowers is really nice! It has that bright, adventurous sound, but with some sprinklings of something more wistful at parts like 0:06. The song is pretty good throughout, but my favorite part is 1:13-1:43.

The Best Is Yet to Come is decent, but nothing too special. Nothing new there.

MATCH 2

Burning Hearts is really cool! Cool instrumental with the iconic vocals of Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. The chorus at 1:16 is the best part.

Home Sweet Home has a really nice piano melody! I don't feel like it really goes anywhere though, unfortunately.

MATCH 3

City of Tears, like Home Sweet Home, has a soft, pretty melody that I like quite a bit. I don't really get the feeling if it not going anywhere that I did with Home Sweet Home, but it's also the case that there's better songs in that style than City of Tears. It's a good song though!

stg_travel_2_3 is decent. Not exactly my thing, but not a bad song to listen to at all.

Illusionary Blue Flowers > Burning Hearts (Burning ANGEL) > City of Tears > Home Sweet Home > stg_travel_2_3 > The Best Is Yet To Come

Mad Rat Dead - Breath of Forest
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - You Will Recall Our Names
Heartland - Para Bellum

MATCH 1

Breath of Forest is still good. The flute and the piano are the best parts of this song.

Champion Ritual's intro is really cool, but that's pretty much the peak of the song for me. Unfortunately, the rest of the song never matches or exceeds that intro. It picks up a bit at 2:19 when that backing synth comes in, but that's about it.

MATCH 2

You Will Recall Our Names has that great guitar and brass to it. Though I feel like I enjoy You Will Know Our Names from the first Xenoblade Chronicles more.

[To be finished]

You Will Recall Our Names > Breath of Forest > SaGa Frontier 2 Medley A -LoV Edit- > CHAMPION RITUAL > Para Bellum > how do you think?

Caravan Stories - Bunwaii Desert
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky - Colony Collapse Disorder
NieR - The Wretched Automatons

MATCH 1

Bunwaii Desert's a song I thought of nominating myself in the past, so I'm very happy to see it in the contest this year! I love the bouncy rhythm of the percussion, and the melody from the flute and strings is really great too. Another song with some phenomenal harmonic depth with all the layers of instruments in it. I think I'd put this song at maybe third or fourth best in Bracket B.

I don't care for the verses of My Alien Girlfriend all that much, but the chorus at 1:01 is really cool! Some interesting melodic lines in the vocals and synths.

MATCH 2

Colony Collapse Disorder is my second-favorite song in Bracket B! I love how frenzied this song gets. 0:16-0:26 is just one example of this. But really, I love everything about this song.

Highland Fields is sort of a mix of stuff I like and things that are kind of meh. Starting with the positives, 0:25-0:31 is kind of nice, and 1:02-1:23 is pretty cool too. But I don't really like the melody from 0:13-0:24. Also, overall, I'm not a huge fan of how the instruments sound. I'd rather they sound more...I don't know, natural? I can't tell what exactly my issue is with the sound, but all I can say is that I'd rather the instruments sound more like Bunwaii Desert's.

MATCH 3

I like the funkiness of DESIRE. Though the more I hear that brass loop, the more I wish it was a little quieter.

Emi Evans' vocals in The Wretched Automatons is super good! They always are in Nier songs, but the melody here and the echo-y sound of the vocals really makes this song stand out to me.

Colony Collapse Disorder > Bunwaii Desert > The Wretched Automatons > DESIRE > Accelerate ~ Night City (My Alien Girlfriend) > Highland Fields: Grass Ruins

beatmania IIDX 23 copula - Routing
The Messenger - Bamboo Boogaloo (Past)
Chrono Cross - Radical Dreamers

MATCH 1

Coalescence feels very "lo-fi hip hop beats to study to." Until it doesn't when the song starts get a little heavier with the drums and other instruments. I think I like the softer parts of this song more.

Routing's a really fun song. I wish it was a little less distorted in how it sounds, but it has this cool future funk kind of sound. 1:13-1:41 is my favorite part.

MATCH 2

Bamboo Boogaloo is another fun song. The song picks up more after 0:32 when the extra instruments come in.

Can't really think of much to say about The Rain Formerly Known as Purple. It's nice to listen to the whole way through, and unlike Coalescence, it doesn't lose anything as the song gets more intense.

MATCH 3

Route 113 is nice. I don't really think of RSE music when thinking of Pokemon songs that I like. Though, it's certainly iconic! In a way, this song feels a little bit different from some of the other route themes in this game, and not in a bad way.

Radical Dreamers always feels really sentimental to me, and I've never played Chrono Cross before. When I listen to this song, I feel like I'm thinking back to a distant memory of this song being associated with a really important moment in my life, only it's a memory that I've never experienced at all. I feel like that makes no sense to anyone reading this though lol. The important thing here is that I really like this song! The soft vocals and acoustic guitar are really pleasant here. I'm glad to finally see this song in the contest in my time participating in it because I always liked it, but despite including it in support consideration playlists in multiple years, I never had enough room to support it (maybe I supported it one year, I don't remember).

Radical Dreamers > Routing = Bamboo Boogaloo (Past) > The Rain Formerly Known as Purple > Route 113 > Coalescence

Wild Arms - To a New Journey
The Caligula Effect 2 - xxxx/xx/xx (Remix)
beatmania IIDX 20 tricoro - Proof of the existence

MATCH 1

Quark's Hideout is fine. It's not a bad song, but it's nothing special either.

To a New Journey has a nice, relaxing acoustic guitar and flute. I don't like it as much when the bassoon (I think? I've spent too much time trying to figure out what instrument this is lol) comes on though. I kind of wish it kept that soft sound the whole way through, so even the strings, which I don't mind in other songs, are something I feel the song would be better without. Still, it's a nice song regardless.

MATCH 2

What can I say? Sky Tower is just such a great classic! I said this back in VGMC14, I believe, when this was last in, but I really love how faithful this arrangement is to the original. This song has a great feel of adventure to it. Like you're on your final journey (and given that Sky Tower is the final dungeon in the main storyline, this makes sense!).

I don't often like the remixes of Caligula songs. Remixes of songs I love in general can be tough to get behind because a lot of times, I feel really attached to the original to the point that changes to the song don't feel right. As far as Caligula song remixes go, a lot of them get rid of the things I like the most about them or add stuff that I don't really like, but a select few of them are pretty good. Fortunately, the xxxx/xx/xx remix is one of them! Granted, I have a strong preference for the non-remix Regret version, but this one has a cool instrumental to it and it has the same vocals I love from the Regret version. This remix and the SINGI remix are the only remixed Caligula 2 songs that I really like. This is one of the strongest round 1 matches in the contest for me. I'd take the winner of this match to round 5. Danger vs. Five from last year, I'd say, was stronger on average, but it's the same deal here with the songs in the match being my #1 and #2 in that quadrant of the bracket.

MATCH 3

Proof of the Existence isn't as good as other Nekomata Master songs, but I like it a good deal. Despair of ELFLERIA's my favorite, and I'd probably take something like Scars of FAUNA over this too, but this song's decent as well. The synth melodies and instrument sounds are definitely cool, as they are in other songs of his too.

Like To a New Journey, I really enjoy the soft sound that You Were There has. It carries a lot of emotion with it. This day gets the dubious honor of having one of the strongest round 1 matches followed by one of the toughest round 1 matches in the contest for me. I had to listen to these songs so many times back to back when filling out the favorites bracket to decide which one I wanted to win. Even today, it's still not super clear to me. I'll stick with my decision of voting Proof of the Existence, but I like both songs just about equally.

xxxx/xx/xx (Remix) > Sky Tower > Proof of the existence > ICO -You were there- > To a New Journey > Qwark's Hideout

30XX - Hollows (Echocave)
GITADORA OverDrive - Jupiter Guns Novel (Long Version)
Steins;Gate 0 - GATE OF STEINER

MATCH 1

I really like Hollows! That bright, peppy melody is super good. I've said before that I don't tend to lean towards chiptune stuff, but I think the dividing line with that is that I tend to vote against retro-era chiptune stuff (e.g., NES/GB/GBC music) while I'm much more open towards modern chiptune songs like this. I think one key reason is because of how limited the channels are for the sound chips for these older consoles. For example, the 2A03 sound chip, used in the NES, only has 4 main channels: 2 square wave, 1 triangle wave, and a noise channel (there's also a fifth DPCM channel for samples). I talk a lot about liking depth to music in terms of lots of instruments harmonizing and stuff like that, so I think that limitation may be a big reason why I like songs from those consoles less than modern chiptune, since fewer channels means less room for that kind of depth I look for. But, of course, in a modern soundtrack, you can add as many instruments as you want. I think something with Hollows' melody that can be played back on an NES is still something I'd enjoy, but I feel like it benefits a lot from the extra instruments. The only downside with this song is that random fade-out and fade-in at 0:59. It feels really interrupting for those couple seconds that it takes to get back to full volume.

I've warmed up a good amount to Last Call! As with Hustle and Bustle, it doesn't come close to beating Calling, but it's still a pretty nice vocal song.

MATCH 2

Sleeping in the Cold Below has been in my head a lot, but unlike other songs where this has happened, I'm a bit lukewarm on this song despite it having that catchiness factor. I think it's better than We All Lift Together, but it's not really my thing stylistically. The chorus is pretty nice though.

Jupiter Guns Novel is some cool guitar and drum stuff. Now that I think about it, it's pretty fair to say that I like this song for similar reasons that I liked all the Raiden V songs that have been in the contest before.

MATCH 3

Not a big fan of Under Pressure. It's slightly grating for me and doesn't really offer a lot of positives for me.

I really like the vocals in this version of Gate of Steiner! Though I like the piano intro more in the first game's Gate of Steiner more. A version of this song with the Steins;Gate version's intro and the Steins;Gate 0 version's vocals would be the best of both worlds for me.

GATE OF STEINER > Hollows (Echocave) > Jupiter Guns Novel (Long Version) > LAST CALL > Sleeping in the Cold Below > Under Pressure

Library of Ruina - Angela
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons - THE CHASE ~Chase~ (Special Edition)
Shatter - Argon Refinery

MATCH 1

Angela has the same pros and cons for me that The Blue Reverberation had. It has the nice sounding, dramatic violin melodies, but it doesn't feel like it goes where I want it to. I think this has a bit more oomph than The Blue Reverberation, but still not as much as I'd hope.

I honestly didn't remember Heretic Frypan at all when I saw it in the thread, nor do I remember listening to it (though I 100% did) when going through the bracket. But now that I'm listening to it today, it's actually pretty decent! It sort of reminds me of Undertale a bit. Especially 1:08-1:22, which I think is my favorite part of the song. Reminds me of Another Medium. This match is closer than I remember it being, but I'm still feeling Angela here.

MATCH 2

The Chase is a pretty neat song! I definitely like it more than Southern Twilight. I don't know where I'd stand on Pat Metheny Group given that I haven't really listened to anything from them (I think I may have listened to Last Train Home once), but going off of this song, it seems like I'd enjoy some songs from them, but ultimately, there's a long list of 70's and 80's bands like rock bands that I'd prefer to listen to. That is to say, The Chase is a song I'd happily take over more mediocre songs but would have losing to a fair amount of songs that are more my style.

Speaking of "more mediocre songs." Yeah, I just don't really find anything appealing about Desierto Caliente. It's not bad, but nothing really stands out about it.

MATCH 3

Argon Refinery is very cool! I really like house music, so I really enjoy that this song brings those vibes. Just really catchy overall with that guitar. Despite being almost 9 minutes long, the time really goes by fast when listening to this because it never feels dull. I could've sworn that I remember seeing this song as a repeat entrant that made it to round 4 once, but apparently this is its first time in the contest. After doing some thinking, I think I might have been thinking of Dreams of Cobalt? I don't even feel like my brain actually made that connection because of the periodic table elements, but that's the only logical explanation I have for the mix-up lol.

Shudder has grown on me some over time. It has this retro, yet futuristic, sound that I can get behind. I like a few other Einhander songs more though. Madness from last year was really cool. In any case, Argon Refinery's the clear winner here over Shudder for me.

Argon Refinery >> Angela > Shudder > Heretic Frypan > THE CHASE ~Chase~ (Special Edition) > Desierto Caliente

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Faded Dream of a Psychomeddler
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - The Apex of the World (Rain)
Raiden V - Unknown Pollution

Might not be able to post writeups today.

Under Defeat - Storm of Fine Weather
Sid Meier's Civilization VI - Sogno di Volare
WACCA Lily R - LIN NE KRO NE

MATCH 1

Storm of Fine Weather has this cool "digital" sound with the synths. I like 0:00-0:22 the most. I guess the melody there in that lead synth sounds better than it does at any other part of the song.

I like Seashore War, but I don't usually have the preference for this kind of ambient music. There isn't a lot about this song that makes me feel inclined to vote for it. Some of the Donkey Kong Country music stands out to me more, but unfortunately, this one doesn't.

MATCH 2

Nocturne's okay. Nothing special, but fine to listen to for the most part. Really dislike 5:55-6:27 though.

Sogno di Volare is also not really my thing, but there's definitely more to like about it for me than Nocturne, so it's an easy vote.

MATCH 3

Into the Woods is really catchy! I've had it on my mind on and off for maybe the past week or so. Especially that flute section at 0:37. But it's a really cool song all around. Shame I couldn't vote for it here.

LIN NE KRO NE won the catchiness war here! I thought about this song a lot during the nomination period. I mainly prefer the singing parts here as well as that drop at 1:50. The latter makes me feel like I'm standing in some Boiler Room set or something. Also I like how 0:34 is so much like this part of Re:Vanishment (https://youtu.be/NIPkjLV_rj8?t=89), though, of course, it's the same composer.

LIN NE KRO NE > Into the Woods! > Storm of Fine Weather > Sogno di Volare > Seashore War > Nocturne

The World Ends with You - Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll - SaKuRa

MATCH 1

Calling's a very catchy vocal song. Not much to say here, just a song that's definitely up my alley.

I find it funny that Practice Makes Perfect comes from a Mario game. It's cheesy hip-hop, but I like it. Calling's the clear pick, though, and much better representative of my tastes.

MATCH 2

Interwoven Stories is pretty cool! I don't often like very ambient songs, but this song does some nice melodic stuff that gets me into it.

Umineko (song) is my favorite song in Bracket B! Honestly, possibly my favorite song in the contest too?? Tough competition with some of my other favorites in the contest like Crocus, so hard to say, but definitely a contender! It's really hard for me to think of something like favorite composer, but from a technical standpoint, it's got to be Akiko Shikata. Her vocal work is insanely impressive. Not to mention the level of depth she adds to her compositions is something I really love too, and this song is just one of many great examples of this. This song was my first exposure to Akiko Shikata, and I was instantly hooked when I heard this for the first time. I don't think I was too into VGM as a whole yet, but honestly, you could probably trace my interests in that back to the visual novel genre planting the seeds and Umineko really helping it bloom. I only wish I explored her music further back then so I could get a head start on getting into Ar tonelico music haha. One other thing about this song, as well as many others she's written, is that I also love the folky sound to it.

MATCH 3

[To be finished]

Xenoblade Chronicles X - THEMEX
The Caligula Effect 2 - Swap Out (Regret)
SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE - Bi (veeeeeeeever)

MATCH 1

THEMEX is pretty cool. Similar to the previous Xenoblade X song, though, this song is also better during the more powerful parts of the song and less so during the quieter parts. Also, those F naturals starting at 1:20 bother me a bit lol.

Don't really like the first minute of Deus Hex Machina, but it gets better from then on. 3:38 might be my favorite part of the song? Carries that spooky vibe fairly well.

MATCH 2

Ever since I listened to all the vocal songs, Caligula 2 music has been a go-to pick for when I feel like listening to music. I really loved a select number of Caligula 1 songs, but almost every single Regret version song on Caligula 2's soundtrack is super good as well! I usually praise the j-rock elements of Caligula music, but even though Swap Out is the most radio-friendly, traditionally pop song, I love it just as much as many of the other songs from those games! It's super catchy and great to jam out to. Great driving music too, in my opinion.

Sea of Frozen Crystals is a pretty interesting song! The sound design of this song isn't something I'd typically seek out, but I'm finding it pretty enjoyable to listen to.

MATCH 3

I wonder if Halo (song) is one of the earliest memories of me liking a video game song. Regardless, I've always liked this song. The high-pitched strings are the best part for me.

Bi is such a silly song, and it's really fun to listen to! I like the original version of the song more than this remix of it, but it's still good. It's funny how much of a contrast this match is in terms of two songs I both like but sound wildly different from each other. I'm actually kinda tempted to vote for its opponent today, but eh, I'll still vote Bi.

Swap Out (Regret) >> Sea of Frozen Crystals > THEMEX > Bi (veeeeeeeever) > Halo > Deus Hex Machina

Super Mario 64 - Staff Roll
Natsuki Chronicles - Mighty Magma Red [Stage 5]
Sonic Mania - Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

MATCH 1

I should definitely check out more Ryu Umemoto stuff because I really like what I've heard from him in the past! Different World 1 is one of those songs for sure. I forget how I felt about it when I first heard it in VGMC13, but this year, I'm pretty into it. All the instruments from the pad chords to the bass and everything else comes together really nicely.

Staff Roll is such a heartwarming song! Especially 1:12 and the key change at 2:43. Really tough match. I like both songs for different reasons. I think if the YU-NO song was Activation, I would have voted for it because I've gotten really into it over time, but I think Staff Roll just slightly beats Different World 1 in my eyes.

MATCH 2

Not much to say about Terra. I like the flute part the most, but the latter half of the song before the loop point is a bit meh in my opinion.

Mighty Magma Red does a lot of the stuff from other Yasui songs I like. Mainly that rock-like rhythm and melody. Easy pick here.

Mighty Magma Red [Stage 5] = Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme > 46-:ri9 > Staff Roll > Different World 1 > Terra

Chicory: A Colorful Tale - Supper Woods
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... - Snow in Summer
Killer Instinct (2013) - I'm Back (to Rise!)

MATCH 1

Supper Woods is a pretty catchy song with that plucky string (forgive me for not being able to tell what this is lol) melody. Though it's only somewhat above average to me and not a song that's really great, so I probably wouldn't vote for it over a lot of things, but it's good enough here!

I like the coziness of The Road! Nice, relaxing song to listen to. Pretty close match and I'd be happy with either song winning here.

MATCH 2

Don't really care for Atolm Dragon very much. I feel like I could enjoy the song with the instrumentation it has if it had a different composition. I'm struggling to find a way to describe the song's melody, but I guess I find the song's tonality too "unconventional" for me? That might not even make sense, but if you've seen what I've historically liked and didn't like, hopefully you can get the picture of what I'm trying to say here.

Snow In Summer is pretty nice, but there are definitely better Nier songs out there. I like this song the most after 1:47 when that string melody comes in. That's my favorite part of the song, so it's nice to hear it repeat a lot throughout the song.

MATCH 3

I am very happy I was able to think of the name Steve Reich when listening to JFK Cadence before seeing it in Tox's writeup haha. Pretty chill song. I think I like the mallets the most in this song. Not my ideal kind of chill song, but still pretty neat.

I really like the instrumental of I'm Back (to Rise). That and the singing vocals makes this a really cool, powerful song. Feel the power, baby. I had this losing round 1 last year, but I pushed this up to round 4 this year. One of the interesting things about this year's brackets is that I feel like there aren't as many songs in the contest that are just obvious me songs that I'd push to retirement/championship compared to past years. So this ends up allowing me to send some songs that I like farther than I would in the past, which I think gives a slightly deeper look at my VGM tastes than my previous favorites brackets do. I say this because I'm Back (to Rise) is one of those songs that I thought of that would probably lose to something earlier on in past years even though I do like it quite a bit.

I'm Back (to Rise!) > Snow in Summer > Supper Woods > The Road > JFK Cadence > Atolm Dragon

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - Mimic
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception - Nuedori
Sonic Mania - Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

MATCH 1

Mimic is good prog rock. It has some lulls and otherwise meh parts in the song that weaken the song some in my eyes like that first minute or so of buildup and 2:20 with the crazy neck sliding or whatever stuff on the guitar. I'm all for guitar noodling up and down the scale, but I don't like what it's doing there. Same goes for 6:15. Could do without the lengthy drum fill at the end too. But with that out of the way, I really enjoy when the song gets more energetic in the guitar riffs and when the hammond organ (I may be misidentifying the instrument here) comes in. 3:46-4:20 is my favorite part of the song. Really like that progression with the fast-paced drumming in the background. I've noticed, and probably pointed out before, that I really like it when the drummer's really rocking it out on a song. Same goes for any time there's those rapid drum hits like at 4:39 (but more in the context of something like 3:54).

Aerolith Aurorablast has that general cool Hagane sound to it. Nice sounding piano with some cool stuff layered over it. This match is tough because I like Aerolith Aurorablast overall, but Mimic has higher peaks and lower troughs. Those kinds of matches are often really tough for me to decide. I think here, Mimic wins out on average, but I'd be happy with either song winning here. I'm also reminded that I really like One Step From Eden - Triggered: Shopkeeper's Theme that got nominated and/or was used in one of the VGMC crowdsource lists and kinda wish it got in. I would've taken that song here for sure.

MATCH 2

Nuedori is my second favorite song in Bracket A! But I was very close to taking this over Mystic Pendulum when filling out the bracket, so it's a very close second. There are a lot of things I like about this song. First of all, Suara is a wonderful singer and really adds to the overall quality of the song and all the other Utawarerumono songs she's sung for. It's especially so in the chorus when she hits the higher notes like with "hodo" at 1:32. Speaking of the chorus, that's definitely my favorite part of the song! The powerful melody and vocals with the strings in the background is very much my thing. Really, everything about this song is great, but a few other highlights for me is the chanting at 0:39 and the brief key change at 3:41.

-(PHENYLALANINE)- is pretty cool as well. When I was listening to that intro, I was hoping it would eventually lead to something else that really kicked off the song, so 1:08 was not a disappointment! Still, I'd say Isoleucine is the better 13 Sentinels song, but I definitely like Phenylalanine over Deoxyribose.

Nuedori > Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme > Mimic = 46-:ri9 > Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix) > -(PHENYLALANINE)-

The Blackwell Convergence - I Can See Into Forever
Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Arcaea - Pragmatism -Resurrection-

MATCH 1

I really like I Can See Into Forever! The melody in the vocals is really nice, and the duet works well here with how both singers compliment each other. I like the drumming pattern at 0:35 before the chorus kicks in. Speaking of which, the chorus is really cool too, especially the brief harmonizing on the last "into forever." This is a bit of a tangent, but I really enjoy seeing where I overlap with people whose tastes I don't typically share, so it was nice to see that this is a Taffer nomination that I like quite a bit, since Taffer and I were at like 20-something percent in the compatibility chart last year throughout the contest.

Vertex was never really one of the Dodonpachi songs that I liked a whole lot. It's not bad at all; in fact, it's pretty decent. But compared to other Daifukkatsu Black Label songs like Flotage and Vertigo, it just doesn't hold up. That aside, it does do some general melodic stuff that's reminiscent of Dodonpachi songs I do like, so that's worth mentioning. It's easily strong enough to beat some of the weaker songs that have been voted on so far.

MATCH 2

Reach for the Moon is never a bad song to listen to. It's not at the top of the rankings for me in terms of Touhou songs, but it's good enough that I always end up taking it to round 2 or 3 at least when filling out the favorites bracket each year.

Gahreesen Corridors is just not my thing, unfortunately. Not really much else to say.

MATCH 3

Electric Power Building/PowerOne is also not my thing. It has more of a melodic structure than Gahreesen Corridors in my eyes, so that gives PowerOne some points over that song, but I just don't really find this engaging. Like nothing in particular stands out to me here.

Pragmatism does quite a few things that I enjoy, but at the same time, I feel like those things have potential to better suit my tastes. Songs like this with violin and piano melodies are always a positive for me. Though I can't help but think that something feels off about the violin at 0:35. Feels like it has this hint of sounding artificially different or synthy or something where I'd prefer it sound like a natural violin. And I've typically been more neutral on dubstep-esque parts in rhythm game songs and the like as opposed to actively enjoying them. But I don't want to make this writeup sound negative because I do think it's a decent song! And it's a clear winner for me in this match.

I Can See Into Forever > Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke > Vertex (Stage 1) > Pragmatism -Resurrection- >> PowerOne > Gahreesen Corridors

Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk - Mystic Pendulum
Sonic Mania - Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme
Mad Rat Dead - Emmental Catalepsy

MATCH 1

Mystic Pendulum is my favorite song in Bracket A! As far as Atelier songs go, it's actually far from my favorite in the series. In fact, out of the Atelier songs I have retired in my favorites bracket (which, as it turns out, is all 5 of the Atelier songs in the bracket hahaha), Mystic Pendulum is my second-least favorite one, only ahead of Wind's Blooming Mountain. Despite that, I still really like it, and it swept its way to championship in my bracket pretty easily, only facing serious competition in Nuedori in round 5. What I like about this song the most is actually its intro! The vocals and the piano there are just so happy and emotional, and I really love it! The rest of the song is great too. General good melody and harmony all around.

Necessary Discrepancy is really cool too! I don't really listen to a lot of prog metal, but I'd say with this song, I like it more for the metal than the prog. Some of the best parts of this song are the lead guitar riffs like 1:20-1:31. I also like that "denial, denial" part at 0:37. Pretty melodically appealing to me, but unfortunately, it's pretty much the only part where the singing is appealing in that way. Other parts like 0:55 and 2:10 are pretty meh in my opinion. Still, this definitely one of the better songs up today.

MATCH 2

Not much to say about Egg Reverie. Cool and energetic, and I definitely like it!

I really like the sad, heartfelt sound of 46-:ri9, especially at parts like 1:48, but I feel like I'd appreciate it more hearing it in context within the game. That part in particular kind of reminds me of sad VN music that I like. Lamplight from Little Busters comes to mind. Though I don't feel as strongly about the buildups to the most powerful parts of the song. This match wasn't as close when I was filling out the favorites bracket, but it feels a lot closer today. I still feel comfortable voting for Egg Reverie. I think it's more consistently good.

Mystic Pendulum > Necessary Discrepancy > Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme > 46-:ri9 > Emmental Catalepsy > Scroll Stage

Library of Ruina - The Blue Reverberation
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
Phantasy Star Online 2 - Yggdrasil

MATCH 1

The Blue Reverberation is fine, but I definitely find myself wanting more from it. I guess it just doesn't really go anywhere that I actively enjoy.

I really enjoy vocal sampling in songs when done right, but I've never really enjoyed how they sound in Frums songs, and memoryfactory.lzh is unfortunately no exception. Compositionally, this song's not my thing either. Janus summed up my thoughts on these songs pretty well.

MATCH 2

I'm starting to realize that maybe I enjoy hearing ascending/descending notes in a scale haha. Because that's one thing that I really like about Passing Through the Forest right off the bat. It gives off a really peaceful mood that keeps the song grounded in that atmosphere as it repeats throughout. Also, as the rest of the instruments come in, the song does a great job at working the lead instruments and bass and everything else to create a great, full sound. I definitely underrated this song the first time it showed up in VGMC13, so I'm really happy it's back in again.

Despite the name, The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music isn't actually that obnoxious to me. It's definitely not my kind of song, but I don't exactly hate it. In fact, it's not even my least favorite song up today (though in all honesty, it probably would have been on previous days). That said, this is a very easy match to decide.

MATCH 3

I have a strong preference for the vocal PSO2 songs that got nominated this year, both by me and by others, over Yggdrasil, but this song's a good showcase of some of the compositional things I've enjoyed in some of these vocal songs. One of these things is the modulation happening throughout the song. The way it moves through different keys always end up being satisfying and never jarring or out of place. The harmonic depth of this song is also great with all the different instruments layered on top of one another working together in unison. Overall, it just hits the right notes for me, with particular standouts at parts like 0:13-0:17 and 0:29-0:31.

The first half of Southern Twilight is fine, but I like the energy of the second half of it more. Still, Yggdrasil is the clear winner over any part of Southern Twilight for me.

Passing Through the Forest > Yggdrasil >> The Blue Reverberation > Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope > The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music > memoryfactory.lzh

Triangle Strategy - Combat -Destiny-
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - The Glittering City of Yusnaan
Mad Rat Dead - Emmental Catalepsy

MATCH 1

I'm enjoying Combat -Destiny- more than I did while going through the bracket! It gets better throughout the song, starting from 0:34 when the drums pick up, and then keeping at a steady peak from 1:03 and onwards when those strings come in. I think that's my favorite part of the song. It brings this heartfelt mood that I enjoy hearing in this song.

Healing Fusion is a great name for the genre because Atlantic Spotted Dolphin has this light and bright melody that could probably heal a bad day or something like that. This is a super tough match because I really like both songs! I think Combat -Destiny- is a bit more consistent with how much I like it throughout the song. Atlantic Spotted Dolphin has a slight ebb and flow, I'd say, with how much I like it as the song goes on. 0:11 is the best part of the song for me with those lush piano chords and the synth melody. It has a really nice, calming feeling to it. Like I said, tough match, and I wish I didn't have to vote against either of these songs.

MATCH 2

I wish I had the energy to have participated more in the Final Fantasy Music Contest when that was going on, but from the songs I did listen to from the contest, The Glittering City of Yusnaan was a big standout! Super cool rhythm with the percussion, and the other instruments that come in throughout the song bring a really interesting sound to it. My favorite part is when the saxophone comes in at 1:00. I really like how all the different chords it cycles through sounds.

I like It's Dangerous to Go Alone too! Like Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, it gives me this calming feeling. The chorus is the best part. Another match where I like both songs and would like to see both advance, but unlike the first match, this one is pretty easy to decide.

MATCH 3

Scroll Stage is pretty cool. I don't tend to be all that into older NES/GBC/etc. era chiptune stuff, but Alberto Jose Gonzalez has definitely put out some good stuff from those years, this song included. I like parts like 0:30 the most with how all of those channels work together.

Not much to say about Emmental Catalepsy except that I like it. Not as much as other Mad Rat Dead songs though.

The Glittering City of Yusnaan > Combat -Destiny- > Atlantic Spotted Dolphin > Emmental Catalepsy = It's Dangerous to Go Alone > Scroll Stage

Good day today!

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS - Konran Shoujo Soflan-chan!! (Asynchronicity Unlimited Progressive Polyrhythmic Nightmare Long Version)
Okami - Kusanagi Village
Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness - Treasure Town

MATCH 1

An Endless Desert is fine, but I like the other Alto songs in the bracket more. This song doesn't really have much melodic appeal to me compared to the other two Alto songs. Hard to say why, but this song just doesn't make me feel much of anything regarding how it sounds.

Soflan-chan is an absolute trip to listen to haha. I honestly really enjoy this song, but not exactly for the same reasons as those who like the prog elements of this song do. In some ways, it is that. The ridiculous number of time signature changes and general variation in drumming patterns creates some cool rhythms. Melodically, it's also pretty cool at times. For example, 2:42, 3:06, and 6:29. But I think the biggest appeal of it to me is how crazy of a song it is! Sometimes, a song is just so chaotic to me that I just can't help but like it, and Soflan-chan is a great example. It feels reminiscent of VGMC13 when I really enjoyed Bomber Girl and Star Shooter - Extra Boss for similar reasons. I do have to say that I'm not feeling it today as much as when I was filling out the favorites bracket. I guess the feeling wears off a bit the more I listen to it, but it's still really enjoyable to me.

MATCH 2

I feel like I'm hit or miss on jazz, but Night Birds is a really nice song! I like how engaging the saxophone melody and piano chords are for me. Especially in the latter half of the song. 2:41-3:01 and 3:10-4:01 are really nice parts of the song.

When I was first listening to these songs, I figured it would be an easy Night Birds when I played Kusanagi Village, but then 1:31 hit and it became a lot more difficult. The buildup is nothing special to me, but I really like this song from that point to 2:39. Even now, I'm tempted to switch over to Night Birds, but I'll stick with Kusanagi Village. But it's very close and I'd be happy with either song winning.

MATCH 3

I like Time Moves Slow, but I don't find myself being that interested in it. As far as R&B goes, there's another song later in the bracket, Time (just now realizing that there's two R&B songs in the bracket with "time" in the title lol), that's way more my thing. I guess if I had to pinpoint why, it might be that Time Moves Slow is too soft? I guess time's moving too slow here. But like I said, I do like it, it's just not quite my type I suppose.

Happy music is always nice! There was some talk of happy town music in the Discord server, and I'd say I like that kind of music. Probably a good reason why I like Treasure Town. I'm not sure what my favorite "happy town music" song would be, but Littleroot Town popped up in my head as one that I really like, and that probably serves as a good comparison in that it's a song in that style that I like a lot more than Treasure Town.

Konran Shoujo Soflan-chan!! (Asynchronicity Unlimited Progressive Polyrhythmic Nightmare Long Version) > Kusanagi Village > Night Birds > Treasure Town > Time Moves Slow (Home) > An Endless Desert

Mr. Driller: Drill Land - The Dragon's Feed is the People
Hollow Knight - Sealed Vessel
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Ancient Makes

MATCH 1

The Dragon's Feed is the People has some nice flute and violin stuff going on. Besides those instruments and the erhu, I'm not too interested in the rest of the song. But it's good enough to beat its opponent.

Forest Investigation was a bit of a rollercoaster to listen to. The buildup at the beginning wasn't all that interesting to me, but I got hyped once 0:55 happened. That transition is just really cool to me with how it adds in those arps. But unfortunately, that ended up being the only part of this song I really enjoyed. I was hoping it would pick up more for me at some point after that, but it never really did.

MATCH 2

0:43-2:11 is really what makes Sealed Vessel for me. I really like this dark, powerful sound going on in this part. 1:55 makes for such a great climax too. I don't like the rest of the song nearly as much, but it's still nice to listen to.

Some parts of IroniA like the piano and mallet are pretty cool, but I feel like everything else going on in the song drowns that out a lot and makes this song less enjoyable for me. My favorite part of this song is at 2:48 when all the percussion instruments go away and I can focus on what I like the most about the song. The added pizzicato strings are a nice touch too. Ultimately, Sealed Vessel wins on average even if I'm a bit mixed on it.

MATCH 3

I like the happy sound of Stage 5. Not much to say about it, it's a fun, feel-good song to listen to.

Ancient Makes is far from my favorite Trails song, but it easily blows out of the water every other song up today. Great melodies all around with 1:21-1:52 being my favorite part. There are a few things to point out with that part. I like how at a few places, the backing instruments add a little something extra to make the song better for me. Particularly at places like 1:27 and 1:35. I don't know whether it's more of a harmony or a countermelody (or neither?), but it sounds nice when my focus jumps from one thing to the other there.

Ancient Makes >> Sealed Vessel > Stage 5 > The Dragon's Feed is the People > IroniA > Forest Investigation

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - The Great Sea
Death's Door - Avarice
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland - The Wind's Blooming Mountain

MATCH 1

I mainly remember The Great Sea for its intro, but it's a nice song. The rest of the song almost reminds me of Pokemon with how adventurous it sounds.

human's figure has this cool trance vibe, but it's nothing too special. Ultimately, it ends up being a pretty forgettable song to me. At the same time, though, I feel like this could potentially be a lot better. Especially 0:14-0:43. That part feels the most like something I could be really interested in if it was reworked. The Great Sea isn't a whole lot better, but I find myself leaning towards it, so that's what gets my vote for this match.

MATCH 2

Dodo's Lair is definitely more what I'm hoping for out of a chiptune song than Club Leader Duel from yesterday. It's like one big pentatonic scale solo (at least I think it is), which is pretty cool. There are better chiptune songs in the bracket, but this one's not bad at all.

Avarice kind of reminds me of He's a Pirate, so I can't help but think that this is from a pirate game when I listen to this, even though the cover art shows that it's clearly not lol. Don't really have much to say about this song, but it's decent too. This match is very tough, and I could go either way.

MATCH 3

I feel like I have a tendency to like these downward piano arpeggios like in The Wind's Blooming Mountain's intro. Definitely kicks off the song in a nice way. In general, I really like this song's playful feel. 1:01-1:32 really gives off that mood, but the whole song's great.

If you thought me liking B.T. Dutch from VGMC14 was surprising, wait until you hear that I like Hello 31337 even more! This is actually probably my favorite Darius series song that I've heard. Just like B.T. Dutch, I think Hello 31337 does the atmosphere and overall sound of this really well. I find myself really into this dancey techno sound. It's too bad I don't share this same enthusiasm for many other songs in this series based on what I've listened to through these contests and elsewhere.

The Wind's Blooming Mountain > Hello 31337 > Avarice > Dodo's Lair > The Great Sea > human's figure

Close matches today. That Hello, world song in the poll makes me want to see Blaze Up in another contest. Apparently it was in once in VGMC7 and never again. Looking at the stats list now, it went out round 1 too. And so did the song in the poll in the same year, huh.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Burst Forth!! Choro-gon Breath - Imaginary Shopping District
Deemo - Moon without the stars
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Kaze no Ne

MATCH 1

Club Leader Duel is a fine song. Nothing too special, but it's nice to listen to.

If only I liked Imaginary Shopping District as much as Isoleucine. Still, this song holds my interest more than its opponent. 0:33-0:54 is my favorite part of the song. It's the most melodically structured part of the song to me, if that makes any sense.

MATCH 2

The 2000's pop comparisons is what I was thinking as well for Moon Without the Stars lol. I really like this song though! I didn't put it in my support considerations playlist, but I probably should have because I would have been willing to, but I definitely did not have room to do so. I guess I like these kinds of heartfelt songs. The chorus in particular is my favorite part of the song, so it's a good thing that it repeats a lot throughout the song.

Mechonis Field was never my favorite Xenoblade song, but it's a pretty decent song. I've always been more into the energetic Xenoblade songs like You Will Know Our Names. It makes sense then that I like 1:24-2:16 the most in this song where it starts to pick up more.

MATCH 3

I feel like I can enjoy songs in a similar style as The Battle of Blizzard Bridge, but this song doesn't really do anything for me. Pretty average song in my view, but I don't really mean that in a bad way. I just don't have strong feelings on it one way or the other.

Kaze no Ne is an overall good song. It's no secret that I'm a fan of folky songs like this, so even though there are plenty of songs out there similar to Kaze no Ne that I like a lot more, it's something I like quite a bit and is a clear choice in this match.

Moon Without the Stars > Kaze no Ne > Mechonis Field > Imaginary Shopping District > Club Leader Duel > The Battle of Blizzard Bridge

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Dreams in a Pie
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan - Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

MATCH 1

Dreams in a Pie is a soft, pleasant song. Not my favorite example of this kind of song, but it's nice to listen to. 0:44-0:54 is probably my favorite part. I just feel a slightly stronger attachment to the melody there.

In general, I don't feel too strongly about Ghost Ship Painting. Melodically, it's not very interesting for the most part. 0:53-1:07 is super cool though and makes this match a lot closer than it otherwise would be. That pulsating rhythm really gets me into that part, and I wish the rest of the song gave me this feeling too.

MATCH 2

Similar to Dreams in a Pie, Labyrinth V is a nice song to listen to, even if it doesn't stand out a whole lot to me. Not a whole lot to say here.

I can appreciate the big, dramatic sound of Heavens Divide. I'm not very hooked on the melody though, so I don't find myself too interested in this song. There are a few specific parts at 1:19 and 2:49 where Donna Burke says "when heavens divide" that I like a bit more than the rest of the song, but those are the only real standouts to me. Pretty close match.

MATCH 3

While it isn't my favorite Fire Emblem song, Don't Speak Her Name is a lot closer to what I want out of that "big, dramatic sound" type of song than something like Heavens Divide. I doubt this has changed much from the last time I heard this song in a contest, but my favorite part is 1:57-2:36.

Secret of the Forest is such a cool song! I really like how all the distinct melodic parts of this song come together starting from that first 4-note arpeggio to create this almost otherworldly feeling. Definitely up there in my favorite Chrono Trigger songs that I've listened to.

Secret of the Forest > "Don't speak her name!" > Dreams in a Pie > Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital > Heavens Divide > Ghost Ship Painting

Bottom three songs are pretty close.