Lurker > loweffortmemes

Celeste - Confronting Myself
Skygunner - To the Distant Sky
GITADORA OverDrive - Douwa Kairou

MATCH 1

Man, I wish the rest of Confronting Myself was as cool as its intro. There's something about that intro that's really good to me. Similar to the intro to Second Dark Matter Battle (note to self: please stop accidentally typing it as "Second Dark Mind Battle"), to draw a comparison. The melody during the rest of the song, though, feels so much more dull to me. Like it doesn't have the same excitement as the intro. Speaking of which, I also don't really like it when it's all chopped up later on in the song for the same reason. It takes a little bit away from what I like about the intro. That said, it's a fine song, I just definitely don't like it as much as many others here do.

Thermal Base 1 is much better than I remember it being! Kinda reminds me of Undertale - CORE. Makes this match closer than I expected it to be. There's still some things that I'm not too big on, like the orchestra hits. 0:41-0:55 isn't great either. Confronting Myself's a little bit better, but I wouldn't mind Thermal Base 1 winning here.

MATCH 2

Wow did I underrate To the Distant Sky when I was going through nominations! I remember liking it when I listened to it the first time, but didn't consider supporting it until I remembered it one day and thought "oh I remember this being good, lemme listen to it again" and then realizing that it's a really good song. The vocalist has such a nice, soothing voice and the whole song in general is really calming. Parts like 0:10-0:28 and the melody in the vocals are really great too. Soft anime-sounding song good. Desire Blue Sky losing is definitely sad, but that pushes To the Distant Sky to my #2 favorite song in B2 (Endeavor is #1 now), so I'm somewhat hoping to see this retire. If Endeavor loses too, then I'm definitely pushing as much as I can for this song to retire. Glad I recognized that I love this song in time to support it to help get it into the contest!

[Will edit to finish this as soon as I post it, just getting my votes in now]

PIayer_0 posted...

Desire Blue Sky dying early again :(

Edit: And that's my first favorites bracket retiree out of the contest too!

Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky
Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Persona 5 - Rivers in the Desert

MATCH 1

Heading Back to Town starts off pretty weird with the strange vocals in the background, but then it suddenly turns into a Trails song when the violin comes in. Granted, once the drums and everything come in starting at 0:46, it sounds less Falcom, but it still sounds pretty cool! Upon looking up the composer, it seems he's the person who composed for the Tales games, which explains the JRPG vibe to this song haha. But yeah, this is a pretty cool song, I just don't like those vocals. Not much to say beyond that.

Desire Blue Sky is so good! There was a time not too long ago where I was just listening to Desire Blue Sky and Find the Blue back to back repeatedly lol. This song feels very much like the girl in this image, like you're just floating in the air. Especially at the start with those soft pad chords. It definitely has that feeling throughout the whole song though! I like it a lot. It's pretty calming for me. I think this song starts to peak once the drums come in full force starting at 1:37 and especially during the chorus. The chorus is definitely my favorite part with more great melodic stuff as usual but also with the saxophone giving really driving home the solemn emotion of this song. Starting at 4:20, there's also more vocal harmonizing that I love so much! I really wish this didn't lose round 1 last year, but even if it advanced, getting matched up against It Has to Be This Way round 2 was such a rough draw. Fortunately, this year, we have a bracket that allows me to push Desire Blue Sky really far (round 5 in my favorites bracket this year)! Another great Kanako Itou song :)

MATCH 2

Reach for the Moon's still a great Touhou song in my eyes. I think it fares a little better than Id ~ Purpose for "traditional VGMC entry that never retires" so it has a better shot at retiring in my favorites bracket, but I still view this as another song that, despite being good, has too much competition to be able to retire in any given year. I like pianos a lot, so this song is a good example of good piano melodies. Even when the ZUNpets are there, I don't mind, since they've never bothered me when listening to Touhou music. Sometimes they're less fitting than in other songs but here, I think they fit fine.

So with the recent talk about Japanese vs. English version of Kaze no Ne/Sound of the Wind, I have this to say. I think the singer can be a little flat in the notes, especially in the beginning, but I prefer the note sliding in the vocals that the English version has (see 0:33, 1:08, 2:06-2:09). So some combination of the two, say, the Japanese version with those particular vocal inflections, would be the most preferable for me. That said, though, even with the most ideal version of those vocals, I don't think I'd vote this over Reach for the Moon. I think I just wish it had a more full sound. There isn't much going on with instruments until about halfway through the song. I think if there was more regarding instrumentation, I'd like this song a lot more. I should mention, though, that I do like this song quite a bit! I'd still say it's a somewhat close match, but I think Sound of the Wind has potential to be even better for me. Possibly so much better that I'd vote it over Reach for the Moon. Good match, but sadly I can't vote for Sound of the Wind here.

MATCH 3

It's interesting to me that Terraria Calamity made such a strong debut last year with two retired entries in one contest! It didn't surprise me too much, but it was cool to see. Infestation wasn't my favorite entry that appeared, but it's still a cool song! It's a nice example of general EDM-sounding (not the most applicable term here, I know) stuff being good. Simple (at least in how it sounds since I know there's some more complex stuff production-wise), but good!

I feel like if I had to pick my least favorite Persona 5 vocal song, it would be Rivers in the Desert. Good thing I really like all the Persona 5 vocal songs I've heard, though! The general guitar and verse parts feel more lackluster compared to how other songs like Last Surprise, Life Will Change, etc. feel. The chorus is where this song shines the most with the strings and all that doing what they do best in this game's music. The melody in the chorus is also really nice. This match is really close! Definitely much closer than match 2. I think in the end, both songs are generally at the same level, but Rivers in the Desert has higher peaks than Infestation does, so my vote goes to Rivers in the Desert here!

Desire Blue Sky > Rivers in the Desert > Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke > 1NF3S+@+!0N (Theme of Crabulon) > Sound of the Wind > Heading Back to Town

Another good day today! Really close rankings for those middle 4 songs with RftM and Infestation being the closest. Could go either way there. Desire Blue Sky and Heading Back to Town, though, I'm very solid on their positions.

Idola Phantasy Star Saga - Endeavour
War of Brains - FEEL the POWER in YOUR SOUL
Beatmania IIDX 21 Spada - Dark Legacy

MATCH 1

I was really hoping to see Endeavor in the contest this year ever since kaonashi used it in a list that one time. I love the super powerful melody and all the harmonizing going on with the brass and the strings. The piano backing starting at 2:58 is a nice touch as well. It's like you're rushing into the final battle but we know we're going to win so everyone's full of hope and vigor. I 100% would've supported this if it didn't make it in as quickly as it did. I like to think about where my music taste intersects with others, so I guess this song is the lem-kaonashi intersection (I would lump Toxtricity in here too since their tastes have a lot of overlap but I view this song as more kaonashi than tox, and I think there are better examples of lem-tox intersect). What an awesome song and a great discovery!

B2 Battle is another really cool discovery! This was one of the strong considerations of mine for my wildcard pick, but honestly, it might actually be what my preference is in the end. At least the main considerations were between two songs so if my memory's correct and there's a maximum of 3 points allocated towards a song with 6 points in total, I can devote all my points to my top two preferences. This song has a slightly edgy feel to it, but it's the cool kind and not the cheesy kind, so I like it. The use of tubular bells for the lead instrument is a really cool choice and I like how it sounds here! I like the melody a lot and I'm really digging the guitar solo too at 0:46. This is definitely a really strong match and I wish this didn't have to be a round 1 match. I'd vote this song over every song today besides Endeavor. I hope putting this match as the first match in B2 was intentional haha.

MATCH 2

There's a lot of really cool stuff from Hideki "Peter Griffin" Naganuma. Being a part of the siiva community for a while gave me a lot of exposure to stuff like Jet Set Radio music which is a big favorite there. He just does a lot of cool sample-based music like this song. Some of it can be a little hit or miss, but FEEL the POWER in YOUR SOUL (the caps feel so necessary here lol) appeals to the side of me that likes general EDM stuff. I definitely feel the power from this song! Favorite part is 1:10-1:25.

Central Park is a good example of a song I can highlight for being a song from an older console that I can enjoy. C64 rock tunes from the likes of Tim Follin or Jeroren Tel are a lot of times enjoyable stuff for me, and while this song's definitely distinct from the works of those two composers, I get a similar sense of enjoyment from it. Not a whole lot to say about it, it's just a cool sounding song from start to finish, with the exception of 3:16-3:27-ish. That part just leaves a slight ringing in my ears and I don't like it lol.

MATCH 3

I really like the piano and violin combination from Dark Legacy. My only complaint is those wub-wub sounds like at 0:52 and 0:56. I think it's actually the worst during the 1:19-1:39 part because it really feels like it interferes with the melody for me. But other than, yeah, I love how pretty this song sounds. Nekomata Master putting out some good music as usual.

Here's another chance at highlighting a type of song I like that I don't always get to: soft, emotional Japanese music. Stuff like this with sad piano and vocals is hard to go wrong for me! That said, there are some things that make it not as good as it could be. For one thing, I don't really care much for the beat of this song. Feels kind of R&B-ish in a sense and that's not really what I'm looking for in a song like this. I think I'd like this song a lot more if it was different. I guess I wish the vocalist was a little less breathy but that's a more minor issue. This is actually a pretty close match! Like I said, I think there are some changes that could theoretically be made to push this song over the top for me, but as it is now, I don't think I can vote for it. Just to throw out an example of something I do like a lot in this song is the vocal harmonizing at around 1:18 right before the key change. I feel like fast-paced stuff tends to take precedence over slower, emotional songs like this which kinda sucks because sometimes it isn't as easy to express that I do like both types of songs a lot in the right context!

Endeavor > B2 Battle > Dark Legacy > Whereabouts of Light > FEEL the POWER in YOUR SOUL > Central Park

Pretty good day today!

In case one soul isn't enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCfsa8YhEIE

Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky - Sky of Twilight
Aka - Desert
Granblue Fantasy - New World Order

Vocals day!

MATCH 1

Not sure if I still like Sky of Twilight exactly as much as I did last year when I first heard it, but it's still an amazing song! Good enough that it skyrocketed to the bracket winner in my favorites bracket once again. Such a great song from start to finish. Really good melody that I love both during the harder rock portions as well as the softer portions. This leads me to the fact that I like how the song switches things up throughout the song and that each individual portion of the song is equally good. I remember some people saying last year that 3:05-3:47 felt out of place in the song, but I don't get that feeling at all. I view it as a distinct part of the song that sounds great and flows well in the song as a guitar solo section. And of course, I really like Kanako Itou's vocals, which really shines the most when there's harmonizing in her vocals like at 0:53, 1:36, and 5:56 (just to highlight a few parts, since there's vocal harmonizing pretty much the whole song). Even though it would be awesome to see some new songs that are just as good, I'm still more than happy to see this song come back because it's so good.

Hmm, I may be enjoying The Cold Science of Supremacy a little more than in the past like when I heard it in RtVGM. Things that sound dark, like this song, have some potential to be appealing to me depending on the direction the song goes in. In large part, I'd say this song doesn't really do anything exceptional, but I can enjoy it a bit in general. One particular thing to note that's cool is the chord change that happens at 0:49. I feel like if that chord change showed up in a different song that I liked a lot, I'd be really enthusiastic about it.

MATCH 2

While I don't like every Dodonpachi song I've heard, there are some really cool ones out there like Flotage. It seems that people don't really expect me to be a fan of the kind of music from these games, since when I decided to pick Vertigo for the crowdsourced VGMGG 200 in the discord server, there was a bit of surprise from some of the participants. But yeah, like I said, there are some great songs in these games! Flotage is another example of these neat electronic songs. Pretty cool song all throughout. I think the intro's especially nice. Perhaps the least surprising opinion from me regarding this song might be that 1:33-1:57 is my favorite part of the song. I just think this guitar solo's really good and it fits quite nicely among all the electronic stuff in the background.

I really like Desert! This is probably the song in this match that people would expect me to like. The intro to this song's super good. Really catchy world-sounding stuff there. The vocals and other backing instruments are very nice too. The other selling part of this song is definitely 0:58-1:36. Very emotional part in a way that I really like. That part definitely hit me when I first listened to this song during the nomination period. I didn't add it to my potential supports playlist but if this song was in danger of not making it in by the very end, I probably would've ended up supporting it. And honestly, it might've been a consideration had there not been so many great songs nominated.

Strong match here! Desert's the clear pick, so unfortunately, Flotage got a rough draw here. There are definitely plenty of songs I would've picked Flotage over but not this one. Bye for now, Flotage :(

MATCH 3

Now with New World Order, I'm amazed that I didn't support it during VGMC13--or at least I don't think I did--because I had this song as a bracket winner. I've seen some complaints about the vocals, but honestly, I don't have any issues with them. Like yeah, I can barely make out half the words they say, but I don't really care about that lol. I don't think I'm super picky about vocals usually, though, (opera vocals are the only vocals I tend to get picky about lol) so maybe that explains why I think they're fine. Another fantastic song from start to finish! Feels like you're flying through the clouds at a blinding speed. The violin in the intro is great, and once again, more harmonizing in the vocals like with the male and female vocals from 1:44-2:08. And then more awesome violin melodies right after that! With how much vocal opposition to this there was during last year's contest, I'm so happy that it went as far as it did! I almost forgot that it tied with its round 2 opponent before going on to win the bracket. By the time the rest of my favorites were out, I was pushing so hard for this to win the contest. Sadly, it couldn't beat Revenger, but being able to have my favorites bracket winner be the actual winner of that bracket was such a great feeling!

Machine celebration time! I never got to actually play Nier Automata myself, but I watched a no commentary let's play of it, and I was happy that the uploader didn't kill any of the machines in the main area because they're just having fun and they don't attack you! Anyway, Amusement Park is actually much better than I remember it being! Emi Evans' vocals are great and I really like the violin backing in this song! I'd say this is definitely among some of the better songs in this game, though not my favorite.

Sky of Twilight > New World Order > Desert > Flotage (Stage3-B) > Amusement Park (Dynamic Vocals) >> The Cold Science of Supremacy

Good day today! I liked every song here, but the top 5 are the really good ones. I'd say like all 7.5/10 or above for the top 5 songs today?

Phantasy Star Online Episode III - IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Rewrite - Beyond the Darkness
Metal Masters - Metal Beat

MATCH 1

IDOLA The Strange Fruits starts off with a really cool intro with the soft vocals and piano. Feels like a really mysterious sci-fi thing (which is probably what PSO is). Don't like some of the following parts as much, but I like parts like 1:41-1:54 where you have the trumpets coming in to harmonize with that main melody. I also like that brief key change at 2:10.

RE:UNION's a neat song. Goes a little too much into rhythm game tropes like really loud percussion for me, but overall I think it's good! Might've liked this more if it was in last year, I think. I'd rather this song let the pianos shine more like other Deemo songs I like. It does that in the intro from 0:00-0:10 and I probably like that part the most. Despite what I've said about it, it's actually a pretty close match and I don't really have a preference either way for which song wins.

MATCH 2

Have no fear Haste_2! Here I am, coming through with a positive Beyond the Darkness review! So, I also nominated a Rewrite song, but I actually like this song more than the one I nominated (Deep Forest) so I'm really happy that this song was able to make it in. I love this song a lot. Really soft ED theme. Great melody and vocals, and it just has great vibes overall. It also has the vocal harmonizing stuff I like a lot! Especially at 1:34/1:35-ish. I probably don't like this for the same technical reasons that others have shared, since I've never really been one to focus on that stuff. Well, maybe the reason why I say I like it melodically has to do with that, but yeah, great melody and feel-good vibes would be the reasons that I can put into words. I know from a more objective standpoint, that's super unhelpful as far as trying to explain what I like in music goes, but I guess it's the feelings I get from certain songs that matter? Anyway, this definitely ranks among some of my favorite Rewrite songs, though I love the soundtrack as a whole and it's my favorite soundtrack out of all the Key games. English localization of Harvest Festa when

Hinagiku is also a really neat song! This is the kind of "weird" song that I can really get behind. Really unique and mysterious melody in the background that's kind of reminiscent of Drakengard 3's The Final Song in a sense. Like the intro of it. 1:00-1:24 is also really good! I like that dreamlike feel of it. Beyond the Darkness was something that I really wanted to see in the contest and as I said, I love it a lot, so it's my clear preference here, but I would've liked to vote for Hinagiku if it was matched up against a different song. I think I'd take it over both match 1 songs.

MATCH 3

(Posting early to get my votes in on time)

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Sky Tower
SimCity 4 - ElectriCITY
Rivals of Aether - Luna Ascension EX (aka OST 7)

MATCH 1

Sky Tower is such a great, iconic Mystery Dungeon song. One thing I like about this arrangement is that it's noticeably distinct from the original but it also feels like it hardly takes anything away from the original. I guess I'd say it feels like I'm listening to a modern remaster of Sky Tower instead of a highly distinct take on the song. I like it this way since it keeps the same charm the song has always had for me, but it also feels very fresh with these new instruments and all that. I wouldn't say I like one version more than the other, but hearing this in nominations was definitely a welcome surprise since I've never heard this version of Sky Tower before. As for the song itself, I really like it the whole way through. It truly does feel like a song that signifies the climax of your journey. Melodically, it's great and I really like how that repeating sequence of notes makes for a great lead melody as well as a backing harmony whenever the flute and trumpet comes in.

I tend to be a pretty big fan of Touhou music, but Faint Dream ~ Inanimate Dream doesn't feel as good as the usual Touhou song. Some things I like are that backing portion that plays at 0:44 and some of the percussion rhythms. Mainly that drumming pattern starting at 0:30 where you have that snare(?) hit every other beat. The latter's pretty common in Touhou songs in general, I think, but I really like it. It makes me want to tap my foot to the rhythm. I think it's mostly how it starts that's a little weak and that the longer the song goes on, the better it seems. While it's not the most top-tier Touhou song out there, I still like it, but Sky Tower's way too strong.

MATCH 2

I'm kinda mixed on ElectriCITY. On the one hand, the song has some cool stuff that appeals to me like that looping melody that first appears at 1:10. I think it sounds nice, and the flutes that are added later in the song on top of that melody sounds cool too. On the other hand, I feel like something about the way this sounds to me really holds it back. I can't put it in words but the only thing I can think of to actually write down is that the instrumentation in this at many times feels like old stock music for Youtube tutorial videos. This probably has no discernible meaning to anyone besides myself, so sorry if that's the case lol. I'm mainly thinking of parts like 0:00-1:09 (with a focus on 0:55-1:09) when I say that. That said, I do like it to some extent! Looking back at my RtVGM score for it, it looks like it's worn off on me over time, though.

Man, Partizans feels like something I should like a lot. And I do from 0:00-0:31, but once that intro is finished and the next part of the song comes on, my interest gets a lot lower. I wish I could come up with the words to explain why it is that I'm not as interested in that next part, but I can't. I guess maybe I can say it sounds like a march or something which isn't the kind of style of music that interests me? I'm hesitant in saying that because I might not even be describing it right. But I think the rest of the song I like to varying degrees. It's to the point where I keep thinking about flipping on this match, but at the same time, my brain's telling me that ElectriCITY is good more consistently. So, yeah, pretty close match, but not the best match.

MATCH 3

Luna Ascension's such a great song! The melody's all bright and happy, which I think I tend to like pretty consistently. I think I like both this Rivals of Aether version and the original just as much. Not a whole lot to say about this song, it just appeals to a certain section of my taste quite nicely.

Uggghhh such a rough draw for this match. There are so many songs from Umineko that I'd take over Luna Ascension. Even from the question arcs, which is my least favorite of the two overall in terms in terms of music (though I should say that this is because there just aren't as many top-tier songs in the first half of the game). Sadly, Endless Nine was never really my favorites among the question arc music. Even during BOST, I strongly considered putting Endless Nine as my alt for Umineko since it was a retired song, but I knew there were other songs I liked more that weren't really strong enough for the main 6 songs, so I settled on dir as a variety pick that I like instead. The thing is, even if it's a middle-of-the-road Umineko song, the average song in this game is still really good, so I can definitely say that I like Endless Nine quite a bit. I'd easily take it over both of the songs in match 2 and probably over Faint Dream as well. In this match, though, it's super close, but in the end, I just don't think Endless Nine is a strong enough song to beat Luna Ascension EX. I think melodically, it just doesn't hold up as well as many other Umineko songs for me. Maybe a little bit of a surprise for those who know how much I like Umineko's soundtrack, but like I said, Endless Nine was dealt too rough of a hand here.

Sky Tower > Luna Ascension EX > Endless Nine > Faint Dream ~ Inanimate Dream > ElectriCITY > Partizans

Ar nosurge - Class::EXPAJA
Indivisible - Eulogia
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!

MATCH 1

Class::EXPAJA isn't the best Ar nosurge song in the game, but it's still pretty good. I still have it going to round 4 in my favorites bracket since it's in a part of the bracket where the other 3 songs it competes against are weak enough to make EXPAJA the clear winner whereas it might face more stiff competition elsewhere in the bracket. Though if it does get to round 3, I could see myself voting against it depending on what the wildcard is. I don't think I've ever really cared all that much for the kind of operatic vocals that show up in EXPAJA, but they're definitely bearable. The lead singer's fine, though. Sound-wise, it's interesting enough to me. Like it definitely succeeds at keeping me invested in the song. I particularly like 1:44-2:12 because the dark chord changes throughout that part are really cool.

The intro to Miracle Matter's cool enough, but the rest of the song just feels like noise to me. Like, there isn't anything else that makes me feel any one way about the song. So it's not painfully bad or anything, but it's pretty outside the realm of what my tastes are and I can't really say I like this song much if at all. I guess I'm happy that this matchup is like this so I can easily vote EXPAJA without any second thoughts because, like I said, there are plenty of other strong entries that would be difficult to decide between if EXPAJA were to be matched up with them.

MATCH 2

Eulogia's a really nice and pretty song! This song feels kinda Gust-y with its instrumentation since you have stuff like flutes and violins in it playing this world sounding stuff. Which, well, is why I like this song as much as I do! The vocals in the middle of the song are also a really nice addition! The ending to the song's a neat way of changing things up. Kinda reminds me of Bravely Default music at that point. Really cool song! Also one of the aforementioned songs that would give me pause if matched up against EXPAJA (and I did make that happen round 2 of my favorites bracket) lol.

Cloak of Darkness is a nice song too. Sounds pretty cool throughout. I'd say Eulogia's more my thing, though, so Eulogia gets my vote. Don't really have anything to say about Cloak of Darkness, sadly.

MATCH 3

I'm really glad I was able to help get Torna Battle in last year because it's a really cool song! Definitely worthy of winning its bracket, even if it wasn't what I had picked to win. Really neat jazzy piano stuff throughout. I especially like that repeating part of 0:54-1:07. But yeah, the whole thing is great. It has that cool repeating part that I like a lot, but it also changes things up frequently to keep the song fresh (though I don't say that to mean that I necessarily don't like songs that repeat a certain part a lot without any changes).

Slag Dance is a cool song, but far from my favorite Atelier Ayesha song (or Atelier in general). I think the instrumentation's pretty unique, particularly those weird sounding vocals, but I think the song's a little too far removed from what I like about Atelier music to be a top-tier song. That's not to say it's bad, because it's definitely not bad. Far from the worst song today too. I just don't think it does enough of what I like to push it over the top. I guess something like 0:57-1:24 is more what I'm looking for? Hard to say because every part is good, but none are exceptional.

Battle!! > Class::EXPAJA = Slag Dance > Eulogia > Cloak of Darkness >> Miracle Matter

Spark the Electric Jester - Megaraph Fleet
Project Cerberus - L L ~Infinite Beating ver~
Mario Kart 8 - Big Blue

About the poll, I voted "loser of EXEC_Z and GUERRANT" but really, my picks are either EXEC_Z if it loses or Wings of Terror Phase 2 if EXEC_Z wins.

MATCH 1

I think I like Lunar Bass a little more, but Megaraph Fleet's pretty cool too! This is a pretty close match with certain parts of Megaraph Fleet being pretty much equal or a little below In Circles as a whole, but specific parts of this song push it above In Circles for me. The best part and what wins this song over for me in the end is 0:59-1:22 (and to a lesser extent 1:22-1:45). I really like the guitar melody there and the vocals + the strings harmonizing underneath it is really great. I wish the rest of the song was like this, though! The rest of the song is still good, but not as good as those parts I mentioned.

In Circles, I think I overrated a bit from last year. Even looking back at last year's bracket, I definitely should've had it losing to TIGAR in round 4 instead of beating it. That said, I still think it's a great song. It's a nice, melancholic song, which as I've said in the past, is something I like in general. The chorus is definitely my favorite part of the song. I like how it brings all the instruments together and makes the different layers of the song more pronounced.

MATCH 2

I really like Dance With Me! Such a catchy little tune. I'd like to tell that little penguin guy, "yes I'd love to dance with you to this song, but could you please put that big knife of yours away? It's a little intimidating." This is another example of "yay, very full instrumentation, me like." I think I tend to like accordions a lot in songs, and it fits super well in a song like this. The brass instruments and everything else also come together really nicely. Definitely a shame that it's up against L.L, because I'd definitely like to see Dance With Me advance a few rounds. Which brings me to...

Hello again SSH! L.L ended up being my pick for my Bracket A champion in my favorites bracket, so like I was saying, really unfortunate opponent for Dance With Me! I'm really glad this was introduced to me through RtVGM because I love it! Literally from the first second, it's super cool and appealing to me and never stops once! I'm sure for some, it'll just seem like one really long guitar solo, but I don't know man, this song just hits all the right notes for me. I really wish I could explain for songs like this why I love them so much, because I guess they're not super complex compositionally in a way where I can talk about all sorts of things; they just appeal to a certain portion of my taste and they do it very well.

MATCH 3

So this is an interesting segue because it's another fast-paced rock song, but one that I'm not nearly as interested in. Don't get me wrong, it definitely does a lot of cool stuff at various points and I do like it. It definitely takes a while to start getting really good though. Like around the 1-minute mark and then around 2 or so minutes in to start doing more cool things? From then on, I think it keeps my interest rather well. Might be something that I start liking more and more as time goes on, because I know I like this now more than I did when I was first going through the ToC bracket.

I love this arrangement of Big Blue! The original song's great as is, but this also does the whole rock thing very well. The saxophone's a really nice touch that I think works really well in this song. Don't have a whole lot to say about it (and I'm also a little strapped for time regardless, sorry!).

Guild Wars 2 - Fear Not This Night
Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake Eater
Ar Nosurge - Hidra Heteromycin

MATCH 1

Deoxyribose feels like a song I should enjoy, at least because of its style. It feels like a song that would be made if you asked Basiscape to make the Blue Reflection soundtrack, in the sense that it's this blend of electronic and other instruments. Yet, I don't really feel any emotions about this song at all. It has some things that, in theory, I could like in a song, such as polyphony and "epic," for lack of a better word, melodic lines. I just don't think it does any of those things particularly well. Or at least when they're all put together. It's certainly not a bad song, I just view it as something that's not the best execution of something that I could potentially enjoy a lot. That said, there's definitely songs from this game that I do like. Toxtricity mentioned In the Doldrums at one point, which I like a lot more. Maybe one day, I'll go through some more songs from this game to hunt for more stuff that I like.

Fear Not This Night is also not the best example of soft, emotional vocal songs, but I think I like it more in general than Deoxyribose. It has a nice, pretty sound throughout, especially from 1:27-1:41. Also, 3:16-3:30 is really cool. The initial shift to minor key is a neat change in tone, and then there's the second key change, which is super dark in a warm, uplifting song like this and I like it a lot. Probably my favorite part in the song, actually. This likely wouldn't end up as the song I vote for in most cases, but it is here! I think it's actually kinda nice to vote for softer songs for a change, since I do like those types of songs too, but I feel like I don't often get the chance to show that. I don't remember this song despite having played quite a bit of Guild Wars 2 in the past, but I assume it came out after I stopped playing.

MATCH 2

What a catchy, memorable song Snake Eater is! Especially the chorus. Not much to say about this song, it's a classic song that I like a lot.

Shop 'til You Drop has this turn-of-the-century computer music vibe. It certainly has its charm to it! Feels like you're in a club that still thinks disco isn't dead. But who cares if they think that, they're just having fun! And you know what, I can kinda appreciate this song too, even though it's not really my thing. Snake Eater's the obvious pick here, but I at least respect its opponent.

MATCH 3

I finally decided to finish the remaining portions of my Tournament of Champions favorites bracket after saying that it's about time I deal with all the crazy hard matches I left for myself, and my champion was none other than Hidra Heteromycin! This song's just so insanely good all throughout and is a super "me" song. Right from the get-go, it goes into all this stuff that I like in general. 0:11-0:34 is a killer lead-in to the verse section of the song. Particularly 0:11-0:22 of that part that just makes me go "wow!" Love the melody in the strings and the chanting there! The verse portions are very "anime rock" (wish I had a different way to describe it since it feels so much more to me than that lol) in a way that I really like. I mean, sure, you could describe the whole song as that lol but that's besides the point. Anyway, after that, once 1:58 hits, it's like Godsibb on steroids with all the vocal harmonizing going on (another very me thing that I've remarked on numerous times throughout this contest alone). The guitar solo at 3:07's also great. I guess it's no surprise that this ended up as my bracket winner! Even with several other songs not too far behind. It just does such an incredible job at demonstrating the kind of stuff I already consistently enjoy hearing in songs. Should've beat Sunshine Coastline in VGMC12 for the championship round. This might be a bit of a re-hash of my writeup on this song for BOST, but I don't care, this song is so good that it's worth saying this twice!

Servants of the Scourge, I think was my preferred Terraria Calamity song in the bracket last year, and definitely what I prefer over Scourge of the Universe. In contrast to Scourge of the Universe, Servants manages to keep my interest throughout with the different parts to the song representing what I assume are different bosses in the game. All of these parts being very good, by the way. Definitely a strong match, but Hidra's way too strong to even consider voting against it.

Hidra Heteromycin > Servants of the Scourge > Snake Eater > Fear Not This Night > -[Deoxyribose]- > Shop 'til You Drop

Okay maybe I have to take back what I said about zts when I said he never put out a song I didn't like lol. I forgot that song existed (though the intro's familiar to me).

UF8 posted...

you sure about that? i mean the atmospheric stuff in it is alright for what it is but i don't really know anyone who's all that crazy about it

Ah yeah, I forgot he did some of the atmospheric music too. So yeah, those I'm definitely not crazy about, but I'd also say that they're good for what they are.

Pokemon Sword and Shield - Battle Tower
Granblue Fantasy Versus - Wings of Terror Phase 2
Umineko no Naku Koro ni 1 - goldenslaughterer

MATCH 1

Don't really have much to say about Battle Tower. It's a good song and I can definitely hear how it sounds like Toby Fox since I wouldn't see it as out of place in Undertale or Deltarune. Pretty inoffensive song and sounds cool to me.

Final Destination's a neat song too. Feels like lobby music or character select music. Kinda feel the same way about this song as I do about Battle Tower in that it's a cool song and also inoffensive. Battle Tower, I just like a little more, though.

MATCH 2

Wings of Terror Phase 2 is by far the best Granblue Fantasy Versus song in the main bracket. Not as good as New World Order, though, in the ToC bracket lol. I like the original Dark Silver Wings a lot too. Dark Silver Wings in particular is really cool with the buildup to the part that you hear in Wings of Terror Phase 2, but I'm totally fine with just that verse part isolated because both are super cool and I just think that second half of Dark Silver Wings works just fine as a standalone part. In addition, I like some of the new stuff that gets added to Wings of Terror Phase 2 like the electric organ and the violin. This is just a really good song all around!

An Endless Desert's a nice, peaceful song. This doesn't actually feel like walking through an endless desert! Feels like I'm just there on vacation or I'm just passing through. It's a nice song to leave on in the background, but ultimately, a song like Wings of Terror Phase 2 is definitely gonna win me over. It's just way more my thing than An Endless Desert.

MATCH 3

Aw yes, time for a super strong Tournament of Champions match! Up first is yet another great selection from Umineko, goldenslaughterer. Like I said about system0, I really love all the dark music that this game has and goldenslaughterer's another great example of it. zts is also another Umineko composer that consistently has made great music for the game and has never put out a song for the game that I dislike (wish I could say the same about his non-VGM stuff!). I wish I could say more about why I love this song, it's just super cool! I feel like it does so many things that I really like.

I said about Kanata no Rafflesia in the previous day's thread that DJ TOTTO songs can feel kinda lacking in some way while still being good, but this is definitely not the case with Chloe. Chloe's definitely my favorite song from this composer that I've heard. Honestly, if I were to redo my Bracket A for VGMC13 now, I would probably have Chloe retiring instead of Star Shooter - Extra Boss. Chloe's a very cool world song that has a really great melody. Especially starting at 0:15. Both songs are super good in this match but sadly, I have to pick goldenslaughterer here. The choice is too clear for me, but this is a fantastic match.

goldenslaughterer > Chloe > Wings of Terror Phase 2 > Battle Tower > Final Destination > An Endless Desert

Good day today! I like every song here today and the top 3 are really good.

Persona 5 - Blooming Villain
REFLEC BEAT The Reflesia of Eternity - Kanata no Rafflesia
Shovel Knight - Strike the Earth

MATCH 1

AI[UE]OON starts out okay, but then quickly turns into this dubstep-y stuff that I don't really like. It definitely could be worse, but the song has a lot of stuff in it that I don't like so it ends up being a pretty meh song.

I strongly prefer the vocal songs in Persona 5 over Blooming Villain. Blooming Villain doesn't do anything that I dislike, but it's just there. Pretty average rock song that doesn't do anything exciting. Though, because it doesn't do anything I dislike, it gets to be above AI[UE]OON and thus, deserving of my vote.

Pretty underwhelming match 1, to be honest.

MATCH 2

Kanata no Rafflesia is much more my kind of thing for rhythm game music compared to AI[UE]OON. I don't know why, but I feel like DJ TOTTO songs have a tendency to fall flat somewhere in their composition. I feel like that's slightly the case with Kanata no Rafflesia too? Like the vocals are nice, but sometimes the melody is not quite what I'm looking for. Most notably whenever the melody goes into that flat 3. Don't know why, but it doesn't sound all that great here. That aside, it's a pretty good song and definitely the best among the main bracket songs that are up today! Like I said, I enjoy the vocals and despite what I just mentioned, I still find it to be a pretty enjoyable song.

Suite Conductivity Third Tune is a pretty interesting song. This song doesn't really have much of the weirdness that turns me away from some Darius songs, which is nice. That said, it doesn't draw me in that much and it definitely loses the initial interest I get from the song the longer it goes on. Probably because there's not much going on with the melody. Like it doesn't have any sort of catchiness to it, which makes it harder to keep that same level of interest as the song keeps going on. That said, I do like 2:57-3:18 quite a bit as well as the part right after that where the main melody has some variation added to it. Suite Conductivity's cool enough that I'd take it over both of the match 1 songs, but it definitely wouldn't hold up to the many other songs in this bracket that I think are better, and Kanata no Rafflesia is one of them.

MATCH 3

Innocence and Emptiness is a bit of a weird song to rate because I don't really like the first half of it but I love the second half. I just don't really care for the super slow buildup. It's good that it changes up and adds some more intensity gradually, but I don't really find myself enjoying the different parts to that buildup too much. 4:46 and onward is great and I'd probably take that part alone over every song up today lol. Unfortunately, though, that buildup really drags the song down for me.

Strike the Earth's an iconic Shovel Knight song and while it may not be my favorite song from the Shovel Knight games, it's definitely a great example. I mentioned on Discord the other day about why it might be that NES songs in particular tend to not be highly liked by me as far as chiptune songs go. I said that it might be hard to get the kind of sound I look for with only 4 channels to work with for a standard 2A03 sound chip. Stuff like Shovel Knight's a good example of what kind of chiptune songs I enjoy, and probably because Jake Kaufman adds a lot more channels to his chiptune works than, say, NES limitations would allow. I guess I enjoy it when there's a lot of different voicings in songs that all work well together. That second part of that sentence is also relevant here because I generally like Jake Kaufman songs and I think with Shovel Knight, as well as other games, he's able to come up with songs that I like melodically, such as Strike the Earth.

Strike the Earth = Kanata no Rafflesia > Innocence and Emptiness > Suite Photoconductivity ~Third Tune: Bolt and Sword~ > Blooming Villain > AI[UE]OON

Sorry about some of the negativity in the writeups today! I think these songs just happened to be a little easier to write about what I like and don't like about them which might make the things I dislike seem more pronounced all across the board, even if this day is a bit underwhelming compared to some of the others we've had.

xp1337 posted...

Well, Meaning of Birth is based off Karma which was performed by Bump of Chicken idk maybe you heard it that way?

Hmm, that version doesn't seem familiar at all to me, so probably not. For now, I'm just gonna stick with "I went through some of the VGMC retirees, listened to Meaning of Birth, then forgot about it." Seems like something I might do haha.

Ar tonelico III - EXEC_Z/.
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - Dreamy Somnom Labyrinth
Atelier Rorona Plus - Flash Frost

MATCH 1

EXEC_Z is one of the EXA_PICO songs that I come back to listen to all the time. At least as of late, it is. It's just so infectiously catchy! I can't really say why, it just is and I love it. I was very close to putting this song as my bracket winner for my favorites bracket but ultimately decided against it (picked L.L over EXEC_Z round 5). Not much to say about it other than that it's super good!

I like the piano parts of FLIGHTLESS, but I don't really feel anything towards the rest of the song. Don't really know why that is. I know I don't really like the robotic vocals, but other than that, I guess the rest of the song that I haven't mentioned just feels kinda plain.

MATCH 2

G-O-S-U has that "epic music" sound but done very well. I really like that intro from 0:00-0:14. Definitely a pretty memorable song, although I don't have a lot to say about it.

Dreamy Somnom Labyrinth is really cool and definitely came as a surprise to me! I normally don't like Yoko Shimomura songs, so it's really nice to hear an exception like this. This song paints a really cool atmosphere that I like a lot. It's very mysterious and also gives me this image of traveling through somewhere to get to a really important destination. Maybe like a "final dungeon before the last boss in the game" kind of vibe. I feel like I may have gone the other way if BATALLURA was the song from PSO2 that made it in. For whatever reason, I feel like I enjoy that song more than G-O-S-U. Still, though, both songs are good here and I'm okay with either song advancing.

MATCH 3

I swear I've heard Meaning of Birth somewhere before I went through the ToC bracket. I haven't played any of the Tales games so it couldn't have been from there. I'm really not sure! Maybe I just went through some of the retirees one day and listened to this while I was going through them. I definitely don't like it as much as the other Tales song that just showed up the other day, Starry Heavens, but this is a pretty good song too! Feels like a nice, emotional (probably even more in context), final battle song. Simple, but good!

Flash Frost was a fantastic entry in VGMC13 and I'm happy to have helped push it to retirement! I love the melody here and all the backing instruments that accompany it give it this depth to its sound that generally speaking, I really enjoy in songs. Yet another example of how much amazing music there is in the Atelier series!

EXEC_Z/. = Flash Frost > Meaning of Birth > Dreamy Somnom Labyrinth > G-O-S-U > Flightless

Blue Reflection - TIGAR (All Phase Mix)
Final Fantasy XIV - Return to Oblivion
Umineko no Naku Koro ni 1 - system0

MATCH 1

Despite supporting TIGAR at the very end, it wasn't my preferred Blue Reflection song to make it into the bracket! I would've rather had BREAKTHROUGH.EXE in, even though I didn't have enough room to support it early on (sadly, by the time I did, it had already been pulled and sat at 0/0). That said, TIGAR's still a great song. I generally like Blue Reflection's blend of electronic music elements and other more Gust-y stuff like violins and pianos. That holds true here for TIGAR as well. It flows seamlessly through each phase without any lulls or weak points in the song (which is my main complaint for DNF, which isn't in the bracket this year). Not my favorite Blue Reflection song, but like I said, it's still an all-around great song.

Not a big fan of MADARA. Kinda feels like bland RPG overworld music. One of those "not bad, but doesn't stand out at all" kind of songs for me. Now, if this was that Wicked Star Maze song that showed up in Rate the VGM, it would've been a lot more interesting of a match, since I think that song's really cool.

MATCH 2

Return to Oblivion's intro (0:00-0:15 before the percussion starts) really took me aback when I heard this for the first time in nominations because it's really cool! That combination of pretty vocals and violin is very "me," I'd say. I think the verse parts are less good for reasons unknown. They're still good, but that intro's definitely my favorite part of the song. Another good song all-around.

The World of Spirit's far from the worst song in the Darius series that I've heard, but there's one main part of the song that I don't care much for that holds it back. The melody is interesting enough, but that weird effect in the lead is the biggest flaw with the song in my eyes. Though, it makes perfect sense because I feel like Darius songs tend to be on the weirder side and it wouldn't really feel "Darius" without that trait, but I just don't think it's my thing at all. My favorite part in the song is that brief moment from 0:19-0:32 before that lead synth (or is it just very heavily edited vocals?) kicks in. I wish the rest of the song had that same amount of appeal to me!

MATCH 3

Thanks to Umineko, I know an additional Star Trek quote that isn't "Beam me up, Scotty"! system0 is just -45 as usual, pumping out some killer songs for the game! This may not mean all that much coming from someone like me who's a giant fan of Umineko and its music, but there's not a single song from that composer that's anything short of great. That's not something I can say about every Umineko composer (even though, chances are, I really enjoy their compositions for the game, by and large)! I love -45's style of really dark-sounding organ and harpsichord stuff. It's very fitting for the game and is one of many aspects of the soundtrack that I really enjoy. This song also utilizes a lot of rich harmony and strong melodic lines (particularly towards the end of the song regarding the latter) that are very much my thing. Needless to say, I love this song.

ASGORE is a really great Undertale song. Definitely among my favorite Undertale songs. Like others have said, it's definitely a little weird hearing it without Bergentruckung after so many times where I've listened to the upload that combined the two, but it's no big deal. ASGORE also uses strong melodic lines and harmony in a way that I really like. I really like how the motifs in this song are incorporated here, like with the Heartbreak motif. I guess this is something I generally enjoy throughout the different Undertale songs that use motifs. Another strong ToC match, but fortunately this one's much easier to decide than the two previous ones I've talked about, even if both songs are really good here too!

system0 > TIGAR (All Phase Mix) = ASGORE > Return to Oblivion > The world of spirit > MADARA

Xenoblade Chronicles X - Don't Worry
Flywrench - King Noah
Sound Voltex III - Preserved Valkyria

MATCH 1

This match is definitely the strongest round 1 match that's showed up in the main bracket so far!

Apostle's Maraud is a really cool song! Definitely a good example of prog music that I do enjoy. The first half of the song is definitely what I enjoy the most about it. Particularly, 0:39-2:55. I guess the key to making a good prog rock song for me is an enjoyable melody (in other words, not any of the atonal stuff that sometimes show up in "prog" songs. This will kinda sorta get contradicted later with a different song in the bracket, but whatever) paired with some cool rhythmic stuff, which this song definitely delivers on both accounts. This is one of those songs where I cannot for the life of me count out the time signature lol. Even following along with Toxtricity's post, I'm just not getting it. It's far easier for me when it's pretty consistently something like 7/8 with 3+4 groupings, but I digress. I think my favorite part of the song is 1:43-1:59. I guess I just like the melody the most there. I don't feel as strongly attached to the latter half of this song, but there are still some cool parts to it. Mainly 4:27-4:35 because of the added harmonization with the trumpets. I picked this song as my wildcard for A2 in my favorites bracket and had it advance to round 4 before losing, which definitely attests to how much I like it.

Don't Worry is probably my favorite Xenoblade Chronicles X song! It's just a very feel-good song. Reminds me that I also like another Hiroyuki Sawano + Aimee Blackschleger song, Light Your Heart Up from Kill la Kill, for the same reason but in a different way. With Don't Worry, I really like all the synth stuff going on from the intro to some of the lighter sounding stuff in the background throughout the song. I also really like the melody in the vocals, especially during the chorus. It pairs so well with that other melody in the background that's used as the intro to the song. I also really like the key change at the end of the song. I think it has to do with the instrumentation when the chorus repeats? Anyway, both songs in this match are really good which makes this tough, but overall, Don't Worry is more my kind of song, so that's why I pick it here. I'd gladly sacrifice both songs in match 2 to make both of the match 1 songs advance.

MATCH 2

The intro to Battle! (Colress) is cool, but aside from that, it's not the most interesting song to me. 1:22-1:46 is the other part that stands out compared to the rest of the song, but it's not amazing so I guess it doesn't quite redeem the song for me. It's not bad, it's just not really the kind of song I'd want to listen to.

King Noah has the problem of adding a lot of breakbeat-esque stuff in a way that I don't particularly like. As in, the way it's added in there feels like a lot of noise. The most egregious example of this being 0:42-1:24, but this also happens from 2:34-3:26. That part at 1:25, though, when the main melody comes in strong is my favorite part of the song. I really like that repeating melody, I just wish the rest of the song was better. I think it's good enough to make the peaks of this song be stronger than the peaks of Battle! (Colress) which makes it easy enough to pick King Noah here.

Kind of an underwhelming match, but there are still some things to like about both songs, fortunately.

MATCH 3

Oh no! Only one day apart, we have two ToC matches where both songs are really good and I don't want to vote against either one!

Preserved Valkyria is a such a great example of really good rhythm game piano music. It's just really great from start to finish, but I especially love this song once it starts to build up at 0:48 and after it finishes building up at 0:57. Not a whole lot to say about this one other than that melodically, it's very much my thing.

Starry Heavens is basically just really good anime OP style of music. Once again, not much to say about this one. Just like Preserved Valkyria, this song succeeds at being the type of song I want from this style of music. Great melody in the vocals, good backing instrumentation with the trumpet and the electric guitars. I'm happy that this song is retired even though not as many others seem to share the same sentiment as with Preserved Valkyria lol. Super tough match, but I have to go with Preserved Valkyria here. I'd be fine with either song winning here, though, because like I said, they're both so good.

Preserved Valkyria > Don't Worry = Starry Heavens > Apostle's Maraud >> King Noah > Battle! (Colress)

PIayer_0 posted...

I like to imagine kaonashi starts his write-ups really early and then forgets about them before realizing at 9:30 PM and frantically finishing everything like a procrastinating college student

This described me exactly for today's matches lol.

Terraria Calamity - Scourge of the Universe
Gahkthun of the Golden Lightning - Tonitrus
Atelier Shallie - Flying Clouds, Drifting Haze

MATCH 1

I prefer Servants of the Scourge to Scourge of the Universe, but the latter is a perfectly fine song. I think it's just that Scourge of the Universe doesn't feel as rich, and thus, it's easier for me to get bored of listening to it. That said, though, DM DOKURO does some great composition work overall. I generally enjoy his flavor of electronic music, especially when it combines rock elements like guitars and real drums. Scourge of the Universe is no exception.

Waterworks Area is just very meh. There's nothing that really interests me at all about this song. I think there's a certain flavor of Kirby music that I enjoy. Generally, it's lighthearted and happy music. This one, by contrast, is very glitchy in a way that doesn't really align with my tastes. Feels like a very Zoom/missadelyn kind of song (and other people with that kind of taste, I suppose).

MATCH 2

Tonitrus has had an interesting journey for me throughout the nomination period. When I first got to it, I was like "it's good, but Dorchadas and probably Rosa Morada are better, and it's probably not good enough to support." Then, the very next day it was in my head all day so I thought "yeah, okay, I'll add it to my prospective supports list." Then, I did end up supporting it, and not only that, but I have it as a finalist in my favorites bracket. Needless to say, I really like this song. As others have noted, Rita's a great singer who's put out a lot of great songs including the other two I've mentioned as well as various Little Busters songs, etc. The instrumentation in Tonitrus is super cool with the mixing up of violins and accordions. More about Rita's voice, I love that particular vocal inflection at 1:16 when she says "subete ga." Of course, the rest of her singing's great as well, but that part right there is just aaaaaa (translation: very good).

SEISMIQ, to me, is a better example of glitchy electronic stuff (as in something I like more) than Waterworks Area. I guess mainly because of some melodic component added to it, even if it's just chopped up chords. Definitely not among the bottom songs in the bracket, but there's still a great deal of songs I'd take over this, including Tonitrus. Overall, SEISMIQ isn't quite my thing, but it's not bad either!

MATCH 3

Flying Clouds, Drifting Haze is probably one of my favorite songs in the Atelier series! Though, there's plenty of competition with how many songs from these games I love haha. That intro is so good! The violins are just so powerful, it really just makes you stop for a second and go "whoa, this is amazing!" The electric guitar is great as well and it's a cool balance between the softer strings, flutes, etc. and the heavier guitar.

Dead Neon Hell City wasn't my preferred retiree for that part of the bracket, but it's still a good song. Neat dark FM synth stuff. Not too much to say about it, though.

Flying Clouds, Drifting Haze > Tonitrus > Scourge of the Universe > Dead Neon Hell City > SEISMIQ > Waterworks Area

Fire Emblem: Awakening - Id ~ Purpose
jubeat saucer fulfill - Scars of FAUNA
Persona 3 - Memories of You

Regarding the poll options, I voted "questions about the contest itself" but I'm fine with any of those options (though I'm not particularly invested in GotD and Crazy Bus is most certainly not good).

MATCH 1

Hello again, Id ~ Purpose! Will this year be the year you finally retire? I vote no. Plus I have it losing to Scars of FAUNA round 2 in my favorites bracket, so that would interrupt my desired outcomes. I do have it as my wildcard of choice, but that could very easily change depending on which matches go my way. Anyway, I do like this song a lot, but I feel like it's a song that would never end up as a retiree in my favorites bracket because it wouldn't be strong enough to beat every song in its division. I love the melody at the very start of this song. It feels like you're returning home from battle and receiving a warm welcome. The rest of the song is pretty much just as great. It's really easy for me to listen to the full 8 minutes of this song without ever getting bored of the song (in fact I just did this now!).

I feel like I can occasionally get behind weird, sample-based songs, but Osamu Sato's work has almost never been among those songs. Fax Factory is no exception here. It's hard to explain why, I just think it appeals to certain tastes that I just don't happen to have. Stuff like this, I think, is very hit or miss for me. Maybe more often on the miss side than not. I feel like there's some indescribable thing that can make a weird song like this tick the right boxes. Take, for instance, Bomber Girl from last year. Something about it made the song very enjoyable for me, and I think, to a certain degree, it also appealed to people like Collen who really enjoy songs like Fax Factory. For whatever reason, though, that just doesn't hold true here.

MATCH 2

I really like this style of Nekomata Master music! It's not the best example of it, compared to something like Despair of ELFERIA, but Scars of FAUNA still a very nice song. World music like this is just very appealing to me in general. I think this tends to be the case for songs like this overall for me, but for this song, it has a great melody with really cool instrumentation in the bagpipes and flutes. I think the intro is a pretty cool, mysterious sounding one too. It reminds me of LastPandemic's intro, which I have similar feelings about.

Imbrium's an interesting song, but something about it makes it less appealing than other songs I've heard from Neotokyo. Since the two songs from this game that I know I really enjoy are Scrap I/O and Tin Soldiers, maybe it's just that Imbrium lacks some of the energy that those two songs have. I guess maybe the melody isn't quite as good as in those two songs, but that might also have something to do with what I just mentioned about the song's melody. It's definitely a good song! It's just that Scars of FAUNA is the clear pick here for me.

MATCH 3

Aaaahhh very painful match! I don't want to vote against either of these songs because they're both so good :(

In a sense, The Black Song honestly feels more final than The Final Song. It just feels very wistful at times, like everything's over and there's nothing left that can be done. But it's also very triumphant when the percussion picks up, as if Zero's still picking herself up to fight even though everything seems hopeless (note: I don't know anything about where this plays in context). I like The Black Song probably just as much as The Final Song, but yeah, The Black Song's a very good and pretty song!

Speaking of wistfulness, I think Memories of You brings that feeling as well! But I think it does that better than The Black Song does. I definitely enjoy that upbeat triumphant style of music when it hits all the right notes, just as The Black Song does, but the emotional style of Memories of You, I'd say, is a style I prefer over that triumphant style. I think this combo of piano, vocals, and acoustic guitar is great here and definitely helps evoke emotions. I really enjoy melancholic-sounding songs, which makes me like the chord progression in this song a lot. In particular, that B minor chord in the chorus is very satisfying for some reason. I'm pretty sure this song is in B minor, so maybe it's just because it's the i chord, but it also doesn't really feel like it's trying to resolve on that chord, just serving as part of a downward progression? I don't know, I'm definitely no music theory expert lol. But yeah, I'm very fond of songs like this and I actually occasionally turn on this song when I'm in the mood for it. I just really enjoy this song, so I have to vote for it as much as it sucks to vote against The Black Song!

Memories of You > Kuroi Uta ~ The Black Song (International Version) > Scars of FAUNA > Id ~ Purpose > Imbrium > Fax Factory

I just noticed as I was typing out these rankings that "Uta" in Kuroi Uta's misspelled in the OP lol.

Deltarune - Rude Buster
Mighty Switch Force! - Love You Love You Love
Atelier Ayesha - Invitation Flower ~ Autumn

MATCH 1

Rude Buster probably would rank among my top Deltarune songs alongside Field of Hopes and Dreams. I definitely like Rude Buster a lot more than Undertale's battle theme. This song's very bouncy and upbeat and I like that quite a bit in this song. The flurry of piano chords in the intro is really good at drawing me into the song and the song has a nice, solid melody on top of that.

Brain Power, for a quasi-meme song, is actually pretty enjoyable too! Ultimately, I would say that it doesn't do enough to distinguish itself as a great song, but it's still a perfectly fine song. Thank you Ermine for posting the Brain Power copypasta so that I don't have to feel like I need to randomly tack it at the end of my writeup for this song lol.

MATCH 2

Every time I see the name "Idea Factory," I remember that they did more than just the Neptunia games. Crysta Kaleido feels very folky, but it's not the kind of folk-sounding song I'm looking for from that style of music. It just feels like it kind of falls flat, melodically. To draw a comparison to another song in the bracket, I'd say something more like Fire Island Volcano with its fiddles is what I'd want out of this song. Not really a fan of that winding up sound starting at 2:10 either.

Love You Love You Love is a really nice song from the Mighty Switch Force series! I don't know the whole soundtrack off the top of my head, but I'd say this or Whoa I'm in Space Cuba is my favorite song from the game. This song's really happy and upbeat which is something I like about this song. Might get a little too busy sound-wise at times, but it's not too big a deal here. I still think it's a pretty good song either way. I like this style of Jake Kaufman's music that you see in Mighty Switch Force and Shantae as well quite a bit!

MATCH 3

Honestly, I think Yesterday's Opponents has grown on me enough for me to like it a little more than Invitation Flower ~ Autumn with regards to the Ayesha retirees from last year, but IF Autumn is still a great song! It's one of those songs that I'd say sounds like nature, which I suppose is another archetype of music tastes that I have, albeit sort of ill-defined. Bright, cheery, Atelier tune. Can't go wrong with that!

Six Feet Thunder is probably better than most Crypt of the Necrodancer songs I've heard, but it still feels a bit plain for a take on baroque-style organ music. I think it actually gets better when that organ-like synth isn't prominently at the forefront, particularly at parts like 0:43-0:58. "Plain" probably isn't the best word of choice since this is definitely an above-average song, I guess I just mean to say that it could be done better.

Invitation Flower ~ Autumn > Rude Buster > Love You Love You Love > Six Feet Thunder = Brain Power > Silver Star Crysta Kaleido

Final Fantasy XIV - Ink Long Dry
Ciel nosurge - LastPandemic
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 8 - Ricordando il Passato

Another year, another VGMC! Feels good to have another contest underway. I still remember how hyped I was during VGMC13 and hopefully this year will be just as enjoyable if not more! But anyway, without further ado, let's get into the contest! And also the writeups because those are fun to do, even if they're not all that spectacular.

MATCH 1

One Final Effort's a classic video game song. It's a nice song, but it doesn't quite fit into my music tastes. Feels a little too "epic battle music" for me, which is where strings in music, like in this song, don't end up being a big selling point for the song but instead just sort of feels like it doesn't stand out. Perhaps I'm not describing it too well, but I view this in a similar way that I view many orchestra songs. With orchestra, I don't usually find anything that draws me into the song, which is sort of the case with One Final Effort as well. Granted, the piano and percussion give this song something to make it a little more interesting and better than the average orchestra song, but it still doesn't feel like anything special, even if I don't dislike it.

Ink Long Dry's not really the kind of song I tend to like either with all the dissonant piano chords everywhere, but something about it actually makes it sound pretty cool. Those opening chords are pretty dark and mysterious, and the rest of the song has this neat soft jazz feel that I can get behind. I think it's pretty fitting that this song plays in a library! It does feel like a song that would be a theme for a grand, dimly-lit library.

MATCH 2

Speaking of dark, mysterious introductions, LastPandemic also gives off those cool vibes. It's pretty different from the other EXA_PICO songs in the bracket, but it still has a lot to offer that interests me. As I mentioned, those opening chords before the vocals set a neat mood for the song. Not quite as dark as Ink Long Dry, but a little bit. Enough to give it that kind of mood. Other stuff like that soft backing synth at around 0:38 and the chords at 0:54-0:59 helps continue that feeling. The part right after the latter portion of the song is probably my favorite part. I really like the powerful, triumphant feeling that comes from the "ADJUSTING NOW" and the rest of those lyrics. This is a pretty long-winded way of saying that this song is great all-around, but yeah, I really like it!

Arguably more of a classic than One Final Effort is the Legend of Zelda theme! That said, though, once again, this is unfortunately the case where being a classic doesn't necessarily equate to being a good song. One Final Effort's a fine song, but this song is noticeably less good. This original version is something that I think is overly long and drawn out compared to other versions, and even in the case of these better versions, I don't think it's the most interesting song out there. I would say that this is another variant of the "epic music" style that I don't find particularly appealing. This time, in the form of "epic adventure music." Once again, it's not something that sticks out to me in any way. Pretty plain, average song.

MATCH 3

I think End of All (Land) has become my favorite song that uses the Lost in Thoughts All Alone motif. Maybe I'm focusing a little too much on that intro, though, because it's great and definitely my favorite part of the song. I really like how 0:06-0:35 sounds. It's a nice sound on its own and when the vocal harmonizing comes in, this just adds to it. It kind of lulls in the middle before the strings start to pick up again and harmonize with the vocals, but other than that, it's a great song!

Ricordando il Passato is a great emotional song! The impact of the chorus is fantastic in a similar way to what I like about that part of LastPandemic that I mentioned. Man, I feel like I've said so much about this song in the past when it's appeared that I don't know what new things I can say. It's just really great melodically and harmonically and another example of good Akiko Shikata music (and certainly not the last appearance of a song of that variety that we'll see in this contest).

Ricordando il Passato > LastPandemic > End of All (Land) > Ink Long Dry > One Final Effort > Title

banshiryuu posted...

I'll definitely be reading!! I always read everyone's thought on everything haha,

Seconding this.

PIayer_0 posted...

(loweffortmemes is an honorary B8'er)

Hooray!

+ Blue Reflection | TIGAR (All Phase Mix) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9-NsUPcFFU

Doubling this in a last-ditch effort

+ Ao no Kiseki Evolution | Aoki Negai |https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L59S0WDwZ8M

Yeah sure I'll try pushing a 1/1 with ~2 minutes to spare

+ Ar tonelico | EXEC_LINCA/. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbcbmZydHCw

Eh, why not.

+ Lanota | Frey's Philosophy | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0STnOQeA37E

Alright, guess it's time to get rid of all the 1/1's I'm holding onto. Please let me know if you want me to re-support/nominate any of these!

- Drakengard 3 | Raphael | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snxGWI-otg
- Mahoutsukai no Yoru | Five | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTGcpO2NsY
- Rewrite | Deep Forest | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5cgX1Pxx-U
- Utawarerumono | A Journey That Is Only Yours | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juiem0L6oRE

Doubling this

+ 7th Dragon III Code: VFD | ChRoNiClESeVeN | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTJpnyH1CpM

Assuming Tsunami isn't gonna support Norse Wind again, I'll just remove it once again so I can support this song that I really underrated when I listened to it the first time.

- Ys IX: Monstrum Nox | Norse Wind | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh-5TNUNkkY
+ Skygunner | To the Distant Sky | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LgjlGax4x4

TsunamiXXVIII posted...

Wait I think that might've been a 21st nom. Lemme just denom something real quick.

- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Another Winter | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtyWhHwCXIU

You should edit your first post so that your removal of Another Winter comes before your support of Norse Wind because azuarc mentioned that the script works sequentially. Meaning that your Norse Wind support won't get counted, assuming it was a 21st nomination, because it shows up before you dropped Another Winter.

Fortunately for you, I have a spare nomination left so I can bring it back!

+ Ys IX: Monstrum Nox | Norse Wind | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh-5TNUNkkY

Oops, I was planning on doing this before the deadline but I only found out at 9:59 that the lock-in deadline was 10 and not midnight. I was hoping that these next few supports would cause a train of more supports to push them up to potentially getting locked, but I guess I just have to settle for keeping them afloat!

- Final Fantasy XIV | Equilibrium | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T1k-9UvdlU
- Ys IX: Monstrum Nox | Norse Wind | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh-5TNUNkkY
- Rance X | Decisive Battle | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-PB6zBMxv4
- The Fruit of Grisaia | Just Like Today | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Cy9Y3mqcc

+ NieR: Automata | Weight of the World (Japanese) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8GmgeEbxc
+ Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 6 | Infant Queen Bee | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG3MJpnt1gA
+ Chaos;Head | Desire Blue Sky | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3on3qna4Fa0

I was gonna do Intersect Thunderbolt as my last one, but now that FL81 removed his support, making it a 1/1, I'll hold off on doing that for now unless he decides to replace one of his other supports for this song (or unless someone else supports it).

+ Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemist of the Dusk Sky | Sky of Twilight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hm_jcpTycI

+ The Caligula Effect: Overdose | Love Scope | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7KdrYWfi4Y

Good work, Caligula crew!

Mac Arrowny posted...

Well, if you nom Love Scope and @xp1337 noms Love Scope and Onboro, we could get both of those locked in.

I am prepared to double both of these to get them in if necessary, if this makes the support distributions more desirable for everyone.

Going through all the playlists on the sheet to see which of my 1/1 nominations don't show up on any of them and I have the following list:

Final Fantasy XIV Equilibrium
Ys IX Norse Wind (I remember seeing this on someone's list at some point but it might have been removed)
Rance X Decisive Battle
The Fruit of Grisaia Just Like Today

I'm thinking of removing these later tonight as needed to make room for extra supports, so please let me know if you're considering supporting any of these! That way I know to keep them around.

I really want this song in, so I'm just gonna pull the trigger and double it now to lock it.

+ Nier | Kaine ~ Salvation | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDKam_hmGM

I could double Sky of Twilight also to get it in, but I'll hold off on that for now since I have a feeling it might not need my help.

Now that I'm done with the nomination playlist, it's finally time to use up my remaining supports!

+ Xenoblade Chronicles X | Don't Worry | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TR3Gj7YRMI
+ Gahkthun of the Golden Lightning | Tonitrus | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wDzMBW4npw
+ Ao no Kiseki Evolution | Aoki Negai | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L59S0WDwZ8M
+ Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica | Rustling Throb ~ Cloche | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jndRUvxUXxA
+ Drakengard 3 | Raphael | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snxGWI-otg
+ Steins;Gate | Masquerade | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI6Y4RS8uek
+ Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky | Sky of Twilight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hm_jcpTycI
+ Project Cerberus | L L ~Infinite Beating ver~ | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkmSDjjJg08

I'll be taking note of what nominations of mine don't have anyone planning to support them and remove them possibly tomorrow to make room for extra supports, so don't worry if your nomination is in my potential supports playlist and didn't show up here! There's still a chance I support it in the end.

Still moving through the nomination playlist (left off on song 345), but there's no way I don't support these two songs, so I guess I'll throw out these supports for now.

+ Nier | Kaine ~ Salvation | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDKam_hmGM
+ Rewrite | Beyond the Darkness | https://youtu.be/HJroe3MMMuk

More to come soon! I hope to be done with listening to all the nominations by today or tomorrow so that I can dish out the rest of my available support votes within the auto-include period. Since my support for Beyond the Darkness puts it at 4/3, I'm 99% likely to use my first double on it if it doesn't get an extra support by the auto-include deadline to ensure it gets in.

xp1337 posted...

I guess it's time for the ~*~ xp's greatest hits past noms re-run banner ~*~ to come to its end. Thank you all for participating in this limited time event.

If you haven't seen it in the spreadsheet already, I have 8 nominations of yours in my prospective supports list, so definitely don't pull those nominations out just yet since there's a very good chance I support some of them at the very least! Granted, none of the ones you removed were on my list, but I just wanted to mention that just in case you were thinking about removing other songs too.

xp1337 posted...

Hmm, I can do this, especially since I literally had written out Egregori's nom in my post instead before making the swap to Raphael at the last second because of that very issue. Though I'm curious if anyone else has opinions on that.

I personally like Raphael more, which is already a strong consideration for a support, but I would still consider giving Egregori a support.

I've been debating whether or not I should nominate this because it'll probably lose round 1 if it even makes it in, but eh, might as well.

+ The Fruit of Grisaia | Just Like Today | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Cy9Y3mqcc

Probably won't nominate any more songs after this and devote the remaining points towards supports.

xp1337 posted...

lol I think those were my Caligula noms from last time (well I think Mac was the original nominator for Onboro but I hopped on and between it and Distorted Happiness which didn't need my help I ended up listening to the OST during noms and came back with Love Scope lol)!

Actually, one of my biggest regrets from last year's contest was not supporting those two Caligula songs last year when they came up. I don't know what stopped me from doing so at the time, but immediately after nominations closed was when I realized that I love them. So now I'm redeeming myself this year!

Edit: Well, I remember now that I also supported Distorted Happiness that year so I could only support one of the two, but my point stands

All these fantastic nominations joining the fray have fried my brain and now I have no concept of strategy anymore, so I don't know, here's something.

+ Ys IX: Monstrum Nox | Norse Wind | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh-5TNUNkkY
+ Rance X | Decisive Battle | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-PB6zBMxv4
+ The Caligula Effect: Overdose | Onboro | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N6f61cR7pI
+ The Caligula Effect: Overdose | Love Scope | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7KdrYWfi4Y

Among many other songs, I'd be really happy seeing Distorted Happiness in again, so I may cut down on one of my Caligula nominations in due time so that I can support it. I guess it depends on how things play out over the next couple days. Speaking of supports, there are so many songs so far that I'd like to support, but I'm gonna play the waiting game to see if other people will jump on the opportunity to push any of those songs to the lock-in range (or close to it).

+ Rewrite | Deep Forest | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5cgX1Pxx-U
+ 7th Dragon III Code: VFD | ChRoNiClESeVeN | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTJpnyH1CpM
+ Mahoutsukai no Yoru | Five | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTGcpO2NsY
+ Utawarerumono | A Journey That Is Only Yours | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juiem0L6oRE
+ Final Fantasy XIV | Equilibrium | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T1k-9UvdlU

I think my average would've been pretty good if it wasn't for Ever Grande city being in second to last place with a 1.5 rating lol.

Anyway, I didn't even notice that this was over until now lol but glad to see that it's complete! I think I noticed this with your previous VGM ranking topic, but it's interesting to me that your top songs are a mix of songs that I really enjoy (Temporal Tower, Sky Tower) and songs that are more average/slightly above average (Dark Cave, Great Canyon).

Also thanks for reminding me that Final N Battle is really cool. Really love that organ progression from 0:49-1:09. Dark organ sounds + choirs is a great combination to me and I totally forgot that a song like that even existed in the franchise (and I've played through all of Black/White too). The intro's really neat as well.

Aww, Lake was my favorite nomination out of the 4! Probably one of my favorites from the whole series, honestly. I've said this before, but I definitely thought this would rank the highest out of all my nominations. Guess second highest isn't too far off, but wow was I wrong about Azalea Town haha. Well, it was that first part that made me think that you'd like the song, so I guess in a sense, I was fairly accurate about that.

This thread makes me glad I'm not in STEM.