Lurker > NBIceman

Nidorino
Swalot

This is a rough monotype.

Cubone
Mudsdale

HM to Phanpy

Meganium
Sceptile
Leafeon
Lilligant
Gogoat

Underrated type tbh, had a 10-mon shortlist for this one.

Even though I generally enjoy Christmas music, I agree that there's a whooole lot of bad ones.

I think my answer used to be Wonderful Christmastime, but Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer has taken the throne for sure.

Ampharos
Manectric
Luxray
Boltund

Bagon

skullbone posted...

Yeah I'm about 25 hours in so far and still enjoying it!

My biggest criticism is that the plot has a few moments where it gets VERY dark and it's a little jarring compared to the overall tone.

Kylian's backstory (5 hour spoilers) is his younger sister getting sexually assaulted into a coma by a gang of street ruffians.

And moments like that tend to keep popping up and feel like they come out of nowhere. I'm not against dark stuff in games but it feels so random and out of place in this one.

As much as I like the story, I do agree with this. I think Kylian's motivations are interesting and he's one of the stronger characters overall, but it's a good example of the weirder trauma porn kind of moments.

Curse of the Moon was basically a companion to Ritual of the Night - the stories cover the same characters but have absolutely nothing to do with each other. It was essentially made to fulfill a Kickstarter objective for a true old school 8-bit product to accompany RotN.

I've played up a little past the end of Act 2 and I'm definitely ready to call this a pretty great RPG.

The characters are probably the weakest aspect but I'd still call them good - the main two especially are super solid. The story and worldbuilding are good enough to make up for a little bit of weakness there anyway.

I believe you had said you might want to check out Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball (Diablo Swing Orchestra) after the ranking as well.

To be fair, the Warriors were without Curry, Thompson, and Wiggins.

I know the Nets didn't have Kyrie either, but still.

Floette
Dachsbun

Not really my favorite type.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

I'm procrastinating on work so here's a ranking of nominators by what percentage they have still to be ranked.

kateee: 85.71%
Raka: 83.88%
Dragon66116: 83.33%
ArkOfTurus: 82.35%
ZaziGuado: 82.14%
handsomeboy: 80.65%
Jesse_Custer: 79.31%
CJones: 77.77%
NBIceman: 77.27%
Metalmind: 76%
Snake: 75%
hotdogturtle: 71.43%
Xtlm: 69.23%
NFUN: 67.74%
UF8: 63.33%
Mega Mana: 63.16%
BlackDra90n: 60%
DoctorJimmy: 58.33%
Murphiroth: 56.25%
Bane: 55.26%
cakophon: 55%
Player_0: 54.55%
paulg: 53.85
CPU: 53.33%
Kopazzynth: 52.38%
rwlh: 50%
Shonen_Bat: 50%
TunnelScene: 48.15%
Lasa: 42.86%
Haste: 38.71%
sergio: 38.46%

Interesting I'm neck and neck with CJones there since we seem to have similar tastes.

Clawitzer
Dewott
Milotic
Politoed
Samurott
Suicune
Totodile
Vaporeon

Had to narrow down from a 13-name shortlist and my last cut (Kyogre) was a toughie.

Very, very rarely. Life's already far too short to consume even close to all the actual good stuff out there to waste any time on the bad.

Alolan Vulpix
Cubchoo

Banette
Spectrier

I always get a little emotional with Lyn and her grandfather too, except the emotion is great annoyance.

"I'm dying..."

"No, don't do that!"

"Well, okay."

Pinsir
Kricketune

Tales of the Abyss is the greatest video game ever made so yeah you should definitely make time for it when you can.

Hitmontop
Mienshao
Pancham

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

#560: Exodus to Infinity - King Other (5:36)_:

This was my requisite "weirder, wilder song" nom for this year (although I guess Hand Me My Shovel could also qualify), so I'm pleased to see that it indeed caught you off guard on the initial listen. Not surprised it dropped off a bit afterward - I had a similar reaction upon first hearing it and now I click on it in my Spotify library only sparingly. Every once in a while it'll get stuck in my head for several days, though.

CJones posted...

I'm really liking what I'm hearing of The Dear Hunter (clever name). Never heard of them before this. Not as heavy as the sort of stuff I usually listen to. Have any particular album you would recommend getting first?

I would definitely point you to one of the Act albums, specifically one of the first four. Act V (the one all the TDH songs in this particular ranking are coming from) is fantastic as well, but it's the only one that I think loses a little bit of impact if you're not familiar with and invested in the overarching story that the albums are telling (not to mention all the reprises and references). I'd also probably caution against Act I because it's noticeably more raw and unrefined compared to the rest of the band's catalogue. Still some great stuff on there but I don't think it's nearly as representative of what their sound would become. So that leaves the options with II, III, and IV.

Act II sounds like it'd be a decent option for you, because it's neck and neck with Act III as the heaviest offering but also, I think, considerably more proggy than III, which will probably be a good combo for someone who's nominated songs from Caligula's Horse and Devin Townsend. I'd call this one raw as well, but in a completely different way - Casey Crescenzo wrote the story of this one while dealing with some bitter feelings toward a breakup, and that's become a significant source of embarrassment for him in the years since. Fans love it for that, though, because there's a pervasive feeling of anger and pettiness that comes through in the vocals and composition that makes complete sense for where the story's main character is at this point in the narrative.

Act III itself is an interesting one because it's the only Act telling a story that could be largely self contained, where the main character is fighting in World War 1. I have extensive thoughts on some of the album's themes and how TDH does a war tale better than most any other fiction I've encountered, but this isn't the place for those sorts of musings. Suffice it to say that I think this is the album where Casey's creative vision for the Acts really started to shine through. Like Act II, this one has some of the band's heaviest offerings interspersed with some of its most beautiful soliloquies, just without that intentional feeling of childishness since the subject matter is much more mature. More notably, though, he's starting to throw in some more experimental pieces as well, with... Mixed results - Go Get Your Gun is one of the least popular TDH songs, for example (even as far as Casey himself is concerned), even though I still enjoy it for what it is.

Then we get to Act IV, which as Raetsel mentioned is very often recommended as an entry point. It was my first real exposure to the band - I listened to A Night on the Town after the album art popped up in a ranking on this very board, as a matter of fact, and the album came out very soon after. And obviously I loved it so much that now I'm making walls of text about the band myself. To this day, it's the most consistent thing they've put out, which is saying something because it's been a long time since they made a song I've actively disliked. The production has taken a huge step up, they've started throwing in lots of orchestral elements, and Casey's gotten to a point with his writing where he can just do whatever he wants and make it great. There's an honest-to-God disco tribute song on Act IV, and it rocks. Casey himself recommends this as an entry point to the band (or at least did at one point, and I have a personal suspicion this is still the album he's most proud of), so that's an extra point in its favor.

I'm gonna cut myself off now before I ramble even more; sorry for going so wild. Here's the TL;DR: I'd point you to either Act IV or Act II, but you can't go wrong with Act III either.

Hope that helps. And as you can see, I don't mind answering more questions on the band if you have any.

Won't buy a phone without one.

Umbreon
Absol

Ninetales
Arcanine
Rapidash
Typhlosion

This was incredibly tough.

I don't really have much to say about Melpomene; it's a nice little love song but I'm not a big fan of the structure. Another one that, like Mr. Usher, isn't heart wrenching to see go out.

The Flame (Is Gone) is a tougher cut. Love Casey's vocals in that song and with it being such a climactic moment in the story it's definitely a track that sticks in my mind pretty strongly. Your issues with Usher as a villain are totally fair, though. I guess where we differ most significantly is that I really love the Ms. Leading character so that's an extra emotional tick. She has the most tragic story of anyone in the Acts and probably deserves it the least.

Bummed to see Prima Donna Gauntlet drop, too; that's probably a top 3 Swagger and Stroll track for me. I always love the more avant-garde offerings from DSO but they go to that more traditional heavy metal sound and it's always a standout (Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball is still one of their best songs). I think it's perfectly placed as a precursor to Ceasefire but I guess I'll save some of my thoughts there until that one drops too.

KamikazePotato posted...

I interpreted those screenshots as Corrin repeating "Let me pass, or I will strike you down" after every single one of Hinoka's sentences.

That would've actually been cool.

Yeah, but mythicals and legendaries are considered two different things nowadays I thought.

Volcanion isn't technically a legendary, right? That's the one that usually trips me.

Kangaskhan
Tauros
Eevee
Snorlax
Ursaring
Miltank
Zangoose
Furfrou

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Can't help but notice nobody praising it has mentioned the story or characters yet!

I've watched and read at least a half dozen reviews outside of this topic and every one has praised the story and characters as some of the better parts of the game.

I enjoy all the back and forth Mr. Usher caused you but I'm definitely not surprised to see it be the first Act V song to fall. Out of the 30 songs that make up Acts IV and V, it would be my #30 for sure. Still good, mind you - Casey Crescenzo could make a song out of a Terms of Service and still manage to get it stuck in my head from time to time - but as with DSO and Unconditional Surrender, it's not really the kind of thing I look for out of the Dear Hunter.

I went ahead and bought it, so I'll be the guinea pig. Prologue was cool enough, definitely has some promise. I'll drop some impressions in here as I go for anyone who's interested.

Yeah, I have similar thoughts on Unconditional Surrender myself. It's a good song but it's not really the kind of thing I listen to DSO for.

Anybody here pick it up? Was only kind of on my radar but it's getting a ton of buzz and praise and seems right up B8's alley.

Oh, hell yes. Definitely didn't see that coming.

Gonna have to skip this year because I don't really think I can afford to gift anything that would make my participation worthwhile, but I always love seeing this topic pop up. Hopefully I'll be back in 2023!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVVA9R3TW7c

This band's first EP has been one of my favorites over the last couple years, great to finally hear something new from them. Poppier than I was expecting but the chorus is a big time earworm and Lynsey Ward's voice is just awesome.

Voted Polar, but the more I think about it, the real answer is probably Penta Penguin or one of the additional characters from NF.

CTR for sure.

Specifically Nitro-Fueled.

If nothing else, I'm apparently very good at nominating songs that are later used as comparisons for others!

Ooh, cool, sounds like I can look forward to a solid Pink Lemonade placement! That's one of my favorite noms this time around so that's fun.

Looks fun.

Been curious to see which of the songs from Swagger and Stroll would be the first to fall. Malign Monologues is fun but definitely not among my favorites on the album.

TeamRocketElite posted...

Three Houses made it easier to grind for supports so I was actually able to get them all. While, I largely liked them I don't think I needed to hear about Ingrid's marriage issues from 5 different angles.

This is my only problem with the "almost everyone can support almost everyone" approach. There's only so many interesting angles you can approach a support chain from and I think it sometimes makes it too tempting for the writers to reduce characters to one-note gimmicks.

3H definitely did a better job avoiding that than other recent entries, but it was still kind of a thing for most of the cast and really noticeable for others like Raphael.

I'm hilariously late to this discussion but Short Hair Lucia > Long Hair Lucia. I prefer longer hair on 99.99% of women but Lucia is the definite .01%.

I think both designs are top tier FE looks, though. White coat best coat.

I do love Falling Back to Earth, but I can also agree that it has some relative down moments across its runtime compared to the highs it hits. I kinda figured it would compare to ANoTT for the purposes of this list since I think you have to be a certain level of prog fanatic like I am to be forgiving enough of that sort of thing to love longer songs in their totality.

Just wait until next list when I finally nominate Thick as a Brick. I probably won't do that.

Mighty Echo definitely ended up top 10 in that ranking, if not top 5. Can't remember precisely myself. But either way, it's fun that it's stuck with you that much in the time since!