LogFAQs > #954967725

Besaid Island
In the Doldrums
Speartip of Judgment

World's End Valentine goes for almost a zts umineko sound. It doesn't feel quite as uncomfortable with the sound it's going for as Bready Steady Go does, and I think it does a creditable job at parts, but I still end up falling out of the track. There's sort of an uncanny valley effect for me-- it's close enough to something I might enjoy that I can see the comparison, but I end up noticing the differences instead-- strangely safe and static progressions that don't grab me, instrumentation choices that omit a lot of the layers and details that fill out similar tracks.

Besaid is a pretty remarkable (and probably unreasonable) comparison and contrast point. Its primary melody and underlying harmony moves only subtly for most of the track, but there's an uncertainty and unresolving aspect to them; it's a relaxed, measured track, but seems to have a natural, built-in forward movement as a result. What the track is really waiting for is 1:46, which pays off the tension beautifully with the string chords. The light synth and piano combination is enough to anchor the track melodically, and it lets the other layers breathe and be noticed-- the percussive elements, the synth strings. It seems to impart a sense of well-being, listening to it.

Sometimes I wonder what my favourite 13 Sentinels track is. This thought process lasts until I revisit this track, and I'm reminded that, yeah, it's probably this one. It's calm, but a little restless? Cheerful, but a little sad-- the progression that starts at 0:53 really hits this for me. It feels like the brisk day-to-day activities of somebody who knows they don't have a lot of time left. The track changes the instrumentation on each repeat and it feels meaningfully different, the time and place it describes seem to change. I love different aspects of each section-- the way the first one sets a sort of baseline for the track, the guitar and piano playing off each other wistfully, wrapped in shiny, echoing synths; the second section's colder, echoing feel, like a memory of winter; the liveliness of the third section's strings and woodwinds! Especially the woodwind trills that show up at 4:14, and the flute countermelody at 4:22. In each section, there's some part of the accompaniment that grows and abruptly fades, like moments you're passing by. It's a wonderful track, one of my absolute favourites from this sound team and Rikako Watanabe specifically.

Iron Lotus is pretty cool, the way the synths work with the traditional instruments; it's a neat atmosphere and a fun melody. Cassie Wei's "hoo"/"haa" background vocals kinda crack me up, how deliberately ironic they are. The chorus is pretty catchy! Sometimes the tone of the vocals don't always click with me, but one part where it does is 1:18-- "hold onto the pages, hold onto the pages" feels really good here.

The THIRD siren of VGMC. I love how hard that intro hits-- a real Terry Bogard GET SERIOUS moment, like you're about to go up against Murasaki Tsurugi's version of Utsuho. watson does a great job evoking an aerial dogfight feel with this track (pluck synth ostinatos!!), with the left-right panning at 0:28 suggesting sort of a circling opponent. 1:12 hands off sort of a variation on the synth ostinato to the bass and that's pretty rad. There's some cool unexpected shuffling and stuttering of the piano chords at 2:31 to indicate an upcoming phase change (to a melodic section that feels most like the 'chorus' of the track, even if it's only revisited once), and some cool chords in the transition; I also love the tension evoked by the dissonance at 3:51. (random thought-- 4:19 makes me think of an unlikely marriage between rude buster and here we are) It's relentless in its pace; you feel constantly outflanked. The boss battle must be exhausting.

Pursuit feels much more linear! I can see why this would be used in a Mega Man romhack; along with the overall sound, it expresses a sort of straight-ahead determination.