Board 8 > [BOST] Day 9: Ar nosurge v MM10, TitS FC v Einhander, Plok v DJMAX Respect

(+) Yeah! (+)

"Greetings, and welcome to the results and bracket/contest discussion topic for Best OST Contest 5! In this contest, you and fellow video game soundtrack lovers will come together to once and for all answer the question ""What is the best video game soundtrack? (For now.)"""

Links:
Contest Bracket and Info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sD964sXfa3trbXrr14mFKeEIA14cGM2RtHmW9TqGBmw
Discussion Thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77915805

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VOTING RULES

- Each match will be between the songs representing each game, not the game as a whole. Please remember to listen and vote with this in mind! Any votes referring to a game name rather than a song name will not be counted. You have been warned!
- Listen to both songs!! If one is your literal favorite song in the world and the other is something you hate with a passion, listen to them both!!
- No alts, no rallying, no begging for something to get more votes, etc., etc., you know the drill.
- If you change your mind and would like to swap your vote, you may do so. As soon as it is 24 hours since the match topic was started, you may not change your vote and new votes will not be counted.
- If you would like to vote in advance for matches you know you will miss, please let me know in the discussion topic.

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Main Bracket: Match 1

Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO3fakuPlGE" data-time="

Mega Man 10 - No Turning Back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_oxOGIhAs" data-time="

Main Bracket: Match 2

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Wandering in the Darkness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Z65J6Se-8" data-time="

Einhnder - Madness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fakKuXyp470" data-time="

Snubs Bracket Match

Plok! - Cotton Island

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTShC_leD5I" data-time="

DJMAX Respect - Groovin Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqamUcOq68U" data-time="

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Vote Form:
Class::EXPAJA / No Turning Back
Wandering in the Darkness / Madness
Cotton Island / Groovin Up

Class::EXPAJA
Madness
Groovin Up

Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Wandering in the Darkness
DJMAX Respect - Groovin Up
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Class::EXPAJA
Madness
Groovin Up

Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA - 7/10
I certainly enjoyed this more than most choir-like songs I've heard. Really don't think I'd consider this 2nd seed material though, but compositionally it is pretty unique.

Mega Man 10 - No Turning Back - 6.5/10
It's certainly got the melody down, but man there just doesn't feel like there's anything else there. I really don't think they needed to keep the 8bit thing going for 10, or at least if they did do some more creative things with it. It's not at all bad but...idk it's just not super interesting to me

I think I'm gonna vote for Class::EXPAJA at least for now

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Wandering in the Darkness - 7/10
This one caught my..ear pretty immediately with the jazzy piano. A very slick and smooth song, got a lot of nice vibes going, kinda a Layton thing but then at the same time I wish it did something more to be honest...I dunno but it's just kinda missing something to really make it something I'd come back to.

Einhnder - Madness - 6/10
Really did not dig how this song started, really grating sounds and just didn't seem to mesh well. But then it slowly started to come into its own jazzy thing. A more interesting composition than the previous, but I feel like that grating part that keeps coming back prevents me from liking this song all that much.

Vote for Wandering in the Darkness

Plok! - Cotton Island - 5.5/10
This is a song where actual seeming composition quality and originality and composition clashes with actual enjoyment of a song, in that I think this on paper is cool in all the things that it does and it's still great that we could get songs this unique using the soundfonts, but man it's just not that pleasing to me, just kinda all over the place and at times a bit obnoxious to me, idk. I wish I could rate this much higher but I'm just not really feeling it. Might go up to a 6 later for me but eh.

DJMAX Respect - Groovin Up - 8/10
Yes this is absolutely groovy. I am feeling the vibes of this a lot, honestly kinda reminds me of a song i may or may not be using for a vgmgg later. I do really like 80s inspired stuff and this doesn't worry about holding back on that at all. Despite wishing it was a bit longer, it kinda cuts off almost abruptly at the end, I would say definitely my favourite song of the day, that's two days in a row where I like a snubs song the most wow

Voting for Groovin Up

No Turning Back
Madness
Cotton Island

Ar nosurge and Trails FC, while soundtracks that I absolutely love, drew the single songs I dont care about at all lol. And the other two are songs I love from OSTs I love more. Makes the first match hurt cause No Turning Back is doomed as fuck but ya know

snubs is a tossup but cotton island is more impressive to me

Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA - it's certainly intense with a very full sound...that organ, and the brass really adds to it. The voice soloist sounds really ominous, like at 0:49...cool chromatic movement there. In the section I enjoy the non-diatonic harmonic changes around there, too.

As far as No Turning Back, the melody is nice, but my favorite part is the quiet fast-moving counterline at the start, and I like the one jazzy bit at around 0:05! I like the mood change for the (second) section, the first part of it... some good note choices there. Not as much of a fan of :38 and onward, though.

Einhnder - Madness - The percussion sounds are excellent...it certainly sounds hi-tech. I like how they and the syncopated melodies interact with each other at the start. Really cool stuff. Note choices in the melody are cool,too. I like this one more than some of the higher-ranked Einhander music.

As for the other, I like the swinging piano idea...it's my favorite part about it, and the steady melody on top is certainly not offensive.

Plok! - Cotton Island - eh, it has a little bit of charm to it. I kinda like how it mixes up triplets with sixteenths, and how the bass gets the spotlight at times. It manages to stay just fresh enough throughout for me to not get annoyed too much. The other just seems like standard 80's funk with not much that sticks out to me, aside from the cool synth/voice combination in the "groovin up the night" part.
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Class::EXPAJA
Wandering in the Darkness (BTW Madness, you are a good song, but oh boy that beginning ruined it for me)
Groovin Up

Class::EXPAJA
Wandering in the Darkness
Cotton Island

There's actually a decent chunk of songs I'd have voted over Wandering in the Darkness, which is my least favorite on the TitS setlist pretty easily, but Madness is not one of those songs. Not really a fan of this style.
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PAJA
Wandering in the Darkness
Groovin' Up

Pleasantly surprised by Groovin' Up.
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abstain
wandering
cotton

madness is very good might have voted for it over a different FC song

groovin is somehow both better and worse than i expected
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Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA
Einhnder - Madness
DJMAX Respect - Groovin Up

MATCH 1

Class::EXPAJA feels like a crossover between the Nier and EXA_PICO games in terms of music. I think it's distinct from other songs in Ar nosurge's soundtrack, but I still think it's really cool. The vocals are great and the choir is a nice addition as well.

I feel like I tend to enjoy music from later Mega Man games more than the earlier ones. Mega Man 10 in specific has some pretty nice songs in it. No Turning Back is pretty nice, but it's not enough to beat the beauty of the kind of vocal songs the EXA_PICO games produce.

MATCH 2

Wandering in the Darkness is a pretty relaxing song. I like the piano backing. The accordion and flute are nice too.

I thought this was gonna be an easy "vote Gust and Falcom" day, but Einhander proved me wrong here. Madness is a really cool song. It has this almost industrial sound that I think is really neat. Sort of reminds me of the Meta Ridley battle theme, only I think Madness is better and more melodically engaging for me. Sorry Trails FC :(

MATCH 3

Cotton Island is neat, but probably not the best representation of what I like about Plok's music (and I guess Tim Follin's music by extension). I definitely like the prog rock stuff from Plok like Beach and Akrillic. Boss is really cool too with Carpenter Brut feel. Stuff like Cotton Island, though, feels just like more casual background music and not something I'd actively listen to.

I am really enjoying Groovin Up's vibes. I feel like that style of "music that sounds modern but is clearly trying to emulate a retro sound" tends to be pretty cool. I especially like the "groovin up all night" part.

Class::EXPAJA > Groovin Up > Madness > Wandering in the Darkness > No Turning Back > Cotton Island

Class::EXPAJA
Madness
Cotton Island

I feel like both of the tracks in the first match are quite weak in comparison to basically anything else from their respective soundtracks, at least in my opinion.

Madness? THIS IS SPARTA!! (actually a very close match, accordions + swinging piano is a nice combo, but Madness slightly edges it out)

Snubs match today is the weakest match yet, and Cotton Island takes this by virtue of not being Groovin Up.
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Surprised at everyone saying EXPAJA is weak considering it's probably my 2nd favorite out of the ten or so songs from the game that have been in vgmc at some point.
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Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA
Boy was this song eerie to drive on the freeway at night to. I was having a really thought-provoking discussion while listening to this, too, which kind of captured the mood that this song conveys. It's eerie, complex and very Ar nosurge. I love it!

Einhnder - Madness
Madness speaks to me on a personal level. It's crazy, complex, and all over the place. It was definitely a fun listen and it was even more fun to drive a car to~

Plok! - Cotton Island
I love Tim Follin so this was an easy choice for me to make. While not as musically robust as some of his other works, Cotton Island is a fun listen and captures the peppy joy that defines a lot of Follin's work.
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Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA
Einhnder - Madness
Plok! - Cotton Island

Einhnder and nosurge just kicking ass with all these tasty jams.

Weak-ish Plok(!) track, but an even weaker showing from DJMAX which I know I've enjoyed in the past. And I'm not even averse to funk or disco or anything like that; this just has a really artificial vibe when compared to the things it wants to emulate.
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No Turning Back
Madness
Cotton Island

megaman aaaaaaaaaaa good.

madness reminds me of streets of rage 2.

ok, so. on topic of plok! nom. 1-3 were obvious. 4-6 + alt were not as much but fleapit, cotton island, and on the rocks are all tracks that stand out to me. every track has its own energy on the plok! ost and part of my reasoning was not only tracks that stood out but diversity among those tracks - cotton island's is this wacky go-nuts ready for adventure vibe that i really get into - vaguely like music for a cyriak video.

having heard the noms, i feel that groovin up is probably going to win this match because it's VERY CATCHY but i'm still gonna vote cotton island anyways because it's one of my favorite osts, i love practically every track from it; and i admire follin's ability to use the spc700. i agree with deo in that this match is basically a toss-up though.
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Class::EXPAJA
Madness
Cotton Island

snubs match is the closest. Had to think about that one.
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No Turning Back
Madness
Groovin Up

Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA: 9. Love the surge (pun unintended) in this - it's an overwhelming song (in a good way). Production feels a little muddy though - maybe a link issue?
vs.
Mega Man 10 - No Turning Back: 5. One of the weak links in the Mega Man 10 set. Feels fairly uneventful.

and

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Wandering in the Darkness: 7. Hey, a Trails song I like! Love the accordion here. Feels pastoral and a little sad, like shuffling down a country road during a light drizzle.
vs.
Einhnder - Madness: 6.5. Whoa nelly. Really funky opening, but the rest of the song doesn't hold up for me...at least until 2:15, when neat stuff starts happening. That section keeps me on my toes.

and

Plok! - Cotton Island: 7. rock out with your plok out
vs.
DJMAX Respect - Groovin Up: 5.5. I feel like I should like this more than I do, and I had that exact feeling during noms. It's catchy but kind of empty, like a taco made of gummy bears.

Votes:
Class::EXPAJA
Wandering in the Darkness
Cotton Island

No Turning Back
Madness
Groovin Up
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Class::EXPAJA
Madness
Groovin Up

At its best EXPAJA is a 10/10 song. The parts where the woman's singing are the focus are generally the best. I don't like the parts with just the chorus like at 1:28 as much. But her singing is amazing. The non-vocal parts are a bit better than the chorus parts, but I wish she sang the whole song. MM10 song is mediocre Mega Man music.

Wandering in the Darkness feels weird in a contest considering how much it plays in-game. Very background musicy. Not a bad song though. Competition is pretty funky.

I don't like the instruments much in Cotton Island. Groovin Up is a little more interesting.
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Class::EXPAJA
Madness
Groovin Up

oh no I betrayed Falcom AGAIN truly this is Madness
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No Turning Back
Wandering in the Darkness
Cotton Island

No Turning Back
Madness
Cotton Island

shout outs to wandering in Darkness because that song's got a real cool, dark/chill vibe to it that's one of the "chill" vibes I can really get into. But Madness is a very Me kind of th ing with the wild attitude and also even just the sound of that starting synth but much more too it's great. Perhaps in another world Wandering in Darkness coulda gotten my vote but not this matchup

Other matches, me voting against vocal stuff should not come as any sort of surprise especially in these instances but I will also say Plok better win this because it's one of the games I feel particularly strongly that it should have been in the main bracket not the snubs so it bettre not go out first round!! >:((((((((((((( lots of frowns becaus e that means something probably also one of those is just a parentheses )
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Class::EXPAJA
Wandering in the Darkness
Groovin Up

First matchup makes me sad

Wandering is way too short! I'd love for the section that ends the loop to continue longer.

Groovin is cheesy enough to put on a club sandwich and I love it???
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class::EXPAJA
Madness
Cotton Island
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Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star - Class::EXPAJA
Einhnder - Madness
DJMAX Respect - Groovin Up
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No Turning Back
Wandering in the Darkness
Groovin Up

shoutouts to madness
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Class::EXPAJA
Madness
Cotton Island

short writeups for tired human

EXPAJA is, like, cool. Yeah. Capital letters EPIC at times but never boring about it.

No Turning Back is all right. Some parts of the melody and the way the second square wave and triangle wave support it are cool. Certainly evokes the classic Mega Man feel, but never hits the heights of my favourite Mega Man tracks. (This just reminds me again that I didn't support MM5 and that an extra support would have placed it in the main bracket. Damn.)

Wandering in the Darkness reminds me that I played Trails in the Sky for several hours a long time ago! I should probably return to that game. This is nice enough-- I get some vague Layton vibes.

Madness is my personal #2 of this soundtrack. That opening motif is wild. The last three notes of it stubbornly refuse to line up with the beat the way everyone wants them to and I love it. Then the main beat kicks in and it's jam city. That shining synth chord at 0:55 is the best. Something I love about a lot of Einhander tracks-- they don't rest on their laurels. New sounds and new progressions roll out over the course of the track and it rewards you for paying attention, all the while maintaining its overall aesthetic.

PLOK! I don't love this-- I get the general idea but I'm not a huge fan of it. It's shifty enough to keep itself afloat, though. It's serviceable, and not everything has to be Beach, I guess.

Every time the opening little piano jingle comes up I'm like 'ooo, pretty' and then the actual track kicks in and I'm always a little disappointed. Groovin up is CATCHY and RETRO and DISCO and really wants me to know that. I think this is a near-miss for me-- it sits just on the periphery of catchy for me but I feel kinda repelled by it as well.