Board 8 > [BOST] Day 18: Celeste v REFLEC collete, Eschatos v Spark, EO5 v Total Distort

(+) 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: Winners Round 2

Celeste - First Steps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8OHSXvneOE" data-time="

REFLEC BEAT colette - Following Flow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3HSsbhkBEQ" data-time="

Main Bracket: Losers Round 1

Eschatos - Survive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKtZ1OoWuFg" data-time="

Spark the Electric Jester - Ultimate Final Boss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyugYwuY5M" data-time="

Snubs Bracket Match

Etrian Odyssey V - Battlefield - Activation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c511OJ1JNEA" data-time="

Total Distortion - Setup

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

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Vote Form:
First Steps / Following Flow
Survive / Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield - Activation / Setup

Activation

What the fuck Setup
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Following Flow
Ultimate Final Boss
Setup

First Steps
Ultimate Final Boss
Activation
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First Steps
Ultimate Final Boss
Activation

this is the strongest day
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First Steps
Ultimate Final Boss
Activation
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Celeste - First Steps
Spark the Electric Jester - Ultimate Final Boss
Etrian Odyssey V - Battlefield - Activation
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Celeste - First Steps
Spark the Electric Jester - Ultimate Final Boss
Etrian Odyssey V - Battlefield - Activation

Wow @ the first match!
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Following Flow
UFB
Setup

Yesterday was a hard act to follow.
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First Steps
Survive
Battlefield - Activation
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dowolf posted...

Yesterday was a hard act to follow.

Just wait for tomorrow when all those games tiebreak?
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Following Flow
Survive
Battlefield - Activation
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Following Flow
Survive
Battlefield - Activation

setup is funny and i do like it buuuuuuuuuut activation is also good

Following Flow
Survive
Battlefield - Activation

Following Flow
Ultimate Final Boss
Setup

I like the tone shift at 1:18 of following flow

both songs are nice in 2nd match, best two songs of the day possibly. Don't like the chanty chorus parts in UFB though it was enough to make me reconsider the vote but not enough to actually do it

I would literally rather listen to Setup loop for the full 7 minute duration of Battle Field Activation than the full 7 minute duration of Battle Field Activation. BfA isn't even that bad nor is Setup even that good that just kind of goes to show just how much I dislike orchestral sounds especially if there's nothing else really noteworthy to me about the song, then it just feels like a chore to listen to them to vote in this topic when I could be listening to other things like dangan ronpa were wolf table top simulator twitch dot tv. Also a 7-8 second loop of synthy older 90's PC game music is very much my kind of humor. Honestly I've gotten more enjoyment just thinking about the silliness of this song even being in this contest than I have from listening to battlefield activation. bwip
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First Steps
Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield - Activation

Following Flow
Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield ~ Activation
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First Steps
Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield - Activation

First Steps
Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield - Activation

Song titles today feel like they're telling a story...

Setup was sounding pretty good; I was waiting for the main section to go somewhere given the 2:47 video length oops...there's probably some joke about setup and activation here. I remember discovering Activation after the EO4 soundtrack and being disappointed that it lacked the energy showcased in Storm. Why can't you be more like your younger brother?! (or would it be older brother...) But I've warmed to it as a more laid-back battle theme, with a cool keyboard solo after the fake second loop.
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Celeste - First Steps: 8.5. Nice and inspirational. Some really cool glitchy things. I really like this, love the way everything flows together nicely, from the nice "sweeps" in the background to the piano to the glitchy stuff.
vs.
REFLEC BEAT colette - Following Flow: 8. Hello Nekomata Master. This is, at least on paper, a very similar song to First Steps, albeit a more upbeat/driving melody. It's standard Nekomata fare, which is to say it's very good.

and

Eschatos - Survive: 3. I find this unexciting, which is sad, because it's clearly meant to be very exciting. Nothing about this really sticks with me except a vague sense of liking some elements of the FM synth.
vs.
Spark the Electric Jester - Ultimate Final Boss: 6.5. Now this I find exciting. The heavy guitar parts remind me of Servants of the Scourge (but I like this much better). Lots of energy and I really like the melody, particularly the chorus.

and

Etrian Odyssey V - Battlefield - Activation: 4.5. Another bombastic Etrian Odyssey song with loud guitars. I would much rather this was one of the FM synth songs. All these big epic guitar pieces sound the same to me (with a few exceptions). I like the piano runs near the middle. The brass near the start of the loop is actually pretty compelling. So basically I like the things in this song that aren't loud guitars. >_> Overall the song exceeds my expectations.
vs.
Total Distortion - Setup: 6.5. I think there are slight differences between the verses here. Maybe I'm imagining things. I actually find this legitimately engaging - it held my interest the entire time despite being incredibly repetitive. I would easily vote this over a number of songs thus far in the contest.

Votes:
First Steps
Ultimate Final Boss
Setup

Following Flow
Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield - Activation

First Steps is great in the game but not something I'd care to listen to on its own. Following Flow is excellent. Love it.

Survive is super generic. Feels incredibly boring. Ultimate Final Boss isn't ultra unique either, but at least at has some actual energy to it. Fun times.

Love the feel of Activation. Probably the best of the newer EO songs I've heard. Very cool brassy feel. Setup is surprisingly not bad, other than the length of the loop.
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Following Flow
Survive
Battlefield - Activation

First Steps has that same motif going on as that one Celeste song I really love, but this one just isn't doing it for me. Oh hi rhythm game song that's exactly 2 minutes long. Decent match overall, but not too hard.

Man, both of the songs in the LB match are leagues above the WB match's songs, neither of these really deserved to be knocked down to the LB in R1 . Very good and close match!

Hey, three absolute bangers in a row! EO5 I feel is a significantly weaker soundtrack than say, EO3 or EO4, but Battlefield - Activation is a solid classic pick. Setup feels like it's setting up for something else, but then it just loops again and nothing happens. I'm not entirely sure why this is in the contest, but it's not my least favorite thing to show up.
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Celeste - First Steps
Eschatos - Survive
Etrian Odyssey V - Battlefield - Activation
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Following Flow
Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield - Activation
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Following Flow
Survive
Battlefield - Activation

nekomata
yasui
JRPG

second match was very close

(yes I know I was commenting in discord on a lot of people voting at the end yesterday and yet here I am I kept getting distracted by Three Houses SORRY)
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Dont have my laptop today so doing ratings rn is gonna be hard, Im just gonna use the easy voting form for now.

Abstain
Ultimate Final Boss
Battlefield - Activation

Celeste - First Steps
Spark the Electric Jester - Ultimate Final Boss

Etrian Odyssey V - Battlefield - Activation
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Following Flow
Ultimate Final Boss
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REFLEC BEAT colette - Following Flow
Eschatos - Survive
Total Distortion - Setup

Short post today because I spent most of the day on the freeway and just got in!_ I don't have much to say only that I really loved Setup. If I could cast three votes for that, I would. It's only seven seconds but it is the most amazingly funky seven seconds it could possibly be. I love the compressed audio and that the instrumentation is reminiscent to You Are Dead from the same OST. I appreciate this song a lot and honest to goodness it has been in my head for most of today~ Synthy stuff like this is my jam and I am so glad that something like it even ended up in BOST in the first place. Following Flow and Survive are pretty awesome, too and I would so talk about them more but this weekend is kind of a busy one for me...!
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REFLEC BEAT colette - Following Flow
Eschatos - Survive
Total Distortion - Setup

nekomata master good

I think my problem with Spark music is that it lacks an identity of its own, aping from the things that inspired it without understanding what makes those things appealing. At least Eschatos has a face, at the end of the day

It's the exact combination of -things- that appear in many songs like Battlefield - Activation that just leave me bored and uninspired. On another note Pacific and I were singing along with Setup to the tune of You Are Dead and that gave me way more joy and heck I'll probably be coming back to it a lot in the future. joe sparks good

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