Board 8 > [BOST] Day 19: Calamity v VA-11 HALL-A, Tiebreak: Undertale/KI '13, Rewrite/GGX

(+) Yeah! (+)

Greetings, and welcome to the 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

Terraria Calamity - Feral Amalgamation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abkUjD3qark" data-time="

VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - Every Day Is Night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-AfGh8gmiQ" data-time="

Main Bracket: Winners Round 2 Tiebreaker

Undertale - Dummy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3epEVMNJdY" data-time="

Killer Instinct (2013) - .execute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1DX9Wjeh9k" data-time="

Snubs Bracket Tiebreaker

Rewrite - Raised Bed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygur5AaVzgA" data-time="

Guilty Gear X - Blue Water Blue Sky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8y--5DF2Fk" data-time="

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Vote Form:
Feral Amalgamation / Every Day Is Night
Dummy! / .execute
Raised Bed / Blue Water Blue Sky

.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky

Can't decide yet on the main match, I like both a lot more than i realised

Poor dummy

Jeez all of these alts are strong

Terraria Calamity - Feral Amalgamation - TC music always pulls it off in terms of electronic orchestration. It's no Scourge, though. Melody is a little generic at the start, but the switch to 6/4 helps it move along. It gets most interesting at about 1:27 with the mood changes and the cool bass. We got that bit at 2:04 which obviously has some connection with Murderswarm, which is always a good thing! Every Day is Night is good, too, but ultimately less interesting to be than Feral. The saxophone that I've always associated with VA-11 doesn't hurt, though. It has weird jarring dissonances such as at 1:32... not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing! Other dissonances are cool, though, like at 0:29.

Undertale - Dummy! - the first 30 seconds sounds like it was taken straight from Earthbound! After that I don't like it as much, though, until like the last 15 seconds. I'm just not into KI music, and this track has a lot of those Blue Reflection-type sounds that I'm not fond of, even though I think execute is objectively the much better track.

Guilty Gear X - Blue Water Blue Sky- Here's a typical example of the calm, relaxing music that Rewrite does really well. I really like that flute, it sounds... almost reed-like. The guitar gives it a Chrono Cross vibe (the piano at the beginning, too). When the violins join the guitar near the end is really nice, too. I've always loved the beginning of BWBS.. I like how the repeated patterns fit the ascending harmonies. The guitar melody isn't so bad, either. Lots of good stuff in it, really.... ugh, I can't believe I'm voting against Rewrite. ;_; (PLEASE don't come down to one vote... though I expect BWBS to win fairly easily)
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Feral Amalgamation
.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky

Oh Boy Terrara Calamity. This feels like one of the weaker tracks from it that I've heard, but maybe there's a reason most of the other ones I have heard have gotten into other contests but not this one. Anyway uh the beginning part feels a bit weak & repetitive like I said and especially did not need to be repeated twice. Still a decent TC song because TC has good songs.

Start of Every Day Is Night song it uses a stock sound effect digital explosion thing. I'm certain it's used in a bunch of things but I associate it with Zoocube when you bring like this rainbow arrow down to the cube and it explodes. I like this song but I'm not really a fan of the saxophone it reminds me of the soap operas I used to see my grandmother on my mom's side leave the television on. To be honest though that saxophone part isn't even that bad it's kinda good dunno why I'm even complaining about it. The way the song just abruptly ends is funny. Honestly this first match is super close but as I'm trying to ask myself which song I'd rather listen to , I think I would rather listen to Feral Amalgamation.

I feel like I never really thought about the title to "Dummy!" much but I recall wondering why it's called "Dummy!" oh I guess the ghost is rude and calls you a dummy probably and so when I'm writing this post I think about and then I'm like yo, hey, what's the ghost again huh? huh?? huh?? I want to call this song as having a cool "jazzy" beat which I believe but I also believe I'm using the word "jazzy" too broadly. Or maybe I just don't know how to describe or something. Category 1 is probably Jazzy rhythms which is the best for me and is like wild, changing odd times stuff it's real fun. Category 2 is more like this, "calmer" jazz feel like what a radio station might play on the jazz station but with "real" (bad) instruments. It's cool but not as cool as Category 1. I swear there's a 3rd category too about jazz stuff I actively dislike like over focus on saxophone but I don't know good examples off the top of my head and the EDIN song doesn't count anyway this Dummy Song is Category 2 and it's pretty cool.

This song (the second one in the second match) has some cool harsh deep synth stuff in it's sounds that I like, while still "muted" / "held back" but not enough that they're ruined. But does the song make good enough use of these cool sound instrumentation choices to earn my vote. Honestly yeah it's pretty cool. I like the part near-ish the beginning but not the first section where it like skips a beat and plays around dodging the rhythm a bit like that. Oh yeah it repeats (I'm typing as I listen to this song for the first time) does this song just loop like 4 times to make this video super long if so why. Anyway I really like these digital sounds & the way they're used here so yeah that's my vote. To be honest I also find Toby Fox songs kind of "overrated" in t hat I think a lot of people enjoy them far more than I do but I never really say much because I still kind of enjoy them anyway just not as much probably oh okay I think at 6:21 the song goes into something new wow why is it so late. Doesn't really change things this is already getting my vote.

You know what I was fully ready to use this match to be the first match I skip because I plan on skipping matches if they don't have a song I'd want to listen to because heck to listning to dull stuff just to vote for something dull I have better to do. But anyway I just thought I'd check the songs anyway and BWBS is actually pretty cool and just barely crosses my threshold so good job. Unfortunately this means I also have to listen to Raised Bed more like Raised Bad ha h a hbreaking bad. I really don't like "realistic" instruments or slow tempo + moody sad feel I guess this isn't really too "sad" but too "peaceful" moody I guess
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Every Day Is Night
Dummy!
Raised Bed

Feral Amalgamation
.execute
Raised Bed

look at me, switching my votes on the tiebreakers.
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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - Every Day Is Night
Rewrite - Raised Bed
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Abstain
execute
raised bed i think

execute sounds like a karous song
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Okay yeah i have decided now

Every Day Is Night

I'd been saving a remark about the mystery dungeon feeling section in feral amalgamation for when i actually decided on which song i was actually going with, but it appears I've been beaten to the punch oh well. Anyway yeah that's why it was close for me too. I more consistently dig every day is night and it also has a part i like nearly as much (the last half minute of it or so, which honestly elevates it into "actually one of my favourites on the soundtrack" status)

GameBopAdv posted...

I feel like I never really thought about the title to "Dummy!" much but I recall wondering why it's called "Dummy!" oh I guess the ghost is rude and calls you a dummy probably and so when I'm writing this post I think about and then I'm like yo, hey, what's the ghost again huh? huh?? huh??

You're thinking of ghost fight lol

Dummy is called Dummy because you fight a dummy you dummy

Feral Amalgamation
.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky
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UF8 posted...

GameBopAdv posted...

I feel like I never really thought about the title to "Dummy!" much but I recall wondering why it's called "Dummy!" oh I guess the ghost is rude and calls you a dummy probably and so when I'm writing this post I think about and then I'm like yo, hey, what's the ghost again huh? huh?? huh??

You're thinking of ghost fight lol

Dummy is called Dummy because you fight a dummy you dummy

Yeah I know that!! I became aware of that when I was making my post it was probably just kind of hard to follow due to silly wording whoops
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Every Day Is Night
Dummy!
Blue Water Blue Sky
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Feral Amalgamation
Dummy!
Raised Bed

Every Day Is Night
.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky

Every Day Is Night
.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky

feral amalgamation is one of my least favorite calamity tracks, though this isn't to imply it's bad. every day is night, on the other hand, is one of my favorite songs on the va-11 hall-a ost.

.execute vs dummy! is a difficult match but .execute is more DRUM AND BASS COOL

blue water blue sky is an iconic song to me for multiple reasons. first off, it's a fighting game song - and when i was a kid i used to invest myself in mugen videos a LOT so it's really nostalgic. second, the general style reminds me of team nekokan and this is yet again another good thing, as i listened to a lot of nekokan when i was a kid. finally, it's one of the few fighting game songs i know to appear in a mega man romhack - rock man 2 deus ex machina. it's just a heavily nostalgic song on all parts for me. i love songs that represent 'freedom' and this does it very well.
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Every Day Is Night
.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky

every day is night
.execute
BWBS

dummy is such a weird undertale pick. i mean i guess alt is the place for weird picks but still.
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Terraria Calamity - Feral Amalgamation: 1. The beginning feels very slow and plodding. So does the rest. This is the song equivalent of a school dance. I don't like anything about this. Maybe the transition into the mixed meter part (but not the actual mixed meter part itself).
vs.
VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - Every Day Is Night: 6. I've yet to hear a song from this game that's really stuck with me. I guess this is the closest? I wish there was more sax and fewer high-pitched synths. Decent energy though. I enjoy the main melody.

and

Undertale - Dummy!: 9. Okay can I just say I love this song. It's so playful and charming. It keeps doing interesting things all throughout. I love that breathy vocal synth thing that carries the melody. Very...ragtimey?
vs.
Killer Instinct (2013) - .execute: 2.5. A dubstep version of the KI main theme, huh. I want to like this more than I do. Maybe I'd like it more if it weren't quite so dubsteppy. Too many glitch effects that sound like spiders laying eggs in my eyeballs. Really drags by the end.

and

Rewrite - Raised Bed: 2. This is the kind of KEY music I don't like. It's the Hallmark Channel meets the Weather Channel.
vs.
Guilty Gear X - Blue Water Blue Sky: 8. blue blue skies blue blue skies i see

Votes:
Every Day Is Night
Dummy!
Blue Water Blue Sky

Change my vote to Raised Bed, please. BWBS has been stuck in my head all day and I don't like it much anymore!
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Every Day Is Night
Dummy!
Blue Water Blue Sky

Really good first match. Feral Amalgamation is one of the better compositions I've heard from TCM, and that bass solo is really nice. EDIN has a cool oldschool sound to it (a lot of this soundtrack reminds me of YU-NO), plus the addition of the saxophone is also a nice touch to it that I like.

Dummy is a classic Jazz standard I recognize from somewhere but can't put my finger on exactly where. Dubstep just isn't my thing, sorry. Definitely a weaker match here.

I'm a huge fan of the emotional Key soundtracks, but more along the lines of stuff composed by Shinji Orito or Jun Maeda. Listening to Raised Bed makes me feel like I'm watching Little Bear. In comparison to The Original, Blue Water Blue Sky is much more my speed when it comes to Guilty Gear music. This is one of my favorites from the series that isn't just intense HEAVY metal.
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Every Day Is Night (wow voting against calamity)
Dummy!
Blue Water Blue Sky

Every Day Is Night
Dummy!
Blue Water Blue Sky

First two losers were almost good but were too loud ouch like...executing...a calamity...in my ears? Then Raised Bed had the opposite problem.
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Dummy!
Raised Bed
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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - Every Day Is Night
Killer Instinct (2013) - .execute
Rewrite - Raised Bed
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Every Day Is Night
Dummy!
Blue Reflection Blue Destination

that was not how I expected to vote in the first match but the other two were pretty normal
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Feral Amalgamation
.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky

Not really my favorite Calamity track, but I do like the way it builds throughout. Valhalla one is kinda boring.

Possible comments on the others later.
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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - Every Day Is Night
Undertale - Dummy!
Rewrite - Raised Bed

Abstain
Dummy!
Blue Water Blue Sky

Both Every Day Is Night and .execute had both several parts that were a fair bit better than their opponent and a fair bit weaker than their opponent, which were both fairly constant in quality throughout. .execute just had too much more of the latter, unfortunately. All 4 were good though. Snubs Alt match was also quite good for a Snubs Alt match, though the choice was fairly easy for me in the end.

Feral Amalgamation
.execute
Blue Water Blue Sky
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Day 20 topic's not up yet so we're throwing out some tardy votes:

VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - Every Day Is Night
Undertale - Dummy!

voting the Fun picks today since I come back to these a lot and can't immediately see myself doing the same with FA or dot execute. didn't listen to snubs wh oops

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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - Every Day Is Night
Undertale- Dummy

Sorry for the late vote, had a busy day but just wanted to drop in to support Undertale and VA11 HALL-A!
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every day is night
.execute
blue water blue sky

good tracks!!!!! match two was hard :((
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