Board 8 > [BOST] Day 35: VA-11 HALL-A v Caravan, Deltarune v Spark, HypnoFIXED v UnderCops

(+) Yeah! (+)

Please vote in this thread, and not the other one! A wrong link was posted for Match 3 and not caught before editing posts expired.

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 3

VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - All Systems, Go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RHVA5GgB88" data-time="

Caravan Stories - Laurara's Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPOO2zcyy90" data-time="

Main Bracket: Losers Round 2

Deltarune - Scarlet Forest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYuEh0L4-0g" data-time="

Spark the Electric Jester - Flower Mountain Canyon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEojs3W-pEQ" data-time="

Snubs Bracket: Round 2

Hypnospace Outlaw - Formations (Basidia)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6USBi6JMFQ" data-time="

Undercover Cops - Northern Barramundi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OItoG6ZaLuE" data-time="

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Vote Form:
All Systems, Go! / Laurara's Dance
Scarlet Forest / Flower Mountain Canyon
Formations (Basidia) / Northern Barramundi

If you posted in the other thread, your votes for the first two matches will be recorded, just not your Match 3 vote. The time for this round will be extended by two hours to match the new start time.

Undercover Cops - Northern Barramundi
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All Systems, Go!
Flower Mountain Canyon
Northern Barramundi
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All Systems, Go!
Flower Mountain Canyon
Formations (Basidia)

First match was pretty tricky, both songs appealed to me in different ways in ways that sort of balanced out a bit.
Also I Love that main synth in FMC
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All Systems, Go!
Flower Mountain Canyon
Formations (Basidia)
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Laurara's Dance
Scarlet Forest
Formations (Basidia)

i love bass is scape

Northern Barramundi
whops lol
still no change tho, there's just something I can't place holding it back too

Laurara's Dance
Scarlet Forest
Formations (Basidia)

All Systems, Go!
Flower Mountain Canyon
Northern Barramundi
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All Systems, Go!
Flower Mountain Canyon
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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - All Systems, Go!: 3.
vs.
Caravan Stories - Laurara's Dance: 4.5.

and

Deltarune - Scarlet Forest: 6.
vs.
Spark the Electric Jester - Flower Mountain Canyon: 10. My favorite new song from nominations. So glad Spark has lasted in the contest long enough to use it. This just kills it in every sense of the word. I had this on loop for damn near an hour when I first heard it. What a terrific song.

and

Hypnospace Outlaw - Formations (Basidia): 5.5. That bass is getting a workout.
vs.
Undercover Cops - Northern Barramundi: 2. whoo

Votes:
Laurara's Dance
Flower Mountain Canyon
Formations (Basidia)

VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - All Systems, Go! - 7.5/10

A happy, energetic theme, one where you can really feel like you're starting a very special adventure. I wish it was a bit less empty at points, but it really hits home a lot of the right vibes, and I've come to really like this game's music style.

Caravan Stories - Laurara's Dance - 6.5/10

Feels like a PMD Dungeon theme, but it kinda feels a bit less emotional and a lot more seemingly unnecessarily repetitive compared to the dungeon themes I really like from PMD. It's got some nice melodies that appear in there but the main like 1-second loop that keeps playing over bothers me. Again, that is really the only part I don't like quite a bit though, I just wish it wasn't so frequent.

Voting for All Systems, Go!

Deltarune - Scarlet Forest - 7/10

A very pleasant...waltz? I think it is? It conveys more emotion than most do for me, and the reprise of the chaos king theme (which might be the main theme as well, I'm not sure myself cuz i never played it on my own lol) is a sure shot to make a song a lot more memorable in an ost, it's done pretty well here. It could use some backing or something though, imo.

Spark the Electric Jester - Flower Mountain Canyon - 8.5/10

A lot of my comments for All Systems, Go! apply here! Got the same sort of cheery adventurous tune that just makes you want to go out and explore everything in the game. The first time I heard this song in-game I just knew this game was going to be super special for me, and even now this is still great to me and I can feel that every time.

Voting for Flower Mountain Canyon

Hypnospace Outlaw - Formations (Basidia) - 6.5/10

Hm, I'm surprised that this soundtrack has a lot more of the vocals, I guess that is really the whole style. This one is really smooth, so probably one of my favourites from the ost in that sense, I don't really have much on an issue with the vocals on their own but I kinda feel like the vocals sound the same from song to song, which makes it a lot harder to make any of them as memorable for me.

Undercover Cops - Northern Barramundi - 6/10

This is fun and fast-paced, but it really isn't super striking to me...And, really, idk. Not that fun. I don't have that much against it but it just doesn't really do all that much for me. Maybe it's just the almost distant-sounding soundfont?

Voting for Formations (Basidia)

really. fucking hell, this one. Laurara's Dance
Flower Mountain Canyon
Formations (Basidia)

Laurara's Dance
Flower Mountain Canyon
Northern Barramundi

ASG has a real neat 80s feel to it in a bit of a different way from the other Valhalla stuff I've heard. Laurara is as good as ever. Pretty close match for me.

Man the start of Scarlet Forest really reminds me of Obra Dinn music. Not much to it though. FMC is more interesting, though I'd pick both of the first match's songs instead here...

Oh my god I hate Basidia so much. Something about it is just irritating. Maybe the vocals I dunno. Barramundi is funky.
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Laurara's Dance
Scarlet Forest
Formations (Bisidia)

reposting first two for convenience's sake.

this may not actually be more convenient OH WELL.
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Laurara's Dance
Flower Mountain Canyon
Northern Barramundi

Would have voted the other way with the previous Hypnospace song!
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Formations (Basidia)
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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - All Systems, Go!
Spark the Electric Jester - Flower Mountain Canyon
Hypnospace Outlaw - Formations (Basidia)

MATCH 1

All Systems Go is one of the better VA-11 HALL-A songs in my opinion so nice to see that this showed up today! Relaxing and also energetic at the same time! Seems contradictory to say that, I know, but it makes sense in the way I feel! Like the melody's pretty soothing but the beat is nice and energized. I guess an analogy I can give is driving really fast in a convertible down a scenic stretch of road with the roof down. The view is pretty and the wind flowing through your hair is relaxing (unless you're me and take the time to comb your hair the right way and don't like it when the wind messes it up), but at the same time, the drive's fast-paced and exciting. I suppose my favorite songs from this game are the really retro-sounding ones like this.

Aw another bad matchup for Laurarararara. I still like this song quite a bit, but All Systems Go is the clear choice in my mind. I think the same thing happened in VGMC when this showed up, this song facing a tough matchup against a better opponent. Ah yeah, looking at the thread title now and it was Full Base. That song was good. And also taken down from Youtube! A sad discovery that I had made one day when I felt like listening to it. Anyway, the thread is unfortunately not archived so I can't just copy/paste my writeup for that. I remember saying that it sounded like Disney music for a scene where people are running around, rushing to work on something important. I still agree with that and I can picture that exact scene in my mind as I listen to it. Probably more or less what I was thinking of the first time I listened to it too. It could've definitely been a vote for this song if it was a weaker VA-11 HALL-A song because they're definitely out there. I don't remember what was in the setlist though besides what had already showed up. Base of the Titans is one song that comes to mind that would be an easy matchup in Laurara's Dance's favor for me.

MATCH 2

Scarlet Forest is a neat song. Very playful in the way that Laurara's Dance is (though I'd vote for that over Scarlet Forest), though in a much more calming form. The inclusion of the Field of Hopes and Dreams motif towards the end of the song is something I like too.

Flower Mountain Canyon is really cool! I like the parts with the grittier synth lead the most! Feels very much like something from Madeon or a similar artist. Upbeat, happy, EDM-sounding music. I can definitely get into this song.

MATCH 3

There's something strangely alluring about Formations (Basidia). I can't really say that it's my kind of music, but I'm liking this song! It's like an interesting indie take on modern pop and EDM styles or something to that effect. There's occasionally some dissonant shifts in the chords and melody as well as in the bass notes that raise a big question mark over my head when I hear it, but the rest of it is cool enough that it's only a minor blemish.

Oh hey it's that vocal shout again. Sounds more fitting for this song since it's a lot more energetic than the last one that showed up. I don't know what to say about this other than that it sounds very Glacier. Pretty sure he was the one that nominated Undercover Cops too, so I guess that makes sense for it to sound that way haha. I like it. Sounds like some kind of 80's dance song or something like that which is an interesting sound to me that I can definitely get behind. I feel like I'd normally vote for something like this, but Formations (Basidia) is really capturing my interest today, so not this time.

All Systems, Go! = Flower Mountain Canyon > Laurara's Dance > Formations (Basidia) > Northern Barramundi > Scarlet Forest

All Systems, Go!
Scarlet Forest
Northern Barramundi

Scarlet Forest just kinda ends but it's still cool
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this truly is the day where i vote against two of my own noms

Laurara's Dance
Flower Mountain Canyon
Formations (Basidia)

hate it but this day is really high up there for me
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Caravan Stories - Laurara's Dance - yeah, this is my current favorite track from the game... however, I'm haven't listened to a ton of music from it, so maybe that could change. I can't get enough of the varied meters, the relaxed melodies, and the constantly changing "cool" harmonies....

Deltarune - Scarlet Forest - Flower Mountain Canyon "sounds" really good and has many things I like about it, but I just don't enjoy it that much. I prefer the simple, but effective acoustic instrumentation in Scarlet Forest, plus it has the theme of Field of Hopes and Dreams, which is cool.

Hypnospace Outlaw - Formations (Basidia)
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Laurara's Dance
Scarlet Forest
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Caravan Stories - Laurara's Dance
Deltarune: Chapter 1 - Scarlet Forest
Hypnospace Outlaw - Formations (Basidia)

voting against va-11, bost is truly forged in the deepest layer of hell

Solid day all around! Spark hits on too many EDM beats for comfort but it's dense musically and the chords are fun. Still too tough a sell when pitted against DR though. Formations (Basidia) is a favorite of mine, and it came down to this or Ghost of the Grotto (Basidia) when building the set. In retrospect, I probably should've put that in the 5th slot...

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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - All Systems, Go!
This song is amazing! I haven't heard much from VA-11 HALL-A but this song makes me want to hear more. It was a fun jam and I want more of whatever sounds like this!

Deltarune - Scarlet Forest
Deltarune music makes me really happy and I am even happier to vote for it in today's BOST match. Scarlet Forest resonated with me a lot, in a time I particularly needed it today, as well. I love when music times up with the emotional parts of life-- it honestly makes the song all the more memorable.

Hypnospace Outlaw - Formations (Basidia)
This song reminded me a lot of Miracle Musical (a Tally Hall side project) and it was such a pleasant surprise to listen to. Brings me back to the 2014/2015 period of time when I was first moving out of my house and attending university. This song definitely has a dreamlike quality to it, which plays into the major themes of the game it is representing. Altogether a really solid and beautiful track~!

(p.s. today is basically a place day so happy place day in bost everybody)


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Northern Barramundi