Board 8 > [VGMC] d20: Kaine Salv v Hoi AGA lvl 5; Jena Anderson v Giratina; plus rematch!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to today's topic for Video Game Music Contest 14, a tournament of the best tracks from games, as decided upon by you, the voters.

Links:
Contest info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VNrPnFRI7nJ4PqFiURBW0NWqxvXiuasoq8Sn_O169ss/edit#gid=320804650
Bracket - http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=473292
Discussion and results thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78524521
Bracket playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1REnVI_W6yELaDP6Zac8b0Wq
ToC playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1RE-TQMj19D0k5nm-0zeH12J
VGMC compability sheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lpX4faqnn_geI0y4i6MrZ2AXpV6SWXoWrIA6_eyx-yM/edit

Rules:
- Listen to both of the songs. Links have conveniently been provided for both songs. Even if Song A is your favorite of all-time and Song B is from a series you hate... Listen

Tag

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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

at first i was gonna vote kaine salvation but level 5 has some absolute GROOVES and after listening long enough i was sold

jena anderson is funny orchestral rock and battle giratina is 30 dance gifs playing at once in song form

zadok is borat voice my vibe

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

what if it's exactly 9000 bad poll

Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

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Level 5: Main Theme
Jena Anderson
To the Distant Sky
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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

HOI is such a weird entrant but it's cool

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Level 5: Main Theme
Jena Anderson
Zadok
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Nier - Kaine ~ Salvation
Astral Chain - Jena Anderson
Skygunner - To the Distant Sky
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Salvation
Jena Anderson
Zadok

Where is the option for the people who think there will be exactly 9000 rematches??
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Kaine / Salvation (100th) vs Level 5 (66th)
Jena Anderson (158th) vs Battle! Giratina (16th)
To the Distant Sky (25th) vs Zadok (106th)

Today on "the wrong version was chosen" we have Kaine / Salvation........... which is actually weird because I flip-flop on which one I actually like more! I'm more of an Escape guy nowadays but Salvation is still really good!! I love the sound of the FAKE LANGUAGE in this song which is supposedly supposed to be mostly based on French for this song and it definitely has that sexy flair too it in a very sad sort of way and that's really cool... Level 5 is pretty coOH GOFD EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART WHAT HAVE I DONE RRRHHOOOOOooh oh wait it's actually pretty normal as cool but Tracker Music and I LOVE Tracker Music especially when it does SCALES EVERYWHERE. 1:09 is super cool too this song is just COOL I'm glad that this contest is able to Open My Eyes to stuff like this that I probably would've never found. 1:35 fake follin. great match

Jena Anderson is pretty cool! It has a lot of elements that I obviously love foreign chanting plus cool Powerful Destiny Synth Plus Guitar Melody and just this sound design in general, but somehow it manages to fail to leave a lasting impression on me. I think the fault with this kind of music for me is that I can't just "discover it and love it", I have to hear it like a lot over the course of a few years to love it (Metal Gear Rising is something that went through this exact cycle for a specific example) and it has obviously not been a few years since VGMC14 has started yet. Giratina is pretty coOH GOFD EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART WHAT HAVE I DONE RRRHHOOOOOHHH NO SPACE AROUND IT BREAKING 0:18 OH GOD THE AIR AROUND ME IS BOILING WHAT THE FUCK Giratina Origin Forme is actually one of my favorite Pokemon and that is... not even joking largely because of my association of this song with it. Junichi Masuda is an insane man and this song is the theme of an insane person being helped by an insane accomplice Go Ichinose doing insane things in the world of insanity. And I absolutely adore it.

Haruka na sora ni chikae owaranai kibou to yuuki wo~

Battle! Giratina > To the Distant Sky > Level 5 > Kaine / Salvation > Zadok > Jena Anderson

Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
To the Distant Sky

man the start of level 5 is so bad. The rest is alright at least, but I hate that start a lot. Kaine Salvation is fantastic all the way through.

Hmm, not quite as into Jena as last time today. Still a cool song at least. Giratina's alright for an early Pokemon song.

Kaine ~ Salvation = Jena Anderson > Battle! Giratina > Level 5: Main Theme
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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky
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UF8 posted...

what if it's exactly 9000 bad poll

pyresword posted...

Where is the option for the people who think there will be exactly 9000 rematches??

The over 9000 is inclusive.

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
Zadok

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Kaine
Jena
To the Distant Sky
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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Kaine ~ Salvation (7.5) / Level 5: Main Theme (6.5)
Jena Anderson (6.0) / Battle! Giratina (8.5)

The second match reminds me that I've still never played Platinium. :[ One of these years I'll play it, since Diamond/Pearl are my favorite Pokemon that I've played. But yeah, Giratina's theme is great! It sounds a mix of a lot of different battle themes from the game. Love the way the opening melody is rhythmically structured , but I could probably only figure out the submeter if I actually transcribed it on paper (possibly 6+4+6?). Love the bubbles and other sound effects familiar in other tracks from the game (Cynthia, Heatran, Uxie, trainer battle, etc.), the way it slows down in the middle then picks up again in a very , the beeping, multiple crazy fast runs/scales simulatenously... ,yeah, it leaves no doubt it's a legendary battle.

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

All fairly one-sided matches.

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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

oh boy here we go. Kaine exudes many traits I very much do not care for -- Simple piano instrumentation, slightly moody sad feeling, heavy vocal focus. Little else. There is a good chance this is not just a bottom song for me, but THE bottom #192. It really ain't my kind of song. Still better than last year's #192 for me though?? Like at least there's some kind of positive upbeat outlook shining on through this instead of true full moodysad. And that distantspring high percussion sound is a kind of nice sound, even if it's just a once-per-loop addition thing. But meanwhile, it's opponent is very much my kind of thing, quite likely a top 10 song for me! Cool Amiga Digital Synth Sounds. Start off with some very atonal destruction that reconstructs into a something and it is a very strong some thing! Like when it is done with the destruction and the true song begins it works so well, the bit at :22 -- The way the instrument in focus works slowly with the more active, but slightly quiet "middle" instrument with a repetitive pattern, it just, that section works real well for me! It's an active adventurous feeling, it isn't upbeat but instead has that slight feel of something is wrong. There is surely a better way to describe what I mean but it's not like overly sinister either, just slightly dissonant, the right amount for me. :38 works as a good section of growth of the starting :22 bit before working back into that very bit. I will admit I am less of a fan of the second half starting at like 1:09, after getting rid of the more focused-on half of the instruments before working them back in. After they do get reintroduced the bit at 1:49 does get back to the great feeling that the earlier portions of the song had, but with perhaps more of an egyptian kick to it, nice quick little flurries of the notes, before looping. Great stuff! In a way perhaps the instrumentation works against it in a way since there is somewhat little variety in the sorts of sounds it has, but I still love what it's got anyway

Next match once again we have a song filled with plenty of noises I don't really want to hear in it's instrumentation & vocals, though the high dark energy it has is nice, and I can go back and forth between whether electric guitar is good or bad, and the beat at 1:32 is good stuff. But meanwhile the opponent is once again way more my kind of song. More of that dark energy but now with a nicely varied digital gba synth sound, and it gives off a very chaotic atmosphere with perhaps a similar "off" vibe that Hoi Level 5 has (or maybe I just know the contexts for these two songs too much). It does not take long for this Giratina battle to get into action so fast that it very quickly enters one of those "wrong calm" states at :16. Love how the percussion sounds "recharge" and build up speed. Less of a fan of the next calm part it transitions to at :22 but the fast paced sounds going on in the background work very well. And then the action really picks up again and really there is A Lot of great variety in the chaos of this. Man I hope that both this and Hoi can advance to the next match so that it can be Distortion world vs. Distortion World even though honestly it would probably be one of those difficult choices of incredible songs that other people seem to dread. Like this song is super impressive,, but well I'm getting ahead of myself in wishful thinking here.

Very strong feelings on both of those matches and I will be some what sad if either does not win. Additionally Tiebreaker was not particularly close in the decision I already made yesterday so that being said this is a new candidate for "easiest day" even if my feelings for Zadok / Distant Sky aren't ridiculously strong it's still a decision I already made and stand by.

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Wow look at all these short songs today!

Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
Zadok

Kaine made me wonder if I'd found a Nier song I liked more than Emil Sacrifice during noms, and then I just went through the entire soundtrack for some reason. It's a great example of doing a lot with a little, delivering a great emotional climax in the chorus carried by Emi Evans's vocal performance. That section picks up the thread left behind by the suspended chord in the verse and it just works so well!
Oh this was a tough one, I slightly prefer the other versions of Jena and Giratina is one of the rare Pokesongs where I'm able to get over the soundfont
Relistened to this match and still considered switching to Distant Sky a few times

I feel like these will be some dangerously volatile matches...

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And swear to the distant sky
Of hope and courage eternal

There's days when your heart stays clear
And days it clouds over
Things can't always go well, after all
But I want to believe
That my hopes will become my wings
A map to a future I'm yet to see

So, face the wind
Drying thus your tears
And draw in the distant sky
The version of yourself you dreamed of

Now, seize the rainbow
Chase the falling star
Be as a cloud, and set off on a journey
That has neither form no path

So, stand tall before the wind
With a smile, like you're singing
And swear to the distant sky
Of hope and courage eternal

kinda like how this one turned out *shrug*.
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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

Oh fuck I missed a day. Please don't let it have mattered, please don't let it have mattered... FUCK!

Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Pretty trash today, especially that first match. Damnit one of my noms lost by a single vote on a day that I missed... oh well, maybe it'll have been to a good song anyway.

... Well, it's good. But not good enough. Fuck.

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
Zadok

Songs today are good not great


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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Kaine ~ Salvation is my 100th favorite in the contest! as i say every time it comes up in the past few years now, nier music's grown on me a ton. I used to HATe it, i changed to "slightly like" it, now I LOVE it. This isn't my favorite song from it at all, not even close, but it does have some of the traits i look for in its music. piano chords are the big thick complexish chords with 4+ notes in them that i like the thick chill sound of~! Some really powerful unexpected chord changes too, some nier music my frustration is the obviousness of the path of where it's going to go but I have that problem 0 here. I also like the vocal layer...i normally do not focus very much on like, what's being said in lyrics, or even that much on vocal style outside of specific circumstances, but I actively like this vocal style a lot for whatever reason, but even more specific, I actively like the sound of specific syllables/words said in the lyrics. One of my favorite words in the english language is "chimera" for lots of reasons, but partially because I love how the word sounds. This has parts that sound similar to that being said (I know that is not what is being said) and I love LOVE those parts of the vocal line (1:05 / 1:21 / etc) because the way it sounds is COOL. this isn't as full of cool metallic percussion as Kaine~Escape and i definitely prefer that version's instrumentation, though the slower pace of this relative to Escape is kinda interesting, actually never realized until now, rhythmically comparing them how different they feel. Escape is like bouncy 3+3 6/8 while this is straighter 2+2+2 3/4, at least as the feel that's most prominent to my ears, both have both. I actually like the more 2+2+2 focused rhythmic feel of this one more for whatever reason, even if I like the greater variety of timbres in escape more.

Level 5: Main Theme is my 108th favorite in the contest! This is an extremely "me" song at surface level. If the whole thing was as weird as the first 20 seconds this would among my favorites. but i have A LOT of problems with the composition of this song as much as i like the "type" of song it is. I REally do not like drums that have snare on 2&4 "too fast" i complain about that toomuch i do not want to listen to a "banger" i want to listen to a boring piano song instead. 1:09 is a cool natural bouncy 7/8 but blues scale in the bass comes across as cheesy to me, honestly reminds me a ton of Tim Follin music that is in 7/8 and i like how it's in 7/8 but don't like how blues scale focused it is(there's like, at least 5 examples of this exact thing in his music if not 20). The tonality of this track fluctuates between stuff i LOVE and hate simultaneously, the blues scale in the odd time part's the lowest point, but there's tons of very high points. obviously i love the complete atonal chaos of the first 20 seconds, wish the whole thing had that level of chaos, but I also love the weirdness of the chord changes at the more normal parts, :23-:38 where it's alternating between chords a tritone apart from each other (just like BANJO KAZOOIE except I actually like this), occasionally transposing down one chromatic, and the melodies weaving this ridiculous weird case of chord planing movement. JUICY. but then :45 and like :52-53 hgappens and then i go EW it sounds like one of the falcom songs i don't like it sounds like rich people would listen to this song in umineko, the direction is too guided where it's about to go in a way that really destroys what i'd otherwise like for me. Also I like amiga sound format yeah that's cool ok. So yea very mixed VERY mixed, some of both my absolute favorite moments of any song in the contest, alongside absolute least favorites.

Feel kinda bad since the hoi track feels like it's made to appeal to my tastes more than most of the rest of the board, but in the end the result isn't quite there for me as much as it is on paper. i definitely confidently prefer kaine no matter how close it is for me, but i kinda wish i didn't. this match would feel less awkward to me if it were Kaine ~ Escape which I DO handily prefer no questions asked. both "cool but i like other things similar to them more", and i don't mind too much which wins, close match, but i have a clear preference.

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Jena Anderson is my 83rd favorite in the contest! Fun Big Chanting song. I love the general style of Astral Chain's ost, rhythmically complex guitar/drum stuff mathematically deconstructing the more straightforward Epic Orchestra Choir song it sits beneath. Combining disparate genre traits I like. very DJENTy, some songs sound more like Animals as Leaders than this one does. This is more a "I like this because i like the style of this ost" enjoyment than liking this specific example, but it's still great. 1:03's guitar rhythms have a bunch of 2+3 "5/16" subgrouped stuff and that's kinda my literal favorite rhythmic sound. 1:32 - 1:50 is one of my favorite portions of any song in the entire contest actually. LOTS Of fast 2+3 groupings in 16ths beats in that pattern, and I like how the movement of the notes doesn't line up with the rhythms. The strings/choir/etc are a looping group of 3 notes, but the rhythms that loop of cycling 3 notes is being played on doesn't line up, so the position of the 3 notes get heard at different parts of the pattern and it's SO GOOD animal as leaders(tesseract) i really want to know how much prog metal the vide ogame music composer Jena Anderson listened to when writing the astral chain soundtrack........

Battle! Giratina is my 14th favorite in the contest! my 'houndoom' playlist on youtube used to be called GIRATINA. this is practically the defining track of an entire category of my music taste, though only more in the sense that it's a popular and well known example of "distorted reality music". Junichi Masuda's a very hit or miss composer to me compared to the other gamefreak composers. I tend to dislike when his music sounds like it could actually be music, but when he writes things like this, no one would write this but him. Nothing in the world even sounds close to this. This absolutely fits with the kind of being that Giratina is, incomprehensible to the average living entity, ANTIMATTER exiled to alternate reality so that the entire world does not explode when you exist. but this song makes you explode because it is so CRAZY. fun pokemon song to look at sequence data of, I know i said that with Colress but it's true here too, Game Freak is REALLY GOOD AT NINtendo DS sequenced music creativity!!!!!!! So much packed into ~11 channels, watching panning and pitch bend data go crazy and patches changing every 2 seconds is fun lol. I LOVE REVERSED SOUNDS ITS ALMOST LIKE SOMETIMES PEOPLE CA

Hoi AGA - Level 5: Main Theme
Pokmon Platinum - Battle! Giratina
Drift Stage - Zadok

Match 1: Kaine ~ Salvation sounds just like TBIYTC, except it isn't as good. I don't know why this is, or if it's just me, but Level 5 music in video games has a disproportionate chance of being great compared to all of the other numbers. I can see this being a possible VGMGG Jeopardy category Anyways, great discovery.

Match 2: Jena Anderson is another fun discovery, and one that I had on my supports consideration list. Hard rock with electric guitars is always a plus, and I love the chanting at around 55 seconds in. I just wish this was longer and did more with what it was going for because the basis of this is great. Giratina Battle is far from my favorite Gen 4 battle theme, but they are all great. As much as I didn't care for D/P/Pt, the music was a huge hit. Weird Pokmon battle music is a personal favorite style of music for me. Close match.

ToC: Zadok is still great!

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azuarc posted...

The over 9000 is inclusive.

god now i'm just thinking about what if vegeta said "IT'S 9000 OR OVER" instead

Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Nier - Kaine ~ Salvation
Astral Chain - Jena Anderson
Skygunner - To the Distant Sky

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Salvation
Battle
Zadok
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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
To The Distant Sky

Kaine ~ Salvation

the auditory equivalent to eating a sandwich filled with nothing but mayonnaise. the VOCALS are THE BEST PART i appreciate them. doing writeups for songs for this actually makes me frustrated. . . there's nothing i can comment on and i keep searching for things to comment on but it's just. blank. it's pretty good.

Level 5: Main Theme

this is like... you know the colin's bear animation [the one that goes with the mother 3 open sesame songs] - imagine if you just made that as long as this song and extended it to fit this song. this isn't amiga follin but it sounds like follin on amiga at points which is insanely cool. it's a shame that you have all that clutter at the first 30 seconds because that means it takes a while to get into the bits that i properly love!!

Jena Anderson

this sounds like a mix of xenoblade chronicles and bayonetta i don't really want to put it as bluntly but a lot of this song just kind of mixes together in my brain i can't tell any of this song apart from the other it's the same problem as apostle's maraud. it's an extremely 'thick' song there's not a lot of EMPTY SPACE in the audio and i really don't like that. it gets better in the last 40 seconds i think you have these background scratchy synth patches and the staccato VOCALS . . .

Battle! Giratina

cold room prog. the monsters are coming to get you - escape from the maze , quick!!! the maze is FILLED with ACID and ACID IS A DEADLY DANGER. 1:00 to 1:05 HEARTBEAT FLATLINEEEEE. sparkly arps the stars the stars extraterrestrial zone unknown area. EPIC ORCHESTRA HITS ADRENALINE. i love how the percussion in this circles around my head.

Zadok

i missed this matchup. . . but i think it was the only one i was like 100% interested in actually writing up that day lmao. i love the drift stage ost it's JAZZ FUSION-y reminds me of like... dragon ball anime bgm mixed with sfex3 music. long guitar solos and MIDI TRUMPETS. i love the melody from 1:00 to 1:18 specifically in this track.

To The Distant Sky

This sounds like an ENDING TO AN ANIME FROM THE LATE 90S/EARLY 2000S with a bunch of characters walking into the sunset slowly it's very cool and i love music like this. it emotionally strikes the same chords as p&swg fallen angel for me it's the best kind of nostalgic. sounds so WINDY and CALM i LOVE it.

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Level 5: Main Theme
Jena Anderson
To the Distant Sky
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Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
Zadok

I am sure there are people who really love Giratina Battle but I am not among them.

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Nier - Kaine ~ Salvation
Pokemon Platinum - Battle! Giratina
Skygunner - To the Distant Sky

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

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Nier - Kaine ~ Salvation
Astral Chain - Jena Anderson

Skygunner - To the Distant Sky
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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
Zadok

Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
To the Distant Sky

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Level 5: Main Theme
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Kaine ~ Salvation
Jena Anderson
Zadok

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Level 5
Giratina
Distant Sky

Nier - Kaine ~ Salvation at 8 is my ???th favorite song in the contest!! WHOA i didnt know you guys also got a robobot song in!! oh wait this is nier fake language. honestly I don't like this conlang much. It sounds really forced and some sounds are so goofy it makes it seem fake, even if that's probably more realistic. I have a little bit of the same issue with Douse Shinundakara too. Beyond the Bounds just goes for it though, and Exa Pico's are really good. anyway alright song

Hoi AGA - Level 5: Main Theme at is my ???th favorite song in the contest!! this is a really cool song! it's not necessarily as weird as you'd think, but unlike mycro i do NOT mind when songs do what i might expect them to. i think "do the thing!" and the song does the thing and i say "yeahhhhhhhhhh" and i put on sunglasses and the background behind me explodes an a technicolor behemoth vomits lsd-infused mushrooms on me and i soarrrrrrrrrr. first half > second half. weirdly i think i wouldve preferred this be slightly less proggy. i want the part at :23 more.

Astral Chain - Jena Anderson at 8.6 is my ???th favorite song in the contest!! This is aggressively DireKrow. UNLIKE megagrath fleet FORTUITOUSLY i like the direkrow things it does much better. Good chanting and good guitars. Parts of the chanting are a bit overdone and this type I don't think carries a melody well STILL GOOD. And the soprano! Feels like the intro to an eight minute song I WISH IT WERE LONGER

Pokemon Platinum - Battle! Giratina at is my ???th favorite song in the contest!! It's lonely here, in the Reverse World. It's quiet, only broken with the sounds of my own voice. My wings, which I have no real reason to use as the gravity is very light and almost non-existent, are long tendrils folded against my back occasionally rippling from the wind.

The form I happen to be in is my Origin forme. No real legs, but a rather long body which glides around with ease. My eyes shifted from right to left, taking in the floating islands situated in the blue sky. My sharp hearing caught the sound of distant thunder, so I detoured towards a particularly large island with a house upon it. As I drifted closer I thought of the other world I stayed in. It's much smaller and darker there, while here things such as trees and grass are able to grow.

But it was there, in the Distortion World, where I met her.

I remember that day, two years ago according to Mugen, who appears here from time to time in the Reverse Wor
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Level 5
the one that's not Giratina...so Jena Anderson
Zadok

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Kaine ~ Salvation
Battle! Giratina
To the Distant Sky

Level 5: Main Theme
Jena Anderson
Zadok

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