Board 8 > [VGMC] d38: Least 333sec vs Battle! U/M/A, Ruined City Kishgal vs Seto Kaiba

(+) 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. To. Both. (If I have suspicions your vote is not based on a fair and impartial preference, it will be disqualified.)
- Obvious contest rules apply (no alts, one vote per person, no rallying, etc.).
- Please make your voting options clear, rather than burying them in text.
- Each set of matches lasts 24 hours, even if the new one isnt up by then. (Matches do not begin until at least 10:00 EDT.)
- Always vote on the versions of the song provided, not versions from different sources.
- If you know ahead of time that you're not going to be around and you want to vote in advance, post your choices in the discussion/bracket topic.
- Please do NOT post tallies/score updates in the middle of the match, as this has a tendency to directly influence matches.
- You don't have to vote in all the matches, but it'd be cool if you did!

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Match 1

GUITARFREAKS 5thMIX & drummania 4thMIX - The Least 333sec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRAYSALtrqk

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
https://youtu.be/uD4zs_xaFBQ

Match 2

Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim - The Ruined City Kishgal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqn2sWsAGAI <cite>azuarc posted [p:938675060] in [VGMC] d38... [t:78661513]...</cite> <quote> 333 *seconds*? More like... Ghost Trick - 4 MINUTES Before Death A Hat in Time - Rush HOUR Metal Slug 5 - Windy DAY Treasure Adventure World - Two WEEKS Notice FORTNITE - Battle Royal Menu Music (Rock Version) Ragnarok Online - Dancing Christmas in the 13th MONTH DJ Hero - Time of the SEASON VS. Bustin' Loose World of Goo - YEARS of Work beatmania IIDX 9th style - Atomic AGE Blue Dragon - ETERNITY Vote View Results 333 *seconds*? More like... - Results (0 votes) Ghost Trick - 4 MINUTES Before Death % (0 votes) 0 A Hat in Time - Rush HOUR % (0 votes) 0 Metal Slug 5 - Windy DAY % (0 votes) 0 Treasure Adventure World - Two WEEKS Notice % (0 votes) 0 FORTNITE - Battle Royal Menu Music (Rock Version) % (0 votes) 0 Ragnarok Online - Dancing Christmas in the 13th MONTH % (0 votes) 0 DJ Hero - Time of the SEASON VS. Bustin' Loose % (0 votes) 0 World of Goo - YEARS of Work % (0 votes) 0 beatmania IIDX 9th style - Atomic AGE % (0 votes) 0 Blue Dragon - ETERNITY % (0 votes) 0 Show Voting Form 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. To. Both. (If I have suspicions your vote is not based on a fair and impartial preference, it will be disqualified.) - Obvious contest rules apply (no alts, one vote per person, no rallying, etc.). - Please make your voting options clear, rather than burying them in text. - Each set of matches lasts 24 hours, even if the new one isnt up by then. (Matches do not begin until at least 10:00 EDT.) - Always vote on the versions of the song provided, not versions from different sources. - If you know ahead of time that you're not going to be around and you want to vote in advance, post your choices in the discussion/bracket topic. - Please do NOT post tallies/score updates in the middle of the match, as this has a tendency to directly influence matches. - You don't have to vote in all the matches, but it'd be cool if you did! . Match 1 GUITARFREAKS 5thMIX & drummania 4thMIX - The Least 333sec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRAYSALtrqk Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf https://youtu.be/uD4zs_xaFBQ Match 2 Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim - The Ruined City Kishgal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqn2sWsAGAI</quote>

... Copied to Clipboard!

The Least 333sec
Seto Kaiba
New World Order
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Lake Trio
Kishgal (sorry Kaiba)
steelchambers


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The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order
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https://youtu.be/4VWlpv9NW6A

The Least 333sec
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

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Pokmon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories - Seto Kaiba
Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2

Match 1: 333sec sounds like one of those artsy picks we get in every year. Pretty fun track, reminds me of my childhood and '90s movies. DPPt Trio Battle has always been a favorite of mine, man this whole soundtrack is great. Loving that slap bass!

Match 2: Ooh, groovy Ys music, definitely a throwback to that '90s PCE style. As bad as I feel voting against something like this so early on it's up against my favorite track in the whole contest! Seto Kaiba is one of those tracks that I've loved since forever, and was always my favorite song from the Forbidden Memories soundtrack. This whole time I never thought it was B8 enough to actually nominate, until I saw someone use something from this game in a VGMGG, and also hearing a song from last year's VGMC that reminded me of the FM soundtrack.

ToC: that song being steelchambers2! Wow what an amazing coincidence that this match happens to fall on the same day! Literally my first thought when hearing this for the first time was wow this reminds me of Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories OST I need to nominate something from that next year and well here I am having done just that! NWO is also really great, but I'm still stuck on how great these previous two songs are!

Good matches, but not close

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GUITARFREAKS 5thMIX & drummania 4thMIX - The Least 333sec
Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim - The Ruined City Kishgal
Granblue Fantasy - New World Order

even though The Least 333sec is a FRAUD because it has like 5 seconds of silence at the end more like least 328sec mirite?

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Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories - Seto Kaiba
Granblue Fantasy - New World Order
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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

The Least 333sec vs Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf: I forgot I was listening to something halfway through 333sec was playing so you can see how good of a job it did keeping me interested. It isn't a bad song but it isn't something I really enjoyed listening to. Lake Trio Battle theme has me going YOOOOOOOOOOO for most of it so yeah thats already a good thing. The drums and bass really make this track stand out to me. Everything else is fine too.

The Ruined City Kishgal vs Seto Kaiba: Kishgal is a Ys song I actually like wtf. It isn't anything special but man its really fun to listen to. The beginning to Seto Kaiba has me giving off a very moderate YOOOOOO. Then the rest of the song continues and it just keeps getting better. I love the vibe on this track a lot, and although it feels short I feel the song can still get away with that.

steelchambers2 vs New World Order: For some reason I thought I'd like steelchambers on this listen. Still don't. I also thought I'd like the vocals on New World Order on this listen. I actually did for a bit. Maybe the song is growing on me. Maybe I'm just glad it isn't steelchambers. Only time will tell.

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
Seto Kaiba

The Least 333sec
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

first 1:15 or so reminds me of Adante Cantabile. This is a good thing. I'm not as fond of where it goes from there, though. Pokemon battle sounds bland to me. Kishgal sounds like PSP era Falcom, which makes sense I suppose, but not the subset of it that I like. Gets a bit interesting at 2:00 though. Hi Mycro.
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cool day

The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
The steelchambers2

much like lake, the lake trio's theme is one i don't really get the love for... actually, that's totally not true, i absolutely do, i just don't get why other battle themes are lower than it as it doesn't really necessarily stand above them in any considerable way in my opinion. dpp battle themes are really legit across the board and the beings have some really neat stuff with wild rhythms in theirs. anyway 333sec. swablu (national dex number 333) was my first shiny pokemon so it is appropriate that it has this match. anyway more like the least 231 seconds and the most 102 remaining secobds i'm sure this is an original joke that i am not stealing at all also just kidding i love all of this what the heck is this match i no longer consider it appropriate can we redo the bracket

kishgal's such a cool song, i like all its synths and its chords and this feels so... unfalcom. kaiba's a cool song too. what a good uniquely 90s song that also does about as many cool things. who made this match?! (oops it was me this time why did i think this was a good idea i do not know)

i guess the toc also exists but i mean

The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

Wait the least what I don't get it oh well at least the song is good. UMA has a good melody, but that repeating guitar the whole wait through the song gets on my nerves.

Hell yeah Kishgal was thinking about supporting this and didn't even need to glad it got in. Seto Kaiba fairly alright too.

Kishgal > 333 = UMA = Kaiba
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GUITARFREAKS 5thMIX & drummania 4thMIX - The Least 333sec
Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim - The Ruined City Kishgal
Granblue Fantasy - New World Order

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The Least 333sec
*abstain for now*
New World Order

The Least 333sec (10) / Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf (8.5)
The Ruined City Kishgal (9.0) / Seto Kaiba (8.5)

As for predicting Mycro's #1, at first I thought it was obviously The Wyrm's Jewelbox, but it could very well be The Least 333sec, too.....okay, let's go for it. The Least 333sec is Mycro's #1! Probably the wrong choice since this is one of my VERY favorites of the contest, which is clouding my judgment.

Some days I don't end up talking about any of the music, but I might as well talk about what I like about today's music, as it's one of my favorite days for main bracket matches so far this contest. ARGH at having to abstain again. Time to decide again tomorrow which I prefer.

333 seconds was my favorite new discovery based on first impression during the nomination period, and it's likely to stay that way in this contest. I don't even know where to begin. There's just so much to it. So much depth. Every moment there is some cool detail. So epic. Jazzy. Altered scale use here and there, cool changes in meter/polyrhythms, almost anything you could want in a great track. The piano tremelo + wind is tasteful at the start, cool backup to introduce the theme. Cool whole tone thing at 0:50. Cool 32nd note runs at 1:40. Finally a new instrument at about 1:50. 2:20 expands upon the original theme in such a cool new way, ESPECIALLY at 2:36 where it modulates, OMGOMGOMG. Okay, I've talked enough. I could go on and on about every little detail that makes this so good.

Battle U/M/A gives me so many memories of how ridiculously difficult those legendaries were to catch. It probably took 30 minutes on average to catch one, and that's the for the two that don't run away from you. It's one of the better battle themes, but I'd have to listen to them all again to say where I'd rank it, probably in the top three. Lots of good stuff, though. I'm liking the phrygian use, though the notes get altered a lot, keeping it fresh and intense. It sounds very otherworldly, perfect feeling for a legendary battle. The main theme is a classic, for sure. I LOVE the low synth at 1:19, OMG the BEST part of the whole thing, SO DEEPLY INTENSE. Then the bass and other sounds start doing those really fun patterns that don't fit neatly in the meter, too. Yeah, the second half of this thing rocks! Crazy that I've rated all three DPP reps at least an 8/10, none of which were on my BOST setlist, which really shows the depth of its soundtrack!

Second match is a tough call. The first is consistently great, while the second sounds decent at parts but AMAZING at other parts. Regarding Ruined City Kishgal, I love the syncopated chords at the start, esp. when combined with the bass rhythms... it's the kind of rhythms that are precisely my cup of tea, a bit like Crabulon's intro but better. Gotta love the odd key change when the violin comes in at 1:07... I've never heard anything quite like that. All the 16th note synth runs in the background all over the place are great, esp. in the violin section. I feel like old-school Ys music is better than new school...

You know what I like a lot? A two-measure beat that goes dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotter quarter, dotted quarter, quarter, quarter. (you can also move a quarter note to the front for a similar effect). You know what I LOVE WAY MORE? A four-measure beat that goes dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter!!!! (okay, that's basically 3/8 on top of 4/4 with a slight alteration) That's what Seto Kaiba does at the start. The cool thing is that same idea from the beginning at other random times, too, like at 0:29. And man I can't get enough of that blacksmith hammer when it gets used... very tastefully timed. More of that 3/8 feel at 0:56, aw, yeah, TOO GOOD! Melody is cool with all the chromatics and stuff, I like it when the 2nds get added to it. Nice and dark is cool, too.

Can we just DQ to the two ToC contestants and let all four in the main bracket move on to R2? PWETTY PWEASE?

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

The Least 333sec (58th) vs Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf (30th)
The Ruined City "Kishgal" (47th) vs Seto Kaiba (149th)
steelchambers2 [3rd//3rd] vs New World Order [25th//32nd]

haha the beginning of least 333sec always dupes me into think that I Do Not Like This Long Version but that is not the case!!! i'm really not a fan of the slower buildup but it's worth it to get through once the song proper at 2:51 hits and the true fast sasaki goodness shines through. This actually used to be my favorite Hirofumi Sasaki venture, though I think nowadays it's been overtaken by both Concertino in Blue (which is a 9+ now oops lol i really think i just hated it cause of getting trolled by it in iidx for a long time) and Tamayura. It's a very, very good song..... and yet, it's still outclassed in this match!! UMA utilizes literally EVERY SINGLE INSTRUMENT that I absolutely love to death in the entire DPP ost, especially that bass that hits you right in the gut with every note augh yum. that intro fading in and out as the song goes on is so good too wtf. just a lot of notes seeming like its just barely not in the "right spot", delay aplenty ITS TOO GOOD THIS MATCH IS TOO GOOD WTF??? its close but theres a clear winner in my eyes

I'm kinda shocked in that somehow I had never heard Kishgal up until it was nominated! I'm definitely not as familiar with Ys 6 as whole as I am with... almost literally every single other Ys game that has ever existed lmfao (except 9 now). but uhhhhhhh it has psykicks so LOOKS LIKE YOU WIN AGAIN ISHIBASHI i actually can't believe i didn't know of this its so trancey in the exact way i love like fUCK i'm vibin so hard. and then mr. violin comes in at 1:07 AND RUINS MY VIBE BY ADDING MADNESS. but it's okay because i actually love how offkey it is here lmfaoooo its like the song is peeling back the scenery of Serene Waterfall On A Boat Ride and showing you that you're actually on the boat from Jojo that has its own stand and basically you're screwed. the last note in the phrase at 2:10 is so fucking good its like the instrument itself is in pain and actually dying succumbing to the MADNESS that is hidden around it. Seto Kaiba has the iconic Forbidden Memories bass and that's all you need to get me to groove tbh. I actually.... don't really know why I enjoy Seto Kaiba listening to it so much but then decide that it actually is a pretty low-scorer.... there's just so much that isn't there that I wish was. Like its appeal is in things it does that i cannot percieve idk. Maybe this is a song that will grow on me over time!! Probably tbh lmao

steelchambers has absolutely no chance in hell but this is a very funny "what-if" scenario for if it got through chocolate missile and torna (lol no) and...... also exsphere LOL jk i would've been voting exsphere there too. it got through one more match in its lifetime and that's good enough for me!! good night my son

steelchambers2 > Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf > The Ruined City "Kishgal > The Least 333sec > New World Order > Seto Kaiba

steelchambers2

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal

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The Least 333sec
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

The Least 333sec is my 50th favorite in the contest! i love "progressive rock" as a genre and this is pretty solidly that genre haha. VERY Emerson Lake & Palmer to the point it's probably a reference to some of their specific work. mmm the transposing quartal blocks like at 4:00 are so TASTY. lots of fun dissonant improvised sounding elements throughout this as fun flourishes! been fond of this track for a while but 1) didn't even realize it had a long version, and 2) always forget it is "actually vgm" for some reason. the soloistic elements mixed with 'fake classical music' elements are super fun. despite this being solidly "prog rock (genre)" I feel like it is missing a lot of what i look for in the style, not enough weird meter stuff and not tonally unusual enough. doesn't mean I don't love it though! what it does have going for it is relentless unpredictability and it DOES Have "ambiguous barline in mixed meter" sections and that's one of the things I always have to dig for since it's so hard to find things that are like that. 3:00 - 3:12 is probably the bit most like that. In-game it's noted as all 4/4 with a single 3/4 bar (at 2x the tempo of how I feel this). I personally would write it as all 4/4 with a single 7/8 bar (right before 3:08) at half that tempo), but it reaaaaly is testing it and has very little to keep start/end of barlines clear and that is something I love the sound and feel of a lot, especially how subtly this does that! Really fun piece and i love what it does but definitely wish it went further with the things about it that i like that it does

Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf is my 161st favorite in the contest! gen 4 is about tied with gen 7 for "favorite mainline series pokemon ost" for me and it's one of the few where i actively get into the battle themes. this is NOT an example of that, and i never understood this one's 'popularity' and i like most of the other battle themes in this game waaay more. I don't hate it, just definitely one of my lower ranked tracks in this wonderful soundtrack, but there's a lot here I like! It has the weird minimalism-esque nature (intro just being constant 8ths on the same string chord is very steve reich! and i love whenever that bit fades back in). and it definitely feels distinct, like something only junichi masuda would write, and i value that. tonality is very weird in a way i'm not even sure how intentional it is, but i like that. very unique simultaneous dissonant tension and hopeful serene beauty present somehow at once

swablu

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The Ruined City Kishgal is my 64th favorite in the contest! Wataru Ishibashi!!!!!!!! my favorite falcom composer!!!! please come back to life . . . : ( .. .. this feels so much like a lot of my favorite shmup music, the big synth chords transposing around are so yummmmm~! chord progressions based entirely around modulation are my favorite! i can't decide whether or not i like 1:06's violin, it's weirdly loud compared to everything else and out of tune, and i feel like it'd feel like it works intriguingly melody/chord interaction with the background layers if it weren't out of tune (and if it weren't mixed too loud to hear the background layers well enough). As is, a moment that would be /really cool/ is more just like "weird", and i obviously like weird but in this case i'd have liked the "cool" more. regardless, overall love the instrumentation, chord progression, general aesthetic and shmup-style adjacency this has. reminds me a lot of MASSIVE X with that fun syncopated transposing chord stab based progression. constant 16ths here are fun! Fun song!

Seto Kaiba is my 7th favorite in the contest! also probably the song I'm most exicted about being in! simply because I'm considering this a "new discovery" from the noms phase even if i'd listened to this ost before and liked it. FL nominating this made me realize this is my favorite song in the game (and just, straight up one of my favorite VGM songs ever), can't believe it never stood out to me before! the fact that this pseudo-"new discovery" (or at least "new favorite") is ranked up here with all these looong long time favorites that most of the top 20+ is, is a pretty big deal to me. RIGHT AT THE START there's that insanely cool [3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+2]/8 over 4/4 polymeter-y thing going on. love those over-the-barline groups of 3 they feel SO COOL, and the constant groups of ascending 8th notes in that synth sound are great for enforcing the "polymetric" feel. nice and EPIC start i love the big string hits. then when :17 hits its suddenly ultra catchy prog-funk. the fun chromatic elements and transposing organ sus chord stabs AAAAAH it JUST LIKE JINCUBA (sus2 chords, especially if parallel transposed around, are basically my favorite chord). The organ playing with the idea from the strings part at the beginning, :29, that feels SO COOL its I DONT KNOW ITS COOL. These same motifs used in such contrasting styles in the same song but flowing so naturally. The organ flourish transitioning to :40's another one of my fav bits. One of the things that makes this one so good to me is how contrasting :17-:40 is from the darker feeling intro and :40-1:04. Once :40 hits, it's like the ideas of both that first dark polymetric epic string hits section and prog organ synth funk section are layered on top of each other at once and it...somehow works?! like :40 is "the most epic part" and it flows so well and doesn't feel jarring against the playful synth funk part right before it, it's literally made MORE intense because of that contrast (and also because of the key change hahaha). The pitch bending in the synth solo at the end is SO GOOD. AAAAHHHHH I LOVE THIS SONG. I LOVE POLYMETER even if it's simple 3/8 over 4/4 I LOVE SYNTH CHORD sTabs and I love funky prog organ sus2 chords transposing around like a Finely Crafted Fusion Funk. all in the context of EPIC DUEL Vs The EDGY CHRACTER . this song makes me wish i was more into yu-gi-oh, i'd probably love it but i just never actually got into it as much as pokemon and digimon (which are my 2 favorite fictional universes maybe...uh, pokemon and digimon and sonic and MYST lol are what i'd say are the series i'm most deeply into) and other things it's often compared to. maybe i should pick this game up!!! after this got into vgmc, I was actually just watching random episodes of the anime with no sound but while listening to music from this game playing over it and it fit (like literally lined up with the action) surprisingly well.

Blue-eyes White Dragon

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steelchambers2 (33rd/56) / New World Order (13th/56). still feels about right

Hackmon
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The Least 333sec

The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

"prog" can be sort of hit or miss for me but Least 100 Sec was always neat - really like the way the full version builds on the song too. Mainline Pokemon game battle themes are rarely things I really care about from my experience and this isn't an exception
wow I had the intro to Kishgal stuck in my head earlier today and didn't even realize it. very cool rhythm, tricks my brain into thinking the downbeat is off by a 16th. the rest of the song is kinda unremarkable but I am a sucker for "very cool rhythms", almost like I play rhythm games a bunch or something


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The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

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The Least 333sec
Seto Kaiba
steelchambers2

Least
Ruined
Chambers


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The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
steelchambers2

Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order
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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal
steelchambers2

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The Least 333sec
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal
steelchambers2

Second match is a coin flip. First song is solid all around. Second song almost sounds like a generic "epic boss" music if you're not paying attention... But then if you listen even the slightest bit, you can hear that there's a ton of crazy stuff going on in the background. It definitely hides itself well and also manages to distinguish itself from what you would expect. I'd vote for this in a wild card.

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

wtf why is the lake trio evil and scary
violin player tighten your strings!
this would've been a cool vgmc13 matchup, glad we get to see it now

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
Seto Kaiba
steelchambers2

GUITARFREAKS 5thMIX & drummania 4thMIX - The Least 333sec
[abstain, for now]
Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2

Battle! [5] Phew, that intro almost made me think I was gonna have to betray a double support! The DPP song is fine, but it doesn't stand out in my mind as much as some of the other excellent Pokemon-series picks in the bracket. Still decent enough with a handful of cool moments, held back by a sort of muddy presentation.

The Least 100/333sec! [1] This is one of those very rare things that never ceases to be fresh on repeat listens. Not a 'sec' is wasted, and there's always something going on to grip your attention. Carn Evil 3 is a decent comparison sound-wise, (and that might be my favorite ELP thing in general) with the raw density of the keys driving the music forward. Always wary when guitar parts enter stuff like this--real make or break deal for me. But man, keys and guitar just mingle around in this so, so well, that the track overall would be worse off without that marriage. One of my favorites across the whole bracket!

The Ruined City Kishgal! [2] What the fuck I just realized this sounds like Battle Garegga - Underwater Rampart man that is a hard thought to shake out. Pure PCE jam that pushes its chip to the edge and back. Reminds me of the stuff I used to listen to when I started really diving into the deep end of VGM. Ryu Umemoto and his later analogue Garoad; stuff in that really twinkly, future-forward sound sphere. Passed over this one in the vote, but would have definitely supported as this is probably my favorite discovery so far.

Seto Kaiba! [3] What the fuck I just realized this sounds like Sonic: After the Sequel - Cyan City Act 1 kinda not really still a little distracting. Uh, so this is one of my doubles and I still think I'd have it over most of the field. But, gosh, just not feeling it as much today? It's the little things that make this such a jam, like the heavy use of polyrhythms and hard-hitting synth/perc embellishments. Almost wish Kishgal didn't resonate with me so much, if only to make this vote easier to swallow! Holding out on R2 for now.

steelchambers2! [4] Hi olaf gustafsson HI OLAF GUSTAFSSON this is one of my favorite brit home computer people and his works constitute some of the best examples of the general Amiga sound: cloudy synths, thick chords, and an unshakable melancholy about the air.

New World Order! [6] Not typically one to be bothered by vocals in VGM, but here we are with NWO again! Can't help but think it's held back a great deal by its performers lacking the energy to carry the emotional intensity of the music. Imagine someone like Marc Hudson from Dragonforce on this duet--someone with a lot of resonance and volume to really belt out and stand out. NWO seems to be something of a darling for this board. Maybe I'll see the light some day!

I never really got into TCGs but one day I found a lone Yu-Gi-Oh(!) card in the sandbox at school and let's just say that was a really happy moment for Place

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EPIC FAIL! I guess it is Wyrms Jewel Box then.

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Place posted...

Pure PCE jam that pushes its chip to the edge and back. Reminds me of the stuff I used to listen to when I started really diving into the deep end of VGM. Ryu Umemoto and his later analogue Garoad; stuff in that really twinkly, future-forward sound sphere. Passed over this one in the vote, but would have definitely supported as this is probably my favorite discovery so far.

...what? ys6 is for ps2/windows/mobile/psp (and most of the Ys PCE music is literally just CD Audio)
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Haste_2 posted...

EPIC FAIL! I guess it is Wyrms Jewel Box then.

given the circumstances there is only really one obviously still really high song iirc and it's not that (though it may not be that low either).

Least 333
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

Neither main bracket match excites me. Very blah four-pack.

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Oh what, my mistake then! Made a hasty call as that series was on PCE as late as Ys IV, and also it didn't seem like a particularly far cry from the sound of those games.

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

Haste_2 posted...

EPIC FAIL! I guess it is Wyrms Jewel Box then.

Seto Kaiba and Wyrm's Jewelbox are my favorites this year, but I already know what Mycro's is!

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal
steelchambers2

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The Least 333sec
Seto Kaiba
New World Order

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The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

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Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

Well, that's certainly truth in advertising. The Least 333sec is, in fact, 333 seconds long. Sadly, it takes over 50 of them for much of anything interesting to happen, and even once it does, it doesn't sound very video game-y. I guess that isn't really a bad thing, but it's a thing. This is the type of thing that you'd hear at a piano concert. It's cool, but it's out of place here.

Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf is a top tier battle theme for Pokmon. Not quite on par with the Zekrom/Reshiram/Kyurem battle theme, but pretty good. Dialga/Palkia's theme probably overshadows it though because it got remixed into Brawl (in part by mashing it up with the Spear Pillar theme itself, which is pretty cool.)

I've liked Ys music in the past, and this is...huh? I don't dislike it, but for the second time today I'm left asking "what is this doing here?" Though actually it's not bad, just a bit dated. How old is this series, anyway? (looks it up) Huh, this is a 2003 game. That's...older than I expected it to be given that Ys 8 is in the current contest, but apparently it was the first new Ys game in a long time so I guess I understand it. It's the Final Fantasy update schedule, where they used to be like yearly or almost yearly, and then they went into a huge drought. And I guess I can see this being 2003.

Wait, does that say PS1? I didn't realize Yu-Gi-Oh was that old! ...Huh, so it is. Though by the time it made its way to America, the PS2 was already out. Go figure.

...steelchambers2 is still here?

New World Order > Battle! Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf > Least 333sec > Ruined City Kishgal > steelchambers2 > Seto Kaiba

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GUITARFREAKS 5thMIX & drummania 4thMIX - The Least 333sec
Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim - The Ruined City Kishgal

Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2
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The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
steelchambers2
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Oh, yeah, there's Dungeon - Geofront 4. Maybe that one's it.


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Seto Kaiba

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The Least 333sec
The Ruined City Kishgal
New World Order

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