Board 8 > [VGMC] VGMC 14 FINALS -- Endeavour vs Isoleucine

(+) 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=1760189992
Bracket - (RIP bracketmaker)
Discussion and results thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78865287
Bracket playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1REnVI_W6yELaDP6Zac8b0Wq
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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VGMC 14 FINALS:

Idola Phantasy Star Saga - Endeavour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74TocPKiNCs

R1: d Shin Megami Tensei IV - B2 Battle, 28-24
R2: d War of Brains - FEEL the POWER in YOUR SOUL, 24-20
R3: d Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke, 24-22
R4: d Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Sky Tower, 22-21
R5: d Opoona - Partizans, 23-20
R6: d Kirby Triple Deluxe - Moonstruck Blossom, 23-20
R7: d 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -[Deoxyribose]-, 24-17

vs:

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -(Isoleucine)-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-MUwawZrfw

R1: d Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Snowman, 40-8
R2: d Evenicle - Toccatina, 35-6
R3: d Ridge Racer Type 4 - Move Me,

Endeavour forever

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Idola Phantasy Star Saga - Endeavour

I guess.

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Made however, nothing is over

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-(Isoleucine)-

Isoleucine
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-(isoleucine)-

If this were a couple days ago, I would take Endeavour here in a close match, but I am super hot on the amino acid again.

Idola Phantasy Star Saga - Endeavour

Thanks for running the contest.
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-(Isoleucine)-
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Endeavour
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-(Isoleucine)-

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-(Isoleucine)-


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-(Isoleucine)-

last year would be best finals ever if Zero vs Dorchadas wasnt just an absolutely fucked up match from hell that shouldve been called off and deemed as a double win

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -(Isoleucine)

What's bothered me about Isoleucine is the fact that it's so fascinating to listen to, but I've never FELT anything from it. But finally, today, the section at 3:54 gave me the chills! I love that part, even if it might be considered the most boring part of it.

Poll is a tough choice. Both this year's and last year's finalists are great, but The Extreme/The Sun Rises outdoes them by just a hair in my book.

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Idola Phantasy Star Saga - Endeavour

Not as good of a finals match as last year, but Endeavor being here is really awesome to see! I'm happy that it went against many people's predictions, including my own, to claw its way up to here, especially with its victory over a fierce competitor in Deoxyribose. For those who remember my round 4 rankings, there were only a few songs remaining by that point that I was excited about the possibility of them being the champion, so there was a strong chance of the finals match being very lackluster for me, but Endeavor's success has thankfully made this to not be the case. Isoleucine's a good song and my favorite of the 13 Sentinel songs in the contest, but it's no contest here what my pick is. Ever since The Merciless Savior and EXEC_Z/. tragically fell in the retirement round, Endeavor was my favorite remaining song throughout the post-retirement rounds, so as I've said, I'm very happy to see that it made it this far. Endeavor would be a super good champion in a contest year that really did not go my way compared to last year lol.

Endeavor

Voted for it every round except R1 rofl

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Endeavour

-(Isoleucine)-

this is my favorite finals ever. I thought 13 was my favorite finals ever and that it couldn't be topped. I also thought 13's champion couldn't be topped but I like isoleucine more than exsphere. Endeavour is the same tier too, so no matter what I am satisfied at this point! Best contest to me ever, guaranteed to have a champion I adore. 50% chance of having my favorite champion ever!
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-(Isoleucine)-

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-(Isoleucine)-

*yawn* This could be a round 1 match for me, I don't need to put effort into "deciding" what to vote for because I already know which song I like and which one I don't.

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Im gonna go with the one with words. Endeavor! I see it has close matches throughout. This song was way better to me.

Endeavour

I could go on about this song. I could write sentences -- paragraphs, even -- about the a capella opening into slowly adding more and more instruments until you get this delicious wealth of sound. I could joke about how I fell in love with this after the first guessing game I heard it in, then proceeded to encounter it in another guessing game and couldn't place it because I'm bad at things. I could mutter while staring at an indistinct corner of the floor about how when new boss asks "what's my favorite song" and a hundred things pop to mind because how can you ask a question that impossibly complex on a dime and what if you think my answer's stupid because there's zero percent chance you've heard of the stuff i like and what if this is a test and I'm failing that this is one of them and at least there's a corner of the internet where other people love it too.

But there's no time for that because forever must be found.

NEVER SAY NEVER

IN NAME OF THE ROOMBA!!!
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-(Isoleucine)-

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Iso
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VGMC7 had the best final round, but 6 and 8 are actually very close seconds.

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Endeavour

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -(Isoleucine)-

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Wow, that list of runners-up is pretty nice. Much better than the winners. Except for VGMC7 where they're both horrible.

I like both of this year's losing semifinalists better.

-(Isoleucine)-

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As for the topic poll: 7 > 12 >= 13 > 14 > 6 > 11 > VGMC Gotterdammerung (and vgmc5)

I think 7 is the clear winner for me but after that it gets kinda hazy. EXPSHERE is my next favorite song in this lot but Hidra Heteromycin is close enough that I think my preference for Sunshine Coastline against Revenger puts 12 next. Today is - my griping about how the semis went - pretty alright. 6 v 11 also kinda close.

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-(Isoleucine)-

So, here we are, the big match, the song I hoped would win it all back since round 1 vs. the only retiree of this contest that I did not like. And my thoughts for this match up -- I personally think Endeavour winning here would be a massive shame. And I'm not just saying that because I really don't like it, but rather because something like 6-15 others here also seem to dislike it as well. Endeavour talks a big game about 'bringing us together through whatever,' but it's actually by far the most divisive of the quarterfinalists (and potentially further back too, but I only looked at stats of the top 8). Here's a bunch of stat stuff: 6 people have actively voted against Endeavour every step of the way in all 7 of it's matches up to this point, plus 2 more people who just didn't vote in one of the matches, and another 2 who voted once for and six times against... Meanwhile Isoleucine is on the opposite end here -- there's only 2 users who've voted against Isoleucine even just 5 times. 15 users can say the same in Endeavour's case. And just looking at the topic poll in the previous topic shows the divide for Endeavour here, 8 voted in favor of Isoleucine & against Endeavour, while only 1 voted the opposite. Also interestingly enough, despite Isoleucine winning by huge amounts while Endeavour typically gets by with smaller amounts, there are more people that have voted Endeavour 7/7 times than there are that have voted Isoleucine 7/7 times. Isoleucine feels much more like a song that the vast majority of the community can celebrate & enjoy in some way, while Endeavour seems a lot more selective and leaves out a very sizable chunk of people. Now don't get me wrong, songs like Endeavour simply "doing well" isn't a bad thing on it's own, as much as it may pain me to admit it in Endeavour's case. Songs appealing to a more niche group while despised by another do certainly deserve their time in a positive spotlight, it's good for variety. But I do not think that one of those ought to be champion, especially when up against something with such a broad community appeal. Even if you prefer Endeavour here I think there's a very strong chance that you can still enjoy Isoleucine much more than I can enjoy Endeavour.

also something about the differences in interaction between these two songs at the top makes me think x-stats for this tournament may be completely screwed.

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-(Isoleucine)-

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-(Isoleucine)-

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god.

-(Isoleucine)-

if Endeavor wins, i would not mind in the slightest.

Janus5k posted...

Endeavour forever

Forever, this Endeavour.

May it halt never.

Surprising myself by voting...

Endeavour.

Maybe I'm a little tired of Isoleucine by this point in the contest, though that could also be said of Endeavour. Right now, Endeavour resonated with me more strongly. I might relisten later and potentially change my vote, but Endeavour is looking pretty good for me right now.

Great final though, would be happy with either song winning.

Endeavour

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The only thing that "ought" to be champion is the song that received more votes than its opponents in all of its matches. If a bunch of people don't like the song I vote for and it wins, tough! Both songs had a fair shake and one simply had more support than the other.

The overall feelings for the songs don't matter here - this is VGMC, not Rate the VGM.
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-(Isoleucine)-

I certify that I have read the rules, listened to both songs, and believe I am voting for the genuinely better track.

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All great art is hated, Wit said.
It is obscenely difficultif not impossibleto make something that nobody hates, Wit continued. Conversely, it is incredibly easyif not expectedto make something that nobody loves.
This makes sense, if you think about it. Art is about emotion, examination, and going places people have never gone before to discover and investigate new things. The only way to create something that nobody hates is to ensure that it cant be loved either. Remove enough spice from soup, and youll just end up with water.
Human taste is as varied as human fingerprints, Wit said. Nobody will like everything, everybody dislikes something, someone loves that thing you hatebut at least being hated is better than nothing. To risk metaphor, a grand painting is often about contrast: brightest brights, darkest darks. Not grey mush. That a thing is hated is not proof that its great art, but the lack of hatred is certainly proof that it is not.

In other words, a champion that is polarizing is better than one that satisfies a lowest common denominator mediocrity that everybody thinks is just "fine". That clearly doesn't apply one-to-one to Iso here, but the core of your argument favors winners like Emil Karma which are totally forgettable and largely unbeloved. Champions should stand out, and one that promotes extreme opinions, at the very least, fulfills this criterion

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Yeah but that doesn't apply to Isoleucine. If people just thought of it as fine, it wouldn't have been doubling and tripling beloved songs.
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Endeavour
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Hbthebattle posted...

Yeah but that doesn't apply to Isoleucine. If people just thought of it as fine, it wouldn't have been doubling and tripling beloved songs.

NFUN posted...

That clearly doesn't apply one-to-one to Iso here, but the core of your argument favors winners like Emil Karma which are totally forgettable and largely unbeloved.

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And I don't necessarily think it applies to Emil/Karma either. It couldn't have won the contest if people didn't care about it, its just that the voterbase and tastes have changed.
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Idola Phantasy Star Saga - Endeavour

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Hbthebattle posted...

And I don't necessarily think it applies to Emil/Karma either. It couldn't have won the contest if people didn't care about it, its just that the voterbase and tastes have changed.

Not many people cared about it then either

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NFUN posted...

Not many people cared about it then either

How did it win, then?
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Hbthebattle posted...

How did it win, then?

I'm going to take this to the other topic

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I normally wouldn't agree with what gamebop said (especially because "appeals only to a specific niche" describes the majority of what gamebop likes >_> and certainly a good chunk of what i prefer), but i think what he's trying to say is that isoleucine is a track that is widely /celebrated/ consistently by almost everyone, where endeavour just has a really big niche in support (and with a lot of people who dislike it where pretty much no one dislikes isoleucine, which is honestly a pretty astounding status)

personally i don't care; like, neither winning is a sign that the thing at the top only got there for "not being hated", they're there because people Love them.

but I do find that statement a bit odd considering that most of the anti-endeavour people are the people who's favorite vgm is like LSD Dream Emulator (good music btw) or something. the enthusiastic niche that endeavour appeals to is just a different niche than the one they're in, and you would probably not be saying these things if Credits or Fax Factory or something had been the thing in its position

I don't intend this to come across as a dismissive or attacking argument, I just want to express that celebrating the tastes of a thin niche is something I value above celebrating the tastes of a wide base; and that I think GameBop of all people should understand this more than anyone >_> to the point I find his post almost confusing to be coming from him
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-(Isoleucine)-

super tough!!! good final
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6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 Endeavour
6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 -(Isoleucine)-

Vote:
Endeavour

Well, here we are again! Revenger/Exsphere is back, featuring the unlikely underdog with an average win margin of 3.4 vs. the powerhouse that's dominated not only its matches, but the Will/Want polls as well. It was hard to believe in Endeavour as it appeared to be losing strength with each round, but its unique style among the retirees allowed it to pick up steam the moment it made round 5! Isoleucine's strength, on the other hand, never needed to be questioned - once the contest is said and done (assuming a reasonably close finals), it will hold the titles of biggest stomp by margin (32, tied with Scourge), biggest stomp by vote share (85%, one vote from a hextupling), and biggest stomp against another retiree (margin of 24 with 77% vote share).

Isoleucine's momentum is surely enough to become the next Exsphere, who is on an impressive three-peat of VGMC, ToC, and ToC showdown (will it win the 13 vs. 14 champions duel?!). But if we're going by the style of the song, it actually seems more fitting say Endeavour = Exsphere and Isoleucine = Revenger! Endeavour is the epic vocal song that can sometimes sound grating, with sudden transitions from quiet sections into blasting walls of sound. It's the more polarizing track that dramatically grows on people over time with how much there is to process in its 6:57 runtime. Isoleucine is the thumping electronic track driven by synth kicks and hi-hats, with expressive violin layers added in the climactic sections. It's more cohesive and easier to process whether it's one of your top-ranked songs or you're just trying to understand why other people like it. So, I'd say the finalist roles are actually swapped from the runs made by their VGMC 13 counterparts!

Exsphere has left quite a legacy a year after its championship, but it's easy to forget that its finals win over Revenger was considerably contested at 26-23 - two of those Exsphere voters flip, and you've got yourself a Revenger champion! Finals are exciting because they force people to really re-evaluate what they like about each song one last time - the championship's on the line, for Pete's sake! The storylines are really exciting and I can't wait to see what happens.

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