Board 8 > I rank 300 VGM (2024 edition) [ranking]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ah, Pixel. That was the only song I actually had plans to nominate somewhere. I stumbled upon the song while trying to find something for BOST 6.
.. I'd wanted to find a very crunchy soundtrack, but also a relatively obscure one. Not out of belief that it'd get enough support to go anywhere, but in a "look at this cool thing I found" type way that might have pleasantly surprised someone who was listening to all of the nominations.

I have no idea what search terms led me to Pixel, but that was exactly the type of sound I was looking for! And... none of the rest of the songs on the OST quite worked, making it completely irrelevant for my purposes. I never did nominate anything for that topic. But I saved the song, waiting for someone who might appreciate crunchy music to make a VGM topic so I could finally show this thing to someone! It's honestly not great, but I like it well enough and I'm quite relieved that you didn't hate it.

rwlh posted...

I assume its Iwadare.

It is.

ahh, called it with house of the undying being my first one to go. ah well! it was a bit of a wildcard anyway. i think my conclusion is that you and i have very different taste in melodies lol.

Hi friends! As has been pointed out, we are 25% of the way through the ranking. If you've been wanting to listen to the songs so far but haven't felt like clicking on a bunch of links, have I got the treat for you - a shiny playlist!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9FyX-bNcVjNDqgefrKF0BsrsFvAIzVp1

I'll try to keep this updated periodically. Enjoy!

Good news: None of mine have shown up yet!
Bad news: Including Pork...

I'm sort of expecting a specific one of mine to go out shortly and I keep getting pleasantly surprised that it's still trucking.

failgirlema posted...

Good news: None of mine have shown up yet!
Bad news: Including Pork...

Pork was a pretty genius nom for rwlh

i have moved on to #245-236 now ....

ignis irae is cool. there's something about rhythm games that have this sort of jrpg flair that anchors me to the music. rhythm stuff, especially denser stuff can be hard for me to get into sometimes.

no one left to love is great. i know im a big old gods simp much to the chagrin of like at least half of y'all, but im for everything aw2 has to offer. every song has been a
banger!

friday night is a staple. a song i listen to almost weekly (and almost always on fridays!)

imbroglio is perfection. i love scary music i love tension i love feeling like my chest is being crushed. i knew i had this song saved, but i haven't visited it in so long i forgot how "me" this track is.

225/4546
@tgs2
SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN - Dreadnought
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucVROW6MOow

Big open EDM. I generally like this style. This ones pretty okay. I like the part at 0:45. Not much to say about this one!

224/4529
@tazzyboyishere
Sonic Rush - Right There, Ride On
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkD7ee0Qz64

A rare Naganuma miss? Sad to say Ive always found this one kind of annoying. Its the combination of the grungy guitar and the vocal samples not cutting it for me. Naganuma is still my boy but hey nobodys perfect

223/4521
@Mihark
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Frozen Rito Village
https://youtu.be/SOjlFcZkR30?si=cckQDmMoXkXtHzLn

I love the overwhelmingness of this soundscape. It really makes me feel like Im in the middle of a blizzard, or in some icy terrain. Like I can practically see my breath in front of me as I type this, which is very impressive! It just once again wasnt really my thing. I dont love it but I appreciate it.

I dont love it but count = 4

222/4461
@DanKirby
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Cutting Edge of Notion
https://youtu.be/cAAqqGjymCM

This is probably meant to be a really intense battle theme but it sounds silly to me. Like its a battle, but its against like a troupe of clowns, and they juggle status effects. I dont know. This is not my favorite shanty Sakuraba has composed on his endless prog organ, but it gets the job done. Please convince me this isn't the same fucking song as The True Mirror.

221/4436
@DragonGargoyle
BROK the InvestiGator - Graff's Second Exam
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zFBhctFfZXc

Nice moody atmospheric piece. Im sure this is great at setting a mood for whenever it plays in the game (during an exam, apparently). I like the sad Chrono Cross-esque sample that carries the melody around. A very 6/10 song, possibly the most 6/10 in the whole ranking.

pyresword posted...

I suspect this is not the case :(

I just hope that whatever Luocha has got going on is more interesting than what we've gotten so far.

nope.

we have escaped the hell that was 1.x Penacoly and good times are all that await. at least, until the Chinese government decides that the game needs to better Support Chinese Values and we get a nice sequence explaining how nobody is gay wink wink.

Casino Park might be my favorite casino zone. I wouldn't say the music's a big part of that, but also Heroes is a terribly underrated game in general.

wtf is zubo this song is insane and I love it.

Wow I'm all caught up (unless rwlh posts while I'm typing this up)

At first I wasn't sure if I liked the POD song, but I kept thinking "wow this reminds me of Metroid" which is a very good sign. Not sure if I'll make a habit of listening to it, but it was good scary atmosphere.

Casino Park is PTSD music

I like Slay the Princess :) Snake ur a cool dude for showcasing this game.

I'm not normally a "context matters" person, but Harry is Gone! might just be one of those songs that I adore solely because of the context. It is weird, silly, and messy, and I support it.

Meat Circus is also PTSD music. I love Psychonauts but wtf is up with that stage I mean seriously.

Wow, our tastes align with Right There, Ride On. I don't dislike it as much as I used to, but I remember just not wanting to check out the rest of that OST because I disliked this song so much. That's okay. Even Legends miss sometimes. Nothing is perfect.

Frozen Rito Village definitely hits the spot. I think I just hate Christmassy winter/snow type music so much, that whenever I come across snow music that's cold and unforgiving, I gotta celebrate. Doesn't help that this riffs off what could be the best "normie" Zelda song.

Graff's Second Exam has that percussive element going for it that makes it kinda stick. This kind of music is perfect for my chill playlist.

dang down to 2 already, but i feel pretty good about them being ranked a fair bit higher than the rest

Casino Park is fine, it's just terrible because it's next to Bingo MFing Highway.

skulltrumpets posted...

I like Slay the Princess :) Snake ur a cool dude for showcasing this game.

Thank you! Soundtrack is one of my favorites in recent memory, the perfect kind of disturbing dark ambience I love.

Isquen posted...

Casino Park is fine, it's just terrible because it's next to Bingo MFing Highway.

Lol I prefer Casino. If I was gonna pick another Heroes track for this it'd probs be Hang Castle

I am still one-eared for the time being so I appreciate the playlist, I hope to catch up when I can hear again!

hang castle is up there for one of the best levels in any 3D sonic game, fight me.

andylt posted...

I am still one-eared for the time being so I appreciate the playlist, I hope to catch up when I can hear again!

Given I'm permanently one-eared, enjoy it anyways.

If people who are clumsy have two left feet, then I have two left ears.

220/4425
@-Chaos-Zero-
Bzzzt! - Jump!
https://youtu.be/1BOZiwKpUQA?si=6IMFbUKKefLuNXk5

Fun with Commodore 64 retraux. I dont normally see this specific style of fake chip too often; usually its like weird chiptune adjacent stuff, or chiptune mixed with rock or something. This shifts away from the C64 style into a fuller sound, but I wish it wouldve stayed with the chip. Just a personal preference. Its a fun song, but I didnt find it especially engaging.

219/4417
@sergiocornaga
Double Dragon Neon - Mixtape - Weapons Up (Full Version)
https://youtu.be/FuzMk3-0W5w

This is like N.W.A., but less aggressive and more cartoony. The rapping feels a little, uh, amateurish? Maybe thats the production, not sure. The real draw for me is the lyrics. They rhyme with constable with obstacle and irresponsible, that takes a lot of poetic clout. I find this charming.

218/4354
@cakophon
Taiko no Tatsujin 12 - Dun Aonghasa no Fuefuki
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJNNjy7L8vE

In my notes I have this song down as music to listen to while skipping in an anime field. It would probably be higher if some of these notes werent so high-pitched. Like, pitch this down a little and Im sure Id like it a lot more. Shoutout to the odd time section halfway through.

217/4332
@GameBopAdv
Tower of Druaga (Wonder Eggs) - Risolute ~ Dragon Castle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdt86_i-OAY

An inscrutable song. I love the percussion and how it seems to build throughout. The meter is fun to try and follow too. This is a very unique nomination that I had trouble figuring out how to process, but I think I settled on this placement due to the fact that my focus waned a few times and also I just wasnt connecting with it all that much? One of those objectively this is cool, subjectively this isnt for me songs.

216/4319
@handsomeboy2012
Return of the Obra Dinn - Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0asI8EoYy-E

My note for this one just says BELLS

BELLS

That is my takeaway for this song. I like the old-timey Eastern European immigrant feel it has, but those BELLS are my favorite part. There are actually a number of bell-adjacent songs in this ranking; in this one, the bell samples feel very rich and add to the song.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b9b3e696.jpg
i blame those two misses on alcohol this song is very easy on hard

is wonder eggs even eligible? that was a theme park and tower of druaga was a ride there. altho honestly didn't know there were music uploads of it that's awesome

failgirlema posted...

is wonder eggs even eligible? that was a theme park and tower of druaga was a ride there. altho honestly didn't know there were music uploads of it that's awesome

This might honestly be the most obscure piece of music I've ever encountered in any of these vgm things, amazing

It has never occurred to me until now to have a debate about whether or not Super Nintendo World is a canonical game in the Super Mario franchise

Wonder 3
Paratroopa1 posted...

This might honestly be the most obscure piece of music I've ever encountered in any of these vgm things, amazing

It has never occurred to me until now to have a debate about whether or not Super Nintendo World is a canonical game in the Super Mario franchise

Wonder Eggs is awesome btw, i think it wasn't a thing for long but it had a few Namco rides and got referenced as Xiaoyu's stages in Tekken 3 and Tag 1. Also there was a massive version of Galaxian which supported loads of players I think. God I love old Namco stuff

Heck yeah Obra Dinn

215/4313
@Isquen
Warframe - Cetus
https://youtu.be/E4AETR5X0ig

This was originally a 4.5 but I upped it to a 6 on relisten. The percussion does the heavy lifting for me, a winning combination of industrial and tribal. Theres also some nice acoustic guitar. Pretty neat!

214/4303
@paulg235
Civilization VI - Georgia Theme (The Atomic Era)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPGLgjdWm2Q

Another this is cool but isnt really for me song. I appreciate the layered singing and the bombastic symphony mixed with softer, more melodic passages. Its not normally my kind of music but I found it somewhat pleasantly unpredictable. According to the description the song is based on two hymns, but its clear the composer made the song their own.

213/4298
@-hotdogturtle--
Hypnospace Outlaw - Confuzed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ7uouRHH3U

I cant get into this soundtrack. Every song Ive heard has fallen flat for me. I get what its going for but I just dont find it engaging. Confuzed is almost certainly my favorite song Ive heard from it; I like the synth groove and the beat is great and the bubbles effects are trippy, but it doesnt really do much other than that for four minutes. Theres stuff to like here but it still misses the mark, which is a shame because I love when songs take risks like Hypnospace does.

212/4291
paulg235
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - It Has To Be This Way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYAPgPH9hsI

Oops double drop, sorry. On paper this seems like a song I would normally despise: an energetic, guitar-heavy rock song with earnest lyrics. However, I kind of like it! The muddy production actually works in its favor as all the elements of the song blur together in a fast-paced audio slurry. I dont think Id like this as much with clearer audio quality. (I know, I probably criticized a few songs earlier for having poor production. I am large; I contain multitudes.) This is so cheesy and over the top but I actually kind of like it.

211/4279
@Xtlm
Bottom of the 9th (PC) - Credits and Theme Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdePEXhRzKk

Oh hey I didnt know Morrissey recorded VGM. (Its not just me, right?) Some nice barbershop harmony here. This is one of the nominations thats so unlike everything else nommed. I didnt know I needed barbershop baseball VGM, but here we are. Sadly I dont rank it any higher because I dont actually want to ever listen to it again, but its a really neat find!

rwlh posted...

Oops double drop, sorry.

It has to be this way.

oh wow i love irish taiko. It's so deliciously playful. I didn't mind the high notes at all? Shrug.

Wonder Eggs is definitely a thing. I also don't know how I feel about it, but I feel like it should be eligible. The "ride" is a light gun game, after all.

Glove World lasted a lot longer than I was expecting! One left for me now, although I don't think it will last much longer.

rwlh posted...

Confuzed is almost certainly my favorite song Ive heard from it;

Hmm, well this wasn't expected to be my first drop. At least I got a positive sendoff for it I guess. Now I wonder what some of my alternate considerations for my Hypnospace nom would have gotten, but I'll wait til the end to ask about those.

Snake5555555555 posted...

Thank you! Soundtrack is one of my favorites in recent memory, the perfect kind of disturbing dark ambience I love.

That's a great description! I love this kind of music that's alllmost calm, but leaves you thinking something is wrong. And definitely perfect for the game too.

I don't know how I feel about Cetus. It's very understated, but I love creative percussion :) Would need to mull on this one.

Cetus definitely requires context to appreciate more. Before it existed, Warframe music was extremely sci-fi feeling except for maybe This is What You Are, and when Plains of Eidolon released and you land on the earth colony for the first "open world" area this piece kicks up as you approach the settlement - and you hear excerpts from it whenever you bother Konzu there for missions.

I kind of want to post 15 today to get us to an even 200 left. Would anyone object to that? I know some of you are trying to listen to everything.

At the very least here's the second batch of five for tonight.

210/4269
Revolver
Halo 3: ODST - Neon Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDwxjlrE9tY

Quiet and unnerving. I love that Halo has songs like this, the quiet, introspective songs that contrast with the bombast that I normally associate the series with. Neon Night builds subtly and carries the air of mystery. At 1:30, when you think its going to do a big grandiose thing, it turns into a drum circle instead.

209/4267
@pyresword
Hollow Knight - Nosk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wfAVkXxhEw

This was a good idea to give me. Creepy ambience with sounds that simulate the feeling of being watched by, like, evil clockwork spiders or some shit. I honestly dont know why this one isnt higher. It has all the elements in place to be a hit. Theres something missing for me and I cant pinpoint what it is. Ah well. It was a good shot!

208/4261
@Tked
Inferno (PC) - Happy Tune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPX6JRa4I2U

A very disorienting song. I feel not so much happiness from this as much as a euphoria that exists at the intersection of content and disoriented. In the soundtrack of my life, I could see this playing as I walk down the street after getting a mixture of good and bad news, or waiting on an important decision thats out of my hands.

6.5/10

207/4251
@DanKirby
Revolter - Midnight Chaser
https://youtu.be/Djx8F1j2tWE

Hey, its FM synth, we all love that. Okay but what if we took normal FM synth and made it FM synthier? The result is Midnight Chaser. I find this song physically painful to listen to at times, so FM synthy is its FM synth. But that pain is outweighed by the intensity of the emotion, and the power of the composition. Ive said in some writeups that Im curious to hear what the song sounds like with a different soundchip or with different instruments or something, but I cant imagine Midnight Chaser played back on anything other than a PC-88, at full FM synth blast.

As an aside: we are now in the 6.5s. There are a lot of these. When I clicked on Midnight Chaser just now, I felt compelled to let the whole thing play, despite being 6+ minutes in length. This is a very good sign for the rest of the list.

206/4239
@DragonGargoyle
Tribal Hunter - Shadow of a Dream
https://youtube.com/watch?v=aPrV24B2UNk

This is a goofy song with a lot of heart. Theres what sounds like a harpsichord mixed in with a poppy beat, and then some trumpet sample comes in. It feels exuberant, a celebration of possibility. I could kind of see this as an instrumental on a modern pop or dance song. Very cool!

ELIMINATION: DragonGargoyle
Average rating: 6.25
Average ranking: 4338
Your lucky song:
Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Natural Life A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqbKBg9NEjQ

Thank you for nominating!

(DragonGargoyle only nominated two songs, so they're not factored into the overall nominator ranking.)

id be down for an extra 5 today

Yeah, you should post as many eliminations as you want.

I confess the off-by-5 offset has bothered me repeatedly.

As you wish! Though I can't promise there won't be future days we'll be at x5 and not x0.

-

205/4224
@PIayer_0
Tchia - Song IV "Chez nous a Weliwele"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2io1swz5DUk

Ooh, is this in French? An interesting style, very tropical and soothing but also energetic. I love the harmony on those ohhhhhs. This feels like a party around a campfire, or maybe a campfire around a party; it feels very alive in a way that I find difficult to capture outside of a live performance. Neat!

204/4219
@Mihark
Pocky & Rocky 2 - October Fields
https://youtu.be/BQ3MwEy3L0Q

Aww yeah, some classic SNES. Some of my favorite SNES songs are the ones that have this traditional Japanese flair, like Legend of the Mystical Ninja or Chaos Seed. Theres a lot to like here, the overall effect is mesmerizing. I especially like the little flutters around 1:10 with what sounds like the equivalent of an SNES woodblock in the background.

203/4214
@banshiryuu
DanceRail3 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF3rElkk9xc

Evil chimes, evil xylophone, evil glitchy shitjust an evil song all around. I like the nice long pauses, triggering an anticipatory sense of dread. I especially enjoy the glitchy/static stuff near the end. The knocking is creepy too. I do think maybe this song tries a little too hard though? Like you could be just as effective with like half of these evil things. I dont know.

202/4205
@cakophon
NOISZ STRLIVHT - halved halved halved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAioeZ3gmHg

The aggressive wubbing reminds me of DOOM 2016. But there are also more melodic parts which were a nice surprise. This is probably a little too aggro for me? Songs like this can be real hits but sometimes they miss the mark. I do love how it builds in the second half in a nice synthesis of wub and melody. A very unique song, one I certainly enjoyed revisiting.

201/4202
@Bitto
No More Heroes 2 - Titanium Batt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq8Q9Lyc38w

My note for this says I cant tell if I like this I think I do? The sound design is interesting, sort of like a Wall of Sound production with warbly guitars and some glitchiness. Parts of this sound like that garage band aesthetic I mentioned in another writeup (and this wasnt even the song I was referring to!). Its short but sweet, full of musical ideas and a sense of playfulness and sarcasm. If a song can be sarcastic, its Titanium Batt.

We are 1/3 of the way through the list!

I have updated the spreadsheet fully. There is now an additional tab for nominator stats, for the 59 people who gave me 5 songs. Only one poor person is there for now, but expect that to fill up fast!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HdQJbfqMqrZnEBNZyxyZAg3ZKWJ1_rvKyoCmFJhRAaY/edit#gid=0

I have also updated the Youtube playlist. I'll probably update this every 25 songs.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9FyX-bNcVjNDqgefrKF0BsrsFvAIzVp1

If you've been following along even a little, has the list gone to your expectations? Have there been any songs you're shocked I didn't like more, or maybe songs you didn't expect me to like as much? Do you have any predictions for your remaining songs?

How do I have four whole songs left

skulltrumpets posted...

How do I have four whole songs left

Because you didn't nominate for this topic.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80707452

It was very close between Tchia and Venba for my 2023 pick, but I really liked how immersive the tropical feel was in this one! It may not sound as authentic to its country as my other noms (the game even has songs featuring New Caledonian locals that I didn't pick), but it does bring you the singing voices of the developers behind the game! Their slight lack of coordination actually sounds right for a live performance in a tropical village. I'm now realizing that this is literally happy town music, so it feels like an encouraging result for future happy town noms?

rwlh posted...

Oh interesting! I sincerely hope you give me such detailed info about all of your noms when they come up!

...my comments will quickly reveal how much and how little I know about different cultures

Shadow of a Dream reminds me a lot of Undertale final battle music. Just hits a lot of the same vibes. I think I might like it better than UT, even?

half-width katakana are evil. Just sayin'.

dowolf posted...

Shadow of a Dream reminds me a lot of Undertale final battle music. Just hits a lot of the same vibes.

Not in terms of composition but by "TOTALLY attempting to be the kind of a badass song that might be suitable for a similar purpose".

Dedf1sh posted...

Because you didn't nominate for this topic.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80707452

It would be really funny if Oh dear, you are dead! or 25M was nominated for this given how short those songs already are even in their full versions. I see the game over jingle from Super Mario Bros. was nominated though, so that's gonna be fun to see ranked.

I'm glad that my noms made it past the 5 tier at least. I looked at rwlh's ratings and list of likes and other VGM that I remember from him, and then tried to find stuff that's "adjecent but not exact and that he probably hasn't ever heard before", and just shook out these two somehow. Only nommed a couple because idk what I'm doing lol

rwlh posted...

This is a goofy song with a lot of heart. Theres what sounds like a harpsichord mixed in with a poppy beat, and then some trumpet sample comes in. It feels exuberant, a celebration of possibility. I could kind of see this as an instrumental on a modern pop or dance song. Very cool!

dowolf posted...

Shadow of a Dream reminds me a lot of Undertale final battle music. Just hits a lot of the same vibes.

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

Not in terms of composition but by "TOTALLY attempting to be the kind of a badass song that might be suitable for a similar purpose".

This is all surprisngly accurate, for some reason I thought people would interpret it as credits music or smthn

Well uh, I guess "badass" as a descriptor would depend on how seriously you can take this game. It's the final level theme, and like half of the game's story happens during and after this point

PIayer_0 posted...

It was very close between Tchia and Venba for my 2023 pick, but I really liked how immersive the tropical feel was in this one! It may not sound as authentic to its country as my other noms (the game even has songs featuring New Caledonian locals that I didn't pick), but it does bring you the singing voices of the developers behind the game! Their slight lack of coordination actually sounds right for a live performance in a tropical village. I'm now realizing that this is literally happy town music, so it feels like an encouraging result for future happy town noms?

...my comments will quickly reveal how much and how little I know about different cultures

New Caledonia is a french territory, and most people there speak french, so I'd say it's pretty authentic ^^ (I can even hear the Creole intonations in the singing !)

I like Titanium Batt a lot but honestly how it sounds is. odd to me. Not in a like dislike way but in a "this is one of my fav bands ever doing vgm but it doesn't really sound like them at all". As much as I love their songs in NMH2 I kinda wish at least one of the two sounded a bit more like them. You can kindaaa hear some of the Missile Chewbacca style in some of the synthy parts but it's still overall very different. (Upon relisten tho I love this even more than I thought tho lol so maybe I shouldn't be complaining)

Their style (especially with vocals) would have been perfect for NMH2 and especially for such a big boss so I don't rlly understand why they didn't do it? Maybe some sort of sound director thing or just personal choice (or time constraints)

new page, new songs