Board 8 > Zero/Raven ranks 178 video game songs nominated by you, Board 8

(+) Yeah! (+)

Interesting. I was pretty confident that To Far Away Times would be my highest ranked nomination!
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Wait the actual best song I nominated is the highest ranked

I'm somehow actually completely shocked by this.

#15: Death by Glamour
From: Undertale
Nominated by: Raka Putra (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TgO-tN5wAM

Death by Glamour did pretty well in the "Best Songs of the 2010s (so far)" topic, and to the surprise of no one, got nominated for this topic also. Death by Glamour is another awesome addition to the highly praised Undertale soundtrack created by Toby Fox. It's some great battle music and is 2 minutes and 14 seconds of a fast-paced theme with a few techno roots. The opening 12 second melody is catchy, but the song gets even better when the it speeds up with the extra sounds coming in at 26 seconds, and you either wanna start break dancing or beating people up at a rave.

The dancing intensifies at 1:04, and then my other favorite part besides the opening is at 1:31 and lasts until about 1:56. Like one other Undertale song yet to be ranked, "Death By Glamour" earns its place in the top 20.
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#14: Cold Steel Coffin
From: Nier
Nominated by: Bane of Despair (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMf-kDeAYCY

I recall picking up Nier for $10 back in 2011, after hearing all about it on this board. While the gameplay was a 6/10 (sometimes a 7), nearly everything else ranged between a 9 or 10/10, and then you had the soundtrack which was almost an 11/10. A good majority of the game's songs would have ranked this high, showing how incredible the soundtrack truly was.

"Cold Steel Coffin" plays during a boss fight against a huge villager-devouring sphere-shaped shade. The angelic choir that sings throughout the whole thing gives this tune a massive Dark Souls vibe and it works so well here. At 37 seconds, the choir slowly climbs up in vocals every few seconds and then at 46 seconds a constant near-apocalyptic medley takes over. A few violins come in at 1:44 to add a little more heart to the tune before the song repeats itself.

As stated earlier, a lot of Nier's soundtrack would easily rank top 20, and "Cold Steel Coffin" helps set the standard for what turned out to be a pretty fun game.

And fuck it, I bought and am currently downloading Automata as we speak.
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#13: Karma
From: Tales of the Abyss
Nominated by: NBIceman (2 songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gaMKbv-xHU

In regards to Tales of the Abyss...
1) I've never indulged deep into this game, despite owning it both on PS2 and 3DS.
2) Everytime I do try to play it, I always play the intro video from beginning to end because of this fucking badass theme from the J-Rock group Bump of Chicken.

"Karma" is without question the best opening theme in any Tales game. The guitar in this takes center stage and keeps you hooked until the very end. What I feel is the "chorus" of the song at 49 seconds (and lasts until 1:11) is one of two parts that stand out, the other is the final 18 seconds of the song when Bump of Chicken just continues rocking out the closing riffs until it ends.
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Ring a Bell > Karma
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#12: Hopes and Dreams / Save the World
From: Undertale
Nominated by: Jcgamer107 (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n2PFLlbpzw

This one took me by surprise and might be the best song in Undertale. As soon as the bottom drops out around 25 seconds, we get a fast-paced highly-motivated tune with some great guitar and good drums to follow. All this mixed in with the 8-bit sound that helped make Undertale's soundtrack so loved creates a great experience. Halfway through the song, the song changes its tone just a bit, but still manages to keep its heart, and most importantly, keep you filled with determination.
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pyresword posted...

Ring a Bell > Karma

Vesperia's my favorite game in the whole series and I still disagree.
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Glad you liked it. It is phenomenal as like a "let's start an adventure"-type track. I've used it as my twitch stream outro for several months. It was definitely my favorite Undertale track at one point, but Death by Glamour is up there now, and I've also been really into Bonetrousle and Metal Crusher at different points. The amount of talent Toby Fox has as a music composer, on top of being a game design genius, is just unreal.
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#11: Calling to the Night
From: Metal Gear Solid - Portable Ops
Nominated by: Anagram (1 song remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXkgn3QUA2w

I never played Portable Ops, so I had no clue what to expect when this song was nominated. Needless to say, I was more than impressed with it. Natasha Farrow does an incredible job on vocals here, and we get some excellent music composed by Akihiro Honda, with some great violin work throughout the tune. The song as a whole is worth listening to, with Farrow's vocals and lyrics being the most important part of it all. One of the best examples is this...

Calling to the night
To dream again in the light
Waiting for a storm to rise
Feel the isolation fleeting

Calling to the night
To be or not to be fighting here
Leaving without you, leaving my soul behind
Calling to the night
Colors of kodachrome fade with time

Calling to the night
For us, for every single life
All the ashes of men remain as a perfect memory
Calling to the night
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#10: The Extreme
From: Final Fantasy VIII
Nominated by: Janus5k (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVkcmx2l3WA

I'm not 100% certain if I'd say this is the best final boss theme in FF history, but it's definitely up there. As your crew goes toe-to-toe with Ultimecia, this begins playing in her final form. At 23 seconds is a slowly-building guitar/piano duo that truly makes you believe shit is about to get real. Needless to say, shit gets real at 1:40 when the piano gets faster and the slight-bass line kicks in. The part starting at 1:55 reminds me a little bit of Final Fantasy IV's regular boss theme, which is always a huge plus. We also get some badass keyboard-like action starting around 3 minutes, followed by yet another great piano moment starting at 3:25 that might be my favorite part of the song.

When it's all said and done, The Extreme has almost something for everyone. It's not only the best track in Final Fantasy VIII, it's one of the best in the series.
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#9: The Merciless Savior
From: The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
Nominated by: xp1337 (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1GhOzlGXQk

To the surprise of no one, this is also a final boss tune. After a nice 30 second violin intro, we get a fast-paced 80s like medley to get things rolling. The violins throughout this tune sound almost perfect and are the major backbone of it all. The tune changes direction a little bit at 2 minutes into a more ominous darker tone with a choir and organ getting involved, before violins return at 2:50. In the 7 minutes that this song lasts, you'll get vibes that make you think of the 80s, J-Pop, and maybe even a little jazz. Songs like this are yet another reason why The Legend of Heroes stands out above many in today's RPG market.
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#8: Crossing Those Hills
From: Final Fantasy IX
Nominated by: Jesse Custer (1 song remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UEW4-fRrPo

Three years ago I went to Basic Training to begin my new career. I embraced 10 weeks of pure suck, whether it was learning to function with less than 3 hours of sleep, or learning to endure temperatures of the low 20s one day and the high 80s the next while wearing gear that made it seem hotter than it actually was. And in the midst of it all, this was one of the tunes I had memorized in my head because it helped me stay in a peaceful state of mind.

While that's not the reason why this song got in the top 10, it's a cool little story. "Crossing Those Hills" barely edges the world map theme from FF7 as my all-time favorite FF map theme. As many times as I've played FF9, I've always appreciated this theme for it's happy atmosphere. The song's first good part begins at 20 seconds, and then the even better medley begins at 57 seconds; the flute-like sounds throughout the song are beautiful. And when you weren't getting surprise random encounters or riding a chocobo, you were listening to this while traveling the world of Final Fantasy IX on foot, and it was awesome. If there's any remastered game I'd buy on day one, it's definitely this. Come on Squeenix, don't let me down.

Also on a side note, FF9 also has the best chocobo exploring theme as well ^_^
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#7: Sky, Ocean, and Earth
From: Dragon Quest VIII - Journey of the Cursed King
Nominated by: LordOfTheMorons (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IgR_-JbOjs

Despite my best efforts, I could never get into a mainline Dragon Quest game. This includes playing friends copies of 1-5, watching another play 7, and me even owning 8 on PS2. Meanwhile I have no problem playing Rocket Slime or The World's Tree Woe, both which I enjoyed to the very end. But one thing I've always enjoyed from the DQ series is the music, and this song is a prime example of how great the soundtrack can be.

Koichi Sugiyama served as DQ8's composer, and he has the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra perform this masterpiece for the game. It's a beautifully done song; if you had some random person listen to it, they'd probably never guess it was made for a video game. The violins and brass sections are practically perfect here, especially around the 4:45 mark; however, it's honestly hard to pick just one good part that stands out, this one's worth listening to from beginning to end. For those who finish the game, this is what you hear at the end, and it makes your efforts much more worth it.
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#6: Main Theme
From: The Last Story
Nominated by: NBIceman (1 song remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICSprZTmk78

I never got a chance to play Last Story. I know it was one of the obscure, hard-to-find RPGs that came out in 2012 along with Xenoblade Chronicles, but still, never got a chance to try it out. Nobuo Uematsu strikes gold once again with an incredible opening theme and the first 2 minutes are flat out beautiful thanks to the guitars, flutes, and violins provided. A great part that stands out starts at 34 seconds and lasts until about 2:10. When the medley kind of repeats itself starting around the 3 minute mark, it's a more beautiful sounding violin performing this time around. Finally, the last minute of the theme gives you a slightly grand closing as you prepare to fire this game up and head into adventure.

All in all, an excellent tune from one of the last great original Wii titles released.
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OUR TOP FIVE!

Dr. Wily Stage 1 - Mega Man 2 (Nominated by Jesse Custer)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/be/Megaman2_box.jpg

Tokyo - Shin Megami Tensei IV (Nominated by Regaro)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Shin_Megami_Tensei_IV.jpg

The Battlefield Flower - White Knight Chronicles II (Nominated by Eddv)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cc/White_Knight_Chronicles_2.png

On the Beach of Dreams: Another World - Chrono Cross (Nominated by NBIceman)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Chronocrossbox.jpg

It Has to Be This Way - Metal Gear Rising (Nominated by Anagram)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Metal_Gear_Rising_Revengeance_box_artwork.jpg

Hype!
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Of all of my nominations, I didn't expect MGR's to get the furthest.
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Whew, (barely) kept the top 10 streak alive.

Glad I could pique your interest in Ys as well - it's a fun series and the soundtracks are always top notch.

Anagram posted...

Of all of my nominations, I didn't expect MGR's to get the furthest.

It's the best though
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I went quiet for a while because I didn't want to curse Merciless Savior. Top 10 aww yeah.

Amazing song. When it "gets real" at around 1:45 it's so good.
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I also find Crossing Those Hills really relaxing, which is something I can't say about most video game music.

Yeah I also like Merciless Savior. It probably wouldn't be in top 10 if I did a list like this, but it is pretty good. Shame no one in VGMC seems to think that though. :(

I still don't know why all these other Falcom songs (most of which I don't care much for) seem to do really well but then Merciless Savior flopped hard. Oh well whatever, B8 killing my favorite songs is nothing new I guess.
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Dragon Quest is probably my favorite series; it's a shame you couldn't get into it. Definitely seems like you gave it a fair shake, though!

I was actually playing DQ3 over winter break and my mom asked me what the music was because she liked it. I think you're probably right about being able to pass off Sugiyama's tunes as classical music.
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I got to Top 15! That's pretty good.

ZeroSignal620 posted...

1:31 and lasts until about 1:56

Yeah, that one's really good.
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Last day-long break before I post the top 5. List will most likely be finished tomorrow for certain.
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LordoftheMorons posted...

Dragon Quest is probably my favorite series; it's a shame you couldn't get into it. Definitely seems like you gave it a fair shake, though!

I'll definitely recognize that the games are well done (especially 5 and 8), and the spinoffs are really solid; I put hours into The World's Tree Woe earlier this year. May get DQ Heroes II later on in the year, not sure yet though.

Janus5k posted...

Glad I could pique your interest in Ys as well - it's a fun series and the soundtracks are always top notch.

Yeah, I definitely want to take at least one crack at it. Again, I have Ark of Napishtm on PS2 and Ys I & II on Steam. Might install at least the first one before I head out on mission next week
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Actually, on second thought, I'll give you guys two more! Top three tomorrow! (HYPE!)

#5: The Battlefield Flower
From: White Knight Chronicles II
Nominated by: Eddv (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP2oz6fSczM

After a beautiful 49 second long intro, the bottom drops out and we get sucked into an epic theme played at a pivotal point in White Knight Chronicles II (only saying what YouTube's description gave me, I've never actually played WKC2). It's similar to the opening theme of said game, but this one is without the English vocals (or any vocals honestly) and replaced with badass violins.

The violins are the heart and soul of this entire song, though we get some good guitar and drums at times as well. It's a song worth it from beginning to end.
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#4: Tokyo
From: Shin Megami Tensei IV
Nominated by: Regaro (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDsDYCI3fyc

This world map theme took me by surprise, considering I usually don't look to the SMT series much for overworld/world map music. For the kind of game Shin Megami Tensei IV is, along with its setting, the music for "Tokyo" feels appropriate for the game, and even more importantly, feels right for the area you're adventuring in.

The piano melody that plays at the beginning of the tune is EXTREMELY catchy in my opinion, and everything else seems to fall into place, such as the percussion and the synths provided throughout the song. If I ever do get the rare chance to explore Tokyo, I might be inclined to listen to this theme at least a few times while doing so.
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To celebrate me nominating a good song, have the (inferior) remix that was used in the sequel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc5rboSunV0

It Has To Be This Way (#1 on this list that is)
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Hype for my top 5 streak continuing, though! I'd love to get my second win in a row but I won't be upset losing to either of the other songs that's left. All three are awesome.

Karma is such a great opening theme, and it only gets better as the game goes on and reprises start popping up at pivotal moments in the story. I play through Abyss at least once a year and I'll sit through that opening every single time I boot it up. Never fails to get me hyped.

The Last Story has one of my favorite game soundtracks overall and it's crazy underrated. It's a pretty damn good RPG all around but the music is what made me really fall in love with it. Some other tracks that are really worth listening to:
Toberu Mono (probably my actual favorite from the game):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QXRjvKnM1w
The One Ruling Everything:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt809kr0jQo
Invitation to Madness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nF2U_IDdc4
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Janus5k posted...
Anagram posted...

Of all of my nominations, I didn't expect MGR's to get the furthest.

It's the best though
Evidently!
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On Bloodborne and DSIII's main menu themes: I adore them, half the time when I boot the games up I just let the theme go for a while.

On NieR: Automata: Yes, the rest of the music in the game is fantastic.
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#3: Dr. Wily's Castle - Stage 1
From: Mega Man 2
Nominated by: Jesse Custer (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJRoRt155mA

The first theme you hear when you enter Dr. Wily's castle in what is arguably the best Mega Man title in the series (only 3 comes close to matching it), and without question the best song in any Mega Man game. As soon as the stage begins, this music plays and doesn't miss a beat. The main part of the song (best description I can give is the first 10-11 seconds of the tune) is extremely catchy, but other parts are just as excellent. We get a brief, yet awesome sounding moment at 21 seconds (and ends at 32 seconds). Finally, my last favorite part starts at 1:04 and ends at 1:15.

While those are the three things that stand out to me, let it be known that there are zero bad parts in this song. Incredible level themes are hard to come by the further back in time you go, but the 80s had the original Super Mario Bros. theme and this masterpiece from the Blue Bomber's second adventure.

Also, while this has no effect on the ranking, it's highly worth mentioning. In 2016, WWE composer Jim Johnston compiled an entrance theme for cruiserweight T.J. Perkins titled "Playing With Power". You can obviously tell there are huge shades of Mega Man and Wily in this tune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO2xYKhGXZs

And finally, someone took the time and effort to create this...

https://youtu.be/4Nm5rcYp1DM?t=1m9s

Like I said, Wily's first theme in Mega Man 2 stands at the top of the mountain when it comes to Mega Man themes, and is deserving of its position here.
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#2: On the Beach of Dreams: Another World
From: Chrono Cross
Nominated by: NBIceman (No songs remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJvNmJH2q68

Just missing the chance to have back to back #1 appearances is Iceman's final nominee, which is without question my favorite world map theme. Listed in some places as "Dreams of the Shore Near (or Bordering) Another World", this theme is not only the best thing composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, it could very well be the magnum opus of Square's entire music library.

In a nutshell, a medley of a single violin and a guitar put more soul into 2 minutes and 23 seconds than most songs do in 3 minutes or more (and that includes music in and outside gaming). Everything about this song is so damn beautiful, and while the guitar itself is already great, it's when the violin kicks in at 13 seconds that you feel all kinds of emotions. It's extremely easy to find yourself putting the controller down when you're playing Chrono Cross and you're on the world map where this theme plays.

Chrono Cross may have not been the greatest game out there, but you could never deny the soundtrack the praise it rightfully deserved. I play this theme quite a bit from time to time, whether it's to do writeups on here, wind down after a long day, or take a long shower after a morning of a long, enduring PT session before work. It's almost second to none.
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AND YOUR WINNER IS...

#1: It Has to Be This Way
From: Metal Gear Rising - Revengeance
Nominated by: Anagram (Congratulations, you won!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYAPgPH9hsI

Standing here, I realize
You are just like me trying to make history
But who’s to judge the right from wrong?
When our guard is down, I think we’ll both agree
That violence breeds violence
But in the end it has to be this way

I’ve carved my own path
You followed your wrath
But maybe we’re both the same
The world has turned
And so many have burned
But nobody is to blame
Yet staring across this barren wasted land
I feel new life will be born
Beneath the blood stained sand
Beneath the blood stained sand

I'm not kidding when I say this is my favorite boss theme ever. Not just final boss themes, but all boss themes in general. I remember playing Revengeance in 2013 not knowing what to expect. Next thing I know, it blows me away with it's high-paced adrenaline-rush action and fucking badass soundtrack, all the way to the #2 spot for 2013 GotY (#1 being A Link Between Worlds, but enough of that! >_>). And when you finally fight your way to Senator Armstrong, you're in for a unbelievable experience...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mALkd3DG6HA fast forward to 29:49 for epic battle with even more epic battle music

"It Has to Be This Way" is composed by Jamie Christopherson with guitar work from Johnny Death and Logan Mader, drums from Ralph Alexander, and vocals from Jimmy Gnecco. All four musicians involved combine their talents to make a song that matches the never-stop mentality of Revengeance, and the intensity provided in the final showdown between Raiden and Armstrong. When I played through this game, I got my ass handed to me on numerous occasions for about 2 hours. But the more I played and died, the more I wanted to come back and fight again, almost solely because of this song because it would motivate me to try again until I conquered Armstrong.

After a buildup intro that lasts 51 seconds, shit gets real as soon as the heavier riffs and vocals both come in. From there, it's pure metal from beginning to end; when you fight Armstrong to this theme, the vocals only play when Raiden has his sword, and the song repeats until you take the senator out. Hell, I even listen to this on repeat while working out sometimes. It's an incredible tune for any action game and helps Revengeance stand out.

There is no single best part of the song; the best part of the song is the entire fucking song itself. In 2012, Revengeace was a game that wasn't even on my must-have list when I saw previews for it. Less than a year later, it became one of the best grabs in a long time, and the soundtrack, especially this song, was a damn good reason why.

Now if only we'd get a release of this for PS4...
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The best part is that MGR is a better MGS game than MGS5.
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Final thoughts

This was by far the most challenging list I've done. All of you guys nominated great tunes, and it goes to show that no matter what genre of game you play, you're bound to find something great in its music library. For those curious, the highest ranked song that I had never heard prior to this topic was "Tokyo", which landed at an astounding #4!

There won't be any more lists until the end of Summer, and I'm probably gonna do something different in that case, probably a music subject that I'm already familiar with (right now my top consideration is ranking the entire AIC library: this includes every song by Alice in Chains, as well as stuff from Mad Season and Jerry Cantrell's two solo albums), or possibly ranking my current favorite games this decade (or my favorites from the 2000s decade).

I thank everyone for their contributions and comments; believe me, your picks were not taken for granted.
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Sounds like you should play SMT games tbqh. Meguro doesn't do the composing for the mainline games iirc, but that doesn't make the music any less great.

And they're just top-tier RPGs to boot.

Good topic, and a worthy winner.
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Aside from the Persona series (which I own all of but the first, Q, and the P4 spinoffs), I own Nocturne, both Digital Devil Sagas, both Devil Summoners, and the first Devil Survivor. Though admittedly, a lot of those were during my "collecting and hardly playing" phase, so I've yet to really try them out (I did play a little bit of Nocturne and the first Devil Summoner and Devil Survivor; while they're solid games, I just never made the time to fully commit to them)
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Ah. Just a matter of making time then, I guess.

Nocturne is probably the hardest of that bunch to get into, offhand.

I had a much easier time getting into Nocturne than I did Digital Devil Saga actually. (which are the only two SMT games I've played outside of Persona)
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Maybe it's just me then. I had a lot of trouble assing myself to play through the first parts of Nocturne. But after I got to Asakusa it was all downhill

Ooh top 5 is definitely the best ive ever done in one of these.
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Yeah I think #14 is the best I've done in a ZeroSignal ranking


I've never played a Metal Gear game before, but cool track. I do think the instrumentals are stronger than the vocals, the vocals don't work for me 100% through the song but it' still really good
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^^
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Now I've gotten second and third place, maybe some day I'll get first.

pyresword posted...

I'm curious, could you tell me roughly where Once We Part Ways would have finished if I had picked that one? That's easily one of my favorites* from the OST, but I think I like it a lot more than most, so I'm curious how it would have done here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npax4EnekZU

After listening to this and looking at my list, this probably would have made top 25 without question, maybe even top 20.
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Well RIP me then.

Oh well at least someone else on the board likes the song!
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