Board 8 > FL81 ranks VGM (ranking phase)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Nominator/nomination list: https://pastebin.com/SDNZqDmw
Nomination playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGI-vEs5ZGOHhrqo4KDrx7OIxDf_Tiuvs
+ one bandcamp link https://zirconstudios.bandcamp.com/track/dead-neon-hell-city

Here it is, my VGM ranking topic! After mulling over the list for several days, I finally have them all ranked in order of preference, how much I like each song in comparison to everything else. I should've probably posted this a couple days earlier, but work and a sleepless night held me back until today, so sorry about that.

Anyways, I'm glad I finally managed to do one of these. I've felt like I've just lurked here for too long, and now that we have some new faces around here and the overall hype for VGM-related topics is at a high, I want to get more heavily involved in B8's video game music community, so I figured this would be the best way. Still, I feel like my tastes are more-or-less already well known enough around here, since there weren't very many songs I'd consider bad nominated at all!

Predictions welcome!

Shoutouts to @NFUN and @MC_XD be sure to check out their VGM ranking too!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76604255 (nearing end of nomination phase)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76833413 (currently ranking the songs)
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And without further ado, here is our LAST PLACE WINNER!!!!

#120 Omikron: The Nomad Soul - Training Room
Nominator: TheArkOfTurus (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL3_Hu6nHRU" data-time="

Starting off the list is this song, a track from a game I've never heard of before, and if luck is on my side I'll never hear of it again. The first half of this song is pretty unremarkable, with a repetitive guitar and drum track going on with incoherent mumbling. Nothing here is particularly memorable, but I mean it's not really that terr-

OH GOD these vocals, make them stop!! In a way, it's almost impressive that they were able to find someone with a voice that so perfectly encapsulates the essence of nails being dragged against a chalkboard, and then distort the audio even further so that it sounds like my washing machine after I've loaded with too many of my dirty clothes. There are tracks that are "so bad they're good", but this one is just "so bad". I'll give it points for the humor factor, but I don't want to subject myself to listening to this song any more than I have to. Fortunately, this is only one minute long. Congratulations!

dickbutt joe biden
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Phew. I was actually somewhat scared when you were talking in Discord about one song you really hated, because I could see one of my songs (the Hat in Time one) being really grating to the wrong person.

Also dear god that writeup. I'm actually looking forward to hearing the song when I get home now
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Always look forward to these ^__^
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While still on the topic of incoherent mumbling, this brings us to our next song!
#119 Neverhood - Neverhood Theme
Nominator: NFUN (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv43DV6i01g" data-time="

I imagine that within the context of this game, this could be seen as a fun song an NFUN song hehe, but to me it's just a cacophony of instrumentation and mad rambling, being mildly tolerable at best and obnoxiously loud at worst. Objectively speaking, I probably ranked this one too low, but this doesn't fit with my taste in music at all, and can't really find much enjoyment out of this one. When first listening to my list, this early on song (3rd nominated) stood out and for the better half of my listen, I wasn't expecting to find anything worse (until I did!)

neverhood more like never good
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Oh yes
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Contemplating Klaymen
Clitton Klatton Klogg
We behold it's Hoborg
Big Robot Bill is odd
The Clockwork Beast
And Frenchy guy
Are with them
Hard to see Crit Unit A
Oh what a day!
He joins Crit Unit B
At the Neverhood
The Neverhood
The Neverhood
K-K-K-K-Klaymen
K-K-K-K-Klogg
Ho ho ho ho Hoborg
Big Robot Bil is odd
C-C-C-C-Clockwork Beast
F-F-Frenchy, gee
Crit Unit A
Oh what the hey!
He joins Crit Unit B
At the Neverhood
Hey ho
Hey ho
Hey ho
K-K-K-K-Klaymen
K-K-Klinton, Klogg
What's it? Oh it's Hoborg
Big Robot Bil is odd
The Clockwork Beast
That Frenchy Guy guy is with them, honestly
Crit Unit A
Oh what the hey
He joins Crit Unit B
At the Neverhood
The Neverhood
The Neverhood
K-K-K-K-Klaymen
K-K-K-K-Klogg
Ha ha ha ha Hoborg
Big Robot Bil is odd
C-C-C-C-Clockwork Beast
That frenchy Frenchy, gee
Crit Unit A
Oh what the hey
They join Crit Unit B
At the Neverhood
The Neverhood
The Neverhood
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#118 beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem - Shakunetsu Beach Side Bunny
Nominator: Janus5k (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PDvwvkZBk" data-time="

Next up is Shakunetsu Beach Side Bunny, the first song I'm assuming to not explicitly be a joke nomination! In this song we have a loud high-pitched whistle instrument, HEY HEY HEY HEY, techno sounds, and a trumpet thrown in there somewhere too. And not much else. My biggest gripe with this is that damned whistle. Honestly it's too high pitched and just gets on my nerves. This would be a bit better if the song threw in some more variety, but it's too repetitive on a few sour notes that just don't sit well with me. This song might fit in well in a volleyball game or something, I dunno...
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We're out of the actively terrible songs, and now onto the songs I'm personally not fond of for whatever reason!

#117 Shin Megami Tensei IV - Tokyo
Nominator: rwlh (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDsDYCI3fyc" data-time="

Here's a slow song, perhaps befitting one's night with nothing much to do in a big city (like Tokyo!) Unfortunately, I'm pretty finicky when it comes to slow songs, much prefering the sad, melodramatic piano style. This song is pretty atmospheric, not really feeling like it'd fit for much of anything outside of background ambiance, it's just kind of there. Overall, I'd just say it's another dull and inoffensive song, one I'd probably forget not long after listening to.
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#116 Persona 3 Portable - Time
Nominator: OrangeCrush980 (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfaPQibemwE" data-time="

Well, this one should come as no surprise to those who know my taste. Persona has always been that one super-popular series whose music I never could get into no matter how much I try, and this song isn't much different. Maybe it's the prevalence of all the vocal songs, which tend to be really hit or miss for me. This song is pretty chill, but the vocals are a bit off-putting and the instrumentation is nothing special. Like the previous song, it's not really exciting enough to get my interest, but doesn't have the feel to it that would really get me into what's going on here. It's an easy listening song though, I'll give it that much.
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This song is the one reason I'm sad I gave up on my time-themed list halfway through tbh.

Also wtf this song is great.
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I wish I liked Persona music more!
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Tag
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Ah, so you're just like azuarc when it comes Persona
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I see Lavender Town is listed as "Pokemon Red/Green" even though I would definitely have written "Pokemon RBY."
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Anagram posted...

I see Lavender Town is listed as "Pokemon Red/Green" even though I would definitely have written "Pokemon RBY."

I listed it as such since the YT description has it listed as the "original Japanese version", assuming there's any difference at all.
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#115 Outlast - First Chase
Nominator: Snake5555555555 (55555/55555)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89CnsFeJh3o" data-time="

Ah yes, Survival Horror music. I feel bad for ranking this one so low because I just know this would fit in perfectly within the context of its own game. And to be fair, this song has that really creepy "being chased" feel to it. That being said, I don't think I would listen to this song on its own, and independently from its game of origin I don't feel like this song holds up. Like, I can't really see myself doing something like driving and thinking to myself "You know what would really make this interesting? Let's put on some survival horror music!" It'd probably put me into a panic attack or something. >_>
But yeah, song itself is pretty repetitive and out-of-context repetition in songs needs to be really catchy for me to hold it in high regard.
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FL81 posted...

I listed it as such since the YT description has it listed as the "original Japanese version", assuming there's any difference at all.

None, I just thought it was funny.
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tag
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#114 Hitman: Blood Money - Invasion on the Mississippi River
Nominator: Snake5555555555 (4/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21VqM7dVap0" data-time="

This is the kind of music I'd expect to hear when your character is stealthily doing stealthy things in the dark (stealthfully). Not much to say here, as there isn't very much going on to begin with. This is definitely another "works-in-context atmospheric track", but as is and in comparison to the other songs on this list, it feels kinda "just there". Scary assassin, spooky strings! I guess it all just boils down to me prefering VGM for its own sake rather than VGM that tries to accomplish something for its setting (although if it can do both, even better!)
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Tag
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#113 Final Fantasy X - A Contest of Aeons
Nominator: barreldragon88 (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjpc3A4a0yc" data-time="

Here's a track I should like a lot more than I actually do! It's powerful and symphonic, pumped full of energy and ready to take on the world! The reason I'm not fond of this is its instrumentation, or rather more accurately, how the instrumentation is used. Strings and horns are really nice and can make a song sound "epic", but not so much when they're blasted at full volume for six minutes straight with little variation and drowning out anything else going on in the song. Maybe make the song a bit shorter and throw in some quiet parts to balance it out a bit, but this track is tiring more than anything else.

(I've always been a much bigger fan of the Uematsu tracks)
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:*(
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Training Room was so terrible that it caused me to develop Stockholm Syndrome, and now I kind of love it? Last place is where it belongs, but it's first in my heart. My warped, warped heart.

If you don't know about Omikron, it's worth noting that David Bowie was heavily involved in the creation of the soundtrack!
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TheArkOfTurus posted...

Training Room was so terrible that it caused me to develop Stockholm Syndrome, and now I kind of love it? Last place is where it belongs, but it's first in my heart. My warped, warped heart.

If you don't know about Omikron, it's worth noting that David Bowie was heavily involved in the creation of the soundtrack!

That's what SiIvaGunner did to me
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TheArkOfTurus posted...

If you don't know about Omikron, it's worth noting that David Bowie was heavily involved in the creation of the soundtrack!

what is this I don't even
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#112 Super Street Fighter II - T Hawk theme
Nominator: NowItsAngeTime (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjrsY4Wsmss" data-time="

Capcom has made some pretty great soundtracks, particularly from the Mega Man and Street Fighter series. Now for what it's worth, I've never played much of SF so I don't know their soundtracks too well, but from what I've heard they're pretty good (e.g. Ken's Theme and Guile's Theme). This track, on the other hand, ehhhhhhhhh
It has that cool Capcom SNES soundfont in it, but the song feels really flat. There's not much excitement going on, which is pretty crucial for a fighting game. I'd probably pick a different stage in this game just so I could listen to something else. I'm not even sure what kind of atmosphere this is going for either. It's okay, but slightly below average.
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T stands for Tony
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ProkhorZakharov posted...

T stands for Tony

man Tony Hawk Pro Skater music just doesn't have that same oomph anymore
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Time is a great song! =(

(tag)
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I'm late, but tag

#111 Spyro: Year of the Dragon - Spooky Swamp
Nominator: GavsEvans123 (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bldoyKjN1F8" data-time="

This is exactly the kind of song I would expect from a western-developed 3D platformer for the PS1 released in 2000. I imagine this song would have a lot of the nostalgia factor going for it, but I've never actually played Spyro! With that being said, this song doesn't sound particularly Spooky or Swampy to me. Also, what's with all the haiku comments on this YouTube video? I feel like I'm being left out of the loop somehow.
Anyways, back to the song. It's simple, it's repetitive, and it gets the job done. It's not particularly great, but it works.

All the songs after this point are at least a 5/10 for me, as far as preferences go.
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#110 Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Voiceless
Nominator: Zyxyz0 (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkun-83JvF8" data-time="

Umineko has one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time, if not being my #1 favorite. This track, while I recognize it, I couldn't tell you where exactly in the game it played off the top of my head, and this track never really stood out to me in comparison to the rest of the game's soundtrack, even when comparing it to the other slow, melancholy atmospheric tracks this game has to offer. This is actually the first track I feel legitimately bad for ranking so low, since it isn't bad at all. I really like the atmosphere this song gives off, but I don't know what I'd rank it above.

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FL81 posted...

Also, what's with all the haiku comments on this YouTube video? I feel like I'm being left out of the loop somehow.

Every level in Spyro 2 and 3 has their own set/species of NPCs. Spooky Swamp's NPCs all talk in haiku.

Also I'm sad about #111 and #110. I like both. Well, 111 more-so.
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#109 Silent Hill 2 - True
Nominator: Snake5555555555 (3/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDKx1Rp1yAA" data-time="

Silent Hill is another one of those popular series I never could get into as far as its music is concerned. This one is pretty decent though (I prefer it to the one that always finds its way into the VGMC), and I like how chill this is. The strings that show up halfway through the song are nice too. Again, it's another not-particularly-exciting atmospheric song (I've been particularly harsh on these, haven't I?), but I do kinda like the simplistic instrumentation used here and how it all pulls itself together into this song.
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#108 Fire Emblem: Awakening - Chaos (Ablaze)
Nominator: barreldragon88 (4/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x8J-c4cVec" data-time="

This song gives me much of the same feeling that A Contest of Aeons gave me. The difference here being, I feel like this song managed to get that hectic, chaotic feeling down a whole lot better, all the while throwing in more stylistic variation later on in the song to keep things interesting. This drags on for quite a while, and in "sense of urgency" songs that's not really a good thing, I would have prefered this kept short and sweet. Still there's a lot about this song that I do like, orchestral is always a plus and that part around 2:14 into the song is neat.
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I'm a bit surprised at True dropping this early, I don't consider it a purely atmospheric track myself. I think there's a bit more going on with it emotionally that separates it from a few other songs on the OST.
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#107 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - Nemesis Final Metamorphosis
Nominator: Snake5555555555 (2/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5TJGyhsP8Y" data-time="

I like those dark synth instruments and the percussion there going on in the background, it has that late '90s VGM feel similar to the Perfect Dark and Goldeneye soundtracks. It's a little cheesy sounding, but in the good way if that makes any sense. Like, it fits in well with the Resident Evil aesthetic of how you're always killing "horror movie" monsters. Overall, the song itself doesn't stand out much to me so it's ranked a bit low, but there's nothing really bad with this one, I kinda like this.
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tag
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Wow True is pretty great.
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#106 Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bse - Sweet Song
Nominator: OrangeCrush980 (4/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uk023CZcXI" data-time="

Here's a song I actually really like. It has a nice composition and instrumentation, but my one qualm is with the lead vocals. I'm probably just being a bit nitpicky here, but it sounds, I dunno, off somehow. Right when I'm getting into the groove of this song, the vocals show up and distract me from everything else that's going on here. Maybe if I keep listening to it, it'll grow on me some more, and it already has a bit. Otherwise, pretty good song, might rank it considerably higher if I were to revisit it in a year. There've been plenty of vocal VGM I've instantly written off on first listen, then when hearing it again a while later, loved it (e.g. Face of Fact)
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Immediately going from the game with the longest title to the track with the longest title
#105 Uwabami Breakers - It's definitely okay!! No matter how much you drink, tomorrow will come!!.
Nominator: UF8 (5/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbPq6Lgc6Xo" data-time="

Ah yes, Uwabami Breakers, that one game that ZUN had involvement in that wasn't Touhou. If this were the track he wrote for this game, it'd be ranked a lot higher.
This track and its overly long-winded title has a cheery upbeat feel to it, quite catchy too! This has that amateurish sound production, as is to be expected from the doujin game scene, but that in itself has its own charm. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for these kind of works (I'd imagine others would rank this song closer to the bottom). Not much going on here, just happy no-care-in-the-world drinking music. It's definitely okay!!
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Wow. I really love Sweet Song. It's just so... wonderfully mournful and Yuki Kajiura in one.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish the singer were a more native speaker, but still. It's sad to see it go out this early.

(Also someone had a longer title than me what)
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As of these last couple of songs, we're now into the high 5/10 low 6/10 territory

Songs that are decent, that I like more than I dislike
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#104 Claire - You're Safe Now I
Nominator: Snake5555555555 (1/5)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUpVzxuajVw" data-time="

This one starts out with a mellow piano that continues throughout the song, gradually adding elements that give it an ethereal sound. Later on, some of these elements get a bit repetitive (like that wind/breath sound), but I could see this working as maybe nighttime background music in a game. This style of music (Silent Hill-esque melancholy/horror sound) has never really been a favorite of mine, as you all can probably tell, but within this style, I'll say I prefer this to anything from the genre I've heard before. I didn't really have any expectations going into this song, but I'm pleasantly surprised, just a little bit!

And with that, our first player is ELIMINATED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6gGcrjDmec" data-time="
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