Board 8 > FLAMANDER RANKS VGM ~ (ranking phase)

(+) Yeah! (+)

THIS IS WHERE THE RANKING HAPPENS.

So:

Expect me to be short with words, but vaguely accurate about what a song feels like. If I've actually played the game, then I'll talk about the situation the music plays in. Basically, talking about qualities, but not direct attributes, I guess. I dunno how this whole thing'll turn out though.

I'm not gonna be doing any ranks right now - but keep an eye on this spot.

Tag
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Eye

Tag
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Tag-o-rama.
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Tag
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Same day rankings, now that's service!
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Tag me up.
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A note: I messed up the numbering on the rankings, so when I thought I had 99 songs in the rankings; I actually had 100. This meant that I had 101 songs left with Pyre's song. So, I'm choosing to:

REMOVE: PROJECT S-11 - KENHULL BADLANDS
ADD: UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI - PROUD DUST

to the rankings.

Now...

[RANKING START]

[TIER 10 - THE WASTES]
This is where all of the songs that clash go, or songs that just don't interest me go.

SONG 100
Mario Tennis Open - Star Open Game Point [FBike1 ~ 4/5]

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

The guitar's overpowering. To the detriment of the entirety of the whole song. The second half's... ok, I guess. You probably would have been better off going with the original Mario Tennis version. That version has a clear melody. I like the harpsichord-ish instrument that plays at parts of the song. I'm not much of a sports game fan - even Mario sports, so I don't have a lot of passion for this.

It's weird how both this song and the original were both composed by the same person but this is worse than the original. I feel that might not be on the composition side as much as on the hardware side. I don't think it was mixed very well.

SONGS 99 AND 98

Layers of Fear - Main Theme [Snake5555555555 - 4/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmburHr_7RQ" data-time="

Visage - A Better Place [Snake5555555555 - 3/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LWqfwWPMWA" data-time="

A double pack this time. The thing I dislike about either of these tracks is that they don't have a strong melody. This is literally the opposite of what I want in VGM. They're fitting for the game and situation in the game they play. Visage and Layers of Fear are both horror games.

I guess Layers of Fear is alright on a second listen - but both tracks are very calm and quiet, and it's just not my thing.

tag

SONG 97

Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro - Enter The Webhead [Snake5555555555 - 2/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3THUpIEscM" data-time="

Alright, this one's weird. It's basically a 20-second loop repeated for around 4 times. There's a gritty synthesizer part that I don't like because it sounds vaguely like a zipper; and a hip-hop style voice synth part which I like somewhat, probably because of the beat which works with the bassline. Speaking of the bassline, that's the only element that's consistent throughout the whole song. Sounds vaguely stealthy.

I haven't played this game, though I've likely watched gameplay from it at some point.

SONG 96

The Last Story - Theme of The Last Story [NBIceman - 4/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0i7U_qePGA" data-time="

So following on from the Snake ranks, this is my other dislike. I don't like orchestral tracks. And this is just... bleh. There's nothing really exciting here. Occasionally, it goes into other 'sections' where the beat changes. I don't know a lot about this game. IIRC, it's a Square-Enix game for the Wii, might've been Japan-only?

SONG 95

Dead by Daylight - Unstable [Snake5555555555 - 1/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QjtZget9Gw" data-time="

This reminds of the OST to DOOM a lot. Djent-y guitar sounds. From what I've heard, Dead by Daylight's a multiplayer horror game where one player is the monster, and the rest are the victims. Music fits well enough for that - helping to set a fearful tone for the victim players through dissonant notes in the song. Although I haven't played Dead by Daylight - I guess this probably plays ingame when things are getting bad? The song's good but too simple for my tastes.

Wow I think this is the worst I've ever done.
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Snake5555555555 posted...

Wow I think this is the worst I've ever done.

uhhhh yeah. you've got four songs in tier 10 atm. at least mario tennis beat you to 100 so you're not last.

-
another double pack, just in case anyone doesn't want to listen to song 94
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SONG 94

Hong Kong 97 - Hong Kong 97 Theme [handsomeboy2012 - 2/3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrlJum5u4uE" data-time="

Literally just the same voice sample repeated over and over, and it's not a particularly catchy one. I know of this game because I keep tabs on AVGN, but I dunno anything about it - iirc it's a bootleg.

-

SONG 93

La-Mulana 2 - Dance of Midgard [NBIceman - 3/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3lutlpeaD4" data-time="

Same case as for Mario Tennis goes here. Terrible mixing. It's a shame, because the original La-Mulana has a great OST, and I think that if not for the mixing then it would have been good. I like the melody that plays on the flute instrument. I still need to play this. Think I'm waiting for a discount.

I can't believe Hong Kong 97 beat actual songs.
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Aw man I really like the Last Story main theme.

Of course I said at the beginning our tastes didn't overlap much, but yeah.
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TheArkOfTurus posted...

I can't believe Hong Kong 97 beat actual songs.

Have you listened to the other songs yet? It's believable that it'd get above at least one of them. Also, it's weird you posted, because...

SONG 92

Guardian Heroes - Jazzy Sabotage [TheArkofTurus - 4/5]

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

This is song 92. I feel with this song, there are elements showing up in songs that I start to like. It's got an odd time signature, which I can always appreciate. I feel like the instrumentation isn't the best choice, though; because you have this raw guitar and this mellow warped-sounding organ not really working together. I like the backing melody on the organ at the beginning, but the second half of the song; I don't like. It's just an unimpressive saxophone solo over guitar riffing.

Dang, I normally don't do this badly either.
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Flamander posted...

Have you listened to the other songs yet? It's believable that it'd get above at least one of them.

Yes, and it really isn't.
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TheArkOfTurus posted...

Flamander posted...

Have you listened to the other songs yet? It's believable that it'd get above at least one of them.

Yes, and it really isn't.

fine, I guess it's because we have different tastes in music then. why would you put it last?

I thought I nominated 4 songs? Or was it too similar to another to count

Flamander posted...

why would you put it last?

Pretty much the reason you ranked it low. "Literally just the same voice sample repeated over and over." I'd describe it as downright irritating rather than not particularly catchy, though. I mostly don't see what the songs below it do so egregiously that they'd rank below a bad 5 second vocal loop.
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handsomeboy2012 posted...

I thought I nominated 4 songs? Or was it too similar to another to count

It was the EUIV song which someone else already nominated. Not counting doubles.

Unexpected position for this one ahead.

SONG 91

Gurumin - Bomber Girl [NFUN - 4/5]

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

This sounds like it'd be my sort of thing to begin with, but on second listen; it intersperses a ton of sound effects throughout the song that distract me from the actual song. If those weren't there, this'd probably be in 70-60. Heavy rave. Love the bass. I like how it does a little FM synth section in the middle.

If you must know, those EUIV songs are pretty distinct remixes, but I guess it's too late to change anything now

TheArkOfTurus posted...

Flamander posted...

why would you put it last?

Pretty much the reason you ranked it low. "Literally just the same voice sample repeated over and over." I'd describe it as downright irritating rather than not particularly catchy, though. I mostly don't see what the songs below it do so egregiously that they'd rank below a bad 5 second vocal loop.

Mario Tennis Open - bad mixing. guitar overpowers rest of track. If you listen to original game point from Mario Tennis, you'll see what I mean.
The Last Story - it's more that I like Hong Kong 97 more than this. I like repetitive motifs in my music, although Hong Kong isn't all that catchy. It's alright, I guess.
Snake's noms - personal taste, don't like calmer music. Spiderman nom had half the track have a weird synth. Dead by Daylight's alright, which is why it's under Hong Kong 97. I could have swapped them.

handsomeboy2012 posted...

If you must know, those EUIV songs are pretty distinct remixes, but I guess it's too late to change anything now

It was hard for me to tell. I don't play Paradox games. Anyways, you're right.

Last place get! <3
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[WASTES LAST SONG]

SONG 90

Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday - Ruins of Atlantis [Cloyenne - 4/5]

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

I like this song. Lots of repeating motifs. There's one thing that ruins it for me - there's one motif which sounds annoying - sort of a spiraling glockenspiel noise. Not great. This plays a lot in the first minute, then not at all after that. However, the song loops twice, so that influenced how I saw it. The water noises in the background sound like a tap's running. Licensed game for SNES. I haven't even heard of this game before now - first pick I'd define as good. Eccoish.

Flamander posted...

personal taste, don't like calmer music.

sounds like i made a good call in avoiding some of the slower "sad vn piano" type songs i was considering as well as some calmer vocal stuff.

*proceeds to get eliminated for ironic effect*
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I'm ranking Glacier's list as it goes as well. If anyone else does, feel free to post their list here or on the discord and I'll stick it in a spreadsheet later for a mini group ranking.

My provisional rankings:

La-Mulana 2 - Dance of Midgard
Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro - Enter The Webhead
Layers of Fear - Main Theme
The Last Story - Theme of The Last Story
Guardian Heroes - Jazzy Sabotage
Visage - A Better Place
Gurumin - Bomber Girl
Hong Kong 97 - Hong Kong 97 Theme
Dead by Daylight - Unstable
Mario Tennis Open - Star Open Game Point
Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday - Ruins of Atlantis

I kinda like the LM2 song but I agree the OST is considerably weaker than LM1's overall and that part of that is the mixing. Spiderman 2 and Layers of Fear songs are pretty cool. Don't blow me away, but I like 'em. Last Story is okay. I talked about it in mine. Jazzy Sabotage is really interesting - probably the most unique on the list, but also too overbearing for my tastes. Visage is just there.

Bomber Girl is weeeeird, too weird, but close to being something I really like. Hong Kong is actually kinda catchy but also pretty stupid. Something about how Unstable sounds grates on me, but I wanted to like it. Mario Tennis has atrocious mixing and is a worse version of an older song, but said older song is so good that it stops it being truly bad. Ruins of Atlantis is boring to me and has a LOT of little things which bug me.
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I feel like the only person on the internet that prefers LM2's music over the original...
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[TIER 9 - CAVES]

as a note: not all tiers are equal, some may have less or more songs than others

SONG 89

SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN - TWO-TORIAL [Prody [2/3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7r7LcB6LCA" data-time="

The first part of this song has a weird sweeping synth that I don't like. I like the drums. Parts of the song I do like: The intro. The middle part's probably my favorite part of the whole song - reminds me of B.B.K.K.B.K.K. then the last segment's sort of eh.

This song is from the SDVX rhythm game series by Konami which I haven't played - but I know has a lot of bangers, so I listen to on a regular basis. Thanks, even if it's a song I might not have necessarily entirely liked.

SONG 88

Octopath Traveler - Battle At Journey's End [Hombad - 4/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C0U7bp0-X0" data-time="

There's some melodies in here that I like, but unfortunately, this feels like generic JRPG battle music. And having heard a lot of JRPG battle music, this is definitely middling. I like the part starting around 2:56. A lot of this is long sweeping brass and string melodies - epic, fitting for a big battle in a jrpg. Not my thing, but I can appreciate when it's really well done. It isn't really well done here, unfortunately, it's just well done.

I haven't played Octopath Traveler - but I have played Bravely Default, a previous game in the Bravely 'series' that Square Enix produces. It was pretty good, but it's long, so I didn't finish it. I liked the job system.

SONG 87

YS I & II - Feena [UF8 - 4/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8NEF9Z7Bjo" data-time="

I think... this is literally the worst Koshiro track you could have picked for me. Anything else. Streets of Rage. Actraiser. The Scheme. Sorcerian. Etrian Odyssey. I listened to some of the other tracks from this and they were good too. I could have stood to put this song down a couple ranks. Orchestral, plus it's ambient, plus it has a random interlude that I can't understand. It's pretty good justification.

I think the only reason it's this high to begin with is because it's Yuzo.

Ys is good but I haven't played it. It's a sidescrolling Action RPG series by Falcom. Has a long legacy over many consoles and computer systems.

SONG 86

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and The Lost Ocean - Bellflower [Cloyenne - 2/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dFB8ns-r-c" data-time="

All I can think without listening to the track is that it was fairly guitar heavy...? Going to take another listen for accuracy. Yeah, I was right. Calm, guitar track. It's alright. I haven't played Baten Kaitos and my only knowledge of it is through Smash. Intricate - I like that. Has claps at one point. Nice.

Also I just realized Cloyenne had 4 noms now, cause I messed up earlier with the numbering. So they should have 2 here.

Wow, snake, 4 in the bottom 6 is a new low.
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SONG 85

Virtue's Last Reward - Blue Bird Lamentation [Hombad - 3/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFJ1r6_4mW4" data-time="

This is an orchestral track that's actually pretty good. I don't like the underlying chime motif - although the composition of its nice, I don't like the instrument chosen for it. As the song progresses, I like the backing - it starts at around 1:30ish and goes into another melody interacting with the chime motif to create something slow and dramatic. That part I do like. I feel there's too much time where the chimes are just on it's own.

I haven't played VLR so I don't know where this plays - I know 999 though, and this is a sequel to that. It's probably good - it's just that like Danganronpa I haven't gotten around to looking at later installments. It'll happen eventually.

SONG 84 [LAST SONG IN CAVES]

Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link - Archive Deletion [Raetsel_Lapin - 4/5]

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

I just had to do a re-sorting of the next two tiers because I noticed this song was in a bad position. Then I noticed a lot of other songs were in bad positions. Anyhow - this is orchestral. It's alright - listenable, but nothing I'd really like. There's ominous chanting in the background. Reminds me of Ace Combat.

This is a Gundam game. There's a ton of Gundam games. I don't know this one - but I've played a Gundam version of Dynasty Warriors once on Xbox 360. It was good, but I guess musou's not my thing?

NOTE: I just realized I didn't put a description of Tier 9 songs - so I guess I'll do a retrospective here. These songs were songs that were generally alright to listen to in the background, but boring. Some contained a few elements that interested me {Blue Bird Lamentation, TWO-TORIAL}, while some just didn't connect with me {Feena, Archive Deletion}.

There's Mosou Gundam game? Guess there are more warriors games than I thought

handsomeboy2012 posted...

There's Mosou Gundam game? Guess there are more warriors games than I thought

There's at least three Mosou Gundam games, in fact.
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MC_XD posted...

handsomeboy2012 posted...

There's Mosou Gundam game? Guess there are more warriors games than I thought

There's at least three Mosou Gundam games, in fact.

Yep! I've played the entire trilogy, though they kinda blur together... I don't recall much reason to go back to the older ones if you had the chance to play 3. They were fun, but I seem to recall the third game being super grindy? Something where I had to build relationships with all the pilots and it felt like it was taking forever?

Still above average for Gundam games and nothing else was being localized at the time, so if you wanted a Gundam game in English, you basically had to take it. Things are slightly better these days; America at least got Gundam VS & New Breaker, and you can import an English version of G Generation Genesis (strategy RPG).

...of course VS is overwhelmingly hostile to new players, New Gundam Breaker wasn't any good, and GGG was prohibitively expensive due to being an obscure import RPG. Still, ya know, progress.



I agree with Archive Deletion being the weakest of my nominations; I'm not typically a fan of songs that try too hard to be epic, but those types of songs tend to be popular with other people and I really wanted to nominate something Gundam related, so I rolled with it anyway.
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[TIER 8 - VOLCANO]

A part two to Tier 9, Tier 8 is the last tier before we start to get songs I might like. Basically expect everything I said about Tier 9 but more - I guess.

SONG 83

The Legend Of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter - Silver Will (Super Arrange) [NBIceman - 2/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8x6NUuZR5I" data-time="

Ehhhhhhhh. So basically everything I felt about Octopath Traveler's song applies here. It feels generic and JRPG-y to me - long violin notes, except for the orchestra hits about two and a half minutes in, which I really liked. I'm aware of the Trails in the Sky series. Haven't played it.

play it
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SONG 82

Iridion 3D - Asteroid Belt [FBike1 - 3/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8rfqudi8mc" data-time="

Is it weird that I like the music to the sequel, but not this game? The bass is too repetitive for my liking and there's a longish synth section at 0:50. Apart from that, the sound's good, mixing's good. I like the synth loops before the 0:50 section. This upload goes on for far too long. Also, it reminds me of Tyrian.

The only reason I know Iridion is through looking for good OSTs. Iridion II is good stuff.

SONG 81

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge - Praying Hands [UF8 - 3/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6mftPOyQX0" data-time="

I expected this to be good when it started. Shame it went into a weird bass riff and an ascending lead melody. It's alright, I just wanted something different. There are other tracks from this, like Ripe Seeds or New Messiah, that are better imo. This feels lukewarm.

I haven't played Belmont's Revenge, know the OST. Has an awesome Bach cover.

NFUN posted...

play it

i only buy games when they're discounted

SONG 80

killer7 - Sweet Relief [Cloyenne - 1/4]

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

Sounds like a techno track but with piano. Vaguely Sonic Heroes-ish. It's weird cause I like Danganronpa and No More Heroes in terms of Masafumi Takada. This is really calm and not really what I like and associate with him. Later on, a good shuffly beat kicks in. That helps keep this song up.

killer7 is a rail shooter for Gamecube. I watched a lets play of it. I get the feeling that it's a game you have to experience firsthand to really get into. It's got a good artstyle.

SONG 79

Blue Reflection - TIGAR -Otto- [xp1337 - 4/5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYtaxLM0F60" data-time="

I got a feeling that I might be disappointing people with this one. This track is a mix of piano and synths - the composition isn't that great, except there's a section from 0:30 to 1:00 that I absolutely love; so it's basically got to go above all the other orchestral tracks I could get less into so far. So 30 to 100. Heavy bass at the beginning, then breakbeat mixed with bass till then. It's cool and the only part I like.

Blue Reflection is a Gust game, that I think might be an RPG. I haven't listened to the OST.