Board 8 > [VGMC] d54: Has to Be/Limit Break, blackstarlight/ steelchambers, Gokinjo/Raging

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to today's topic for Video Game Music Contest 13, a tournament of the best tracks from games, as decided upon by you, the voters.

Links:
Bracket - http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=471679
Contest info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17rEeB1_oYWgryWzIxOaZXw2a381gKGnMegjHCG_2OTQ
Discussion and results thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77672812
Bracket playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1RF28glW72G6s_5M1e4kcSxR

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Rules:

- Listen to both of the songs. Links have conveniently been provided for both songs. Even if Song A is your favorite of all-time and Song B is from a series you hate... Listen. To. Both. (If I have suspicions your vote is not based on a fair and impartial preference, it will be disqualified.)
- Obvious contest rules apply (no alts, one vote per person, no rallying, etc.).
- Please make your voting options clear, rather than burying them in text.
- Each set of matches lasts 24 hours, even if the new one isnt up by then.
- Always vote on the versions of the song provided, not versions from different sources.
- If you know ahead of time that you're not going to be around and you want to vote in advance, post your choices in the discussion/bracket topic.
- Please do NOT post tallies/score updates in the middle of the match, as this has a tendency to directly influence matches.
- You don't have to vote in all the matches, but it'd be cool if you did!

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Match 1:

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - It Has to Be This Way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxq_B2KPQDY" data-time="

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius - Break the Limit

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

Match 2:

Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoCurvz2DTc" data-time="

Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za0GHrE4WIM" data-time="

Match 3:

Gokinjo Boukentai - Battle

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

Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-vu538_4Po" data-time="

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Easy vote form:
It Has to Be This Way / Break the Limit
blackstarlight / steelchambers2
Battle / The End of the Raging Waves

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Song lyric trivia: I see your star, you left it burning for me. (Build that wall and build it strong cause) Mother, I'm here. (We'll be there before too long) Eyes open wide. (I dig my hole you build a wall) Feel your heart it's glowing. (I dig my hole you build a wall) I welcome home, sweet home. (One day that wall is go

Break the Limit
steelchambers2
Battle
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It Has To Be This Way
-
Battle

trivia: setting sail coming home or build that wall or something bastion
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
Battle
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
Battle

Break the Limit!
steelchambers2
Battle

Break the Limit
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves

Break the Limit
blackstarlight
The End of the Raging Waves
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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - It Has to Be This Way
Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight
Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves

Continuing the trend where I'm pretty positive on 3/4 of the songs in the fourpack. Which is good news for the song I don't care much for apparently!
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - It Has to Be This Way
Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight
Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves
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It Has to Be This Way
Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight
The End of the Raging Waves

LOVE todays songs. 9/10 day
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Break
black
Battle

It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves
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Break the Limit
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves

Break the Limit
steelchambers2
Battle

Both songs in the middle match are great, though one's a Rank #8-10 tier and the other's a Rank #11-13 tier for me
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It Has To Be This Way
blackstarlight
Battle

Battle > blackstarlight > It Has To Be This Way > Break The Limit > The End of the Raging Waves > steelchambers2

Break The Limit's gotten old enough for me that I think IHTBTW is better because it doesn't get old after loads of listens. I think it's like Snake Eater for me where the vocals are a massive bonus to the song.
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Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius - Break the Limit
Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight
Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves

Literally everything today deserves to retire. No rankings because everything here is stupidly close (would rank IHTBTW at the bottom though). Changing my tiebreaker vote.
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Break the
steelchambers
Battle
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2

It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
Battle
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Break the Limit
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves
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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - It Has to Be This Way
Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight
Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves

MATCH 1

Break the Limit is good, but It Has to Be This Way is my favorite song in Bracket C, so this is a pretty easy match to decide.

MATCH 2

This match is even easier to decide. blackstarlight is very good, and I don't really care for steelchambers2 much at all.

It Has to Be This Way > End of the Raging Waves > blackstarlight > Battle = Break the Limit >> steelchambers2

Nice and easy matches today! And with some pretty good songs featured as well (except for steelchambers2, sorry).

It Has to Be This Way
blackstarlight
The End of the Raging Waves



Second match is a lot closer for me than I expected. I wasn't a big fan of steelchambers2 when this started, but it's beginning to grow on me.
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47. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - It Has to Be This Way (4.5) (over Passion)

vs.

41. Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius - Break the Limit (5) (for icicle, Mining Melancholy)

I've never really been a big fan of what I've heard of the Revengeance soundtrack. It reminds me of a more polished, less overtly cheesy Crush 40 (whom I also don't care for), but without any of the fun wink-nodding. I can't tell if it takes itself super seriously or not, but that's certainly how It Has to Be This Way presents itself, and I'm not really interested in hearing melodramatic vocals and over-the-top rock. This would likely get a lower rating if I rerated it today.

Break the Limit I ranked in my ranking topic! I still don't love it and think it runs out of ideas pretty quickly, but what it does do is enough to easily earn my vote.

and

6. Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight (9) (over Lifelight, Blue Skies)

vs.

1. Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2 (10) (over Romun Empire, With their fingers entwined)

It feels like every single song I rated above a 7 is up against another song I rated above a 7. :/

blackstarlight is zts solidly in Umineko form, delivering a hard punch of an electronic piece that's like giving birth to a sea urchin. Very cool find.

On the other hand, steelchambers2 is my favorite song left in the contest! I'm amazed it's still in, given how the rest of my nominations have gone. It's a journey of a song across some awesome Amigs instrumentation. From the first chime-like and echoing effects to the roller coaster of a middle section, it never stops doing interesting things. I'm very pleased people liked it enough to vote it to round three.

and

31. Gokinjo Boukentai - Battle (6.5) (over A. Rene)

vs.

52. Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves (3.5) (for The Darkness Crawling)

Same as their first match. Jazzy and fun SNES/SFC normally trumps orchestral rock. It certainly does here.

Votes:
Break the Limit
steelchambers2
Battle

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius - Break the Limit
Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2
Gokinjo Boukentai - Battle

Round 2 is a huge flip for me. I'm gonna echo Raetsel and say that this is growing on me a lot, where blackstarlight is starting to wane. EDM dark fantasy music seems to hit on a lot of the same beats--might put ENDYMION in that bubble what with its psuedo-baroque influences. I think I was first attracted to the all the glitchy stuff that goes on throughout, but aside from that it really doesn't have much else to offer. Syncopated part at 0:42 is cool, not enough to edge the vote though.

Oh and song trivia is: Bastion - Setting Sail, Coming Home
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Break the Limit
steelchambers2
Battle

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius - Break the Limit
Mashiro Witch - blackstarlight

Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves
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In this world, you're either a B person or you're an anti-B person. All you B people can get outta here!

It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves
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Break the Limit
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves

dramatic one-liners

bad grammar

tiebreaker

not transistor
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It Has to Be This Way
blackstarlight
The End of the Raging Waves

All great songs today - feel bad voting against Break the Limit, but in the end...
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Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius - Break the Limit
Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2
Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves
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Break the Limit
blackstarlight
Battle

kaonashi1 posted...

Break the Limit
blackstarlight
Battle

Mycro and UF8 get a pass for posting before me, but...
azuarc posted...

All you B people can get outta here!

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Break the Limit
steelchambers2
Battle

It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
Battle
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Break the Limit
blackstarlight
Battle
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Break the Limit
-
Battle

middle match has easily the two best songs today and i can't decide between them
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
Battle

It Has to Be This Way
blackstarlight
The End of the Raging Waves

Great day.

Match 1:

IHTBTW reminds me a little bit of Linkin Park or one of those classic 2000's rock bands, which is good. This match is really tough as well. Quality rises and rises with each passing Round, as it should be. Break the Limit is probably melodically more complex, but IHTBTW sounds a little bit more effective, I think.

Match 2:

Battle of the songs with words attached to each other and in all lowercase!

steelchambers2 doesn't actually get good until after 2:35 kicks in, which really works against it. Meanwhile, blackstarlight has a good rave since early on, even if it's a little aggressive and has some parts that aren't really too interesting.

Tiebreaker:

Die, monster! You don't belong in this round!

Okay, so I've got to admit maybe my inherent disliking for Gokinjo is not because of the actual song, as it's a nicely crafted 16-bit song, but rather because of its overratedness (and maybe I still can't get over the fact that it completely destroyed Jenova Absolute last contest [like, what the heck?]). I thought it was just a funny meme at first, until I eventually realized people genuinely appreciated it, and finally I've kind of grown to appreciate it a little more now.

Either way, I still don't think it's anything exceptional, so this match-up is quite easy as I also didn't expect (nor remembered) the Etrian Odyssey song to sound that good, since it's a rather satisfying rock song and I haven't really had any experience with Etrian Odyssey past the "meh" status.

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This was a really hard yet oddly a very fun and satisfying day for rankings.

whiteastrodark > Classic 2000's Rock Song > The Beginning of the Calm Sea > metalroomstwo > Limit the Break >>>> Jokin'-yo
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It Has to Be This Way
steelchambers2
Battle
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B
s
T

Will: It Has to Be This Way > blackstarlight (maybe??)
Want: Break the Limit! < steelchambers2
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It Has to Be This Way
blackstarlight
Battle

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius - Break the Limit
Pinball Fantasies - steelchambers2
Etrian Odyssey V - The End of the Raging Waves
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Break the Limit
steelchambers2
The End of the Raging Waves

It Has to Be This Way
blackstarlight
The End of the Raging Waves
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