Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 1! One Final Effort v Ink Long Dry, LastPandemic v Original LoZ Title

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Page List: 1, 2
azuarc
03/29/20 10:00:01 PM
#1:


VGMC is here! How excited are you?










Welcome to today's topic for Video Game Music Contest 14, a tournament of the best tracks from games, as decided upon by you, the voters.

Links:
Bracket - http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=473292
Contest info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VNrPnFRI7nJ4PqFiURBW0NWqxvXiuasoq8Sn_O169ss/edit#gid=320804650
Discussion and results thread -
Bracket playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1REnVI_W6yELaDP6Zac8b0Wq

.

Rules:
- Listen to both of the songs. Links have conveniently been
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Hbthebattle
03/29/20 10:00:53 PM
#2:


One Final Effort
Title
End of All (Land)
---
Patience.
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Arti
03/29/20 10:00:55 PM
#3:


Final Fantasy XIV - Ink Long Dry
The Legend of Zelda - Title
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 8 - Ricordando il Passato

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DireKrow
03/29/20 10:04:12 PM
#4:


One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato
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GameBopAdv
03/29/20 10:10:37 PM
#5:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic

really don't feel like doing write ups for everything this time but I'll comment on 2nd match here, I'm voting for vocals already wow. Zelda title is slow NES that doesn't even loop that well so it just basically barely comes out to "okay" for me. The dark mechanical way Last Pandemic starts is much more interesting & more my style, however the singing from about 1:00 - 1:25 goes so against what I want so much that it's -almost- enough for me to switch to the Zeld. But the stronger parts of it ultimately prevail over "okay"
don't feel like voting toc today

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PIayer_0
03/29/20 10:16:48 PM
#6:


VGMC day 1 hype! I didn't listen to the songs yet, just wanted to say that I'm very excited for this year's contest! We've gotten a lot of new people to help shake up the field, and everyone was able to better coordinate their supports on their favourite songs thanks to the lock deadline. I'm also intrigued by how the new wildcard system will play out - hope everyone has a good contest and may the retirement odds be ever in your favour...

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missadelyn
03/29/20 10:29:31 PM
#7:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
Ricordando il Passato

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hi hi! ~ zoom on discord
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Raetsel_Lapin
03/29/20 10:31:43 PM
#8:


One Final Effort
Title
End of All (Land)
---
The moon! Turn it on its head. Reality's a lie.
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SuperNiceDog
03/29/20 10:31:53 PM
#9:


Halo 3 - One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato (Chiru)


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SuperNiceChao about to win the Oracle 2020! TsunamiXXVIII and me will destroy all you noobs
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tazzyboyishere
03/29/20 10:42:50 PM
#10:


One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato

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PSN/Steam - RoboQuote ; NNID - TazzyMan
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TheArkOfTurus
03/29/20 10:43:10 PM
#11:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
Ricordando il Passato

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Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
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Team Rocket Elite
03/29/20 10:45:05 PM
#12:


Halo 3 - One Final Effort
Ciel nosurge - LastPandemic
Fire Emblem: Fates - End of All (Land)
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Link isn't the only one who kicks ass.
Congrats to Advokaiser for winning the CBX Guru Contest!
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Mac Arrowny
03/29/20 10:49:57 PM
#13:


One Final Effort
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)

OFE isn't anything special, but it's okay I guess. Which is more than enough to make this an easy match with Ink Long Dry, one of the worst songs in the contest!

LP isn't one of my favorite ExaPico songs or anything, but it's pretty fun, especially the part with the tones and when she sings/talks slowly. That's great. Title is classic good stuff, though there are versions I like more.

EoA would be better without singing (or with a Japanese singer probably). It's solid other than that. Ricordando probably not a top 100 Umineko song. It does have Akiko Shikata singing though, which is basically always great.

Imagine if Akiko Shikata was the singer for End of All...

LastPandemic > Title > End of All > Ricordando > One Final Effort > Ink Long Dry
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UF8
03/29/20 10:51:37 PM
#14:


since i didn't have much sway over like 85% of the bracket i can obviously still complain

Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
Ricordando il Passato

i love one final effort a lot more than you'd probably expect. i also adore ink long dry and am glad i helped push it in, but it's the halo song that i want to push more... still, if you had to ask me which one i prefer, they're both songs around 9/10 for me, but the latter's like a 9.2 or so, so...

link always wins, but what about against covid-19???

oh fuck oh shit. toc3 holding nothing right out of the gate. yet again, i am glad the long version of ricordando got in and retired that one year. Had it been the short version again, things would've been very different. bringing back arbitrary scores, this is like a 9.3 vs a 9.5 but short ver wouldn't even be an 8
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dowolf
03/29/20 10:52:48 PM
#15:


One Final Effort
LastPandemic
Ricordando il Passato

One Final Effort feels like the odd stepchild of the Halo main themes.

Who put Deemo in my mmorpgers?

Hi past me.

I would not consider this the best version of this melody in the original Zelda, let alone overall.

Lost in the Waves remains my favorite version. That vocal intro, followed by the piano arpeggios, and then the melody gets picked up by the horn with the piano still in the background -- and it keeps going! It just keeps going! Mmmm! This version is not that one.

I really wish One-Winged Bird were VGMC legal; it's my favorite Umineko vocal track pretty comfortably. I also wish every other track on the album Ricordando was on were eligible (Pitalacta, Pantalea, Gensourin, Ta ga Tame no Sekai -- what an album!). Alas. Still good though.

I give this day a Shikata/10.
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PabloSmith
03/29/20 10:58:07 PM
#16:


Ink Long Dry
Title
Ricordando il Passato

i dont think i'll be doing write ups for most matchups but i'll share some brief thoughts every now and then.

One Final Effort vs Ink Long Dry: i didnt expect to vote Ink Long Dry at all, but i gotta say the crazy parts of the song have grown on me a lot, while the more "normal" parts are still just as good. was a bit painful to vote this over One Final Effort.

LastPandemic vs Title: i went into this matchup expecting to vote Title, but never really appreciated how good the song was until now.

End of All (Land) vs Ricordando il Passato: the church choir vibe that was going on in Ricordando il Passato was enough to get me to vote for this track. a few weeks ago i ended up giving Ricordando a 9.5/10 when i was rating every single vgmc nominee and i most have been super tired to give it such a high rating. still not a bad song though

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Mac Arrowny
03/29/20 10:59:12 PM
#17:


Shikata ga aru
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All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
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Zigzagoon
03/29/20 11:03:34 PM
#18:


One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato

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cakophon
03/29/20 11:09:20 PM
#19:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic

End of All (Land)

first match is sad but not difficult, 10 vs an 8.4

should be a unique vote!
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PIayer_0
03/29/20 11:11:51 PM
#20:


One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato

Ink Long sounds like Mr. solemn pianist getting kicked out by Mr. jazz pianist
Surprisingly short Ciel nosurge song, ADJUST ME NOW
End of All sounds really good but not a fan of the vocals, and WOW Ricordando is amazing, definitely tops the day and doesn't sound like Umineko at all

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-Abraham Lincoln
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Collen
03/29/20 11:13:07 PM
#21:


Ink Long Dry
Title
End of All (Land)

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We spent all of the money we had on billboards.
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TsunamiXXVIII
03/29/20 11:15:29 PM
#22:


One Final Effort
LastPandemic

End of All (Land)

Both main bracket matches were super easy today. Seriously, what the hell was that? Ink Long Dry was horrible, while One Final Effort was...wonderful. Incredible. I nearly started to listen to it again because I loved it so much. LastPandemic was a good song last year, one that I really liked despite that series being hit or miss for me. The original Legend of Zelda, I love the game but the music isn't the reason and the title theme is probably my least favorite track, except for maybe the credits "theme". The overworld theme is catchy, and Level 9 is really good, but neither of them would've gotten my vote against LastPandemic either.

As for the ToC match, End of All is suitably epic, being a final level theme, while Ricordanto il Passato...is a song from Umineko. Never understood why that game has so much success in VGMC; at its best, it's inferior Touhou music, and Touhou does horribly here. At its worst, it's...well, I'd say it's whatever Ricordanto il Passato is, but I know for a fact that that's not the worst song this contest has subjected me to from that series!

One Final Effort > LastPandemic >> End of All >> Title > Ricordanto il Passato >>>> Ink Long Dry

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FL81
03/29/20 11:16:38 PM
#23:


Final Fantasy XIV - Ink Long Dry
Ciel nosurge - LastPandemic
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 8 - Ricordando il Passato

Match 1: Compared to a lot of other AAA Western stuff, I actually kinda like Halo music. The slow parts in Ink Long Dry are kinda dull, but there are some really nice parts to this and I like the jazz sound it has. Close match.

Match 2: This one is also a close match, oddly enough. The cool ominous chanting in the Ar Tonelico soundtracks is my favorite thing ever now. LoZ Intro is a pretty solid pick, and I'd actually take it over a big chunk of the bracket. I feel it's stronger than SMB - Ground Theme (and hey, Tal Tal Heights managed to retire, so maybe this has a chance!)

ToC: Only easy choice today, RIP is an actual 10/10 and I'm still not particularly fond of End of All.

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Akkrillic
03/29/20 11:19:32 PM
#24:


One Final Effort
Title
End of All (Land)

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Ok
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TsunamiXXVIII
03/29/20 11:20:41 PM
#25:


FL81 posted...
Final Fantasy XIV - Ink Long Dry
Ciel nosurge - LastPandemic
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 8 - Ricordando il Passato

Match 1: Compared to a lot of other AAA Western stuff, I actually kinda like Halo music. The slow parts in Ink Long Dry are kinda dull, but there are some really nice parts to this and I like the jazz sound it has. Close match.

Match 2: This one is also a close match, oddly enough. The cool ominous chanting in the Ar Tonelico soundtracks is my favorite thing ever now. LoZ Intro is a pretty solid pick, and I'd actually take it over a big chunk of the bracket. I feel it's stronger than SMB - Ground Theme (and hey, Tal Tal Heights managed to retire, so maybe this has a chance!)

ToC: Only easy choice today, RIP is an actual 10/10 and I'm still not particularly fond of End of All.

I've always wanted to get Ground Theme into one of these. Preferably the bluesy remix from Brawl.

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PIayer_0
03/29/20 11:21:34 PM
#26:


Just noticed azuarc didn't put game names in the topic title, day 1 advertising WASTED

LastPandemic still amusing though

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Toxtricity
03/29/20 11:21:38 PM
#27:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)

One Final Effort is my 80th favorite in the contest!! I tend to like bouncy 6/8 songs like this that sound like a big "celtic" jig dance party that would be very "fantasy"(but halo is "science fiction the opposite of fantasy"). The moments where the grouping of the notes rhythms are 2+2+2 instead of 3+3 (like the strings at 1:21 for example) are GOLDEN and make this for me. Its the same space of time, same timesig, but grouped differently in a way that feels more like a computer than a pirate ship for 4 minutse and itis very EPIC and ENGAGING what's up you there. Listen up you JINGLE BELL. this aint no chirstmas movie, it's Treasure PLanet. looking for the dramatic treasure in ireland in spACE. this song reminds me of like 90 things that i don't remember what they are but if they did i would say the names of the music it reminds me of.

Ink Long Dry is my 33rd favorite in the contest! very DARK and DISSONANT and gritty. it's like someone playing a piano&rhodes keyboard sometimes through a but also sometimes on a real piano in a library in real life. random tempo changes, slightly glitchy sampling layers, everything comes together to make this piece of music a really distinct vibe, and it is definitely one that speaks to me. this conveys "library dungeon" ridiculously well. jazz is the "real music" genre i know better than any other but my actual opinion on jazz ranges from extreme hate to extreme love. This is an Extreme Love, thank you song : ) this song makes me happy because it is so angry! This is sometimes chill, sometimes tense, sometimes pensive, sometimes it fucking HATES you and wants you to DIE. some cool chords, cool detuned stuff. Love the subtle extra beats to some of the phrases, like before :51 just a single 5/4 bar among that 4/4 part, lots of little things like that throughout make this very FREE, especially with all the really cool improvisation/soloistic stuff!!! I like dissonant piano a lot. this piece of music sounds like it is ALIVE and also fake which might describe the concept of knowledge in itself. food for thought, if you eat a book that there is only one copy of you do not learn any of the information inside of that book, but now the knowledge it contains is lost to the world forever...maybe that is for the better? maybe the information inside of that book was FAKE KNOWLEDGE anyways and would have misled the world, or maybe it was DANGEROUS knowledge that could have led to destruction. information is not knowledgeKnowledge is not wisdomWisdom is not truthTruth is not beautyBeauty is not loveLove is not musicMusic is THE BEST.(- Frank Zappa and also Motoaki Takenouchi sort of)

Easy match, but I am fond of both! I'm happy something as unusual and to my tastes as Ink Long Dry got in without even having any help from me!

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LastPandemic is my 32nd favorite in the contest!! this BETTEr be the last pandemic also It recently occured to me that last pandemic could be referring to like "previous pandemic" as opposed to "the current one is the last one that there will be" and that makes this a less hopeful song title. I love Gust vocal music pretty consistently because their voices sound so cool...but everything about the composition and instrumentation of this one makes me happy in general too!!! the chord progression of this being all sus chords transposed around is one of the types of the ways notes in a music can be that sits best for me, never resolving tension loop of 4 chords that is inside of the evil machine. and there's all the crazy even more atonal parts like right before 1:00 and then 1:00 happens and suddenly it's DESTINY it's a NORMAL EPIC SONG and that is almost as good as WEIRD TENSE SONG so I am happy both of those types of songs are in the same song : ) 1:22 - 1:28 is such a good climax of insanity to cap off the 'normal part' CIEL NOSURGE HAS such consistently interesting instrumentation, I mean gust in general does and especially exa_pico but like i feel like every time i listen to a ciel nosurge song i go THESE SOUNDS ARE SO COOL but when i listen to other exa pico stuff i only say htat sometimes. good job Akiko Shikata I like your synthesizer sounds and your choices of chords and notes AAnd your voice you're good at lots of things at once! Wow!

Main Theme is my 140th favorite in the contest! When this was nominated some people were caught off-guard because it seems so weird to nominate something SO iconic that it's as difficult to judge as this track is. but like idk i think it's a cool song. it gets a low-ish placement of 140 but that's just because this field is strong, I like the zelda main theme a lot because iti s very DESTINY it feels like i am going on an adventure and am "the chosen one" to do some important thing probably. Link is very famous. this is not my favorite version of this theme at all though, overworld would be MANY placements higher as would like at least 20 other versions of this from other games but oh well! I think it is still neat that something this extremely iconic is in this contest and the same contest as many things at opposite obscurity-famous levels. often when talking about my music taste with others it'll come up that I am not particularly focused on the melodic line compared to literally everything else in a song (probably the thing that distances my taste the most from the most people), but this is a track where that is NOT the case, my main focus here is the melodic line and everywhere it travels. I like how much even it on its own (especially with its accompanying harmonization but also as a single monophonic layer) evokes the emotional intensity that it does. to me anyways!

not a close match in number, but that's not a knock on zelda main theme at all, one of my favorite "ultra well known" vgm themes, but this version just didn't do it for me and i'm not sure any version could compete with LastPandemic for me anyways. One of the first pieces of music I think of when I think of gust music!

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Fire Emblem: Fates - End of All (Land), haha I remember thhis one remember fire emblem remembmer how STRONG BLAINE's MAGMAR is . I've talked about this one enough in previous contests so i should probably not waste my time re-saying things i've said 50 times, but it's a big favorite from a soundtrack I'm a big fan of! Hiroki Morishita basically singlehandedly drives my interest in Fire Emblem series music, I don't really care very much about the stuff that's not his other than a few random exceptions here & there, but the stuff that's his?! WOW. I love video game music!!!!!!!! I LOVE the instrumentation, how many different SECTIONS it has that all feel completely unrelated in isolation but somehow in combination fit perfectly together, weird parallel harmony
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FL81
03/29/20 11:23:26 PM
#28:


TsunamiXXVIII posted...
I've always wanted to get Ground Theme into one of these. Preferably the bluesy remix from Brawl.
If I'm remembering correctly, it actually did make it in last year! (the original, that is)

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tennisboy213
03/29/20 11:26:55 PM
#29:


One Final Effort
Title
End of All (Land)
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banshiryuu
03/29/20 11:30:57 PM
#30:


FL81 posted...

If I'm remembering correctly, it actually did make it in last year! (the original, that is)

Two years ago; got doubled by Mystic Pendulum lol
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azuarc
03/29/20 11:40:05 PM
#31:


PIayer_0 posted...
Just noticed azuarc didn't put game names in the topic title, day 1 advertising WASTED

LastPandemic still amusing though

Make sb give us longer thread titles.

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VGMC13 champion: Ar Nosurge - Class::EXSPHERE_NOSURGE;
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Janus5k
03/29/20 11:41:13 PM
#32:


One Final Effort
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)

Don't feel like going into much detail, but three fairly easy matches today

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"Those who cast the vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything."
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banshiryuu
03/30/20 12:10:12 AM
#33:


One Final Effort (83rd) vs Ink Long Dry (102nd)
LastPandemic (67th) vs Title BGM (177th)
End of All (Land) [42nd] vs Byakumu no Mayu ~Ricordando il passato~ [44th]

Maaaaan this first match is hard!! Really like both of these songs, and I'm actually really tempted to start off the contest by literally immediately going against my rankings lol, but I will not. One Final Effort is one of the rare examples where I'm actually super into a Western AAA-style production, and actually I say rare because this might be the only example I can think of? I don't even really care for the other variations of the Halo theme but without the choir men this song GOES. The actually melody of the theme is super sick and the POWER in this song is actually like emotionally engaging for me lol. Ink Long Dry is SPOOKY DARK LIBRARY I ACCIDENTALLY GOT LOCKED IN AT NIGHT OH MY GOD THE BOOKS ARE ANGRY AND BITING ME WITH THEIR PAGES AND THEY KILL ME AT 1:47 very cool piano disonnance. Really does suck that I'm voting against it cause I really do like it........ I saw EXSPHERE when the topic went up does that mean I'm allowed to vote for the third option here can I please do that because that means I'm not responsible if Ink Long Dry loses lmao

LastPandemic is so cool!!! Title BGM is not and also is the wrong version!!!! Akiko Shikata is chanting the things that will make my soul display virus emails from ethiopian princes and i love it, very cool energy from this song and I especially like the sudden power in the vocals at 1:00 is really cool ADJUST ME NOW ADJUST ME NOW I'm very happy to see this song back! Not so happy to see The Legend of Zelda (NES) - Intro (Main Theme) though, like I like the song fine enough but also this is LITERALLY a watered-down worse version of the original song (the FDS one) which is actually REALLY COOL because its uses WAVETABLE FDS CHIP which I LOVE so I am a little :((( that I am not listening to that instead. The difference is actually so big now that I am relistening to the FDS version like seriously the one nominated is so much weaker lol. FDS version still would not beat LastPandemic, but it would at least make me feel less strongly towards LastPandemic.

ToC match is pretty tough. I like both songs plenty fine but they're nothing crazy for me. I actually don't think I had heard Ricordando il passato before today and it's your standard Akiko Shikata affair imo, which as I said is not bad but it's not much to stack up against the rest of the champions which... are all extremely, extremely strong in my eyes (hench why this match is 42/56 and 44/56)

LastPandemic > One Final Effort > End of All (Land) > Ink Long Dry > Byakumu no Mayu ~Ricordando il passato~ > Title BGM

Also if anyone wants to keep track of/follow my ranking in document form I have a spreadsheet for it here and it includes scores and stuff!! ok im done thxbai
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XWpotY28NHa3ncCjRxq4aoE3Cl7f6ZdvJ3uxEGpkPy8
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handsomeboy2012
03/30/20 12:16:48 AM
#34:


One Final Effort
-
Ricordando il Passato
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loweffortmemes
03/30/20 12:40:20 AM
#35:


Final Fantasy XIV - Ink Long Dry
Ciel nosurge - LastPandemic
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 8 - Ricordando il Passato

Another year, another VGMC! Feels good to have another contest underway. I still remember how hyped I was during VGMC13 and hopefully this year will be just as enjoyable if not more! But anyway, without further ado, let's get into the contest! And also the writeups because those are fun to do, even if they're not all that spectacular.

MATCH 1

One Final Effort's a classic video game song. It's a nice song, but it doesn't quite fit into my music tastes. Feels a little too "epic battle music" for me, which is where strings in music, like in this song, don't end up being a big selling point for the song but instead just sort of feels like it doesn't stand out. Perhaps I'm not describing it too well, but I view this in a similar way that I view many orchestra songs. With orchestra, I don't usually find anything that draws me into the song, which is sort of the case with One Final Effort as well. Granted, the piano and percussion give this song something to make it a little more interesting and better than the average orchestra song, but it still doesn't feel like anything special, even if I don't dislike it.

Ink Long Dry's not really the kind of song I tend to like either with all the dissonant piano chords everywhere, but something about it actually makes it sound pretty cool. Those opening chords are pretty dark and mysterious, and the rest of the song has this neat soft jazz feel that I can get behind. I think it's pretty fitting that this song plays in a library! It does feel like a song that would be a theme for a grand, dimly-lit library.

MATCH 2

Speaking of dark, mysterious introductions, LastPandemic also gives off those cool vibes. It's pretty different from the other EXA_PICO songs in the bracket, but it still has a lot to offer that interests me. As I mentioned, those opening chords before the vocals set a neat mood for the song. Not quite as dark as Ink Long Dry, but a little bit. Enough to give it that kind of mood. Other stuff like that soft backing synth at around 0:38 and the chords at 0:54-0:59 helps continue that feeling. The part right after the latter portion of the song is probably my favorite part. I really like the powerful, triumphant feeling that comes from the "ADJUSTING NOW" and the rest of those lyrics. This is a pretty long-winded way of saying that this song is great all-around, but yeah, I really like it!

Arguably more of a classic than One Final Effort is the Legend of Zelda theme! That said, though, once again, this is unfortunately the case where being a classic doesn't necessarily equate to being a good song. One Final Effort's a fine song, but this song is noticeably less good. This original version is something that I think is overly long and drawn out compared to other versions, and even in the case of these better versions, I don't think it's the most interesting song out there. I would say that this is another variant of the "epic music" style that I don't find particularly appealing. This time, in the form of "epic adventure music." Once again, it's not something that sticks out to me in any way. Pretty plain, average song.

MATCH 3

I think End of All (Land) has become my favorite song that uses the Lost in Thoughts All Alone motif. Maybe I'm focusing a little too much on that intro, though, because it's great and definitely my favorite part of the song. I really like how 0:06-0:35 sounds. It's a nice sound on its own and when the vocal harmonizing comes in, this just adds to it. It kind of lulls in the middle before the strings start to pick up again and harmonize with the vocals, but other than that, it's a great song!

Ricordando il Passato is a great emotional song! The impact of the chorus is fantastic in a similar way to what I like about that part of LastPandemic that I mentioned. Man, I feel like I've said so much about this song in the past when it's appeared that I don't know what new things I can say. It's just really great melodically and harmonically and another example of good Akiko Shikata music (and certainly not the last appearance of a song of that variety that we'll see in this contest).

Ricordando il Passato > LastPandemic > End of All (Land) > Ink Long Dry > One Final Effort > Title
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Citrus_
03/30/20 12:42:27 AM
#36:


One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato

One thing that sticks out to me. What is that first matchup? It's like comparing a steak knife to a bottle cap.
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Toxtricity
03/30/20 12:46:53 AM
#37:


Toxtricity posted...
Ink Long Dry is my 33rd favorite in the contest! very DARK and DISSONANT and gritty. it's like someone playing a piano&rhodes keyboard sometimes through a but also sometimes on a real piano in a library in real life.
I have noticed a MISTAKE in my post! I intended to type "...sometimes through a radio but also sometimes on a real..." so now it makes even less sense than it otherwise would. oops! Honestly maybe telephone's a better description than radio...the point is that it's alternating between low quality an high quality for effect and I think that is cool

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time
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slykirby
03/30/20 12:56:03 AM
#38:


One Final Effort
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)
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trdl23
03/30/20 1:30:47 AM
#39:


Ink Long Dry
Title
Ricordando il Passato

I didn't expect the first match to be as close for me as it was!

I was into LastPandemic until one minute in. That transition was jarring and the second half is much worse than the first part of the song. I didn't expect to vote for the original Zelda title at all this tournament, but here we are.

One of my favorite Uminekos? That's a tough order to beat. I remember not liking End of All and being irritated that it retired, but on a fresh listen, it's much better than I recalled. Still not enough to put it over Ricordando, but it's respectable.

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E come vivo? Vivo!
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pyresword
03/30/20 2:11:39 AM
#40:


One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato


One Final Effort is solid, though nostalgia maybe help a bit here. Very epic sounding track that keeps up its intensity all the way through. Something about Ink Long Dry has always irked me. Everything sounds dissonant and while I'm sure it's intentional this isn't a case where it sounds good at least to my ears. It also never feels to me like the song is going anywhere? It's like the composer is just noodling around playing as many discordant notes as he can and I don't really like it.

Don't want to dwell too long on extreme negativity here but I really do not like LastPandemic. Not too big on Intro and I think it feels too slow for this particular melody, but for this match it doesn't need to deliver much.

Naturally, the TOC match is by far the best. Ricordando top 2 vgm of all time. My favorite part is the part starting at 0:00 and ending at 5:04. Literal perfection. (Ok my favorite part is probably 0:30-1:07. I love how the verse starts with these wistful vocals that give way to the fuller sounding part at 0:55 and eventually into the unrestrained chorus.) End of All is pretty good also but it's way out of its league today.

Ricordando >>> End of All > One Final Effort >>> Title > Ink Long Dry > LastPandemic
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Oh woops. Putting Advokaiser in my sig like this until I think of something more clever
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xp1337
03/30/20 2:45:47 AM
#41:


Halo 3 - One Final Effort
Ciel nosurge - LastPandemic
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru 8 - Ricordando il Passato

LastPandemic trying to carry the entire fourpack. If this were The End of The Road Should Be Here I probably flip on the ToC match but with the inferior version (and even among the not-DLC End of Alls this is an inferior version!) Ricordando il Passato wins this pretty cleanly.

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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
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SuperNiceDog
03/30/20 2:47:25 AM
#42:


I just want to say I'm really excited about this contest, thanks for hosting it acuarc. thanks everyone for voting, etc etc

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SuperNiceChao about to win the Oracle 2020! TsunamiXXVIII and me will destroy all you noobs
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DoctorJimmy133
03/30/20 3:56:59 AM
#43:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)

Second match is so hard. Something really simple and iconic but so well-executed against a niche flashy dnb thing

I'm goin with the niche flashy dnb thing

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Advokaiser is the man. Congrats!
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malyg
03/30/20 4:34:45 AM
#44:


One Final Effort
Title
Ricordando il Passato

LastPandemic sounds like the ketchup song, i hate it.
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Prody Parrot
03/30/20 4:49:23 AM
#45:


One Final Effort
LastPandemic
Ricordando il Passato
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sergiocornaga
03/30/20 5:27:38 AM
#46:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)
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xx521xx
03/30/20 6:53:44 AM
#47:


One Final Effort
Title
End of All (Land)
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Optimism is the first step to disappointment.
xx521xx
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Flamander
03/30/20 8:13:22 AM
#48:


Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)

=

One Final Effort

This is a cover of the original main theme to Halo - originally enough, called 'Halo'. This track has a bit of a swing to it, which I like. It's orchestral rock. That's honestly what I best know this series for. It has a militaristic vibe to it - not in an orderly sense where it's from the viewpoint of a soldier marching with their fellow troops, but a warrior fighting till their last breath. And, reading into this, I think - signalled by the beginning and end piano - this is fighting for peace instead of for glory or for personal validation or just for carnage's sake. It's 'valorous', that's the best way I can describe it. I don't think I necessarily disagree with Tox on the whole 'Irish Jig' thing when it comes to this track - but personally, I kind of imagine a horse galloping; or maybe something climbing over rocks. Whatever it is, it's clumsy yet methodical. The subject matter knows what it's doing, but... maybe it has some bad habits it's learned over the years. OBVIOUS EDIT?!: oops i forgot to give my thoughtfeelings on this track it's alright/good

Ink Long Dry

I love this track!! A specific portion I want to highlight is from 0:30 to 1:30. It starts off with a tape rewinding and musically that's a percussionsoundeffect I love a lot it feels like TIME. This part of the song is very 'orderly and constructed' and it feels like a view back into a past that could have been - especially given the wider context of the song. All the sections around it are extremely dissonant, CLASHY PIANO SOUNDS and ticktock hihat noises. Some of the other percussion is squelchy... it feels like we're looking into a world that was once great, and now it's decayed - decrepit, old. There's a lot of thought given to the amount of space taken up by the instruments, too, I think. You get a lot more emphasis when you look into the 'past' sections and things become more orderly. It's like there's a bunch of books scattered on the floor and you're putting them back into a bookcase. Thematic to the library setting. As the track progresses into these 'past' sections, the track gets less dissonant and this is probably to signify that viewing backwards into the past.

=

LastPandemic

Best way I can describe this one is that it feels like I'm 'riding in a tube'. It's the future, and everyone's running to the hills. Hubris has caught up with us all, and now we're paying for the consequences. But in an anime opening way!!! [ 'u' 'u' 'u' ] I love the clicks at the beginning of this track, it helps create a sense of panic in my mind. And then around 0:35 you have these arpeggios in the background faintly that I love. [AND THERE'S COOL 90S CHORDS AT 0:55 WHY ISN'T THERE MORE OF THOSE IN THE SONG.. . .] You also have Akiko Shikata singing, who I've completely avoided mentioning up till this point because I love Noriko Mitose more than her. All jests aside [my love for mitose over shikata is serious], Shikata does an amazing job on this track and I'd say a large reason of why I'd consider this track 'STRESSFUL AND PANICKING' is because of her fast and fragile at times voice. GUST MUSIC EYEYEAAYAEAYAEAAAAAAAAAAAA [that's me imitating both shikata and mitose at the same time]

The Legend Of Zelda - Title

[i will now quote a passage from duane and brando zelda ii rap]ONCE UPON A TIME - IN THE LAND OF HYRULE; EVERYONE WAS OK AND EVERYTHING WAS COOL. This is an alright song. Apparently it was inspired by Ravel's Bolero. I think the Famicom Disk System is better in all honesty [i'm avoiding describing the son -] THE SONG FEELS LIKE LINK IS PLAYING WITH BUILDING BLOCKS HE FEELS LIKE A LITERAL CHILD. LINK TEACHES TYPING. LINK WHY DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO SPELL. is it because hyrule has a poor educational system...at least the megaman and bass has a good rhythm. polyrhythm drum and bass... that is both a descriptor of something i hear in this track and something i believe would be better than this track. Sorry, there's not a lot for me to analyse here so you mostly end up with CRT babble

=

End of All (Land)

YOUUUUU ARE THE OCEAN. I love the cool mallets in this song they're basically everywhere and they feel like 'S GREY WAVES. This track really rides on the percussion and also the vocals... that said if you took everything i liked out of this track i'd probably have an average reaction. Fates is my favorite fire emblem soundtrack possibly my only favorite fire emblem soundtrack? There might be ones that interest me I HAVEN'T HEARD YET!! the miracles of video game music i love vgm. this strikes me as a track siivacord vgm user smittz [who has not decided to join this contest] probably likes or would like it has a weird prog bossa nova feel to it. it's kind of a march but like a RALLYING MILITARY MARCH. ONE FOR ALL - AND ALL FOR ONE wait that's the wrong way round. oh well.

Ricordando il Passanto

I'm typing up a lot of words for the first day of this contest. Will I continue to type up a lot of words? We shall see. I've listened to like half the Umineko soundtrack exactly once, so what I'm saying is I had no idea this was Akiko Shikata. The thumbnail basically fits my mental image for this song at least. It's 'wandering through a forest' music. FAIRIES - but also the darkness, halloween and it's a village. It's very comfortable. Folksy. I love the brass section starting at 3:10 and ending at 3:30. Realising this is reminding me of Gentle Giant - Aspirations. That's cool but end of all has wave clockwork sounds so... .

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cathode on discord
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Kikoman589
03/30/20 8:50:44 AM
#49:


Ink Long Dry
Title
Ricordando il Passato

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Currently Playing: Mushihimesama (PC), htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (PC)
http://myanimelist.net/profile/Kikoman589
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Zyxyz0
03/30/20 9:19:03 AM
#50:


One Final Effort
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)

writeups pending please check back later (aka I wore myself out and was only able to get like 1.9 songs worth of thoughts down wherein no sections are complete enough to post on their own o o f), I need to go to sleep now but will post what I can later (probably over in the discord) once I've gotten things sorted out better. words are hard ok!! will say though, very strong opening day you've got here, with a whole 4/6 real great songs (and even then Ink Long Dry and Title are merely "good but flawed" rather than total dislike) and also I like how we have 4 "last" songs on the "first" day of contest (Ricordando is the ED of the last episode of Umineko, for context for those who haven't read it) plus an actual "first" song in Title. nice

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Archive of my and others' playthrough/ranking topics, fanfiction recs, etc:
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