Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 3! RainPurple / 12thCh / PlanetWisp / LabyVI / Heartless / Dangerous

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 15, an annual celebration of the best of the best video game music according to the voters!

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=474630
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16XAaBMDuUnQ4c5AxQNL9ZhvD7VG5kQyrXWWZxnkrn-o
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79443554
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0xt7lOF1eB-H4NpAaF1yAnU
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VNrPnFRI7nJ4PqFiURBW0NWqxvXiuasoq8Sn_O169ss
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
Discord: https://discord.gg/WDvMS4a

Rules:
- Listen to both songs in a given match, at least through the loop time provided (to make sure you don't skip before you've heard the whole thing!)
- Please consider the loop point listed when judging the song; if a video loops one minute 5 times, don't treat it as if it's a repetitive 5 minute song
- If it's a match between your favorite song ever and a song you despise, still LISTEN TO BOTH! Votes can and will be disqualified if there is suspicion songs are not being listened to, and you may be discounted for the rest of the contest for repeat offenses.
- No alt accounts, no rallying or begging, etc., etc.... You only get one vote! Swapping votes is alright, just make clear that you've already made a vote and are swapping.
- Make clear what your voting options are! Please keep votes separate from any comments, and use the titles given in the topic post.
- Voting in all matches is not mandatory, feel free to skip matches you do not wish to vote in.
- Vote based on the links provided, and not other sources of audio. Links are specifically chosen for best quality and the like.
- Don't discuss vote tallies in this thread, or in other threads, as they may influence votes. Likewise, please refrain from looking at the running tally before voting.

Voting Period:
- Today's matches will last 24 hours from the time of posting, or 24 hours from 10pm Eastern, whichever is the later time.
- Please note

Drakengard - Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City - Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Mad Rat Dead - Heartless Being
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The Rain Formerly Known as Purple
Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

One of the best tracks in the contest at setting a mood, "Purple Rain" always gets me vibing, and then doesn't really do anything after that. It doesn't really justify its 8 minute runtime--even the different sections generally don't add to much. As something to listen to, that's pretty much fine, since the mood it sets so strongly is fine for losing yourself in something meandering; it's just not fantastic in a contest setting where I have to step back a bit and evaluate it. Still, it does sound very nice. I love the da-da-da-da-DAH percussion thing it has going on. Would love to know what it reminds me of.

12th Chapter is a very good counterpart. It too has a powerful aesthetic, and doesn't do nearly as much as I'd want it to. I want to love it more than I do. RoR wins for choosing a mood that is more forgiving towards repetitiveness

Another kind of tough match. Tokoi and Koshiro are of course both great. You really can hear some of Tokoi being Tokoi in Planet Wisp, which is nice to hear. The song as a whole is a bit too, idk, bubbly for me. Too bright. It's nice, but not something I can love

Vengeful God is overall just solid. Koshiro is incapable of fucking up, so everything he set out to do here he succeeded at. Perhaps not my favorite piece from him... what are ya gonna do?

Got some good parts and also way too much wubs. An increasingly prevalent issue in VGMC contenders, sadly. The CSD song drives me absolutely insane though, and lacks things that I love that I can latch onto, so rip that. I

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

yeah so uh... 12th Chapter has effectively zero appeal to me at all.
Incredibly mean match, but ultimately easy. You can't go wrong with Planet Wisp.
The wubs really hold down Heartless Being, making a relatively close determination a lot easier.

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Didn't expect to be betraying a song I helped lock, but here we are.
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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

First match is definitely the easiest so far. Rain Formerly Known as Purple is really good and I think it was one of my supports. The main melody is catchy, and it continually adds to it in ways that keep it sounding fresh while also making the song sound like it's building to something. Top notch song. As for the Drakengard song, people familiar with my tastes will probably not be surprised by the fact that I have basically nothing positive to say about it.

Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss sounds like what would happen if Falcom had hired Yuzu Koshiro to compose Jade Corridor and it's pretty cool. Planet Wisp is also pleasant but not quite enough so for the vote.

I spent like 5 minutes trying to figure out why writing climaxes like in Heartless Being bothers me, but I couldn't do it so I will just leave it at that. Anyway song is kind of fun but also a bit too frantic for me.
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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

i'm honestly really split as what to vote for on second match. pretty set on this but ill be happy if planet wisp wins regardless lmao

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

This round was the hardest to vote for yet. Rain is my favorite song in the whole bracket so far. Second match both has great songs. Its dangerous is pretty pleasant and relaxing. Mad Rat is good so I dont mind if it wins either

The Rain Formerly Known as Purple
Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

So much respect to all tracks here today (except 12th).
Purple is one of those long songs with progressive build up that doesn't lose my interest, and that sick guitar starting at 5:16 simply stole my vote. I can jam to this one the whole 7 minutes.
Etrian Odyssey, oh boy. The FM in this is SICK, just for the instruments alone I'm this close to voting it, but then the composition is also really good. Sorry Planet Wisp, but if you had come out in the 90's with a genesis soundfont you might've had better luck.
IDtGA is simply heart warming, and the other songs is... heartless. Nah it's got really good composition backing it up, but it didn't steal my heart as IDtGA did.

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

RoR2:
The original version of this was my absolute favorite song in Risk of Rain 1, and this adds more instruments and a different flavor to it. One could even say it added more dimensions, like the game itself. I see this one going far; it just misses a perfect ten by being a FEW bars too long wailing back and forth on a guitar before the calm ending, but for a really long track that's tasty otherwise, that's a nitpick for the sake of nitpicking.
Drakengard:
I can appreciate this from an artistic standpoint, but it kinda sucks as a competition song. Drakengard's whole point is to unhinge you, between the story and music, and it does that well, but a bunch of warped notes does not a song make.

Colors:
There's so much better from Sonic Colors - hell, even in the Planet Wisp zone itself. That said, from a solitary standpoint, I am a big fan of almost this whole track's bass and acoustic guitar except for the brief, offputting riff that occurs around :50 (I had the same problem with it in Generations.)
EO3:
I enjoy the opening reminding me a lot of some older PC games, but then the bassline it gets into some real Genesis energy (or perhaps old PC Doom) and I lose interest. It doesn't do much to grab my attention after that, and I sort of lost focus on it as a result.

MRD MK I:
I feel like I'm alone in my distaste for this track. I like whatever strings they have going on sweeping back and forth, but I do not wub the dubstep noises, and the intensity being constantly interrupted by parts of silence serve more to jar than please me.
CSD3:
I don't much like the singer, if I'm honest. It's very whimsical, I'll give it that! I really kind of hoped he'd stick with Smooth McGroove-esque ba-dap daaas, but then he tries to go lyrical and the background overtakes him and I lose focus again. I prefer it over MRD, but not by much.

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Outside of Twelth Chapter, it's a decent six pack of songs. That one is a song I respect its intent more than like sadly.

Might as well put a number to my current feelings on these and see how the numbers change over the bracket as the tournament moves on.

Purple Rain [9]
Planet Wisp (Act 1) [8]
It's Dangerous to Go Alone [High-ish 7.5]
Dark Ocean Abyss [7.5]
Heartless Being [7]
Twelth Chapter [4.5]

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

I'd have taken Twelfth Chapter over the rest of today's songs.

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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
abstain for now
Heartless Being

Purple Rain is a jerk!

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple (8.5v - 22nd place) / Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky (9.3 - 8th place)
Planet Wisp (Act 1) (9.3 - 6th place) / Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss (9.3 - 7th place)
Heartless Being (8.9^ - 13th place)/ It's Dangerous to Go Alone (6.8^ - 45th place)

Three tracks that are practically equals today! Whichever one I like the most depends on the day, but today I'm feeling most for Twelve Chapter.

The Rain's got some appealing sound mixing (chill and relaxing, something I could listen to no matter what mood I'm in), typical of Christoloulou, even if the composition is not that amazing. The way it diminshes to make way for the ambient conclusion makes me happy, and ends on an unexpected happy chord.

Drakengard is such an old game, isn't it? Okay, it came out in 2003. But yeah, I love this machinery-room-of-death, and the glitchy way the acoustic instruments get applied...? I didn't expect something like this in a game that old. (unless it's from a remake or something) Thoroughly creepy in a way I love... And that opening low brass chord, too... sets it up perfectly!

Wisp Act 1 begins and it's like the heavens are opened! It sounds that perfect. Every note on those chords are perfect. This could very well be my favorite Sonic track ever. I just wish there was some development, as it's pretty repetitive. Otherwise it could have been a high 9.

I'm a real sucker for FM bass synth (at least, I think it's an FM synth). Melody is pretty nice near the beginning. 1:22 is the best...what a banger!!! It just repeats the same eight measure feel and yet I never get tired of the chord progression. doesn't really have direction, but then again, its opponent doesn't have that either. I'm not sure which I'll vote for so I'll abstain for now.

Heartless Being - I actually find the dubstep elements really nice... normally I don't want that but the sound design appeals to me 100%! So much variety and it's never disjointed. Lots of subtle dissonances. Great transitions like at 1:08. Probably my second favorite so far in the contest in terms of sound mixing after 12th Chapter. Honestly at this point this can easily complete with Planet Wisp and Vengeful God.

Dangerous is feel-good happy music. Chords are nicer than I previously thought after listening to them closely. 2:30 rhythms are nice.


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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

The Rain Formerly In the Sky. The rain song is too mellow and twelfth chapter is too not mellow. Except I like that; 12th's weird tense chaos is so neat, reality keeps flashing away into the spirit realm, good luck

Match 2 is 2 great songs but right now I'm not all that into Planet Wisp's work with it's instrumentation, something about the focus on the piano with the backing strings just doesn't work for me. Wisp is still a real fun song though, but Labyrinth Six comes out on top regardless. I Love the way that sinister deep buzz cuts through the section at 1:23. Great Labyrinth Music.

Match 3, Heartless Being is impressing me more than it normally does right now. I feel like normally I'd have ranked Labyrinth 6 over it but relistening right now I have that ranking swapped. Song definitely does a bunch of cool stuff and has a ton to say in not a lot of time. And for the 3rd day in a row, the 6th song is the least "me" song of this set. It's a shame because it uses a cool synth I don't get to hear often enough in other songs and sets a pretty cool mood so I would probably rank this song much higher if it didn't have those vocals, but, it does, so, those push it way down for me....but honestly I still kinda liked it anyway, today was just a pretty solid day overall and it probably wouldn't have been last for me in a lot of other days

Heartless Being > Labyrinth VI The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss > Twelfth Chapter In the Sky > Planet Wisp (Act 1) > The Rain Formerly Known As Purple > It's Dangerous to Go Alone

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

purple has been bothering me for some reason. i feel like if i tried to explain why i'd come across as far too negative on it but it's just... it's a mood song, and therefore only natural that it takes a long time to get anywhere, but... it really gives off the impression to me that it (and by extension the composer chris chrischrischrischris(2)) thinks it's a groundbreaking accomplishment when it goes places despite how long it takes to develop. it feels pretentious, especially with that final minute. maybe it's the video's fault, idk. also maybe this is how other people feel about the nurburgring suite and deku songs, sorry that i'm a hypocrite...

planet wisp getting in has made me realise just how much i like planet wisp...'s area theme. i wish it was ever in any sonic colours song-related discussions, but that's a position only the act themes end in. labyrinth 6 is just kind of there as far as koshiro dungeon themes go, there are plenty i'd easily take here but it falls a little short

i don't get mrd songs. yes it has people like camellia and xaki on it but... they're not exactly anywhere near (or anything like) my favourite camellia or xaki songs... despite this, i can't say i really care for the cook serve delicious soundtracks either, so it was still almost going to get a vote from me by default. but i guess today i just appreciated dangerous to go alone as a palate cleanser. either way, i can say that next round, whatever wins here will either be in one of the easiest matches for me in the contest, or one of my least favourites

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Rain Formerly Known As Purple is no Terra Pulviam but it still wins against whatever that was
i would vote for Vegneful God if it had literally anything else as the lead
Heartless Being feels like a song with too much happening at once. i had to listen to it twice because i couldn't make out the melody the first time. it's cool sounding and unique but i don't really like it, sorry

Risk of Rain 2 - The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Sonic Colors - Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Mad Rat Dead - Heartless Being
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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

So much for always voting bottom option.

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

Twelfth Chapter in the Sky
The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
it's dangerous to go alone -- take this vote!

violet > purple #dealwithit
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Formerly Purple Rain is solid the whole way through. Don't love it or anything, but it's consistently good. 12th is not.

Man, I like Planet Wisp, but it feels SOOO repetitive. I wish there was a little more to it. Labyrinth is solid the whole way through, but the peaks aren't as strong.

Heartless Being is very good. Lots of fun. Does It's Dangerous to Go Alone have anything to do with A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton? I like it well enough during the verses, but the chorus sucks.

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

Heartless Being > The Rain Formerly Known As Purple > Planet Wisp (Act 1) > Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss > It's Dangerous to Go Alone > Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
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Risk of Rain 2 - The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Sonic Colors - Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Mad Rat Dead - Heartless Being

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Twelfth Chapter ~
(Act 1)
Heartless Being

these are hard to do

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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

-(the rain formerly known as purple actually has a kinda classic 70s prog vibe because of that organ, and just, even its length. it's not the type of prog i ever got into as much, despite "prog" being the colloquial way to refer to my taste in music, especially within this community, but i certainly see its appeal as an extension of that, and i like its adjacency to it. Chris has other music i like way more, prefer when it's more "mathematical" or sound design focused than this. anyway one thing i LOVE is when it fades out at like 6:35 but doesn't actually fade out, and just goes into a NEW SONG that still flows into the feeling. reminds me a lot of ART OF WAR.)-

-[Drakengard - Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky is one of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite soundtracks. it's genuinely astounding how "random" it feels, while simultaneously being so repetitive and minimal. the fact that all these sounds come from samples of orchestral recordings it's just...man. it remains one of the most striking experiences i've ever had with vgm, hearing this for the first time about 10 years ago, when (i think) KamikazePotato nominated it. startled me at the time because we did not get along taste-wise at that time, but this is one of my very favorite things i have EVER discovered from this community. Thank you for being here board 8. Some of the darkest atmosphere ever evoked to me from any music ever, and i love dark, broken realities
~~~~~~~~~~
This song transcends so many boundaries, that i've found common ground with people i agree with very little else on. People i know with totally normal anti-me taste can often agree with me on one very specific thing, "Drakengard 1 ost is fucking cool". I think of everything i enjoy, it actually has to do the least with the rest of it---like i nerd out about "music theory" all the time. 'complexity' and 'details'. This is like 0 of those things. There is no "music theory" here to analyze really, it's not really complex. It's just, WEIRD man, what the FUCK, and that's amazing. How do you even describe moments like the split second cutting out at 1:01 and later looping that shit in totally non-rhythmic-but-still-repetitive patterns like, you just can't. there's not words for it. This soundtrack exists in its own reality detached from the rest of potential categories for judgement or analysis. it's certainly not something i expect to be popular, but the number of times someone who has like total 0 interest in anything else i like, but they randomly like this? It's fascinating. It just lives in its own world with its own rules]-

-{sadly this is actually probably the match i feel the most strongly about and it is the least likely one so far to go my way at all}-

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-(I supported this one!!! The first "nom"/"support" of mine to show up so far! pretty chords on the piano : ) they make me so happy ! I LOVE BIG CHORDS. that bass part is so fast and calm AT THE SAME TIME. oh man the crunchy note at 2:32 is so cool. This song's appeal to me exists more to my "memory" of the song, than the experience of the song itself. like any 30 second window of this is AMAZING WHOA, and makes me want to hear the rest of the song, but structurally it's not quite as sound as the details inside the structure. It's a BEAUTIFUL MANSION where every (very cool) room looks exactly the same. that's really really cool still though. I love this song)-

-[I love DUnGEON THEMES to the point i am probably going to do a dungeon theme ranking topic as the next ranking topic after i finish my ranking topic that i started in uhh..........2018. this is a pretty good example of what I like about dungeon themes. looping sequences, pensive, dark, complexity but not the sort of complexity that's demanding your attention. allowing you to focus in on interesting stuff if you want, but otherwise allowing itself to stay in the backgrounI LOVE PMD. I do love FM synth, and always appreciated how this ost chose that as instrumentation, but i'm not sure this is the sort of theme i want the more aggressive examples of FM to be the sounds i am hearing. the lead feels like someone is CRYING in PAIN and that's cool it is just like dandara]-

-{this match is stupidly close for something that contains something i literally nommed/supported. both have "less content" than i imagine they would have, from my memories of the songs, but i adore the atmosphere of them both}-

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-(for some reason i find it hard to come up with things to say about heartless being, but i enjoy it. It feels EXTREMELY "dire" and very much the ways i overlap with dire's taste too, as much as we're often at odds. rhythm game-y stuff is just so fun and good~! big chords, crazy electronic sounds of all sorts. I love the ALARM at the start, I have a big thing for songs with alarm/siren sounds in them actually. ZIGZAGOON IS SO CUTE. the bit at :40 where it subtly throws triplets into the mix, without really drawing attention to the rhythmic 16ths-vs-triplets comparison but still keeping it there, really nice and FLOATY. i like watching people play this game, but i should probably play it myself eventually.)-

-[the first time i heard this song "it's dangerous to go alone" i did NOT like it, but every listen has called cool new things to my attention and i like it more every time i hear it. at a surface level it's too normal and happy-go-lucky to align with my personal edgy weirdo "aesthetic" and so i'm viscerally repulsed, but when i actually listen to the song and give it a chance. man. it is doing A LOT OF COOL THINGS wow. The thing that grabs me the most is the odd phrasing- chords change at UNUSUAL times, and make phrases that are "3 bars of 4/4" but it's done so subtly you dont even notice it and that's PERFECT. some 6+6+4 over-the-barline grouped stuff with the funny bob man. this actually reminds me of 70s prog in a lot of ways too; and in a way i like a LOT more than purple song, but the already naturally subtle mathy/proggy composition + analog synths + mellotron-like strings + harmonized vocals, just lots of things add up to "1970s prog" and i like that]-

-{I feel bad i'm not voting for mrd here because i THOUGHT i was going to, it's a great song. this match is also very close. but every time i hear it's dangerous to go alone i like it more, and every time i hear heartless being i like it exactly the same, and it's dangerous to go alone just Barely has made it to Above Heartless Being levels ;-; OH NO ! hard match}-

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1. Rose Gun Days - linkage-alter
2. Drakengard - Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
3. Final Fantasy VII Remake - Collapsed Expressway
4. Mr. Bones - The First Thing
5. Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure - Soaring Through Azure Sadness
6. Sonic Colors - Planet Wisp (Act 1)
7. Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City - Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
8. Kaze no Notam - Discovery
9. Mighty Switch Force! 2 - Soft Collision
10. Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! - It's Dangerous to Go Alone
11. Mad Rat Dead - Heartless Being
12. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - The Heritors of Arcadia
13. Pokmon Gold and Silver - National Park
14. Risk of Rain 2 - The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
15. Mega Man 11 - Fuse Man Stage
16. Touhou 14.5: Urban Legend in Limbo - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
17. Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland - Nefertiti (Ver.MMXI)
18. Tales of Vesperia - Fury Sparks
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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

PAIN, this day is pain. I guess the votes weren't hard, but I still really like Twelfth Chapter and Planet Wisp and rue that they weren't seeded elsewhere.

As for today's featured song......surprise, it's The Rain Formerly Known As Purple! I'm sorry for neglecting you my baby, I totally thought someone else would have you covered for the SupraDarky awards, and then you didn't even show up in the Hindsight ranking!!! God I remember being so into post-rock 4 years ago when I was starting to get back into VGM, and hearing Coalescence in Klagmar's #2,673 upload just blew me away. What an eye-opener to how diverse VGM can truly be! (ear-opener?) A few weeks later, YouTube commenter azuarc posted their final advertisement of some VGM tournament on Klagmar #2,694, and now I'm here! Prain-ce doesn't quite capture the same magic, but it still provides that great experience of patiently building up before ending you on a brain-melting payoff! For me, that moment starts at 4:48 and lasts to the end, when the final melodic line begins to establish itself before being joined by the lead guitar. Another thing I REALLY love in long songs is when they finish with a drawn-out outro where you can just BASK in the glorious afterglow for a while as you realize the experience will soon be over (I also get this from This Silence Is Mine). It feels so damn cinematic and in the case of Rain, I even imagine a big IMAX logo accompanying that last note. COMPOSED BY: CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU *audience gets up from their seats and starts clapping*

Bonus dungeons:
hb is worried for Planet Wisp, I'm worried for Vengeful God...this match is just stressful for both sides, really!
Heartless Being keeps reminding me of Blue Reflection, in a good way...mostly. I don't know if my comparison bewilders the MRD fans or BR fans more, but that's just, like, how I feel, man.

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Gonna make this one quick cuz it's probably gonna be the easiest day of the tournament for me lol

Risk of Rain 2 - The Rain Formerly Known As Purple:
Rating: 9.1/10 [Probably approaching 9.5 now]
A Ranking: 4/64

Drakengard - Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky:
Rating: 2.3/10
A Ranking: 64/64

Rain is just fantastic. The first part is just this amazing tune that's dark yet chill yet powerful at the same time. And of course they then bring an amazingly mixed guitar to play over it and it just, well, simply, is epic. And then the ending is also incredibly nice, a more emotional ending to it all and gives me Wintergatan vibes. Just does so much for me, my favourite song I've been introduced to in the contest so far. 12th Chapter is, um...not that. It does some unique stuff but there isn't a moment of joy in it, not something I'd actually *want* to listen to like ever. And it pseudo-repeats, fuuun. Doubt I'll ever see another match that I feel stronger about than this one here, lol. I can only hope I get one big match in my favour here.

Sonic Colors - Planet Wisp (Act 1):
Rating: 8.4/10
A Ranking: 16/64

Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City - Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss:
Rating: 6.8/10 [Maybe around 7.0 now?]
A Ranking: 48/64

While still not my first Sonic pick, Planet Wisp is still pretty beautiful. I like that Sonic can blend like cool and energetic with still serene notes like this. I think I don't usually give this one enough credit cuz I compare it to others in the series too much (Though I do probably still prefer the Generations version(s?)). It's a bit repetitive/short, but that doesn't mean I couldn't listen to it for hours. The D- La- Vengeful God? (Please consider shortening your names) is honestly pretty damn cool, I can't knock it despite still being pretty sure of my vote here. It's another one where the strong melody makes up for the dated sound, but I think it accomplishes this a bit better than National Park still, it does bring about a setting and is kinda emotional too. Maybe I did underrate this one a little bit.

Mad Rat Dead - Heartless being:
Rating: 9.4/10 [Probably more like 9.5 now, at least]
A Ranking: 1/64

Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! - It's Dangerous to Go Alone:
Rating: 5.8/10
A Ranking: 59/64

Heartless being [grr I am saying it the correct way!] isn't quite as good as Catalepsy to me, but I kinda knew this would be one of the main ones to catch on. Not to say it isn't amazing. Super energetic, super driving, and some amazing wubs that don't actually cut the flow at all, which is a bit of a complaint I have of some other Camellia music. And the slow parts only add to it when it kicks back up again. And then the incredibly triumphant part, going into a bit of an orchestral breakdown that's honestly my favourite part of the whole track. Just every part I could rave about. A perfect final level theme for a soundtrack that's gonna hear a lot of praise from me in this tournament. On the other hand, It's Dangerous to Go Alone is just kinda too much happy and not much else for me. I've sorta made it clear in the past how I feel about songs like that, they often just lose my interest or at most I enjoy but forget. And it's hard to tell when it's acapella and when it's singing sometimes lol. It's honestly still got it's moments but it's kinda just...ok.

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless being

Purple
Wisp
Heartless
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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

Purple Rain has a few cool moments, but not enough of them to justify how long is drags on. It's better than a lot of other Chris Christodoulou stuff I've heard and has some chill melodies though. Chapter 12 actually gives me several of the same vibes as XaaaCi. (a song I nominated!!) in that it sounds all glitched out with a sense of "everything falling apart". Scary-sounding music is something that's hard for me to enjoy generally, but when it goes hard like this, I end up liking it.

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As it starts out, Planet Wisp has some pretty strong chords that would fit well as "classic memorable" VGM even though I can't say for sure whether I've actually heard this before. It's very repetitive though, and while that can be a good thing sometimes, I feel like I'm getting blue-balled on a song that doesn't really develop as much as it should. Or rather, it does for a very short duration, before spending lengths of time on its one small piano loop. The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss manages to do what every other EO3 song also does and have a REALLY COOL FM SYNTH SOUND. That low/"dark" echo effect in the background is amazing, and like the other EO3 song in this year, it's really all the sounds giving off a "sense of mystery" in the background that really make the song shine.

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I have no idea what a Mad Rat Dead is, but this game seems to have a bunch of big name (on B8) composers working on it. Pretty cool beat one would expect from a rhythm game, maybe a bit too heavy on the wubs, but it's good otherwise. It's Dangerous to Go Alone isn't my kind of song, but it does a good job in doing what it's going for. Closer match than I was expecting it to be.

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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

This is the strongest set of six so far to me. Admittedly, it's early days, but I don't see it being topped soon.

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

Damn, TRFKAP goes hard. This song impressed me a lot, and man when the chorus is accompanied by a guitar instead... that rocks. The ending synth is also very beautiful. I'm not usually super into synthwave-y tracks but this goes beyond that.

Meanwhile Twelfth Chapter is... interesting. I can't say it really struck me in a particularly meaningful way, but maybe it's more enjoyable in context? As it stands it doesn't feel like it goes much of anywhere and it's not something I'd ever go out of my way to listen to in my free time.
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Planet Wisp is of course a very familiar song but also a very pleasant song. A bit repetitive maybe, but that piano accompanied with that funky bassline is a real treat regardless. If I had a complaint about this song it's that I find that little guitar part a bit corny and unnecessary, interrupting an otherwise really pretty track, but it doesn't overstay its welcome where I'd hold it against the track as a whole very much.

Labyrinth is really neat, but it doesn't do much to transcend Planet Wisp IMO. Like I really dig the raw FM sound and I think it sets up a really nice atmosphere, but I think it just falls a little short of being spectacular. If nothing else though I'm thinking I should probably check out more of this soundtrack sometime!
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Heartless Being is very cool. The synths are maybe a bit hard for my usual tastes, but it's balanced out pretty nicely by the strings and the general energy of the track. And that one breakdown around the 2 min mark is very cool as well. All in all I'd say I'm definitely a fan of this one.

Dangerous to Go Alone is obviously a massive change of pace, lmao. And I like some parts of this a lot! I kinda wish it stuck with the ba ba ba vocals instead of getting into lyrics, though (I swear I'm not biased against songs with lyrics, I just haven't been big on the last two). I guess my conclusion on this song is that I thought I'd like it more from the beginning part, and it's not bad, but the vocals make me think of a sort of generic radio tune at points which I can't say I'd think are too special if it wasn't a VGM track. It's hard to compare these two, but I think I'm more likely to revisit Heartless Being is all.

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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Not Purple Rain is a cool slow burner of a track, one that settles into a nice groove early and adds and changes layers to keep things interesting as it goes. The gear it shifts to in the last 1:20 of the track is particularly wonderful, though, and by far the highlight of the track for me, like I'm staring at the night sky. It's, I think, an extraordinarily comfortable listen, something I can chill to in most moods.

Which is what makes Twelfth Chapter such a cool foil in this match! This is maybe the most uncomfortable listen in the contest. That first orchestral chord (sampled from Holst's Mars! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmk5frp6-3Q&t=186s) gives the introduction to the track an old cinematic flavour, almost, like it's introducing a dramatic, tragic scene (which it is, from what I know!), before everything goes haywire.

Chapter Twelve in Drakengard is titled "Chaos", and this track really nails that feeling, and not in a haphazard way. The way the chopped orchestral samples are put together feels really well-done, in a way designed to extract the maximum in anxiety and tension from its listener. The beat that kicks in at 0:28 is so cool-- it's just one of my favourite components of any track in this contest. The way it comes in just gives you the feeling that things have gotten real in a very bad way, and it hammers away relentlessly for most of the rest of the track, like the mood it's expressing. The string sample comes in and circles around in your head like so many (non-Singa) bees, for extra disorientation. Then the music box/bells come in, almost ridiculously subversive given how peaceful their source material must have been. 1:51 and then 2:30 features a fuzzing, oddly grating sound stuttering in and then slowly taking over like a haze of confusion. All of it evokes madness in an awe-inspiring way.

I really love this track. (It's one of the tracks where I really wonder how significantly my feelings on it during its first appearance-- VGMC11-- contrast with how I feel about it now.) The compositional approach used here (and throughout the Drakengard soundtrack) is extremely risky, very likely to alienate large swaths of its audience, like a lot of the game itself, and I admire that. But that's not why I love the track-- I love it because I love how it sounds musically. It does some fascinating things that really click with me, and in ways that aren't something I find in a lot of other places. It evokes exactly what it wants, and not in some hackneyed way, like playing circus music to evoke goofiness or pipe organs to evoke Halloween fear, but through the construction of the music itself, and I think that's really awesome.

Planet Wisp feels breezy and colourful, and really does make me think of Sonic running around in some sort of resort world. It nails its aesthetic and the bass guitar is really groovy. The added percussion layer at 0:52 is a nice effect as well. If there's one quibble I have with this track, it's that it feels like it's repeating itself a bit too much for a track in this style. (Given that I've expressed my enjoyment for a lot of tracks that are built entirely around the concept of repetition, this brings up an interesting question in my head-- what determines how I or other listeners feel repetition in music of different forms, and how enjoyable we find it? It's something I've wondered about before, and I'm not really much closer to an answer for myself.)

THE DROWNED DARK VENGEFUL ABYSS GOD and other scary words. I'll start by saying that I love the percussion layer in this track. It could have been heavy-handed but goes with a much lighter approach that heightens the tension, letting the bass synth establish its own rhythm and adding some ominous fills and bass drum hits every four bars. I've spoken before about my slight distaste for the way some FM synths sound, but here I feel like they actually enhance the track-- there's a harshness to them that I think reflects the inhospitable mood it's going for. This drips with dread, and weirdly while this probably repeats itself about as much as its competition, I don't feel it the same way. (See my earlier question!) Something about the main synth melody-- the way it holds seconds and fifths to express uncertainty, with brief runs of notes in between, is really compelling to me. I was familiar with this track previously so it's kinda surprising to me how strongly I feel about it now.

This is the hidden THIRD siren/alarm-oriented track in this contest. I think some of the electronic elements in Heartless Being feel a bit overbearing, and others very cool. Camellia goes in for a lot of pretty sharp contrasts in dynamics and feel, and it makes each of its numerous sections stand out. This has its pros and cons-- it helps it stay engaging all the way through but I have trouble holding onto one part of it that I really like that sticks with me.

It's Dangerous to Go Alone has a very disarming charm to it. The lyricless vocals are really nice-- I love the sort of a capella feel of the rhythmic vocals that come in at 0:39 (even if it's not actually a capella). The melody in these sections group themselves as three bars of 4, and I think it's a lot of fun. The synths have an older 80s educational film sound to them, and I like that aesthetic a lot too! I could really feel this growing on me with each listen.

Man, what a great match day. This is what I go in for in these contests-- six tracks of dramatically different styles that I can genuinely say I enjoyed to a meaningful extent.

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

First round was really tough honestly. I love 12th Sky to bits but there's more than enough stuff in this contest to fill that "cool wacky sounds" role. Purple Rain, on the other hand, really resonates with me, and the fact that it references what is possibly my favourite pop song of all time is a BIG plus.

Second match was pretty obvious. I love Planet Wisp and what it goes for, but Koshiro is simply on another level.

Third match was even more obvious. I absolutely love Camellia's production, I mean it's basically normie EDM, which I don't necessarily mind, but taken to the extreme and carried by genuinely good compositions.

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple (155th) vs Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky (207th)
Planet Wisp (Act 1) (70th) vs Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss (120th)
Heartless Being (91st) vs It's Dangerous to Go Alone (234th)

maaaan this first match is so weird it's a song that I normally wouldnt think i would like and yet REALLY do (purple) and one that I really should but it just doesnt do much for me (twelve) i wonder if i would like TRFKAP as much if I didnt know chanson d'automne beforehand..... probably actually cause while i do like the reused motif everything else about this song is just.... chill WELL THERES THE WORD I SAID IT AAAAAAA yeah idk this is like the peak of "turn it on and have it on in the background" music for me so it's one of the few songs I super appreciate in that aspect. twefltllhfh chapter in the sky is AN EVIL FACTORY IN A GLITCHY GAME i absolutely ADDORE the glitch stuttering constantly like... the ability of this song to make the hair on my neck actively become needles is so cool lol... BUT as much as I appreciate it that feeling it gives me its admitedly kinda boring somehow as well?? its a Very STrange Enigma why this song evokes such emotion on both sides of the positivity scale is ways that seemingly should not coexist but here we arre. IDK Music I don't know how to say what I feel!! I just do!! im actually dummy when it comes to music lol

I LOVE DNF FW15C -II- i mean uhhhh sonic colros planet wisp..... BEAUTY Piano and pads with this driving high-energy front percussion is just ajskfhasjfkl running through the garden. just downright a fun time every listen and super good at lifting your spirits the backlash from twelfth chapter to this is kind of hilarious actually lol. labyrinth vi is actually surprisingly one of the few EO3 ssongs I just was totally unfamiliar with going into the contest but uhhhhh yeah it rocks LOL its very hard for etrian odyssey FM to unimpress me and this song definitely does not disappoint at all. koshiro the madman. this match is actually super super close lol, and I will be happy to see one of these in the next round!!! ^^

yes HELLO Camellia I SEE YOU this song is so camellia lol. 1:10 is where I remember why this song is so high and stands out among the other camellia affair, that melody and the surprisingly soft piano stuff going on in the background injects this super uplifting heroic feel into an otherwise GRUNGE ELECTRO BRAPfest and its like whoa!! what!! okay!! i still cant really process that like this is a song in a platformer game on the switch and not the newest jubeat unlock lol. i'm so close to really liking dangerous to go alone but it sounds too much like a bill wurtz video for me to take it seriously lol. very cheesy Happy backing with vocals about doing Stuff and Things yeah idk, i like the instrumentation a lot and i liked the "bah"s but then the song itself is whatever and then bill wurtz yep. sorry anti-wub crew!! ;;

The Rain Formerly Known as Purple
Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
Heartless Being

The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Labyrinth VI - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss
It's Dangerous to Go Alone
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Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

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The Rain Formerly Known As Purple
Planet Wisp (Act 1)
Heartless Being

12th Chapter will not win me over. I refuse. I liked Heartless Being though.

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Sceptilesolar posted...

12th Chapter will not win me over. I refuse. I liked Heartless Being though.

Resistance is futile