Board 8 > [VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 16 - Bracket Discussion and Results Thread!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

First retiree this year that I genuinely love, good show

Arti posted...

the forests were too strong this year

Nerf green.

UF8 posted...

dang congrats desire for somehow holding up compared to para bellum and saga medley, both of which i've been suspecting might've been strong enough to take other quadrants given how much better they just did compared to champ ritual

i guess we'll see when bof progresses from this point

Desire and Para Bellum both should have retired

Jupiter Guns Novel (Long Version)? More like Jupiter Gets OWNED (Long Version)!
DESIRE? More like OWNED!

ROLF!

NFUN posted...

ROLF!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/5/6/AAUC3iAADlpw.png

Day 84 Results!

The Spirit of the Mountain 23 v 36 Move Me
In Hell We Live, Lament 30 v 31 Mor Ardain ~ Roaming the Wastes

Congratulations to our C1 and C2 retirees!!!

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 - Move Me
>R1: 49-22 Genshin Impact - Combat Beneath the Waves
>>R2: 41-21 Deltarune Chapter 2 - A CYBER'S WORLD?
>>>R3: 35-28 Mad Rat Dead - MAD LAST WORLD
>>>>R4: 36-23 Alto's Adventure: The Spirit of the Mountain - The Spirit of the Mountain

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Mor Ardain ~ Roaming the Wastes
>R1: 46-23 Battle Garegga Rev.2016 - Tunnel Vision (HIROSHI WATANABE Remix)
>>R2: 39-23 LOSTCOLORS - CMYK (FM Arrange ver.)
>>>R3: 31-30 Sonic Unleashed - Jungle Joyride (Night)
>>>>R4: 31-30 Limbus Company - In Hell We Live, Lament

Day 85: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80138107

The Spirit of the Mountain? More like The Spirit of Getting OWNED!
In Hell We Live, Lament? More like OWNED We Are, Lament!

ROFL

Hell yeah Move Me!! First time a song I supported actually retires, I've been waiting for this since I started actively participating in year 13! I only discovered it thanks to VGMC 14, too. And crazy match 2 result!

more like Todd FAKER got em

missing a day finally cost me

Mor Ardain just scraping by twice. I wonder what would have happened if I had voted JJ.

Also, Move Me apparently decimates any game that suggests any kind of geographical feature in its name. Mor Ardain mentions "the wastes." I think we all know what's going to happen.

considering its own geographical features are named Heaven and Hell it feels somewhat appropriate

HasteDeux posted...

We should have a Sky Tower bonus match when we're finished: Blue Rescue Team vs. Rescue Team DX. If Blue Rescue Team wins that, then we know that that version is retired in spirit, as well!

oh but also for sciences sake we should include the Red Rescue Team version

Move Me ended up way stronger than I was ever expecting

RIP to IHWL,L
not sure what my favorite remaining song is now with that and my one original nom gone (DW1 maybe??)

Hbthebattle posted...

oh but also for sciences sake we should include the Red Rescue Team version

Agreed. Can we have all three versions and all voters put together a ranking of all three?

Surprised at Move Me. Yay for Mor Ardain!

Day 85 Results!

Kill Command 27 v 30 Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance 32 v 28 The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Congratulations to our C3 and C4 retirees!!!

Kid Icarus: Uprising - Chapter 6: Dark Pit
>R1: 48-18 Bug Fables - Team, This One's Stronger!
>>R2: 39-22 Higanbana no Saku Yoru Ni - Conviction Corridor
>>>R3: 29-27 Shin Megami Tensei IV - Battle - b2
>>>>R4: 30-27 Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - Kill Command

Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance
>R1: 49-21 Splatoon 2 - Frantic Aspic
>>R2: 38-22 Dune - Chani's Eyes
>>>R3: 39-16 Steel Assault - Heart of Concrete
>>>>R4: 32-28 Xenogears - The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Day 86: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80139183

banshiryuu posted...

>R1: 49-21 Splatoon 2 - Frantic Aspic
>>R2: 38-22 Dune - Chani's Eyes
>>>R3: 39-16 Steel Assault - Heart of Concrete
>>>>R4: 32-28 Xenogears - The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Wow, this is a great list... of songs that I liked.

Kill Command? More like Commanded to be Killed!
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky? More like God Calls to Shevat to TOTALLY OWN IT!

I regret supporting dark pit in noms :()

Chaeix posted...

I regret supporting dark pit in noms :()

But it's doing so well!

FWIW I would've thrown Dark Pit a support if it needed it at the end. Happy for Pittoo. Next year we could get Dark Pit's Theme in :O

Day 86 Results!

Limitless Cinderella 21 v 32 Tachi
Dance With the Shadow 20 v 33 Theme of D4

Congratulations to our D1 and D2 retirees!!!

Neotokyo - Tachi
>R1: 35-31 Tsugunai: Atonement - Battle with the Devil
>>R2: 28-27 Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth - Contrattacco - Emotional Overload
>>>R3: 32-25 Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - liberatedliberator
>>>>R4: 32-21 Senko no Ronde Rev. X - Limitless Cinderella

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Theme of D4
>R1: 37-25 The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - Partners - The game is afoot! Let's dance, my dear fellow!!
>>R2: 35-29 Ragnarok Online II: The Gate of the World - Yoru ~ Sailing
>>>R3: 28-28, 30-29 Punishing: Gray Raven - NARWHAL
>>>>R4: 33-20 Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow

Day 87: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80140434

Yet more blowouts. Geometric Dance and Tree of Life ~ Roots both look terrible now. x_x At least Shevat looked respectable. My money is on Tachi next round.

Limitless Cinderella? More like Limitless OWNING!
Dance With the Shadow? More like OWNED by the Shadow!

ROFL

Day 87 Results!

The Lost City 28 v 25 Gusty Garden Galaxy
Prophecy 34 v 18 -[PROTEASE]-

Congratulations to our D3 and D4 retirees!!!

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City
>R1: 47-12 GuitarFreaks V4 & DrumMania V4 ockRock - RVOLUTIN (Full Version)
>>R2: 43-16 Ano, Subarashii o Mou Ichido - MI09: Angel
>>>R3: 29-25 Little Busters! - Ring Ring Ring!
>>>>R4: 28-25 Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy

Secret of Mana (2018) - Prophecy
>R1: 35-26 Risk of Rain 2: Survivors of the Void - The Face of the Deep
>>R2: 31-28 Drakengard 3 - The Final Song
>>>R3: 31-24 Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit
>>>>R4: 34-18 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -[PROTEASE]-

Day 88: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80141701

And there we have it! Our 16 retirees for VGMC 16!!!!

Alto's Odyssey - An Endless Desert
Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Theme of D4
Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance
Kid Icarus: Uprising - Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Mad Rat Dead - Breath of Forest
Neotokyo - Tachi
Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Sky Tower
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 - Move Me
Secret of Mana (2018) - Prophecy
Shatter - Argon Refinery
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Mor Ardain ~ Roaming the Wastes
Xenoblade Chronicles X - THEMEX
YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World - Different World 1

Who's gonna come out on top?!? The end draws near!!!

Gusty Garden Galaxy? More like OWNED OWNING Galaxy!
-[PROTEASE]-? More like -[OWNED]-!

Secret of Mana used to be really bad at VGMC, right?

Really sad how we went from "Really like the pool of songs this year overall" to what might be the worst set or retirees ever. I don't know if I outright dislike any of the songs which I suppose in some sense is an improvement, but many of the songs I just feel nothing from. Guess I will tier the retirees though:

Great
Secret of the Forest
Theme of D4
Argon Refinery

Good
Breath of Forest
Tachi
Passing Through the Forest
THEMEX

Solid, I Guess
An Endless Desert
The Lost City
Mor Ardain
Different World 1

Whatever
Aquatic Ambiance
Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Sky Tower
Prophecy

Bad
Move Me

Actually looking at them all as a list it's actually a slightly better set of songs than I was thinking, though still not one of the better retiree sets by any stretch.

Now that's a weak set of retirees, particularly with today's results. Not that they're usually that strong :p Go Breath of Forest.

Edit: I love that four Forest songs retired.

TeamRocketElite posted...

Secret of Mana used to be really bad at VGMC, right?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/2/3/AAUC3iAADmYH.png

Oh. Well the future is bright and that's what realy matters, right?

I think this is the first vgmc (of three) I've been in that nothing I consider worse than a [7] retired so that is a boon. I still think it might be my """"worst"""" set of retirees, but that speaks more to how good 14/15 were on the high end.

Retiree field for reference.

An Endless Desert [9.5]
Argon Refinery [9.5]
Breath of Forest [9]
The Lost City [9]
THEMEX [9]
Different World 1 [8.5]
Tachi [8.5]
Prophecy [8.5]
Aquatic Ambiance [8.5]
Sky Tower DX [8]
Mor Adain ~ Roaming the Wastes [7.5]
Passing Through the Forest [7.5]
Chapter 6: Dark Pit [7.5]
Move Me [7]
Secret of the Forest [7]
Theme of D4 [7]

Excellent:
1. Mor Ardain ~ Roaming the Wastes
2. Breath of Forest

Great:
3. Theme of D4
4. Different World 1
5. Passing Through the Forest

Good:
6. Chapter 6: Dark Pit
7. Move Me
8. Prophecy

Decent:
9. THEMEX
10. Sky Tower
11. Argon Refinery
12. Aquatic Ambience

Ehhhh:
13. The Lost City
14. Tachi
15. Secret of the Forest
16. An Endless Desert

Probably my least favorite set of retirees in the time I've been participating, though there are still some highlights (and that's at least partly a statement of how well they've gone in the past). Feels like a lot of old B-tier stuff (well okay Shatter was mainly just A-tier in BOST that's close enough).

What is meant by retirement in this contest and what determines that a song is retiring?

MarkS2222222222 posted...

What is meant by retirement in this contest and what determines that a song is retiring?

Retirement happens to any song that reaches round 5, which means it gets put into a sort of "hall of fame". Songs that retire are not allowed to return to future contests, so for many people getting to retirement for a song they love is the actual victory condition.

Even if there was no Alto trifecta, I'm really happy with this set. There was at best 2 or 3 songs I didn't love in Round 4, so chance of dissapointment were little. Great job everyone.

Also, a quick ranking:
Passing > D4 > Desert = Lost City > Ambience > THEMEX > Mor Ardain > Sky Tower > Secret > Dark Pit > World 1 > Prophecy > Breath > Move Me > Tachi > Refinery

whoops i slept in and failed to vote yesterday. at least they weren't matches where i had a terribly strong preference, though the ones i think i would've picked did lose... also wtf prophecy. what is with final song slamming directly into songs that can slay brackets out of nowhere and why this specifically

then again, i guess protease's performances against what should've been antivote magnets really were signs of clear weakness, it just didn't seem like it to me

anyway since i have rankings i guess i can actually see what i thought of this year's retirees overall

Secret of the Forest is a classic that I'm glad got finally promoted to a retired status. that said, there were 6 or 7 songs i was rooting for more in its division. At best I'd have only considered it my 5th favourite in A1 and it could've also been as low as 10th at this point (depending on mood, i can see myself voting ghost ship painting and great sea over it). Regardless though, still a great song.

Endless Desert is a song I think I like a fair amount, though I'm not entirely certain? I guess I'm kind of on the fence and it really varies by mood. Today for example where I'm having to compare it to something like SotF, it feels unavoidable that I end up viewing aspects of it as shortcomings I guess. I placed it as my 11th favourite in A2, though to be fair, and this honestly surprised me to see, there actually wasn't a single song in A2 I didn't like, to the point that it actually ended up with the highest average of all the quadrants this year. Having said that, unlike SotF, I also don't think it was ever really that likely for me to vote over anything else above it (that top 10 comprised of Soflan/IroniA/Night birds/Kusanagi/Dolphin/Hello/WBM/Dragon's Feed/Ancient Makes/Forest Investigation was nigh impenatrable to anything not on that list tbh, crazy thing is all of those were potential support level for me) and there was a realistic chance I could've voted any of the songs i ranked below it as well. Most of the time though, I enjoy it a lot and think this Todd Baker guy isn't half bad. I enjoyed endless desert a lot more than I thought I would in its first appearance (taking it to the cursed round (3) and having it lose to my ideal A4 "second chance" song which was a little known gem by the name of deoxyribose, a very unfortunate victim of would-be circumstance landing in the 4pack of snake eater in a year i was definitely very into snake eater. second chance was a cool but definitely unfortunate gimmick from a favs bracket perspective since it meant picking either endless desert, or my favourite song out of 10 songs picked out prior, and VGMC14 A4's then was one of the most extreme cases. of course even if A4's early washes were whatever it was also in the GOSU division so it's a bit of a moot point but still, I do like it and considered it a highlight by the standards of past years. Overall a solid song that earned the retiree spot I feel, even if I'm not all for any of the wins it claimed this year specifically.

Passing Through The Forest, or any of the titles this song uses, was at the last time I updated my rankings, my 2nd favourite song of A3 and a top 10 song of the bracket this year. For a while though it was only my 5th favourite in A3. Right now, I'd say it's 3rd. Either way though, it's a song i've realised i kind of love from a game I also kind of love. During noms when i was tasked with finding loop points, I got stuck on this one for quite a long time because i was too distracted by how much I enjoyed it. A3 is one of the quadrants here that has a lower average for me than usual, but is even more insane than usual at the top if the "top 10 in the bracket" status didn't make that obvious. My current #5 in A3 is a song i've picked to win (favs) brackets outright in past years and I was still very into it this time around (narrowly cut it from my nominations list this year purely because i had too many and didn't expect it to make it, was very surprised it got in regardless), so it kind of goes without saying that this is a retiree I am absolutely in support of. It's just unfortunate it just happened to be in the same place as several others i wanted to.

A4 isn't as insane buuuuut otherworld is without question my favourite song in it so there's that. How on earth did it actually retire.

i guess i'll continue later since i'm out of time oops

I just realized that Theme of D4 was in D2. I demand redoing Bracket D and starting it all over, with D4 in D4 as it should have been!!! (I doubt I was the first to say that >_>)

The last two of my 9.x tracks in Bracket D have fallen, oh, no! At least the D1-D4 retirees are all solidly in the 8.x range, so it could have been worse. I'm happy that Secret of Mana gets some glory, finally, even if I would say Steel and Snare > Danger (ARM) > Prophecy. Time to nominate something else from Secret of Mana for next year. (I have no idea what it would be, though)

Year of Todd Baker indeed. i think his two remaining tracks might be my two favorite retirees actually!

The shift toward softer-sounding or more melodic stuff has to be the main story of this contest. Aquatic Ambiance and Secret of the Forest have been classics forever but theyre just now finding the strength to retire here. Very nearly the same story with Gusty Garden Galaxy. The Alto tracks and Different World 1 are also pretty soft.

At least we still have a good few headbangers left!

NFUN posted...

Gusty Garden Galaxy? More like OWNED OWNING Galaxy!

more like GG GGG

lol, of course the one year people are lamenting the pool of retirees is the one year that I am over the moon for them. To me, there's just one total dud and I would be content with any of the following songs winning it all and they would rank among my favorite champions:

Alto's Odyssey - An Endless Desert
Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Theme of D4
Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance
Neotokyo - Tachi
Shatter - Argon Refinery
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World - Different World 1

i'm not lamenting them did you even read my post, i'm just lamenting the fact that 50% of the bracket this year was stuff i could've picked through to retirement in past years

I don't know how you could think I was talking about you.

I'm with you KCF! This is a good set of retirees. All the losing songs I voted for in R4 were not easy decisions so I'm totally fine with how it played out in the end. I have my favorites but I don't think there's any song left that I straight up don't like so I can't complain too much about who will end up on top

KCF0107 posted...

I don't know how you could think I was talking about you.

i mean i did just do a bunch of paragraphs mostly about how there were like 20 other songs i wanted from A to retire over these (granted that only actually applies to stuff outside of A4 really) i assumed there had to be some people thinking i was talking shit

Go Todd Baker!