Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 88! Secret Forest/Endless Desert, Passing Forest/Different World

(+) Yeah! (+)

Secret of the Forest
Different World 1

An Endless Desert
Different World 1

This is a great four pack. I love almost all the retirees this year.

Mitsuda is one of the most legendary composers in video games for a reason. The feel he crafted in this song is exquisite. Dante once remarked how Japanese forest bgm is always magical, somehow always focused on a different aspect of the majesty of nature, and you can see that trend on full display here. The song is mysterious, of course, and that mystery is conveyed in a very nuanced way. You can feel its loneliness, but also feel a harmony with nature. You can feel awe, but that awe is tempered by it being accessible, something you can stand within and take part of. It's uplifting, but somber enough to keep you grounded and aware of what you're sensing and the contrast with regular, mundane life. It's incredible how finely-crafted it is, and with all of the care that went into the soundscape, it still created a melody memorable enough to be popularly known as Mitsuda's Lick (also coined by Dante)

The only surprising thing about Todd Baker's representation this year is that he didn't get such recognition earlier. It's a very subtle needle to thread to create a song that takes a worldly and atmospheric direction and makes it fun. This is the kind of song that would be seen as artsy and inaccessible by most, and yet few who hear it would describe it as such because it conveys its complexity and moodiness so effectively, never failing to impress itself upon you because it never fails to make you *want* it to impress itself upon you. It's a song that can carry a game all on its own; put this in a mediocre tale with mediocre writing and mediocre characters, and you'll come away thinking it's a masterpiece because the song has quality to spare.

Everybody joked about how much forest music retired this year. As I implied before, that's no coincidence! This overflows with charm and passion. It's forcefully nostalgic. You could have lived in grey apartments your whole life and hearing this will remind you of sunny days running around with your friends as children. It's joyous, yet as part of the root of "nostalgia" comes from "pain", it has a bittersweet tint to it as well; it isn't shallow. Summertime playing as kids, yes, but as an adult, it reminds you you have goals to achieve as well. Enjoy life while you can, but never forget your purpose and your dreams of being a more fulfilled person, and the journeys you must complete. I think this song is reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings, where interweaved between all of the darkness and war, the books were always sure to take solace and appreciate life's beauty. Don't let life pass you by!

I didn't make this connection until now; look at the juxtaposition of today's songs. Four songs named after places that seemed focused on taking you there, with a focus on harmony over melody, by four extremely consistent and talented composers. They all strive to portray different atmosphere, and they all are careful to mix emotions, not just out of an aesthetic desire for contrast but an acknowledgement that little in life has just one tone. With the sweeping synths reminiscent of winds and individual, solitary, echoing notes like the calls of birds of prey, this song does a remarkable job of crafting the imagery of a sublime foreign wilderness like the thumbnail indicates. Every layer of this serves a purpose, and you can focus on any and get something worthwhile out of it. Like much of YU-NO's soundtrack, there is a unique, almost plaintive feel, and your heart instinctively reaches out to grasp the melancholic adventure you're presented with

Desert

Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest

Forest
Forest

Secret of the Forest
Passing Through the Forest

...

forestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforest
forestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforest
forestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforest

An Endless Desert
Different World 1

An Endless Desert
Different World 1

I guess.

An Endless Desert
Passing through the Forest

An Endless Desert
Passing through the Forest

--
Secret of the Forest [8.5]
An Endless Desert [8.6]

Passing through the Forest [9]
Different World 1 [8.6]

Already starting off post-retirement this year with a very good 4-pack, you love to see it.

Dessert
Diffworld 1

Alto's Odyssey - An Endless Desert
YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World - Different World 1

Sorry but there can only be one (Forest)

An Endless Desert
Different World 1