Board 8 > [BOST6] Best OST Contest Day 29 feat. Galileo Galileo, Board 8 and Satin Angles

(+) Yeah! (+)

Greetings, and welcome to the Best OST Contest 6! In this contest, you and fellow video game soundtrack lovers will come together to once and for all answer the question "What is the best video game soundtrack? (For now.)"

Links:
Contest Bracket and Info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dzksb-FzWnDGAZKUYQ6qJNkBJkp88TRVk9TmnPthy00
Discussion Thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80233689

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VOTING RULES

- Each match will be between the songs representing each game, not the game as a whole. Please remember to listen and vote with this in mind! Any votes referring to a game name rather than a song name will not be counted.
- Listen to both songs!! If one is your literal favorite song in the world and the other is something you hate with a passion, listen to them both!!
- No alts, no rallying, no begging for something to get more votes, etc., etc., you know the drill.
- All votes must be delivered to the host within 24 hours of a match starting. If you would like to vote early, please DM me and I'll provide the match seed. If you change your mind and would like to swap your vote, you may do so. As soon as it is 24 hours since the match topic was started, you may not change your vote and new votes will not be counted.

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Winners' Bracket: Tiebreaker

League of Legends - Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJK0gG-WSUc

Rivals of Aether - Lightning Pandemonium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XdPnTfB05c

Losers' Bracket: Round 1 Match 12

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - Golden Nocturne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUgFDClkQoU

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
https://youtu.be/zkgVPYoYGY8

Snubs' Bracket: Round 1 Match 28

Sonic Adventure 2 - Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMekPbcN3Ts

Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boflzyq8P30

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Vote Form:
Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress / Lightning Pandemonium
Golden Nocturne / -{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge / Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium
abstain for now i might decide later
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
FLY IN THE FREEDOM ...theme of "ROUGE"

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Rivals of Aether - Lightning Pandemonium
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - Golden Nocturne
Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress
Edge of the Future
Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

.
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Gwen
Golden Nocturne
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

First match is weird. I think Gwen does an amazing job of accompanying the story in its video, but I'm not fully convinced that the music in isolation is better than LP. It's close. I wrote this paragraph before deciding where I was going to settle.

Golden Nocturne is super hype. It feels like a standard JRPG boss theme in some ways, but that isn't really a complaint. I really like the feel around 1:20 or so. It's very... slanted? Can I call music slanted? I dunno how else to describe it. But then Edge of the Future comes in with the doobeedoob motif and while this isn't the best version of that motif, it's still super cool. Then it's weaker for a bit, goes through some versions of other songs that those other songs do better quite frankly, and then we get french horn doobeedoobs into clinging-to-hope french horn solo. Eventually we even start getting chanting with horn solos and I'm loving it but there's so much mediocre we had to wade through to get there. Ugh. Edge of the Future has such powerful highs, but Golden Nocturne is much much more consistent.

Third match I don't really have strong feelings for either way.

i dunno. i might change my mind on all three tomorrow.

Rivals of Aether - Lightning Pandemonium
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - Golden Nocturne
Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Golden Nocturne is such a cool song, and not at all something I expected when I played through Umineko

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

I love -{EDGE OF THE FUTURE} to DEATH (might be my favorite track in the whole contest so far)....I love everything about it... the opening melody, despite being only half notes, works so amazingly well for an opening buildup (granted, I enjoy most any kind of non-standard melody) in preparation for the "main" melody at 0:54, for which the synth is fantastic (ah, I just realized the main melody mostly emphasizes the weak beats, which partly explains why the opening melody works), ...I enjoy the subtle use of orchestra and choir samples in that same place, at 1:49 the cool buzz thing in the background that gradually increases in pitch and back down, the the organ-like mixture of timbres at 1:56, the way the woodwinds back up the brass at 2:41...., the child voices at 4:06 bringing back melody #2 slightly altered (and OMG those fast string patterns at 4:58)... and there's just this epic, hopeful energy that pervades the entire piece.... is this the final battle theme of the game? If it's not, it should have been! Anyway, this may be my favorite Sakimoto composition ever.

and Cobalt Coastlands has that unmistakeable D/P/P signature sound of using percussion, guitars, bass, and soft textures in non-standard ways...

Rivals of Aether - Lightning Pandemonium
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - Golden Nocturne
Sonic Adventure 2 - Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
... eh, i don't have enough time now to reach a verdict i'm comfortable with yet, if i'm free after my house inspection in about 10-14 hours and the match is still going i might come back to it

when i said i was definitely not voting rivals before i honestly managed to forget that this was still an alt so uh hey thanks for forcing a tie so it could play lol. i am going to turn on it so hard from next round onward though since the only song left in it that i'd likely vote over even like an eighth of the field is nihil (still wild to me how all the songs not from rivals almost ended up filling all of the top 3 of the set, yet it was still the one nominated. i'm getting justice for non-roa flashy next time with a bean dreams set for sure)
sakimoto never really seemed to suit 13s to me but this song really is a peak form of sakimoto. still, it still feels like an act of mercy was passed here, to see that this match isn't totally one-sided despite the continued attempt to murder umineko for the hubris of requesting less zts epics (to be fair these kinda are c-tier (b-tier maybe but that feels slightly generous) non-zts umineko songs, could've just done RIP or discolor (yeah it's zts but i don't think anyone would've complained lol)). i also wish the vocal version of golden nocturne was valid... granted i think that for the longest time the demographics were such that the instrumental version was way more potent a pick here anyway, but whatever the case i at least would have likely flipped if it was the one here. close either way though
damn both games turned up to the match here. i'm glad since the sa2 set is so... arbitrarily arranged (not in a bad sense mind you, it just tries too hard to show off specifically two mostly incompatible aspects of the soundtrack that to their credit are still good, just polarising) and the arceus one... well, it was obviously missing arceus itself (fair though) and i was also gutted in hindsight that obsidian 1, alabaster 2 and crimson 2 (ok that one maybe was a bit riskier to have but shh) also didn't make it on... anyway love the style of both but i have to give an edge to fly in the freedom in that particular regard, it's an underrated song of such a high standard for jazz vgm... but it's also so fucking hard to top the feeling arceus' remixes have, especially those coupled with ichinose's style. match hard

Lightning Pandemonium
Golden Nocturne
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Match 1 is very good even if this TB shouldn't exist.
This is probs my fav of the 13Sen tracks I've heard but Nocturne is still a league above imo.
I'm thrilled Rouge's theme was picked for SA2. I know the setlist is a bit messy but I wanted to get every different style of the OST represented in there, personally Rouge's stuff is my absolute fav and I'd happily make a playlist of only her themes. Whether it can pull off the win or not, at least people will get to listen to a track I love.

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

All Cobalt Coastlands needs are some trumpets and you basically have the most Go Ichinose thing that could possibly be written

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Oops, forgot to vote yesterday. I can tell you what it would have been.

Lightning Pandemonium
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

The strings in Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress are so good. So much color and emotion in them. The piano arpeggios in the middle are really lovely as well. Pretty great song. Lightning Pandemonium is better than the other flashygoodness songs I've heard, but still not great. Not much else to say about it.

Golden Nocturne is a song. That's all I'm gonna say about it. -{EDGE OF THE FUTURE} is pretty solid. It's less synth-focused than usual for 13S, but it's got some pretty good strings and overall composition. Probably a middle of the pack battle theme from 13S for me, which is still very good. Last couple of minutes are definitely the best part.

Nice usage of the Rhodes keyboard in Fly in the Freedom. One of the better SA2 songs I've heard. Nice vocals too. Cobalt Coastlands is alright, better than most other Arceus songs I've heard. Still not something super memorable, particularly melodically.

Kind of an eh day today, but there's some good stuff mixed in.

Votes:
Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
Golden Nocturne
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Close second match between two good songs.

Gwen
Edge of the Future
Cobalt Coastlands

Lightning Pandemonium
Golden Nocturne
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Rivals of Aether - Lightning Pandemonium
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}

Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Lightning Pandemonium
Golden Nocturne
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium
Abstain
Cobalt Coastlands 1 (Version 2)

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
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Snubs later if I get home in time

Gwen why were either of these alts
Future
Cobalt

Swap my vote in match 2 to Edge of the Future.

gwen the hallowed seamstress
edge of the future
fly in the freedom

gwen's theme is absolutely phenomenal with the way it dances and glides and flutters from place to place. it is graceful and beautiful and romantic and even a bit lonely. good use of strings throughout. i continue to not have particularly strong feelings about rivals of aether. i don't find this track objectionable. if anything it is a good fit for the kind of game roa is, which is commendable. it is a solid track. i'd listen to it again. that's it really.

golden nocturne is a decent falcom-like "battle" track. which means that i think it does some pretty cool things, but doesn't particularly stand out. edge of the future, on the other hand, has a very promising start. the very "digital" sound extremely appropriate for this game. and it also happens to be a style that i really enjoy. there are parts where it loses me a little, particularly the vocal parts. but its highs are far more rewarding than nocturne as a whole imo.

fly in the freedom is SO GOOD. the rouge songs are the vocal sonic music hill i'll die on. the jazz is so, so smooth, awesome flute and keys, and fun vocals too. i love the slinky scatting (?) section in the latter half. very appropriate for the character in question. cobalt coastlands is also good! despite its age, feeling as nostalgic as fly in the freedom. a very obvious callback to diamond and pearl in this one, and as dppt is easily one of the best mainline pokemon soundtracks to me, this is a very good thing. the very obvious riff on route 209 is honestly what it takes to get me to love it. votes goes for rouge, for being a better song overall besides just being a "me" song. i swear i disagree with hb on most things but this is the one match i think we're both hurting over lol

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
idk
idk

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
[abstain]

Rivals of Aether - Lightning Pandemonium
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}
Sonic Adventure 2 - Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress
-{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}-
Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

I feel bad for the songs Im not voting for here, this was a better day than Id thought itd be.

Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - Golden Nocturne
Sonic Adventure 2 - Fly in the Freedom ...Theme of Rouge

Lightning Pandemonium shouldn't be an Alt song, wow. And both Umineko and 13S putting out bangers worthy of the powerhouses they are, wild that's a Losers match.
Really good day overall today, though I did expect a Xenoblade-level banger from PLA. I imagine they're in there.

Lightning Pandemonium
Golden Nocturne
didn't get to it in time, so no vote for #3