Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 8! APOPHENIA/LayerCake, Underwater1-4/Crocus, LumaPools/CrystalCaves

(+) Yeah! (+)

Layer Cake
Underwater Lv. 1/4
Crystal Caves

Im disappointed to vote against my champion NULL APOPHENIA but its too hard on my ears. Crocus has grown on me a bit since last year.

Frogger Lv. 1/4, Sub-Lv. 2/8, Sub-Sub-Lv. 4/16

NULL APOPHENIA
Crocus
Crystal Caves

Crystal Caves >> NULL APOPHENIA > Crocus > Underwater Lv. 1/4 > Layer Cake > Luma Pools

NULL APOPHENIA
Crocus
Crystal Caves

NULL APOPHENIA's intro is such a good way to start the song, and it leads into a pretty good breakbeat sequence that keeps that electric energy flowing till the end.

For some reason, I always get thrown off by the start of Layer Cake every time I hear it, I have to wait until the guitar comes in to realize "Oh, this is Persona 5 I'm listening to". That aside, this was never my preferred song from the P5 soundtrack, as neat as the guitar and organ are. It does feel groovy near the end of its loop, and I wish that same feeling was carried throughout the rest of the song.

I really dig the ambiance for Frogger, it's so weirdly coincidental that I actually have this game and maybe heard this song once when I tried playing it a while back. The "crystal" synths and sitar in here work really well with each other, and all the other weird, neat sounds help add to that cartoony exploration feel that this song is going for.

There's something about how "small" the vocals for Crocus sound at first compared to the instruments that make them stand out to me; overall, this song feels closer to a coming-of-age story for the singer, who's growing more confident as the song progresses. 1:41 is when the song really comes alive, and the instruments sound grander than they ever were, maybe to emphasize the bigger presence that the vocalist is trying to tackle. The ending sounds pretty nice, though I do wish there were a soft finish for the vocals; I'm still very satisfied from the performance as is, however, so that's more of a nitpick for this great song.

I can almost guarantee that once I finally play Ori, the atmosphere that Luma Pools is trying to sell to me will hit stronger than it is right now. It certainly sounds pretty with its soundscape, and the enjoyment starts picking up for me around the 2-minute mark. The piano and mallet combo are definitely my favorite part about this, and I desperately wish the moment around 4:36 could be extended so much more. I feel this close to being enchanted by this song, I'm just not there yet.

And to think, I found Crystal Caves entirely on a whim by playing an indie remake of some game I've never heard of before thanks to a streamer I watch who was more familiar with the series and wanted to show off the new game for others to try out - really good thing I listened! As for the song itself, it is nothing short of excellence for me, I LOVE the mysterious and adventurous vibe all throughout its performance. The sitar sends me straight into a journey somewhere beneath the Earth's surface, and the synths and percussion just keep me propelling downward until I find the secret treasure I've been looking for! (Not really, the song itself is the treasure. =) )

NULL APOPHENIA
Underwater Lv. 1/4
Crystal Caves

Persona 5 - Layer Cake
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout - Crocus
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - Crystal Caves

NULL APOPHENIA
Crocus
Crystal Caves

uninspiring day for me, crystal caves is quality video game music though

NULL APOPHENIA
Underwater Lv. 1/4
Luma Pools

NULL APOPHENIA
Underwater
Pools

Layer Cake
Underwater Lv. 1/4
Luma Pools

Arcaea - NULL APOPHENIA -6- Theres a lot of overlapping instruemntation here and some funky sounds, but it doesnt really leave any meaningful impact. It sounds like it is hitting you with everything without any real purpose. A bit of an overload.

Persona 5 - Layer Cake -7.5-This isnt one of my favorite P5 tracks, but the groove still goes hard.

Frogger Beyond - Underwater Lv. 1/4 -5-The melody is real strange and lacking with this one, but it does seem to try something novel.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout - Crocus -4-Pretty generic imo, though it is cute sounding.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Luma Pools -6.5-Your classic mystical sounding nature relaxation. The pan flutes are a nice touch, as well as the various forms of marimba like sounds

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - Crystal Caves -4-This is good for like the first 40 seconds and then it loses it all, damn!

NULL APOPHENIA
Crocus
Crystal Caves

Layer Cake
Abstain
Crystal Caves

Persona 5 - Layer Cake
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout - Crocus
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - Crystal Caves

MATCH 1

Null Apophenia has some nice stuff with the piano that ends up getting overshadowed by other things that I don't really enjoy.

Layer Cake's pretty decent. Not the best song in the contest, but it's good enough to beat its opponent.

MATCH 2

I don't actively dislike anything about Underwater Lv. 1/4, but I'm not really getting anything out of it either.

Oh hey, it's the best song in the contest! Crocus is just such a feel-good song to listen to from its upbeat, emotion-packed melody to its heartfelt lyrics (and I'm not even someone that tends to focus on lyrics at all!).

MATCH 3

I'm sadly not really into more ambient songs like Luma Pools. It's not a bad song by any means, but it's just not something I'd typically go for.

[Posting early, will finish soon]