Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 7! feat. Colors, Lights, Forces, Speeds, and Time Itself

(+) Yeah! (+)

Aurora's Theme
Speed of Light
Redeem the Future

Zero Gravity Area
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

Aurora
Zero Gravity Area
Redeem the Future

Voile, the Magic Librarys strong suit is the variety in its instrumentation. Im a fan of both the dense clamor from 0:05-0:09 and the subdued elegance from 1:47-2:27. However, unlike its fellow arrangement Burger King Futo Lettuce, the melody lacks the impact that I like to hear from Touhou.

Softbank stomps. With respect to Xenoblade and Risk of Rain, Im feeling Aurora Magnitude for second place.

Aurora
Zero Gravity Area
Voile, the Magic Library

Hosoe does not miss when it comes to melodies huh

Aurora (Schizm)
Speed of Light
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

Aurora's Theme
Zero Gravity Area
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

dunno why but im not feeling these xeno 3 songs compared to songs of the other xenos, oh well

Aurora's Theme
Zero Gravity Area
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

Short writeups for today cause I have "sick debuff", haha. All the votes were significantly easy.

Schizm is a great ambient song I can't get into, Arknights is decent pop stuff. Child of Light and Zero Gravity are cool even if I'm not super crazy about them, special mention to CoL for being one of my favorite OSTs growing up. Redeem makes me wish Zanza was here. When are we giving of the best Xenoblade songs its flowers? Library is awesome, Pepo is just a beast remixing stuff, really love it.

Aurora's Theme
Speed of Light
-

(Already voted in match 3)

Aurora
Speed of Light , surprisingly ??
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

Aurora's Theme
Zero Gravity Area
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

VOTE:
Aurora's Theme

Aurora's Theme - There's a reason why I checked out this ost a while back. Most of the songs are just great, this being no exception. It's so poignant and beautiful. Lovely piece.

Aurora - Nice ambience. I'm sure it works well in the context of the game. Outside of context, it's a nice piece to relax to but has little substance outside of that.

Will get to the other two later.

Child of Light - Aurora's Theme
Arknights - Speed of Light
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed - Redeem the Future

Aurora
Zero Gravity Area
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

Aurora
Zero Gravity Area
Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library

From TunnelScene:

Aurora (Schizm: Mysterious Journey)
Zero Gravity Area (Mega Man Network Transmission)
Voile, the Magic Library (Touhou Luna Nights)

aurora is drinking 15 syrup mechanisms huh. what a great coping mechanism. well I'm definitely not the person i was when i was younger, but also i put this against aurora so

this is the most nostalgic track from this game possibly? I come back to others on the ost a lot more, but this one I instantly picture playing this for the first time in ~2004 again. little did i know i would be calling it a top 3 fav video game in 2024 (and according to my spreadsheet of every song listened to: roughly in my top 3 listened to albums as well), but very few games out there do everything right for me in the way this does (riven, alida & uru are the only confidently at its level to me). it's not just nostalgia though, these evolving organic bass sounds, beautiful airy pads, they really do sound like they represent an entire islands-structure that is in itself a living organism, at night. the worlds in this game are so cool, but i cant imagine them being sold nearly as solidly to me if the music wasnt just as cool. over time ive realized how much an art there is to keeping something this atmospheric/ethereal---non distracting myst clone music that doesn't draw attention to itself while still being interesting in isolation. imo Daniel Kleczynski does it among the best of anyone. and honestly its some of the vgm i listen to /out of context/ the most, excitedly. i may not have the same things i seek as many others, but what this game does to sell these empty alien worlds is perfect for what that is. I can't stop coming back to it.

WARNING : LOUNGE epiano=PERSONA

This game's approach might be the closest i wouldve expected an inside the computer mega man game OST to soujd like if i didnt know already, but its actually basically just what super sweep sounds like normally anyway.

the piano chords that stab u when this kicks in are great

PEPOSOFT arrangement/production style is always top tier to me. it was even kinda hard for me to resist supporting the drainus/deedlit noms. it is a shame this isn't actually composed by peposoft because thats half of the appeal to me, but ZUN is a quite natural fit for these sounds

Child of Light - Aurora's Theme
Arknights - Speed of Light
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed - Redeem the Future

MATCH 1

Aurora's Theme is decent. It's a nice, emotional song, but I don't feel very strongly about it.

Aurora is a little too ambient for my tastes.

MATCH 2

Speed of Light has this very cool pop feel to it with just a hint of funkiness in the guitar and drum rhythm. The vocals are very nice too. I especially like the chorus the most (see, told you this wouldn't be the last time!). There's some good call and response with the "why do you keep waiting" part. I like that melody a lot too. Same goes for the part at 2:00. The song picks up even more after 2:17 too when the electric guitar becomes more prominent and the extra instruments and melodies get mixed into the chorus the next time through. I didn't pay it much mind during nominations, but it's really good listening to it here in the bracket!

Zero Gravity Area is pretty cool melodically! The arpeggios in the background during some parts of the song are neat too. Unfortunately, Speed of Light's more my style of song.

MATCH 3

Redeem the Future was among my favorite discoveries this year while listening through nominations! It's also my pick for the A3 retiree slot in my favorites bracket. So, I really really like Godsibb from Xenosaga 3, and it's very cool to hear the similarities between that song and Redeem the Future (and also Zanza the Divine from the first Xenoblade Chronicles, though while I like it a lot too, I'd put it at the bottom if I were to rank the three). I think the biggest draw for me is the harmonizing of the vocals. I really love that choir-like feel, but also the fact that it isn't really a choir but just rich harmonies. I don't really know how to put it into words. I, of course, like choirs, but it's really cool to hear one singer with basically multiple vocal tracks harmonizing with each other. Take, for example, Akiko Shikata songs. But on top of that, you have this gradual increase of intensity with each moment being better than the last! The first big moment of me going "oh I really like this addition" is at 1:39 with the piano part in the background. And then 2:11 when the electric guitar kicks in. Very cool transition into the second half of the song! Also nice is how some of the stuff I liked from the first half like the piano gets worked into this more intense second half too. The relatively less intense parts at 4:02 and 4:11 are also very cool though. Probably my favorite part comes towards the end after 4:46 when everything hits peak intensity and comes together. That plus the rapidly intensifying drumming. Such a great climax to the song!

[Will finish shortly]

Redeem the Future > Speed of Light > Voile, the Magic Library > Zero Gravity Area > Aurora's Theme > Aurora

Aurora
Speed of Light
Voile, the Magic Library

Auroras Theme hits that familiar stride of emotional introduction in a epic story. I like the strings and piano combo here, but its not as engaging as Id hope it to be.

Aurora (Schizm) is going heavy on the sci-fi/exotic world ambiance here, and I really like that! The synths sound pretty here and the sound effects are a great touch for the overall ambiance.

Oh, THIS Arknights song! Ive definitely heard there in an ad a while back. Its a nice taste of modern pop with a catchy rhythm and very nice vocals to boot. Overall, pretty cute song.

I remember really liking Zero Gravity back in the Mega Man contest Andy ran, and I still really like it here! Its a cute space song that could easily come from any part of the GBA/DS era; the synths give it this kid-friendly futuristic adventure vibe that awards the song with a soft spot for me.

I like the idea behind Redeem the Future - start with a Nier-like intro and then let loose on the guitar - but Im not in love with the execution for it.

YES! The weirder side of Touhou is here once again! I really like how DS platformer-like this sounds to me, you could convince me this was a song in a Castlevania clone of sorts. I think I found a new favorite here!

Waveshine_2001 posted...

VOTE:
Aurora's Theme

Aurora's Theme - There's a reason why I checked out this ost a while back. Most of the songs are just great, this being no exception. It's so poignant and beautiful. Lovely piece.

Aurora - Nice ambience. I'm sure it works well in the context of the game. Outside of context, it's a nice piece to relax to but has little substance outside of that.

Will get to the other two later.

Speed of Light: It's pretty nice and groovy. I don't actually mind the vocals.

Zero Gravity Area: Ooh the synths here, specifically the backing ones, are great.

Redeem the Future: The choir is so epic along with the orchestration. It almost reminds me of NieR music (complimentary).

Stage 3 - Voile, the Magic Library: Really fun song. Man, this match is rather hard!

Redeem the Future = Aurora's Theme >= Voile >> Zero Gravity Area >= Speed of Light >= Aurora

REMAINING VOTES:
Zero Gravity Area
Redeem the Future