Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 25! feat. a bunch of single digits and then one mystery honker number

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 19, an annual celebration of the best of the best video game music according to the voters!

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=479594
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqEzmlfEUsm6BWJbBxDm6ZUnQQ_2d1ezDlVBN2sYepY
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80981071
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0zm7Svx4DXDy1XjUejSBazd
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HBxgL9woiCMFKNOPuN_qdxmzjStJXSpC3Ocalfsavdk
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
VGMC info site (thank you p0!!): https://p0p0p0p.github.io/
Discord: https://discord.gg/7FVXqWj

Rules:
- Listen to both songs in a given match, at least through the loop time provided (to make sure you don't skip before you've heard the whole thing!)
- Please consider the loop point listed when judging the song; if a video loops one minute 5 times, don't treat it as if it's a repetitive 5 minute song
- If it's a match between your favorite song ever and a song you despise, still LISTEN TO BOTH! Votes can and will be disqualified if there is suspicion songs are not being listened to, and you may be discounted for the rest of the contest for repeat offenses.
- No alt accounts, no rallying or begging, etc., etc.... You only get one vote! Swapping votes is alright, just make clear that you've already made a vote and are swapping.
- Make clear what your voting options are! Please keep votes separate from any comments, and use the titles given in the topic post.
- Voting in all matches is not mandatory, feel free to skip matches you do not wish to vote in.
- Vote based on the links provided, and not other sources of audio. Links are specifically chosen for best quality and the like.
- Don't discuss vote tallies in this thread, or in other threads, as they may influence votes. Likewise, please refrain from looking at the running tally before voting.

Voting Period:
- Today's matches will last 24 hours from the time of posting, or 24 hours from 10pm Eastern, whichever is the later time.
- Please note this may mean that two topics will be active at the same time!
- If you anticipate being unable to vote in a given day, please send an absentee vote to @banshiryuu, or post your absentee vote in the discussion thread!

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Match 1

Immortality - Two of Everything
Composer: Nainita Desai, Sam Barlow, Natalie Watson
Loop Point: 2:59
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SAukYw7Wc0

Earnest Evans (Sega CD) - Stage 6
Composer: Hiroki Ito, Motoi Sakuraba
Loop Point: 2:57
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwVW0zHFuAc

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Match 2

Toushin Toshi III - get the regret over
Composer: Shade
Loop Point: 4:50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2rOPQJ-sgw

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE - The Moving Fortress
Composer: Minhyuk Choi (Zekk)
Loop Point: 2:09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGZBuyRQ0ek

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Match 3

30XX - At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)
Composer: Brandon Ellis (Cityfires)
Loop Point: 3:07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3vIxTcf_q0

MementoMori: AFKRPG - VI. THE SWORD
Composer: Emanuel Amiran-Pougatchov, Takanobu Yabuuchi arr. Takanobu Yabuuchi
Loop Point: 3:58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHujeMyGCFU

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Easy vote form:
Two of Everything / Stage 6
get the regret over / The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1) / VI. THE SWORD

two of everything
the moving fortress
at her doorstep

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
regret
Sword

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Earnest Evans (Sega CD) - Stage 6
Toushin Toshi III - get the regret over
30XX - At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Two of Everything = Genie in a Bottle (verse) + Baby One More Time (chorus), brilliantly produced!

Two of Everything
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6 (Earnest Evans (Sega CD))
The Moving Fortress (Goddess of Victory: NIKKE)
VI. THE SWORD (MementoMori)

Genie in a Bottle is actually unironically one of my favorite radio friendly pop songs. so i do like this adjaceny

honestly i think a lot of why ive stuck with vgm so long despite how out of place my tastes are in game music fandom spaces, is because there's so much plastic 90s synth variants of the more organic 70s prog influenced style. in reference to even non-vgm a lot of people have wondered why I like a lot of vaguely obscure bands or low acclaim albums that are like why don't you just listen to emerson lake and palmer this is just that but more fake and the answer is because i like it because it sounds more fake. it is actually pretty funny because Highbrow is quite authentic 70s sounding, but here we have this. aaah funky suspended chord clavi stabs AAAAAAH.

this song title changes what it is every time I look at it.

I think instead of acid they should call this type of synth sound science juice1;57 has cool chords.

this is one of my fav 30xx tracks I've heard, the over-the-barline groups of 3 are very much my thing

the really empty space-filled sections with the drone of impending bagpipes and such of this are really enticing. dramatic Kaonashi 1 chords

Two of Everything
get the regret over
VI. THE SWORD

Two of Everything
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
get the regret over
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
regret (voting for)
Doorstep

I am... baffled by Two of Everything's lyrics. This is "gotta get down on Friday" tier. God that feels like a mean thing to say. And yet I do not reach for the delete key. Meanwhile, Earnest Evans is just solid.

The stuff I like in Nikke, intersected with the stuff that does well in Nikke, seems to be an empty set. Meanwhile `get the regret over` is a classic that I don't think I've done a TL for and also needs one (also HI ENGRISH):

Because you had been
swallowing the honestly wish.
I thought that you were same
feelings as me

I can't remember when I heard the words engraved deep within my breast:
"May the path you walk be a peaceful one."

Ah, so long as the lamp of prayer remains stolen and snuffed
Though I may be bashed against the cold floorstones, I will not surrender

I've simply crossed swords thousands and myriads of times
Now I must overcome a battering sea of naked steel
All to reach your far and distant hand

To grab you, hold you close, take you back and then head home
For the lost wish and a peaceful slumber
Are yours by right

Hidden behind the shadow cast by your drooped eyelashes
Must be the thorns stabbed into your breast, more than I could ever hope to pull out

Ah, if any would scorn the trail marked by your body
I would rebel against the ruler of anything
To come to your aid

Pebbles erupt in a blast, and an arc is cut through the sky
While the voice of ages clamors
Any and all rise, with what they treasure in hand
Yet none cannot destroy even a single one of the ringing armaments
So lay your sins upon night wind as it rises

Still we're gonna make it some day.

I want to look upon the same things your eyes see
No matter what you bestow upon the world

I've simply crossed swords thousands and myriads of times
Now I must overcome a battering sea of naked steel
All to reach your far and distant hand

To grab you, hold you close, take you back and then head home
For the lost wish and a peaceful slumber
Are yours by right
No matter the hour

May the sunlight filter through the trees and touch your cheeks

If we do find peace somewhere other than here
Ah Ah
Someday, surely, you'll have another chance
To say the words I never got to hear
That lie secreted within your breast
But hey, someday let me hear you say it
And keep saying it till I fall asleep.

ARGH WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME BRACKET MAKERS i mean i love you BUT ALSO ALLCAPS. At Her Doorstep reminds me of Digital: A Love Story. Mostly because I imagine a robot sitting out in the drain, a bouquet of flower in her hand, hoping the girl of her dreams opens the door. She doesn't. or maybe not i dunno i haven't played the game i just like spoiler text. But then LE SWORD. What a devastating song. How do you portray an entire character arc in four minutes of song? also CELTIC SOUNDS. I love the flute flute we bring in around 2:22, doubled with... a fiddle? not sure. And then we start layering all this chaos energy and down we fall, to where you wait. The sorrow in the final line too, it's just... chef's kiss. At her Doorstep is capturing my heart a little too well right now for me to not vote it but AHHHH.

Stage
Regret
Doorstep

Stage 6
get the regret over
VI. THE SWORD

yeah i think probably 99% of all videogame songs would automatically get my vote if they were facing two of everything. stage 6 also being actually good also helps make this absolutely one of the easiest votes all contest

get the regret over is a nice thing to get onto straight after stage 6 tbh. i like anisongs. oh yeah this one actually is a match though. production like this makes me think i'm playing one of the FAST racing games (speaking of, i really need to check out the new one and i suppose see if i can coerce my flatmate to pick it up)...

wait how did we get credits for mementomori is this real (also the 30xx song is good, it's a bit "2010 indie" but a good kind)

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

UF8 posted...

wait how did we get credits for mementomori is this real

Composer credits visible in sheet music in this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WThREF8kcSs

Stage 6
get the regret over
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Immortality - Two of Everything: Pretty well-done song. I generally enjoyed it. 7/10

Earnest Evans (Sega CD) - Stage 6: It's pretty neat. I really don't have much else to say. 7/10

Toushin Toshi III - get the regret over: It's a good song, but I'm not super into it personally. 6.5/10

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE - The Moving Fortress: Surprised by how much I enjoy this. I usually dislike stuff like this. 7.3/10

30XX - At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1): I remember this from the Supra 2023 contest. It's pretty catchy. 7.4/10

MementoMori: AFKRPG - VI. THE SWORD: The beginning started off promising with the strong Celtic vibes. Unfortunately, the vocals brought it down a lot for me. Still a fun song, but I would've liked this so much more if the vocals were replaced with like a bagpipe or something. 7.2/10

At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1) (7.4/10) > The Moving Fortress (7.3/10) > VI. THE SWORD (7.2/10) > Two of Everything (7/10) = Stage 6 (7/10) > get the regret over (6.5/10)

VOTES:
abstain
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Two of Everything
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Earnest Evans (Sega CD) - Stage 6
Toushin Toshi III - get the regret over
30XX - At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Man, what an insane day for R1. Five songs today I'd consider in contention for my top 16 of the whole tournament, and Two of Everything is an earworm in itself. Very brutal to be cutting two this soon but such is life.

Also, um...
dowolf posted...

At Her Doorstep reminds me of Digital: A Love Story. Mostly because I imagine a robot sitting out in the drain, a bouquet of flower in her hand, hoping the girl of her dreams opens the door. She doesn't.

Actually shockingly similar to the real canon lol, even though that's not exactly what the title is referring to. I might make an also-spoilered post about it tomorrow.

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

goddess of VI

Two of Everything
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Two of Everything
get the regret over
VI. THE SWORD

get the regret over > The Moving Fortress > VI. THE SWORD > At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1) > Two of Everything >> Stage 6

pass

fine stage 6

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

Stage 5/6 (MEGACD version)
get the regret over (long)
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 5/6 (MEGACD version) >= At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1) >= get the regret over (long) > Two of Everything >= The Moving Fortress > VI. THE SWORD

Two of Everything - 7.5
it's neat I like it enough

Stage 5/6 (MEGACD version) - 8
none of this is what I expected from a game called Earnest Evans, cool song I like

get the regret over (long) - 8
these weeb songs are being hard carried by having pretty great instrumentals

The Moving Fortress - 7.5
album art looks like yuri, I approve. anyways neat song but this sort of... god I'm bad with genres so I'm sorry for calling EDM but whatever hasn't been my thing in a while

At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1) - 8
nice song I like it

VI. THE SWORD - 7
what I said about the hentai song does not apply here

Two of Everything
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
get the regret over
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
get the regret over
VI. THE SWORD

I would take all six songs from yesterday over the first four (maybe first five) songs today.

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Rankings later maybe but no writeups. Moving Fortress is the only good song here imo

Stage 6
get the regret over
VI. THE SWORD

Two of Everything (4.3) / Stage 6 (8.2)
get the regret over (6.7) / The Moving Fortress (5.7)
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1) (7.0) / VI. THE SWORD (7.8)

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
get the regret over
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

It's Britney, bitch. This is a great 90s/00s pastiche of a pop song. The lyrics are a little silly to me, especially the chorus, but I don't exactly remember Hit Me Baby (One More Time) being a literary masterpiece either. Every time she says "two" in a row I think about that one boss from Deltarune Chapter 4 and it makes the song even sillier to me. I should probably finish up by saying that silly is NOT bad and I still find it a bop. :)

I love how the intro feels very sweeping orchestral in feel but then swerves into a kinda 80s training montage or victory theme sound. Like idk, the credits of a sports movie or something. Damn both songs in the first match feel so cheesy (positive).

First instinct is "do not like this vocalist", though the harmonization is nice w/ the background vocals in the intro. I like the vocalist better after the intro, but I'm still not a huge fan. It got really good towards the end with all the harmonization stuff coming back in full swing, but I can't lie I started zoning out and thinking "man I don't really get hentai games lmao" for like two minutes.

The intro to this reminds me of the Pac-Man Championship Edition game, so this is automatically a better start. I don't really have much to say about this one because it's kinda just one of those BIG NOISE songs, but not in a way I dislike.

I think I prefer chiptune type music overall if it's somber. If it weren't for the length, I could be tricked into thinking this was just a simple cutscene track imposed over a tense conversation between two former friends forced to fight each other to the death.

The very beginning of this track is such a haunting thing, that I'm kinda thrown off once the vocals start. Does this game even have non vocal songs with the same energy and vibe as the vocal ones? I think the vocalist is mostly fine, it's kinda like one of those songs where the vocalist is competent but their voice doesn't quite match up with the vibe the bgm gives off. Idunno I'm waffling a lot over a song I'm still giving a 7 to.

[8] At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)
[8] Stage 6
[8] Two of Everything
[7] The Moving Fortress
[7] VI. THE SWORD
[5.5] get the regret over

Two of Everything
The Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

I supported Two of Everything. This writeup does not have Immortality spoilers because IDK what happens in that game. Remember my foreshadowing of more villain songs? This here is an Act 1 song that foreshadows the singer later becoming a villain. Join me, she says, together we will be strong. All of the songs flash and poppiness is offering that promise. But its too good to be true, shes doomed to be rejected - and the tragedy is, she already knows that. The ending is her final desperate plea for the happiness that will be denied her. All this, of course, is a bonus on top of the song being catchy and fun to listen to.

Stage 6... I actually dont like as much as I expected. This is an example of a song whose variety works against it for me. 0:48-1:03, squealy guitar, cool. 1:04-1:20, dramatic piano, cool. 1:21-2:08, intense synths, cool. But these individually cool parts arent fleshed out enough, nor are they transitioned between in a way that feels meaningful. Still a good song, just one that could have used more polish.

Youre quite hostile. Youre youre youre youre quite hostile.Youre quite youre quite hostile YEEEEEAAAAA BOOOOIIIIIII

Stage 6
get the regret over
VI. THE SWORD

two of everything is very cool but stage 6 has a beautiful awesome driving melody so wins me over

mayim mayim m(a)y(im) beloved

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Moving Fortress is a fantastic track and I couldn't stop dancing for the whole two minutes, one-upping the good stuff that has Regret Over (I really like the vocals and it's very solid). The other matches were more even, Match 3 could go either way but Doorstep left a bigger impression on me.

im baaaaaaack.

Stage 6
get the regret over
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Stage 6
lThe Moving Fortress
VI. THE SWORD

all the fun schtuff tomorrow prob today has turned into a kind of nightmare day lol

for thats reason as well, tonights topic will probably be quite late but well see

Stage 6
The Moving Fortress
At Her Doorstep (Aspera 1)

Immortality - Two of Everything