[VGMC] Day 1!!! feat. New, New New, Main, Main, First, and Waking Up in a Suite

Board 8

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Board 8 » [VGMC] Day 1!!! feat. New, New New, Main, Main, First, and Waking Up in a Suite
banshiryuu
05/10/2024
10:00 PM
#1
Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 18, 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=478494
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HBxgL9woiCMFKNOPuN_qdxmzjStJXSpC3Ocalfsavdk
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80763291
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0y-5OyCrkgprWtXARkEJzh_
Compatibility sheet: ?!?!?!
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SAJKYJmYhccLvbf_H-5uSA7-eMwXfW8k1q74Qho1bLU
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
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!

.

Match 1

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - New Battle!!!
Composer: Kenji Hiramatsu
Loop Point: 6:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVxRnELD0Uw

CRYMACHINA - FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Composer: Sakuzyo
Loop Point: 4:42
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ywq_M-71Ng

.

Donk! The Samurai Duck (CD32) - Main Title
Composer: Fate
Loop Point: 4:51
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2948bTHYFUw

Enthusia Professional Racing - Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Composer: Masanori Akita
Loop Point: 9:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDXpjtRBWTk

.

Sonic Adventure 2 - Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Composer: Jun Senoue
Loop Point: 4:33
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sefGW__p6WE

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
Composer: Mitsuto Suzuki
Loop Point: 11:24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjFKWmKxKRM

.

Easy vote form:
New Battle!!! / FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Main Title / Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2" / New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
NFUN
05/10/2024
10:00 PM
#2
New Battle
THE SUITE
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
List the ominous stern whisper from the delphic cave within:
They enslave their children's children who make compromise with sin
rwlh
05/10/2024
10:02 PM
#3
superseding my advance votes because it's fun to vote on day 1

New Battle!!!
....Main Theme of Donk! The Samurai Duck
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

edit because i misspelled supersede oops
Eggert
05/10/2024
10:07 PM
#4
New Battle!!!
Main Title
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Collen
05/10/2024
10:13 PM
#5
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Main Title
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
Sunshine. Lunchbox. Playground. Raincoat. Hot Dog. Oatmeal. Railroad. Ice Cream. Bathtub. Pancake. Eardrum.
UF8
05/10/2024
10:15 PM
#6
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

i get it's been a few years but still kinda hecked up basically the direct successor to torna battle, noted vgmc13 semifinalist, is facing basically a successor to revenger, noted vgmc13 finalist, on the first match of the contest... (at least it's a fitting title gimmick match so i can't place blame)
Hbthebattle
05/10/2024
10:24 PM
#7
New Battle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Main Title
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"

:)
skulltrumpets
05/10/2024
10:31 PM
#8
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"

crymachina music has vocals i would probably not like so much if they were treated as the main instrument. but they blend in with the song's cool textures. i dig it.

was pleasantly surprised by donk when i first heard it, as it sounds like a game that would have one of those cringey kinda racist theme songs, but no it's great. still voted for the suite though. it's a good sign when i feel like only four minutes have passed, but live and learn is already playing.

expected to vote for new bodhum, but i didn't like the "aggressive" half of the mix as much as i thought i did. oops i guess
dowolf
05/10/2024
10:44 PM
#9
FightGod
Nerby Suite
Live and Urn

oh god i accidentally clicked on the link because I didn't realize it wasn't a video and proceeded to lose everything I'd written WELP. Basically it was just me liking New Battle but complaining about the semi-loop points making me feel like I'd wasted my time, liking FightGod a lot despite the ugly underscore but being minorly depressed that it doesn't have a snail's chance in hell, thinking Donk isn't for me even if I am a big ol' donkhead and also Darkwing Duck is so much cooler, gushing over Nerby Suite and how it fills its time with a glorious slow burn into three of the greatest final minutes in all of VGM, and i like butt rock but do i like it more than my favorite Final Fantasy soundtrack? Let's find out after the break...

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NERBY SWEET ISN'T THE LONGEST SONG TODAY?! This song is not twelve minutes long. It's not. It can't be. Is it? I mean this is one of the "what if we just mashed TWO songs together" uploads but even so. "Do you remember the song of the ocean waves"? okay I'm not mad anymore. but i can't believe in magic anymore and ibasho de wa nai kedo. i just feel so small listening to this. not small as in "i was THIS TINY when i played FFXIII2" but like "i am THIS TINY when i listen to this song now." man i usually hate muted instruments but the solo just works here, i am a dream on a shore bordering another final fantasy. Loop point is 3:40 fight me. I refuse to waste my time let's fast forward three minutes. oh hi giant loud rhythm. I would've voted for the first half of this in a heartbeat. Second half is the bad half. This is the bad place. Why. Sometimes all phases mixes are a mistake. Robot voice vocals are cool at the end of the loop but is it worth the journey? I don't really think so. Anyways the moral of the story is "if your track length is above 5 minutes stop arbitrarily doubling things kthx .
Nonsense. "Testing" is for when you're still guessing--and now, I have no need to guess. -- Agatha, Girl Genius
Fluttershy_Pony
05/10/2024
10:46 PM
#10
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Currently in the mood to have a signature, though unsure of what.
azuarc
05/10/2024
11:09 PM
#11
New Battle!!!
Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum

NNNNNNN....
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
th3l3fty
05/10/2024
11:15 PM
#12
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - New Battle!!!
Donk! The Samurai Duck (CD32) - Main Title
Final Fantasy XIII-2 - New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -transience
I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris
PIayer_0
05/10/2024
11:32 PM
#13
New Battle ~ !!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

Gonna try advance listening from Bracket C to offset some of the fatigue later, the matches are actually scheduled when I'm on a trip so it works out!
-Abraham Lincoln
tgs2
05/10/2024
11:43 PM
#14
New Battle!!!
The Suite
Live and Learn
DanKirby
05/10/2024
11:51 PM
#15
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nurburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
(>'.')>
"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present." -Hobbes
banshiryuu
05/10/2024
11:51 PM
#16
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Main Title
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"

From TunnelScene:
hi. I absolutely am not going to be able to be consistently present this year, I hope to come back eventually, because I really love this community, but things about my life circumstances make it unlikely any time soon. but i value this community too much to abandon it now, so here are some votes!

FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest (CRYMACHINA)
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum (Final Fantasy XIII-2)

ah yea, the border line between all the dance types we've got DiscoEpic and HiromiAnime but most of all WeebBlues. I avoided saying weebfunk because this track isn't cool man enough. I always feel Hiramatsu has this density thru compositional-information in him that coalesces into something that almost surprises me can be interpreted as a battle theme because it is too fun, I suppose they are focusing on the game part of role playing game battle theme XD why the heck did they let Lt. Surge be in this game.

This is one of those where i feel an ambiguity between timbre & tonal/rhythmic information. if you just had the notes this track would be entirely different, it feels like there's very slight detuning on a lot of indiv elements that makes this feel so much more immersing.

extended chords in these unstable loop point chord pad samples is one of my fav tendencies of european computer music people, glad you can still hear that seep through even in something so full production (honestly I would have guessed this track was written many years later than it actually was)

my focus has returned to being far more timbre-centric in recent years, and as I hadn't really listened to this seriously since that shift, I'm coming to appreciate how cool all these evolving pads are. The thin artificial choir seamlessly morphing into serene string-like sweeps. It's something I seek, when almost no element really feels static in timbre, everything is evolving as it sustains or orchestrated with enough destiny or variety so that if this song was Nrburgring but every note is C id still have something new to pay attention to across this full lengthy runtime

I can't listen to live and learn without thinking of that video where the siivagunner people show Jun Senoue irl the rip where teh vocalist goes upward for too long and I smile when I think about how he laughed so hard at that moment.

There was a while when I'd make a big deal out of how much I liked XIII-2 music, this does include a bit of what I'd fixate on with it, nice chords and nice sounds. The friendly border between ethereal jazz fusion and dream trance. As instinctively futuristic as can be.
kamakazikila
05/10/2024
11:54 PM
#17
New Battle
Nordschleife
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
Puff Stuff
TheArkOfTurus
05/10/2024
11:57 PM
#18
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
DireKrow
05/11/2024
12:00 AM
#19
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Snake5555555555
05/11/2024
12:09 AM
#20
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

Pretty close on the third match, could go either way for me
I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
If you're gonna scream, scream with me
junglegirl
05/11/2024
12:13 AM
#21
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Main Title
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
JONA
05/11/2024
12:16 AM
#22
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
Congrats to azuarc who beat me by 1 point!
HidekuniHorita
05/11/2024
12:30 AM
#23
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
Omniscience lies beyond the void, beyond decay!
I am one with the Akashic Records!
Isquen
05/11/2024
01:08 AM
#24
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

I think the standout for me was match 2. That was really cool.
[Rock and Stone] <o/
barreldragon88
05/11/2024
01:09 AM
#25
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - New Battle!!!
Enthusia Professional Racing - Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Sonic Adventure 2 - Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Long live Saint Seiya!!
HBJDubs
05/11/2024
01:36 AM
#26
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Save in the name of true love
Tked
05/11/2024
01:38 AM
#27
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
junglegirl
05/11/2024
01:54 AM
#28
new bodhum all phase was a mistake lol
tazzyboyishere
05/11/2024
02:15 AM
#29
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
http://i.imgur.com/l7xxLh1.jpg
PSN/Steam - RoboQuote ; NNID - TazzyMan
[deleted]
05/11/2024
12:00 AM
#30
[deleted]
Mihark
05/11/2024
02:53 AM
#31
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
-hotdogturtle--
05/11/2024
03:50 AM
#32
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Main Title
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Hey man, LlamaGuy did encrypt the passwords.
With what? ROT-13? -CJayC
KCF0107
05/11/2024
06:07 AM
#33
First
Suite
New
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Arti
05/11/2024
06:25 AM
#34
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - New Battle!!!
Donk! The Samurai Duck (CD32) - Main Title
Sonic Adventure 2 - Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
http://backloggery.com/articuno2001/sig.gif
Waveshine_2001
05/11/2024
06:34 AM
#35
Voting :
New Battle!!!

Okay, it's very late for me so I'm only going to vote in match 1 for now. I'll try to get to the other two matches tomorrow (well technically today) if I can.

What I find really funny is that both songs in match 1 are not only fitting as the first match in the entire contest (NEW battle and fight FIRST) but both were also in one of the two 2023 contests (yes we have two contests for every year) on Supra. New Battle was in the main 2023 contest and FightFirst is currently in the Hindsight 2023 contest.

On top of that, then there's 3 songs up today that have been in vgmc 6 (Live and Learn, New Bodhum, and Nurburgring Suite).
Fox Only, Final Destination.
Paratroopa1
05/11/2024
06:59 AM
#36
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Main Title
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"

New Battle certainly has the verve, but I find it about as cliche and tired as it gets. This kinda jazzy anime rock needs to do something a little more than this to get my attention. I just found it kind of cheesy - I really gagged at the part where it's like 'oh yeah time to do the BIG CLIMAX AND TURN IT UP TO 11' and it achieves that by going up a key. It's the corniest thing you can do in a song! Don't do it! This also had like two different breakdown sections that almost made me laugh with their predictability, especially the piano one. Any given moment of the song is a crowdpleaser but it brings nothing new for me. 4/10

It only took two songs to get some incomprehensibly named song from a game I've never heard of that has anime girls singing in it and here we are! The vocals are too little-girl for my tastes but it's alright. The dubsteppy section is fun. I don't hate it. 6.5/10

Donk the Samurai Duck is... uh, very silly, but not the kind of silliness I was expecting! This is some really vintage 90's house which makes this one a really strange time capsule - the fact that it's not meant to *sound* like 90's dance music, it IS 90's dance music. I thought it was a bit trite my first listen through but it's kinda grown on me. The harmonization in the chorus makes it an earworm. 7/10

I keep thinking this game is called Euthanasia and that might as well describe how I feel about it. It's long and boring. It's not really sit-down-and-listen-to music, it's elevator music, and as a background theme it works completely fine. It's built for a purpose. I can't really think of anything to comment on here. It sounds like background music to a SummoningSalt video which is probably the highest compliment I can pay it. 5.5/10

Live & Learn, like most Sonic Adventure music and like most Crush 40 songs, is simply a cultural treasure - something so *absurdly* lame that it wraps around to being awesome and hilarious. I uh, am sometimes surprised to find I'm in the minority on this and people unironically like it! I IRONICALLY like it. It's so fucking dumb lol and it suits its game perfectly. It rules. I can't imagine this era of Sonic sounding like anything else. 7.5/10????? but it truly defies a ranking out of 10

I went back and forth on my vote here. New Bodhum's good. But fuck it, I just can't resist voting for Live & Learn. I don't remember the sound of the ocean waves but I do want to HANG ONTO THE EDGE OF TOMORROW. 7/10
andylt
05/11/2024
07:40 AM
#37
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
sergiocornaga
05/11/2024
08:06 AM
#38
FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
failgirlema
05/11/2024
08:08 AM
#39
New Battle!!!
Main Title
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

wow, new battle was much better than i expected from what i've heard of 3. fightfirst was awesome too tho.
I THINK I JUST TOUCHED HEAVEN. sorry nuremberg sweets
sonic has an unusual amount of hatred for beggars and borrowers. does eat the rich include sonic?
thought i'd prefer live and learn. but. i think i've grown a newfound affection for new bodhum
Be formless, shapeless... like water.
Waveshine_2001
05/11/2024
09:41 AM
#40
Waveshine_2001 posted...
Voting :
New Battle!!!

Okay, it's very late for me so I'm only going to vote in match 1 for now. I'll try to get to the other two matches tomorrow (well technically today) if I can.

What I find really funny is that both songs in match 1 are not only fitting as the first match in the entire contest (NEW battle and fight FIRST) but both were also in one of the two 2023 contests (yes we have two contests for every year) on Supra. New Battle was in the main 2023 contest and FightFirst is currently in the Hindsight 2023 contest.

On top of that, then there's 3 songs up today that have been in vgmc 6 (Live and Learn, New Bodhum, and Nurburgring Suite).

Okay, so apparently I was slightly off here. The one in Hindsight is actually FightFifthDeusExMachina_Letheia (feat. Enoa (Hikaru Tono)). Wow, their names sure are similar.
Fox Only, Final Destination.
xx521xx
05/11/2024
09:50 AM
#41
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
Optimism is the first step to disappointment.
xx521xx
pyresword
05/11/2024
10:30 AM
#42
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

New Battle is reasonably good. I've never been a huge fan of this style of Xenoblade song where it usually just fails to get the blood pumping and offers little else. The piano is nice here though. Don't care much for the CRYMACHINA song. I don't like the vocals at all and the song would be much better without them, but even without them it's struggling to break "fine". And actually when the vocals go away I don't really like the part that replaces it either.

Donk main title is surprisingly fun although possibly a bit repetitive by the end. I don't think the vocalist is great unfortunately, but the actual composition I like a lot and the song is very catchy overall, especially the backing synth. I've always liked the Suite, but am not really sure how to explain why. Just a nice pleasant listen though that never feels like a chore to me despite its runtime. The climax at the end is nice, but overall this is more of a vibes song for me.

I'm not sure what to say about Live and Learn. It's not like there's anything wrong with it, but there's other styles of music I like more, and even as far as 2000's alt rock goes it doesn't feel particularly noteworthy. The guitar solo is probably my favorite part. New Bodhum is cool--lots of neat synth and percussion sounds. Not the biggest fan of the vocals, but it's a small component and there's a lot else cool going on.

Nurburgring Suite > New Battle > New Bodhum > Main Title > Live and Learn > FightFirst...
I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.
DoctorJimmy133
05/11/2024
10:54 AM
#43
New
N
New
azuarc is quite good at predicting GameFAQs bracket battles.
Haste_2
05/11/2024
11:21 AM
#44
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So... what is a party?"
"You drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."
slykirby
05/11/2024
11:32 AM
#45
New Battle!!!
Main Title
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
https://i.imgur.com/c3jEuPS.jpg
RevolverAxolot
05/11/2024
11:39 AM
#46
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"

That Enthusia song is super cool
ZelRaat
05/11/2024
01:10 PM
#47
New Battle!!!
Main Title
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"
GhostyMega
05/11/2024
01:25 PM
#48
alright lets do this

FightFirstDeusExMachina_Dearest
Main Title
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
The art of quirky SNES games no one cares about
SlinkyNeko
05/11/2024
01:40 PM
#49
New Battle!!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
Live & Learn ...Main Theme of "Sonic Adventure 2"

New Battle!!! is already an amazing discovery, love it.
DeadTaffer
05/11/2024
01:45 PM
#50
New Battle!!!
Main Title
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-
Board 8 » [VGMC] Day 1!!! feat. New, New New, Main, Main, First, and Waking Up in a Suite
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