XD biggest difference in rankings so far is DBZ:B2 ending theme
Don't worry, I'll try my best to beat that record before the topic's over.
Incidentally, my worst song for CG7 is my best song for Kenri.
I'm actually disappointed we've been agreeing as much as we have been. That... doesn't usually happen.
And then there was one. Didn't think that would be my last remaining song...
The topic's just full of surprises!
Speaking of which, the remaining 25 on my ranking are, or rather should be assuming I didn't make any mistakes:
Atelier Viorate - The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village Battle Gear 4 - Slippin' Away Big Bot Audio Drop - Amity DJ Max Portable Black Square - Stop Darius Gaiden - VISIONNERZ Demon's Crest - Beyond the Colosseum Digital: A Love Story - Paper Dolls Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 - Unicorn Ever17 (Xbox 360)- Karma Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light King of Fighters XIII - Diabolosis Klonoa 2 - Ark Ver. 1 MS Saga: A New Dawn - Giant G System Magical Drop III - KI.MA.GU.RE. [Whimsy] Muv-Luv Alternative - Seimei no Honou Myst IV: Revelation - Main Theme Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 - Sasuke Uchiha Neotokyo - Haka Okami - Ryoshima Plains Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself -Battle- (Reincarnation Version) SoulCalibur V - Venice Rooftops (SCV mix) Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Bowser's Galaxy Generator Tales of Symphonia (JP) - Starry Heavens Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor
Taking all bets.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
Atelier Viorate - The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village Baldr Force – Face of Fact Dawn of War 2 – For The Craftworld Desire – Reflector (Unlimited) Fate/hollow ataraxia – Excalibur Final Fantasy X – Servants of the Mountain Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – Jowd ~A Captive of Fate Grandia Xtreme – Combat 1 Klonoa 2 - Ark Ver. 1 Last Ranker – This Journey Without End MS Saga: A New Dawn - Giant G System Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 - Sasuke Uchiha Okami - Ryoshima Plains Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself -Battle- (Reincarnation Version) RosenkreuzStilette – Last Battle Sengoku Rance – Rebirth the Edge Shadow Hearts: From The New World – Great Ghost Dance (With Icaro) SoulCalibur V - Venice Rooftops (SCV mix) Tales of Symphonia (JP) - Starry Heavens Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Wings of Kynareth Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor Xenoblade – Unfinished Battle Ys Origin – Genesis Beyond the Beginning
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
Oh man. This song is a disaster, and yet I love it. I'm especially fond of the chorus, but I feel an odd amount of affection for the entire thing. I don't even like the singer's voice or the lyrics - the bits and pieces I can actually pick out - very much, but I just... like the song. GOD WHATEVER IT'S MY RANKING I'LL DO IT HOW I WANT
FL81 posted... Incidentally, my worst song for CG7 is my best song for Kenri.
Same with me!
Kenri posted... 31. Iridion 3D - Planet Iridion Prime Nominated by: Ace_Killjoy
I'm a big fan of Iridion music, but more Iridion II than Iridion 3D. (See the Sun Burn and Two Years Gone would both have done really well in this ranking, FYI.) I definitely like Planet Iridion Prime, though. I really like the part from 1:07 to 1:22; that absolutely makes the piece for me, though the rest of it is quite good too.
You have good taste. Actually, I was going to post Two Years Gone (my personal favorite). But a) I felt it was too soon to post it after Ed Bellis's last big VGM contest, and b) I didn't save the superior-quality link that Mycro posted when I had the chance.
But It's great to know that you like that song anyway! *Utters another comment about wanting a Nanostray soundtrack*
-- Proud member of the Global Defence Force. http://img.imgcake.com/AlecTrevylan006/AceKilljoyShieldpngyp.png
Do I get an award for most links that died over the course of the topic?
Predictions for my survivors:
Excalibur should be in the next set for CG7. Shouldn't be that much higher. It's good, but it's not THAT good.
Flame of Life is probably top 15 on Kenri's. The initial estimate was top 10, but everything Kenri's rated has been slightly lower than what I expected, so top 15.
Oh, since you guys might be interested, what my initial estimates were going in blind and my rationale behind my noms:
Flame of Life: Top 10. But in the 60s or 70s for CG7 because my last "obviously exceedingly high quality" song (Legend of Mana Opening) was down there too. I picked this song by going to vndb and looking at what was the highest rated VN and picking a song from that. Excalibur: 20-40. The other strong representative. It's a solid song, with a lot of variety, good transitions. It's hard to say a lot bad about the piece. Picked this by going to VNDB and picking the most popular VN (FSN), picking a song (Sword of Promised Victory), then picking a better arrange of it <_<. Other possibility was Mighty Wind, but I feel it's a lot weaker than this arrange of Sword of Promised Victory. I actually prefer the anime and the Return to Zero versions, but I can't use those for obvious reasons. The Bravery: 40-60. The middle of the line representative. Not good, not bad and short. Functional, but not an exceptional stand alone piece. It's the battle theme, by the way -- no, it doesn't get old, you're hitting the accelerate gameplay button throughout battles because calling ALL your attacks makes for really long battles. Picked this because I needed a gameplay song. Parity: Either 30-40 or 60-80. The controversial pick. Depends on whether or not you like pieces that do the unexpected (I do!). Otherwise Parity has little remarkable features to mention. Picked this because I've been prodding a lot of people to play KS. Sokyuu no Hikari: Bottom 25. Hopefully bottom 10. The bad pick. It's just bad. Pretty much universally considered so. (as I mentioned before, the live version spawned a meme based around how bad it was) Picked this because I noted in CG7's last topic if I wanted to pick an opening completely devoid of value, I'd pick this.
First Impressions: Check out those cool effects. They are cool and they are effects.
Thoughts: Definitely a neat track. I really like the different techno elements used here. If I had to complain about something, it would probably be that it sort of lacks a melody that I can follow. It feels a bit jumbled with everything being thrown together. But the elements that are thrown together are good enough to make me enjoy it.
Rating: 6.5/10
24. Fate/hollow ataraxia – Excalibur User: Phase Link: Link I Used:
First Impressions: Darn good remix we have here.
Thoughts: I actually have played through some of Fate/Stay Night, and very much want to continue in the near future. So I have heard the original version of this in context, and I like it there. I think this version is a bit better though. I like the softer instrumentals used. They still keep the same melody that made the original appealing, but with better effects. This makes Phase the fourth to go out, but as in the previous ranking topic I did, I was pretty pleased the choices.
Rating: 6.5/10
23. RosenkreuzStilette – Last Battle User: FL81 Link:
First Impressions: I can get behind those fast strings.
Thoughts: Hey look, a battle theme with strings, an electric guitar, and bits of vocals. It’s like it has a lot of elements I enjoy! I think my main problem with this is that there are a few parts that, while they are still fast, they do not feel as intense as the others. I prefer the first part to the second, though the second is really not bad. A good battle theme, either way. I guess I have a way of enjoying FL81’s battle tracks, because this is the second time one of them got his highest position on the list. Fifth to have everything posted, but it is sort of remarkable that this one track made him last as long as he did. The diversity was appreciated, I just did not find the others as appealing.
Rating: 6.5/10
22. Sengoku Rance – Rebirth the Edge User: agesboy Link:
First Impressions: Totally radical man.
Thoughts: There is a lot of energy in this track, and that is probably a major reason for why it appealed to me. I also like the effects that kick in around the thirty second mark. They sound neat as heck. The electric guitar manages to remain good throughout, making it all the better. I could see this either being great cutscene or battle music. I feel a bit bad for not placing all of agesboy’s choices highly, since they mean a lot to him, but he lasted quite a while and is the sixth to have all his tracks show up. Not bad at all!
Rating: 6.5/10
21. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Wings of Kynareth User: Mega Mana Link:
First Impressions: Far better than I expected.
Thoughts: I am not familiar with much music from The Elder Scrolls series. The exception is for a certain “friend” that Kenri mentioned, who threw a bunch of boring versions of Explore at us. Oh, and xp1337 showing some nifty Skyrim tracks. Anyhow, I went in with a lot of skepticism for this track. I came out being quite impressed with how peaceful and lovely it is. It kept my attention the entire time, which was a far cry from the Explore tracks. And I wound up enjoying it, which is always a plus. I was split on Mega Mana’s choices, but the good ones were enough for Mega Mana to be the seventh done.
Rating: 6.5/10
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
First Impressions: Did we get teleported to Spain when I wasn’t looking?
Thoughts: I can safely say that I did not expect to hear a battle track, or any track really, that made me think of Spanish music. This one did so somehow. I would point mostly at the strings and what sound like castanets to me. If I am wrong there (and I could be, I am an instrument moron) then feel free to tell me what the clicking things are. If they are castanets, that is cool, because I have only heard one track that uses them that I can think of (which is, oddly enough, in Disgaea). A unique battle theme to be sure, and I like it.
First Impressions: So much better than the other one I got to hear in my last topic.
Thoughts: I like the feeling this track gives me. It seems sort of mystical with a touch of space. Yes, space. It makes sense in my mind. The harp is especially lovely, and the tambourine’s an interesting touch. I believe Mycro guessed I would like this more than what he had posted before, and he is correct! As always, I loved seeing the interesting picks he made, and am glad he made it to being the eighth to have everything posted.
Rating: 6.5/10
18. Shadow Hearts: From The New World – Great Ghost Dance (With Icaro) User: electricpiper Link:
First Impressions: Strings! Bells! Vocals! This track has it all!
Thoughts: The elements used in this are like a recipe to making it appealing to me. It has a lot of things that I like, and blended together, they make a good track. My main problem is that it feels too short. It does not seem like a good track for looping purposes, which leaves it sort of hard to listen to constantly. Too bad, since I would have liked that. I think electricpiper made a lot of strong choices once again, and it netted him the position of ninth to be done.
Rating: 6.5/10
17. Atelier Viorate – The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village User: JONALEON1 Link:
First Impressions: I can safely say I did not expect this with a title like that.
Thoughts: Here we have a surprisingly pretty piece. The piano and wind instruments give it a nice feeling that almost seems fitting for a town theme, but could also be for a cutscene. I could see it either way, and I like it both ways. This also wins a position in the “most amusing titles” section I have. JONALEON1 seems to be good at picking out tracks I like (with the odd exception of one I hate from each band), so no surprise he lasted to be the tenth user with everything listed.
Rating: 7/10
16. Ys Origin – Genesis Beyond the Beginning User: Ed Bellis Link:
First Impressions: Ys music delivers.
Thoughts: I am a large fan of Ys music in general, and this is no exception. The strings here are awesome, and I love the vocals that come in on occasion. They mix together for what sounds like a really good battle theme, even if it is apparently the opening. Maybe it goes well with the opening scenes, I would assume it has some at least. Ed Bellis really struck out with me at first, but I have to admit, they were tracks I had not heard before, even if I utterly hated that dumb dinosaur one. Good job reaching eleventh user to have everything posted.
Rating: 7/10
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
First Impressions: Techno plus vocals equals cool song.
Thoughts: I like vocals still! And the effects this track has are really nice additions to it overall. Honestly this should come as no surprise being this high on my list. And, uh, well, I sort of have already said everything else I would want to in other posts. Other than me questioning why the game is called Baldr Force. Anyhow, azuarc got off to a shaky start on my list, but his last three picks totally make him deserving of remaining this far. He managed to hang on long enough to be the twelfth user fully posted.
Rating: 7/10
14. MS Saga: A New Dawn – Giant G System User: tazzyboyishere Link:
First Impressions: Why so long?
Thoughts: Six minutes for this track? Really? It apparently has a loop, fortunately, so it is not as bad as it seems. That said, I wound up liking this. The slower beat still kept my attention, the instruments and effects are good, and I love the bells. As some of you might know, I am a sucker for bells. It is sort of funny that this got posted. I have read a Let’s Play for this game, but it was all pictures and text, so I never got to hear any of the soundtrack.
First Impressions: Anything relating to Sasuke should not be this good.
Thoughts: Seriously, what was the thought process of the creators for the game for this track? “Hey, you know that utterly awful character that has no redeeming qualities?” “Yeah?” “Let’s give him a really amazing theme.” “Sure!” Oh well, I am not here to judge how appropriate themes are for characters, or else I would still be asking about how Rikku’s works. This is an incredibly pretty piece that does a lot right. I feel a secret shame ranking it this high, but I can’t deny how much I like it.
First Impressions: Wait, Ezio is in Soul Calibur V?
Thoughts: What is with Assassin’s Creed having good music? Call me ignorant if you want, I just never thought that series would contain so many tracks I liked. I assume I would like the original of this, in any case. This version is great either way. The low vocals really set the mood, keeping the track fast enough to be fight music while remaining mysterious, and in a strange sense, pretty. This one is certainly a keeper. NioraptH was someone I expected really good choices from, and I was not disappointed. Way to get to thirteenth poster to be posted.
First Impressions: Gosh I want to play this game, especially if it has more music like this.
Thoughts: What exactly is it that appeals to me so much about this? I think I can attribute my love to the fast sections of strings. When I first heard this at VGMusic of the Day, I instantly decided it was one of my favorite discoveries from that channel. Just, dang, those strings. Those strings carry the whole thing, even though the rest is fairly good.
Rating: 7/10
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
For a while now I've been taking shots at electric guitar sections in other songs, but here's an electric guitar-centric song that I really enjoy! Through no fault of its own Slippin' Away kind of reminds me of the cheesy rock music that showed up in quite a few video games in the late 90s/early 00s, but honestly that's probably helping it out here. >_>;
If I ever go on a cross-country roadtrip, I want this playing at least part of the way.
24. Darius Gaiden - VISIONNERZ Nominated by: MycroProcessor
This song is ****ing weird, and I'm only about 80% sure I actually like it at all. what is up with the darius series having such bizarre music, anyway. Not that I don't appreciate it, even when I don't care for a particular track (sup, B.T. Dutch). But I digress... I think what makes me question whether I even like this song at all is sections like 2:45, which are just chaotic and not very pleasant to listen to, but then I hear the operatic vocals or any of the other things the song does that are really cool and decide, yes, VISIONNERZ actually is pretty awesome.
23. Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself -Battle- (Reincarnation Version) Nominated by: swordz9
I do enjoy the original I'll Face Myself -Battle-, but it's not like one of my favorites, and to me this version is better in practically every single way. The instrument choice is way more interesting and it does a much better job of balancing out intense sections with less intense ones. I do think the last minute or so is kind of unnecessary though. In any case, this ends up being not just my favorite version of I'll Face Myself -Battle-, but probably one of my favorite songs from Persona in general. ...Still gotta get around to actually playing those games sometime.
Okami has one of my all-time favorite soundtracks of any game, and in general I think its best music was area music (also, Reset ~ Thank You, but counting that is just unfair). Point is, while Ryoshima Plains isn't my favorite area theme from the game (that would go to Northern Country Kamui), it's still really damn good. It's stunning beautiful -- almost as much so as the actual Ryoshima Plains are in-game. In fact I have difficulty thinking of even a single thing to criticize about it, a "problem" that applies to a lot of the best music from Okami. I guess I'd say it goes on a bit long, but really the only time I'd even notice that is when doing a project like this, so it doesn't seem like a valid criticism.
21. Neotokyo - Haka Nominated by: tazzyboyishere
I'm a fairly big fan of Neotokyo's OST, though certainly not as much as some people. A lot of its music is too cerebral for me, which is to say I have to devote so much effort to trying to figure it out that I can't really listen to it just for pleasure purposes. ...That probably didn't make any sense to anyone who isn't me. Haka is better in that regard than, say, Scrap IO, though. I really like the "lalalalaetc" sections; those might drive me crazy in a different song, in Haka they provide such a great contrast to the rest of the piece that they end up being my favorite part of the whole thing.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
20. Demon's Crest - Beyond the Colosseum Nominated by: Ed Bellis
Beyond the Colosseum is a song I've known about, and liked, for a number of years, and for whatever reason it's the only song I've ever seen anyone mention from this game. Not sure what's up with that.
In any case, it's indeed really good. It kind of reminds me of Castlevania music, and you know what, that is all right with me. I'm actually a big fan of organs in VG music, and Beyond the Colosseum manages to fake one exceptionally well for an SNES game.
19. Muv-Luv Alternative - Seimei no Honou Nominated by: Phase
As is perhaps predictable of me at this point, I like the instrument choice here! Seimei no Honou sounds somewhat militaristic, but it also definitely plays up a tragic angle, especially at the beginning of the piece. It's sort of a neat combination that doesn't get used very much. I also really like the way it progresses. The beginning and ending are quite different, but it transitions between the two so seamlessly and gradually that I didn't even notice until I had listened to it a couple times through.
Not my favorite song with vocals from Tales (that would be Karma), but it is really good. Has some cool instrumentation, though I do think that short instrumental section at about three minutes in is the weakest part of the whole thing. AS ONE MIGHT EXPECT from a song like this, the vocals are the main draw here, and I really like the singer's voice, so it's hopefully not hard to see why I'd rate this fairly highly. I also think the lyrics (working off a translation) are surprisingly not awful, though that could just be because I don't mind pure saccharine in my lyrics.
17. King of Fighters XIII - Diabolosis Nominated by: NioraptH
Whew. After that last one being all hopeful, we get something a little darker. I really need to look into King of Fighters' music in greater detail, because I've heard basically nothing except this and Mutually Exclusive Dichotomy from KoF 2002 Unlimited March, both of which are really damn good. Diabolosis is a tiny bit repetitive but that's about the only criticism I can find with it. It strikes a really good balance of being intense without having too much going on at any one point. Also fun fact: I found myself absentmindedly whistling this today (today being the day I'm writing this writeup, not today the day I'm posting it, for the record), so it must've made a rather big impression on me, considering I can basically never remember what any piece of vgmusic actually sounds like.
This song is bizarre as hell and I'm not sure why I like it. Mycro, you should do a post about this song because I'm definitely not going to be able to do it justice. >_> Uh... let's see. The melody seems... strange and off somehow to me, but in a good way. I've really never heard anything quite like this. It sort of makes me think of a shimmering reflection in a pool of water that keeps getting broken up by the ripples. Like trying to listen to the musical version of that. ...I'm bad at this. someone help me.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
15. DJ Max Portable Black Square - Stop Nominated: JONALEON
So the first 12 seconds of this had me writing it off as just sort of "ehhh", but after that it improves tremendously. I really, really like the voice of the vocalist who comes in at about 0:35 so that's part of it. The different styles of vocals and the fact that it changes between them so frequently also really help out the song. I also want to say the lyrics are interesting, but I can honestly only pick out bits and pieces. But yeah, overall it's a really cool song, and I've even started to come around in regards to the intro on subsequent listens.
Wrong song named Karma (I'll keep mentioning that until I stop mentioning that). THAT SAID this is an absolutely beautiful piece of music. If the entire piece had been like the first 50 seconds, I'd have probably ranked this quite high anyway, because I have a huge weakness for relatively simple piano pieces like that, but it really goes out of its way to elevate itself beyond that. 1:52 is probably the defining moment of the piece for me, the one moment where it stops being merely "really good" and becomes "like, wow".
Man, there is something about this that makes me like it even more every time I listen to it. I guess I do generally enjoy electronic music but I don't think that's the only thing at work here. ...I think what really impresses me about this is the contrast created by the more prominent fuzzier-sounding effects and the subtler, cleaner ones (oh god i am so sorry i am terrible at talking about music i hope someone can parse what i'm talking about here). I also really like what happens at around 2:30, where everything seems to kind of... come crashing down, and then get built back up again; it's a neat effect.
12. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Bowser's Galaxy Generator Nominated by: todbot
Super Mario Galaxy has possibly one of my favorite OSTs ever (I know I've said that like 8 times but it's been true every time!), and SMG2 was more of the same, which was all right by me. Bowser's Galaxy Generator isn't my absolute favorite track by any means, but it's definitely near the top. PROBABLY BECAUSE I LIKE MY VIDEO GAME MUSIC TO SOUND LIKE VIDEO GAME MUSIC WHICH IS ALSO ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYED BY REAL ORCHESTRAS IN MODERN DAY JAPAN, wait what point was i trying to make there. I think I'll go with that being witty and timely commentary on the terrible people who anti-vote music like this.
11. MS Saga: A New Dawn - Giant G System Nominated by: tazzyboyishere
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess this is a battle theme? That's bad if so, because it makes me look like a hypocrite, because I really can't say this completely avoids the issues I've been bashing other battle themes for. Giant G System really just manages to avoid them by being generally awesome, which makes me forgive it for not being unique and using a lot of the same techniques and instruments that show up in a lot of battle themes. That said, I would be remiss if I implied it didn't do anything in particular that is noteworthy, because it definitely does. I really like the sections with the leading bowed string instrument like 0:38 through about 1:56. I'm also a big fan of the use of bells in VG music, and even though they're used subtly here, they help the piece a lot.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
Picked this because I've been prodding a lot of people to play KS.
You are a good person.
Sokyuu no Hikari: Bottom 25. Hopefully bottom 10. The bad pick. It's just bad. Pretty much universally considered so.
well
i was able to oblige you here at least
- Jungle music is FANCY
the fanciest type of music
Jesus, 6 left going into the top 25 (2 for CG, 4 for Kenri), this is crazy!
I know this didn't work out in probably the way you would have liked, but if it's any consolation, now I can subscribe to your youtube channel without worrying about that spoiling my rankings somehow. <_<
Juuuust missed the top 10. That's pretty good though.
I've said this a couple times but it bears repeating: IMO the field here was insanely strong. So, no shame in not hitting the top 10.
In other news, the unranked 10!
Atelier Viorate - The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village Digital: A Love Story - Paper Dolls Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 - Unicorn Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light Magical Drop III - KI.MA.GU.RE [Whimsy] Myst IV: Revelation - Main Theme Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 - Sasuke Uchiha SoulCalibur V - Venice Rooftops (SCV mix) Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor
Taking all bets (again).
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
Dawn of War 2 – For The Craftworld Final Fantasy X – Servants of the Mountain Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light Last Ranker – This Journey Without End Okami - Ryoshima Plains Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself -Battle- (Reincarnation Version) Tales of Symphonia (JP) - Starry Heavens Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor Xenoblade – Unfinished Battle
For my rankings, if anything is 5.5 or higher, it means I liked it. If it's 6.5 or higher, that's pretty good in my book, and I'd go looking for it to hear again. (6 might do that too.) And as much as I whined and griped about some of the lower songs, I still appreciated hearing them because it means I have more knowledge than I did before!
More personalized responses will come after tomorrow's post.
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
Kenri, have you heard the original Ever17's Karma?
because it's a thousand times better than the atrocity they made for the 360 version
(I intentionally left off tagging and whatnot to prevent any spoilerish thumbnails popping up in the related videos, which happens a lot with Ever17 stuff)
-- thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -tranny I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris
Thoughts: I am not familiar with much music from The Elder Scrolls series. The exception is for a certain “friend” that Kenri mentioned, who threw a bunch of boring versions of Explore at us. Oh, and xp1337 showing some nifty Skyrim tracks. Anyhow, I went in with a lot of skepticism for this track. I came out being quite impressed with how peaceful and lovely it is. It kept my attention the entire time, which was a far cry from the Explore tracks. And I wound up enjoying it, which is always a plus. I was split on Mega Mana’s choices, but the good ones were enough for Mega Mana to be the seventh done.
Woo! Not too shabby. Nominations:
Breath of Fire II, "Boss Theme" - C.89 & K.94 - This one was not thought out at all. I just grabbed it after listening to the first few seconds because I remembered liking the battle music well enough while I played, the Breath of Fire series gets no love in either RPG remembrance or music topics (usually deservedly so, actually), and the first few seconds were quite good despite the rest being bad. At least I picked out something less than a minute long so it wasn't all too bad.
ALTERNATE NOMINATIONS: A bunch of BoFIII songs, something from Secret of Mana or Secret of Evermore
Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, "Summer Air" - C.87 & K.35 - I have absolutely no idea how I got to browsing Rollercoaster Tycoon tracks. I think I just wanted some PC game everyone's played but nobody remembers? It was the only one of the ten or so I listened to that sounded good enough to nominate, but yeah, it's not amazing and I didn't expect it to be top fifty. I like it because I enjoy the mellower atmospheric tunes. This sounds like a mix of Pilotwings, Animal Crossing, and Earthbound music and it's pleasant.
ALTERNATE NOMINATIONS: Harvest Moon, Earth 2150, Age of Empires, Red Alert 2, Starcraft
Mischief Makers, "Trouble Makers" - C.28 & K.71 - So damn catchy. I absolutely no idea how I stumbled upon this. Never heard before the nomination topic, but I just had to do it. I'm legitimately surprised it got as high as it did on Celtic's list, though.
Skies of Arcadia, "Bombardment 2" - C.58 & K.57 - Pssh, Bombardment 2 is better. Skies of Arcadia was a must-nom, but I wanted something that isn't always nominated. I'm not shooting for top ten, just stuff that nobody remembers much. "Kingdom of Ixa'Taka," "Battle 2," "Delphinus Theme," "Final Battle Opportunity," and "Military Facility Dungeon" were other choices and I just... went with the one that was worse than all those, XD.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, "Wings of Kynareth" - C.21 & K.46 - The only legitimately good nomination. Wings of Kynareth is awesome. Whenever I hear that while playing, the game somehow gets twenty times better even if I'm just running around the woods picking flowers. It's one of my favorite tracks in gaming and I'm glad to see it did fairly well against stiff competition.
And how the hell isn't Sonic Boom higher?
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"Because they don't want to reason about what they consider a masterpiece and be hurt when they realize it was all useless." - Umineko on Lost
First, I would like to apologize to SuperAngelo128. I somehow forgot to thank him on his fifth piece posted. And with that, all my numbers after him were wrong, so shift those up by one each.
Now, last ten, coming right up!
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
10. Persona 4 – I’ll Face Myself (Reincarnation Version) User: swordz9 Link:
First Impressions: Who thought a piano would work so well for this?
Thoughts: Now this is more like it! I’ll Face Myself is a great track to start with. Then it gets this and… well, honestly, I like it about the same amount. Just for different reasons. I prefer the original for in game purposes because it feels more fitting there. I also prefer the length of that one, especially since I think the introduction and conclusion could have easily been left out here. Sure, they play close to each other in game, but it is disorienting to have them appear like this. Still, it has some really great instruments, and the awesome melody remains intact.
Rating: 7/10
9. Dawn of War 2 – For The Craftworld User: Ace_Killjoy Link:
First Impressions: Oh man this is such an epic theme.
Thoughts: Dramatic vocals are good. These dramatic vocals are really good. The whole piece is pretty good, but those vocals are why it got so far on my list. It also goes on for a length that I can appreciate. Four minutes or so is not too short for a vocals track, and it does not go into the territory of perhaps getting tiring. Ace_Killjoy had some neat selections for my first ranking topic, but I think I preferred his choices for this one overall, especially in regards to this track. Way to survive to fifteenth.
First Impressions: As always, this brings back great memories.
Thoughts: Okami is one of my favorite soundtracks. Pick a piece for a random area in the game and odds are I like it. This is no exception. While it is not my favorite, it is still really good. The length actually does not bother me at all for Okami tracks because they have a way of keeping a familiar, enjoyable melody while changing it up enough to still be interesting. The harp and high pitched wind instrument are especially notable to me.
Thoughts: I adore Yoko Shimomura’s works. That is probably pretty evident, seeing as two of hers got into the top ten here. Anyhow, this track is one reason I am very glad Xenoblade is coming to North America. While the strings are the highlights here, the occasional chimes are good too. One interesting thing is it cuts off rather than looping, but I assume that is just the way the OST, or maybe this link, does it. Otherwise that will get pretty awkward when playing the game.
Rating: 7.5/10
6. Last Ranker – This Journey Without End User: Orochimaru_Fan Link:
First Impressions: Why oh why did this game not get translated?
Thoughts: I have heard three tracks from this game. It is enough to convince me I would really love to play it. I blame whoever decided to have Yoko Shimomura doing the soundtrack, because that was pretty much a great way to sucker me into it. This holds a great fast pace throughout with instruments I like. My favorite sections are the quieter ones with the strings, they break the flow in a way that sounds, to me, fantastic. I have to give props to Orochimaru_Fan. Even if he did basically blitz this far due to my love for Shimomura, he actually found a track with Sasuke’s name in it that was really good. That alone deserves to get him all the way to sixteenth, because until now I thought that was impossible.
Rating: 7.5/10
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
5. Final Fantasy X – Servants of the Mountain User: KirinATW Link:
First Impressions: Back in my day, people called it People of the North Pole!
Thoughts: As a To Zanarkand fan, I can’t claim this is my favorite Final Fantasy X track. But it comes pretty close. This is a beautiful track, and one that stirred emotions in me. I have a hard time saying why certain emotions come from some tracks and not others. But this one is old, sorrowful, yet proud. It conveys all that on me, and considering the situation where it plays, I think it did a great job for atmosphere. I still greatly enjoy hearing it on its own though. That holds for most of KirinATW’s choices. I had no previous experience with him, but I was definitely pleased by his choices and happy to call him the seventeenth poster listed so far.
Rating: 8.5/10
4. Final Fantasy XIII – Blinded By Light User: swordz9 Link:
First Impressions: Absolutely one of the best normal battle themes ever.
Thoughts: Final Fantasy XIII may have my favorite Final Fantasy soundtrack thus far. I have not even heard the whole thing, yet I love what I have been exposed to. This track is one of the reasons I hold it so highly. The first parts are good as is. Then it kicks into the high-energy string section and becomes incredible. Seriously incredible. The buildup is so worth it to get to that part. If nothing else, this is definitely my favorite normal fight music for the Final Fantasy series.
First Impressions: Why the heck was this cut from the American version?
Thoughts: I love Tales in so many ways. Soundtracks are no exception, nor are the opening songs. They appeal to my vocal love with good songs and great vocalists. Of the three I have heard, this one would rank the lowest. I prefer Karma and Ring a Bell to it. That is not a criticism though, because those are two of my favorite songs, and this one honestly is probably one of my favorites now too. On a funny note, even though Tales of Symphonia was the first Tales game I played, I only just heard this opening now. Whoever thought they should remove this track is a jerk. Fortunately, tazzyboyishere is not a jerk, and he submitted some really great tracks. Being the eighteenth user to have everything posted was well deserved.
Rating: 8.5/10
2. Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 8 – lastendconductor User: SSBDarren64 Link:
First Impressions: This track alone if a good enough reason to like Umineko.
Thoughts: Okay. You know that string section very close to the beginning? Not the exact start, but shortly after, where it flows and sounds amazingly awesome? Make that its own track with a few enhancements to make it longer. It would probably get a solid ten out of me. That is how good that one section is. The rest? Still pretty good, but compared to that, it is a letdown. I listen to this track frequently anyway, as it is a favorite of mine. The length does not even bother me, partially because it loops and partially because it manages to be excellent all the way through. I really need to get to Umineko so I can see where this plays. And for several other reasons. Anyway, thanks go to SSBDarren64 for his awesome contributions. Congrats on getting to nineteenth.
Rating: 9/10
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
1. Tales of Vesperia – Ring a Bell User: swordz9 Link:
First Impressions: One of the many reasons I am glad I finally played Tales of Vesperia.
Thoughts: Funny story for this. Tales of Vesperia is a game I have had for a while and wanted to play, but due to television circumstances and family members, I never really had time to sit and play it. So I maintained I would not listen to any Tales of Vesperia music until I could hear it in the game. I kept that up until this ranking topic, where swordz9 decided to post Ring a Bell. My reaction? “Son of a ***** I literally have to play this game before I can do my rankings.” Thankfully, the family was gone that weekend, and I proceeded to marathon it like mad. I am actually going to head down right after this post to go play some more. Oh, right, should I be talking about the song? I can’t really. It just… appeals. So much. It hits all the right notes, I love the vocalist, I love the instrumentals, it is one of my absolute favorite songs to date. Way to get me moving, swordz9, and way to be the last user standing.
Rating: 10/10
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
I'm not very familiar with Assassin's Creed or its music, but from the few pieces I've heard, I'm guessing that... uh... particular tune with the vocals (heard here at 0:08 through 0:22) is part of the series' main theme or is somehow important to the story or something? Because it shows up in like every song from Assassin's Creed that I've heard. And this is, for the record, probably my favorite use of it. Venice Rooftops (SCV Mix) is also just an awesome song in general. I love the pairing of the almost haunting vocals with the strings and the constant percussion. Everything works together and plays off of everything else so nicely. Only complaint I have is that it ends abruptly, but I assume that's just an issue with the particular video and not the song itself.
9. Digital: A Love Story - Paper Dolls Nominated by: SSBDarren64
Whoo, the second and final nominated track from Digital: A Love Story, and probably my favorite from that game (UNIQUE AND ORIGINAL OPINIONS). Paper Dolls is actually off to a good start because I have a weird affection for traffic noises in music; don't ask, I can't explain it, I just like it. And it really only gets better from there, with the last 45 seconds or so being just fantastic. There is one section I'm not that fond of near the middle (at 2:09ish), just because that high pitched squeal is a bit hard for me personally to listen to, but it can't detract from the rest of the piece.
8. Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - lastendconductor Nominated by: SSBDarren64
The best long track from Umineko, or at least way better than dreamenddischarger; I'm not as familiar with the overall OST as I'd like to be. (Open the field up and Life is the best I've heard, though.) The best parts of lastendconductor are a weird mix of string instruments, an electronic beat, and... train sound effects that eventually morph into normal percussion. It sounds like nonsense, and yet here we are, probably because I like all those things so I end up in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups moment whenever I listen to this (two great tastes, etc). I absolutely think it's longer than it needs to be though, and it's right on the edge of being just too long for me to want to listen to it in spite of how good it is. Doesn't quite reach that point though, and at almost 11 minutes that is truly impressive.
7. Myst IV: Revelation - Main Theme Nominated by: MycroProcessor
This reminds me of the best songs from Alone in the Dark 2008, and FYI the best songs from that game are really good, so... that might explain why this is ranked so high! The vocals are at once beautiful and frightening; I'm gathering by the comments that this is sung in Myst's constructed language, which is also very cool. I should also admit that I didn't like the very end of this at first, considering it just too loud to be enjoyable to listen to. But after listening to this a couple times I've decided that that final burst of intensity is really what's needed to serve as a counterweight to the slower portions in the middle of the piece.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
6. Final Fantasy XIII - Blinded by Light Nominated by: swordz9
The best track from FFXIII, that I've heard at least, but I think I'm familiar with most of the important ones... Blinded by Light also has the distinction of being an absolutely fantastic battle theme from a series that I honestly don't think has very many really good battle themes (Otherworld notwithstanding). Blinded by Light starts off with some build-up, which is sometimes risky, but it works out in its favor here. The real reason I like it so much, though, is the section from 0:36 to 0:53; it's such a unique and memorable sound, and it's somehow really uplifting. To such an extent that is almost seems inappropriate as a normal battle theme. Should be the "you just got a huge plot powerup and are now in WRECK EVERYTHING mode" battle theme or something.
5. Magical Drop III - KI.MA.GU.RE. [Whimsy] Nominated by: NioraptH
...So I really hope those voice clips are not part of the actual track but just included in the video to be "cute". Because they are distracting and pretty awful. (And I have since learned that they are, but again, these writeups were written like two weeks ago.) Ignoring those, the music itself is fantastic. When I say I like simple music, which... I'm not sure if I have yet in this topic but CG7 can confirm that I've said it at points in the past, this is really the kind of music I mean. It does change things up a couple times, but each individual part only has a few components and just focuses on making those components really successful. Which they are. God 0:30 through 0:56 is good. I just wish it was longer, even if making it longer just meant having it loop rather than fade out at the end.
Amazing. I've never known what to call this style of vocals, but I'm a big fan of it usually and this is not an exception, in fact it's more like Exhibit A. Between the vocals and the instrumentation Unicorn creates such a powerul impression of... powerful impressiveness. Really hope this plays during the game's climax or something because it deserves nothing else. I actually think my favorite part of Unicorn though is 1:13 through 1:40. The war drums and the violin(?) slow the whole piece down and create this tense atmosphere that's finally broken by one last burst of vocals, and it just works so well to end the piece. ...I do wish the whole thing was longer though.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
3. Tales of Vesperia - Ring a Bell Nominated by: swordz9
I'll be honest, here. My top 5 have changed places about a half dozen times so far and if you asked me tomorrow my opinion might be different yet again. But I'll go with this for now. Also: Ring a Bell was a huge favorite for #1 coming into this topic so I'm really glad a couple pieces put up a fight (and some of them even won!)
Ring a Bell is probably my... second favorite track from Vesperia, and that game has an awesome soundtrack so that's saying something. I could go down the list of what I like about it, but really I like just about everything about it so that seems unnecessary. I will say, though, that the only thing I really dislike is how a lot of the lyrics border on being Engrish (for example: "If you're hurt, cry and say 'can't you see your might of the heart'"), because to me the lyrics are mostly quite good. Like, I love the first three lines: "Reaching up for no man's land / To take a breath and take a chance / I walk a thousand nights to change the world", and a lot of the lyrics are of a similar quality. And not only do I like them, but the lyrics are also quite appropriate for Tales of Vesperia and its particular brand of idealism; always nice to see a song with lyrics that isn't like... completely at odds with the actual game.
This was not supposed to happen. I don't even like Naruto. And especially not this particular character. But then, it's not like source material matters at all. It just feels weird.
I almost feel like this piece was created to appeal to me, specifically, because it has a lot of elements I really like. Starting off with a bowed string instrument, that woodwind instrument that comes in at around 45 seconds to shake things up, the subtle vocals around the same time, the piano solo near the middle that breaks up the piece... Absolutely beautiful. It's a tragic piece in the best possible way, and the fact that it's apparently a final battle theme only makes it even more super cool, because now it's also probably one of my favorite final battle themes of all time, if not #1.
1. Atelier Viorate - The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village Nominated by: JONALEON
And so, here we are.
Despite its kind of weird name, The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village is stunningly beautiful. It uses a lot of instruments, and a lot of them only for a few seconds at a time, and this is representative of the song as a whole. It doesn't do anything for more than a few seconds, but everything it does feels like a logical progression. That's the kind of thing that can be really hit or miss for me. No points for guessing which one it is in this case. In truth it's difficult to pin down even a handful of things I like about this to talk about, because it's so successful as a whole that I don't feel right singling anything out. I think 1:22 deserves special note, though; everything seems to slowly die out in the seconds before that, only to be brought back to life there by an energetic piano section.
It's this whole process of constantly changing, but staying so consistently successful throughout, that led The Mudship Sinks At Karotte Village to take #1.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
Fun fact: Before I first bought the game (with that Sasuke track), I was casually checking through the ost to it (as I often do with various games), and I found this track called "Battle 7". I was totally underwhelmed by it, and would've honestly mistaken it for above-average stage music as opposed to a final boss theme. About a week later, when I heard it in-game and liked it a lot, I realised that the guy who uploaded the track had done so by cutting out everything after the first minute >.>
Celtic Guardian 7 posted... 9. Dawn of War 2 – For The Craftworld User: Ace_Killjoy Link:
First Impressions: Oh man this is such an epic theme.
Thoughts: Dramatic vocals are good. These dramatic vocals are really good. The whole piece is pretty good, but those vocals are why it got so far on my list. It also goes on for a length that I can appreciate. Four minutes or so is not too short for a vocals track, and it does not go into the territory of perhaps getting tiring. Ace_Killjoy had some neat selections for my first ranking topic, but I think I preferred his choices for this one overall, especially in regards to this track. Way to survive to fifteenth.
Rating: 7.5/10
W00t! I have redeemed myself! Glad I finally wound up posting a song or two that you actually liked. I already forgot most of what I posted in your first ranking topic. :P
I shall wear the number 15 with pride.
-- Proud member of the Global Defence Force. http://img.imgcake.com/AlecTrevylan006/AceKilljoyShieldpngyp.png
One of the few moments where I prefer the English version of a song over its Japanese counterpart. Ring a Bell oh yeah.
I can never decide on that, personally. I feel like the Japanese version is better, but I think I like the English version a bit more, if that makes any sense.
Isn't it "can't you see your my other half"?
I'm really not sure; I was going by what animelyrics.com told me. >_>; This would make a lot more sense, though it's still kind of awkward.
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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma
And now, some important stats, courtesy of xp! You should all thank him for doing this so I didn't have to.
This shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Lowest score is bestest. Highest possible score is 490, lowest possible is 15. Combined score is just... a combined score, and should be taken with even more grains of salt than individual scores.
I enjoyed reading the writeups and listening to all of the songs! I'm a pretty hardcore lurker, but when it comes to vgmusic ranking topics, I try and take part in the ones I see! I don't think I spent enough time finding the best songs to nominate this time, but next topic I'll be ready, haha.
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5% of the world's population causes 95% of the world's problems.
Oh, also, I had always seen the song I nominated from FFX called People of the North Pole too, and something didn't feel right when I found that video. Oh well! I love that song, and I can listen to it on repeat for really long times, haha.
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5% of the world's population causes 95% of the world's problems.