Board 8 > [VGMC] d56: Lights Camera Action vs Rhuzerv, Knight Foreign Country vs Battle!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to today's topic for Video Game Music Contest 13, a tournament of the best tracks from games, as decided upon by you, the voters.

Links:
Bracket - http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=471679
Contest info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17rEeB1_oYWgryWzIxOaZXw2a381gKGnMegjHCG_2OTQ
Discussion and results thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77672812
Bracket playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1RF28glW72G6s_5M1e4kcSxR

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Rules:

- Listen to both of the songs. Links have conveniently been provided for both songs. Even if Song A is your favorite of all-time and Song B is from a series you hate... Listen. To. Both. (If I have suspicions your vote is not based on a fair and impartial preference, it will be disqualified.)
- Obvious contest rules apply (no alts, one vote per person, no rallying, etc.).
- Please make your voting options clear, rather than burying them in text.
- Each set of matches lasts 24 hours, even if the new one isnt up by then.
- Always vote on the versions of the song provided, not versions from different sources.
- If you know ahead of time that you're not going to be around and you want to vote in advance, post your choices in the discussion/bracket topic.
- Please do NOT post tallies/score updates in the middle of the match, as this has a tendency to directly influence matches.
- You don't have to vote in all the matches, but it'd be cool if you did!

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Match 1:

Sonic Mania - Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMwM6hLEyeY" data-time="

Deemo - Rhuzerv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anFH_ildCws" data-time="

Match 2:

Cladun: This is an RPG - Knight of a Foreign Country

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6BoWeWh2Fg" data-time="

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_SlG-xDBLo" data-time="

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Easy vote form:
Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~ / Rhuzerv
Knight of a Foreign Country / Battle!!

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Song lyric trivia: Whenever sang my songs On the stage, on my own. Whenever said my words, Wishing they would be heard, I saw you smiling at me. Was it real or just my fantasy? You'd always be there in the corner Of this tiny little bar. My last night here for you. Same old songs, just once more. My last night here with you? Maybe yes, maybe no.
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R
B

voting early so what happened ~2.5 minutes ago doesn't happen again
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Rhuzerv
Knight of a Foreign Country

~Lights, Camera, Action, Battle!!~

Very strong day

B > S > R > K (and that's like a spread of songs between 9 and 7 for me I'd say, poor koala getting into a pack like this)

Rhuzerv
Battle!!
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!
Knight of a Foreign Country

Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!

Not a bad day, but the second match is a lot better than the first, and Battle is my favorite of the four by far.
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Deemo - Rhuzerv
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!

Rhuzerv > Battle!! > Studiopolis > Knight of FC.
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Sonic Mania - Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!

man I like xnobep 2 battle more and more with each listen sorry kfc
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!

Today's both of Matches are close for me !! All 4 songs are ones I'd consider "good" but all have shortcomings that prevent them from being among my "favorites" of those that remain this set.

Largely what both matches boil down to is "instrumentation vs. melody" -- I like the synths and sounds and such used in Studiopolis and Cladun, but the melody in both leaves much to be desired. Studiopolis seems weak for the most part for some reason and Cladun just seems a bit dull. Meanwhile the tunes in Rhuzerv & "Battle" are much more interesting and fun, but I care less for the pianos & natural instruments or vocals in them. The synths are less appealing to me in Rhuzerv too. Ultimately I guess both sides won out depending on which match. Studiopolis has some cool melody in a couple small sections, while Rhuzerv is "interesting" that actual appeal doesn't stand enough on it's own at the moment. Meanwhile "Battle" is very fun and that actually does stand well to me, certainly above Cladun's march.
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Sonic Mania - Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Cladun: This is an RPG - Knight of a Foreign Country
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!

Sonic Mania - Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!
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Sonic Mania - Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!

Yeah, wow, what a day.

Match 1 is so close that I was tempted to abstain from the vote, but I ultimately decided that the Vocaloid has a damaging effect on the song's replay value. I do respect the restraint on wubstep when compared to the some of the other ENDYMION seizure rhythm game songs in the bracket!!...just not enough to swing my vote.
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!

Studiopolis
Battle
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Rhuzerv
Battle!!

Deemo - Rhuzerv
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!
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Deemo - Rhuzerv
Cladun: This is an RPG - Knight of a Foreign Country

MATCH 1

Hi my last remaining nomination! I honestly didn't expect Rhuzerv to go the farthest out of all my nominations, but it did. I like Studiopolis Zone a lot, but I'm also very fond of Rhuzerv to the point where it's really not close at all for me. Unfortunately, Rhuzerv seems to be on its way to getting blown out in this match, but at least if this is the round that it loses, it's losing to a good opponent. If it starts turning it around, though, later on and ends up winning the match, then this will make for an extremely hard retirement match since it would be a nomination that I really like versus a support that I really like as well.

MATCH 2

Very, very strong match here! As I just said, this match is between two songs I supported, so naturally, I like both songs a lot here. I'm pretty solidly in favor of Knight of a Foreign Country here, so it's not a super close match. I just like its style more than Battle, I guess. Like I said, both really good songs, though!

Knight of a Foreign Country > Rhuzerv > Battle!! > Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~

Oops I ranked a song above my own nomination lol. Rhuzerv versus Knight of a Foreign Country for the retirement match would actually hurt, since I'd likely be voting against my own nomination. At this point, I don't anticipate Rhuzerv winning its match, so I probably won't have to make that decision. Anyway, very good group of 4 here!

Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!
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Rhuzerv
Knight of a Foreign Country
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Rhuzerv
Knight of A Foreign Country

Rhuzerv > Knight Of A Foreign Country > Battle!! > Lights, Camera, Action!!

rhuzerv is a very good example of glacier glitch taste. knight of a foreign country feels STRONG, like carrying a boulder up a mountain. first day where i can say i definitely like all the songs.
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Rhuzerv
Knight of a Foreign Country
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Knight of a Foreign Country

2nd match is great

Rhuzerv
Battle!!
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Knight of a Foreign Country

Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Knight of a Foreign Country
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Knight of a Foreign Country
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Rhuzerv
Battle!!
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Rhuzerv
Battle!!

Solid day, but easy choices.
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Rhuzerv
Battle!!

Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!

Rhuzerv
Battle!!

Match 1:

I came in here thinking I would be voting for LCA, but Rhuzerv proved to be vastly superior. I think this is the first time this happens to me in the whole contest (I didn't remember Rhuzerv to be so outstanding, maybe because of R2's competition). THIS is how you make a 2-minute song rock without sounding rushed or forced (*cough*endymion*cough*).

Match 2:

I know there was a tragedy involving Knight of a Foreign Country last round (who it beat), but I don't really remember. Anyway, we gotta work with what's handed to us now. Good material, but not great. Torna saves the match here, with a Murasaki-esque style that's very well executed.

Vrezhur >>> watson's Murasaki Spiritual Successor >= This is an RPG song >= Hedgehog, Camera, Action!

Any combo NOT involving Rhuzerv winning here is going to be really difficult to decide later on.
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Rhuzerv
Country
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Deemo - Rhuzerv
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!!
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Studiopolis
KoaFC

Man, I've really missed the boat on Torna Battle.
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1
Knight of a Foreign Country
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!
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Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Battle!!

Fun songs today! Battle has really snuck its way to the top of my rankings this contest - not that it wasn't one of my favourite discoveries at first, but it's now one of my top songs in the bracket period. Thanks *checks spreadsheet* TRE!
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Rhuzerv
Battle!!

And now, in stark contrast to yesterday, we have a song that I hated in round 1 (but still voted for because I hated its opponent more) that I'm actually kind of liking now! Don't get me wrong, Rhuzerv is still weird and doesn't belong in a retirement match. But when its opponent is a half-baked "retro" Sonic song? ...Eh, maybe I still won't vote for it. I'm hoping that the strength of the second match means I won't have to worry about either of these retiring. It still stings that actual Genesis-era Sonic has pretty much been shut out (I think there's a retired song from the Genesis 3D Blast?) while post-Adventure 2 has multiple retirees including an inferior remake of an S3&K song.

Because this second match, these two are amazing. I'm voting, because of course I'm voting, but I wouldn't be disappointed if my vote lost, as long as it's back again next year and the winner gets its retirement next round.

Votes:
Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~ Lights, Camera, Action!
Knight of a Foreign Country

Rankings:
Songs in second match > Songs in first match
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Brief (breaf?) writeups today.

11. Sonic Mania - Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~ (8) (over Steel and Snare)

vs.

29. Deemo - Rhuzerv (5) (for Death to Illusions, over Gate of Steiner)

Studiopolis Act 1 is great - very catchy. Act 2 isn't bad either! Rhuzerv feels like stereotypical soothing rhythm game music with lots of skritchy beats, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but doesn't do it for me here. Really not a fan of the dubsteppy stuff in the second half. Or the vocals. Why is this a 5 again?

and

7. Cladun: This is an RPG - Knight of a Foreign Country (8.5) (over Battle! (Ultra Recon Squad))

vs.

17. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Battle!! (7) (over Divine Beast Vah Ruta (Dungeon), for Happy Hippo)

Knight of a Foreign Country has always been a favorite of mine, though Battle!! has grown on me and would be a worthy winner in this match. I didn't even feel bad about Battle!! beating Happy Hippo, that's how cool a song it is.

Votes:
Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~Lights, Camera, Action!~
Knight of a Foreign Country

Rhuzerv
Knight of A Foreign Country
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Lights
Knight