Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 22! Rtrn2Obliv v Lorenzen, Dienos v TBISYTC, ChronoTrigger v RisingUp

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 15, 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=474630
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16XAaBMDuUnQ4c5AxQNL9ZhvD7VG5kQyrXWWZxnkrn-o
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79443554
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0xt7lOF1eB-H4NpAaF1yAnU
Compatibility sheet (courtesy of Haste!!): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iGYWo_ifr_p2uYpD_I6TwBQS2tm7zJtPCxYZfRJcG8I
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VNrPnFRI7nJ4PqFiURBW0NWqxvXiuasoq8Sn_O169ss
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
Discord: https://discord.gg/WDvMS4a

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

Elder Scrolls 4 Remake
Days of Advent
Connecticut^2

Solid, but this never clicked for me. It always feels like it's missing something, and I don't love the mixing on top of that

I can't decide if I like the almost amateur-sounding melody additions like at 1:14. They really don't sound like they fit. I suppose in the end they add some character to the song, which it desperately needs. The song can't really decide if it wants to be a funky Amiga song or a pretty, chill SNES song, so it kind of straddles the worst of both worlds. It's fine background, but I don't want to focus, and when I do, I can't help but notice its flaws

My boy SFA has come so far. Pretty straightforward rock song, but Lithuanian sounds interesting and the singing in general is pretty well done, and meshes with the riffs notably well. Extremely solid song

digifamily hasn't shown up yet so i guess this is true

fucking ties screwed everything up. prior to the contest, somebody announced that they were a mitsuda mega-fan. i told them to nominate noteworthy, more obscure mitsuda music. this is the exact kind of song i was hoping *not* to show up (they weren't responsible for this, at least)

an unremarkable song of a style i care about vs an unremarkable song of a style i don't care about. at least the choice is clear


---

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Adventos
Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger

A couple songs today are dragged down by one aspect. Lorenzen by its grating whistle noise, Rising Up by its vocals.
Chrono Trigger.

---

Subterranean
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

With apologies to Oblivion--it and Subterranean are several tiers above everything else today, but I feel like supporting Sub tonight.
---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Rising Up

Subterranean
Dienos Adventos
Chrono Trigger

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Rising Up

Quite easy day, but that's fine. Good day for vocals. But not TBIYTC, that one can stop.

---

Return to Oblivion (135th) vs Subterranean (204th)
Dienos Advento (121st) vs The Best Is Yet To Come (252nd)
Chrono Trigger (59th) vs Rising Up (211st)

good day!! lithuanian vgm is something i did not know i wanted but it is very very cool why are korean mmos so good. even subter/rising up are cool but make me want more

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Chrono Trigger

---

Subterranean
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

---

Subterranean
Dientos Adventos
Chrono Trigger

Oh shit. The new video of Subterranean sounds so much better than the old one. It's like night and day. Can't believe I am flipping from the faves bracket here.

I know everyone is encouraged to remove all biases, but it's extremely hard to do so with Chrono Trigger. In addition to in game use of this, I have fond memories where I would blast this song during close CT related matches way back in the day when GameFAQS contests were relevant. Never could get into Frog's Theme as much as this which seemed to be the b8 song of choice to summon last minute 100% legitimate comebacks.

Subterranean [9]
Chrono Trigger [8.5]
Return to Oblivion [8.5]
Dienos Adventos [7]
The Best is Yet to Come [6.5]
Rising Up [6]

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Chrono Trigger

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

Bracket B rankings:
Return to Oblivion (7.4 - 41st place) / Subterranean (5.2 - 61st place)
Dienos Advento (3.8 - 64th place) / The Best Is Yet To Come (6.7 - 54th place)

Bracket C rankings:
Chrono Trigger (8.2 - 19th place) / Rising Up (6.8v - 45th place)

---

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - Return to Oblivion
Metal Gear Solid - The Best Is Yet To Come
---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Rising Up

---

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Chrono Trigger

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Rising Up

Still feeling off, but, well... it's FF14 day!

Shadowbangers: I camped the raid where this music scroll dropped for three solid weeks and still haven't gotten it. It somehow has NOT gotten old (but it is missing a certain gravitas trying not to die to one of the many, many instadeaths while someone who has been voiced by a shrinking violet all expansion suddenly puts on her big girl voice.) I love the bass. I love the percussion. I love the opening calling (admittedly not very far) back to Footsteps in the Snow. I... am okay with the vocals. It's better during the chorus (AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN) with a backup, lyric-free accompaniment. Bold upload though, being Savage tier, where almost every single one of those things going on is "wellp, your group wiped when you got hit by it."
EJ2: Okay, I gotta be fair to it, it's enjoyable, and I can appreciate the steady, heavy drum focus, but... man, you really had to throw this against RtO for me :(. I definitely would've voted for it at some other point in this contest, but not versus this.

Tree of Savior: For the most part during it, I don't much think the singer suits the headbanger going on, but it was pretty nicely well put together. If only she were a little... angrier? I dunno. Not that it matters, 'cuz...
MGS: This song. This freaking song. I somehow dodged it for like a full decade and still immediately recognized it. It's too damn pretty for its own good, and I look forward to it slaughtering its competition for a few rounds, even if it happens to be RtO. Hot prediction. It's... I don't even know the translated lyrics, but the emotion in it still drives me to tears.

CT - if I'm honest? I thought when this was nominated it was going to be the clock ticking startup theme. Instead, I get the song I didn't actually realize was CALLED Chrono Trigger, which is the source of my absolute favorite part of Scars of Time, a song that made me buy a musical instrument I have no idea how to play. Such is life. Apart from that part? Ehhhn, I'll get back to you after the second listen.
Zestiria Emblem - No, seriously, this sounds like it belongs in a Fire Emblem game, but that might be because I'm more used to the other Tales fare of being Sakuraba experimenting on another variation of the same ten themes. The singer, not so sold on, but the rest of the song is really good!


---

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Chrono Trigger

RtO is pretty cool sounding! I love the intro. Some of the lyrics are bad and dumb and detract from the song's quality. I think it'd be better without any actual lyrics honestly. The spot at 2:15 is my favorite part. Subterranean is also nice! Kinda DKC-ish, but different. I enjoy both of these!

Dienos Advento is almost one of my favorite songs, but there's something holding it back. It doesn't feel quite polished enough? Too intense? It's great anyway. I like it a lot and will be delighted if it retires. TBIYTC retiring would be delightful in a different way...

Final match kinda annoys me. These are both subpar songs for their OSTs. I guess CT's alright when it sounds like To Far Away Times, but it doesn't sound like that often enough IMO.

Dienos Advento > Return to Oblivion > Subterranean > Chrono Trigger > Rising Up > The Best Is Yet To Come
---

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - Return to Oblivion
Metal Gear Solid - The Best Is Yet To Come
Tales of Zestiria - Rising Up

---

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - Return to Oblivion
Tree of Savior - Dienos Advento
Tales of Zestiria - Rising Up

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Rising Up

Dang it, I've had Chrono Trigger PC in my library for two months now and should really get past the intro section. The title theme is a nice enough song but I feel like I'm missing something that I can only get after playing through the game. 1:15 is very nice and reminds me of the PMD Time Gear motif haha

---

PIayer_0 posted...

1:15 is very nice and reminds me of the PMD Time Gear motif haha

Oh wow. I was going to say it was a coincidence, but it has to do with time.... It can't be a coincidence. I doubt you're the first on the board to realize it, though. I'm just slow! (contrary to my name)

---

Subterranean
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

Oblivion
Come
Up
---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Rising Up

I can't stop listening to rising up i know all the lyrics now someone send help

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

-( I think last year this was against something i liked more and i was upset i couldn't vote for it because i thought this was cool. NOT THIS TIMe. I get to vote for this one this time!!! I LOVE the non-lyrics vocals bits, those fake choir chord hits at like :15-:45, the chords played on those sounds are so cool...i love that section SO MUCH That half the time when i listen to this song i just scroll back to :15 so i can hear that section all over again. The aggressiveness at around 1:16 is amazing and the (i think) parallel harmonized nature of the vocals there is SO GOOD AND reminds me of Hidekuni Horita pso2 vocal tracks that do things like that, except actually more 'edgy' here which is good in my BOOKreally good atmosphere that hits a bunch of buttons for me and it's grown on me since last year, when i had already liked it a ton.)-

-[i'm not sure of how much the strings wind up sounding like mellotron imperfections is intentional, but i can appreciate that because it makes me think of "70s prog" even though this is probably the least proggy song in the entire contest. the image on this youtube video is so much cleaner than the old uipload which makes me think i am PLACEBO EFFECT hearing the song as way cleaner than it actually is hahabut this man is the bad guy; i'm sure full of funny crazy 90 kid show. why is it called subterranean when worms live in the earth jack ass. this song is so unquantized for how mechanical the composition is; that combination sounds like "a kid"]-

-{bonus}-

-----

-(honestly Every up load of this tree of savior song has some frustrating loudness war snesmd16 involuntary "sidechaining" SUCTION CUPs of compression of air every time there is a drum. this would be easier for me to handle if it weren't like that, but i can barely even give it a chance while it is in this state. some bits of the track are honestly really cool, i like the vocals, i LOVE The bit right at 3:07 with the reversed effect on the voice too aah that feels so cool)-

-[i used to be so hard on tbiytc; but now i actually quite like it. that's been the case for a while but...i'm not even sure if any of my old qualms with it even remain. i'm too enthralled with its instrumentation/tone to be bothered by "why doesn't the melody use any notes" anymore. it's definitely a track where to appreciate it i have to force my focus on the composition/notes to take a total backseat, but if i focus on the imagery/world the song paints inside of my brain only, i can get pretty into it]-

-{oh yeah well if you are so much about the loud aons g song and the quiet song then why is your name milton fractal}-

-----

-(chrono trigger is all about the salsa. It's my favorite famous video game soundtrack (past threshold: [the classics]) because it's like pokemon mystery dungeon 2 for old people. chord progressions centered around tonal center changes where EVERY chord change makes me fall out of my chair so i can't sit in a chair (Why would you do that anyways, too busy looking at a clocl) do you ever think about how NO ONE in an rpg ever sits down? pokemon can't sit in chairs because they have too many ideas. THis song is honestly one of the best mitsuda melody/chord interaction things that makes his music special to me, it's almost like, totally coincidental that it's the main theme to his most famous work, as i wouldn't expect that to be among the best examples of why i like his stuff but it worked out that way!!! i always want to play this on the keyboard, or sing it, it's just such an infectious CHORD CHANGES (i mean melody, sorry, i said the wrong laye)r when BRENT comes along*sneasel eats all of the Mitsuda MIDI Data 0_o and is not only used to create the user interface for web applications, but also allows gunfight to select the default language :rock_climber: and yeah. I really want to find a jazz guitarist to do a cover of this song some day with lyle mays synth lead in the s tyle of pat metheny gr*DIES*)-

-[that sound effect at the start of this song is like those weird noise maker cylinders you get at arcades like chuck e cheese's and i think that is so funny. dramatic vocals : ) that makes me so happy! this has grown on me over time, actually i changed my mind i like i less than i used to. I definitely like the type of song this is though. I think it's not QUITE Go Shiina enough for me, there's cool things like his weird filters layered on top of sounds, and over-the-top drama of course. tbh go shiina probably has something i LOVE that's like this stuff but happening to be more a hit. these sorts of MYCRO-CHAEIX overlap songs are really hard to define what makes them cool in any concrete terms...so much their appeal is like "OMG EPIC" which like, i can point to things that firestart those feelings for me in these songs, but a lot of it ties back to "memorable" more than other types of music i like, and i think what i find memorable is very inconsistent compared ot like "what makes me feel [x] emotion" so it's idk MY POINT IS it's basically random whether or not a song like this will be a BIG hit, at least as far as i can understand these days, this one is only kind of a hit. need to dig for more EPIC GO ShIINA MAGIC CRUISE SHIP DRAMA (this could jump back to growing on me soon: keep an eye out, DONT GIVE UP (man i actually really really like these vocals specifically, they remind me of...something, i'm not sure what. need to figure out because that could be a clue...useful for finding more music that rises me up))]-

-{epic}-

-----

Return to Oblivion (24th/130)
Chrono Trigger (25th/130)
The Best Is Yet To Come (63rd/130)
Rising Up (74th/130)
Subterranean (121st/130)
Dienos Advento (126th/130)
---

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Rising Up

Return to Oblivion kinda sounds like if you took one of the witch battle themes off the Madoka Magica soundtrack and somehow turned it into a happy rave rock song.

Subterranean is almost great, but they could've used a better SNES soundfont here. Kinda reminds me of DKC music, but not as good.

Closest match today.

---

Oooo clever, matching up two songs sung in different languages, but at opposite ends of the "mood" spectrum.

---

Chrono Trigger OST seems like something that needs to be carried by nostalgia factor to be enjoyed in its entirety. This is okay, but nothing special as far as SNES tunes go (Subterranean is better than this.)

holy FUCK that vocal range (I actually used to think Rising Up was too cheesy even for me, but now it's one of my favorite VGM EVER)

TWO FL81 NOMINATION DAY woo

---

rising up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz4pBFdf6OM
---

Lorenzen's Soil
The Best Is Yet To Come
Time Provoke

Subterranean
The Best Is Yet To Come
Rising Up

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

First round was pretty easy, pretty sure I've heard better from Earthworm Jim but that ain't it chief.

Second round kinda hurts. Lithuanian power metal is super super cool, but that kind of music is pretty well represented in VGM. I can think of a good few power metal songs in VGM I like better than that, but I can't really think of any song that beats The Best is Yet to Come at its own game. So, I had to give it the edge.

Really nice Go Shiina (I believe Courtney Knott is the vocalist here? She's sick) vs arguably one of the greatest main themes in the history of video game music (tootally not biased here). Sorry Shiina, but the choice is clear.

Subterranean
Dienos Advento
Chrono Trigger

---

well ok yeah i underrated return to oblivion last year. no huge surprise given where it was in that bracket. too bad my average rating is also noticeably higher this year so far so it doesn't really look that much better but i really am more into it

inferior guilty gear vs inferior you were there

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come

now before getting onto the last match i feel like posting my current a and b overall

1.linkage-alter
2.Now What?
3.SEN ~ Kono Hana Saku ya
4.Beyond the Bounds
5.Altered Genos
6.Twelfth Chapter ~ In the Sky
7.dear Dragon
8.You Were There
9.Untamed Heart
10.Ikou (Authority)
11.Exhaustion 3
12.OPTICAL MODE
13.Phantom
14.Immanence
15.Children of the City
16.One Night in Neo Kobe City
17.Battle Field "N.Y. central"
18.Collapsed Expressway
19.Subuta.1
20.EVENK
21.silentwindbell
22.Ice-covered Love ~ Kohri
23.The Best Is Yet To Come
24.To the Center of the Supervoid
25.Dreamy and Boisterous Holy Land
26.Sanctuary-SHU
27.Discovery
28.Obstacle
29.Fly to the Leaden Sky
30.Lucky Charm (Cuilan phase 1)
31.Baluchons
32.Anistar City
33.Toucan Tarsand
34.Jump
35.Bingo Highway
36.Monolith Gate
37.Fogbeasts
38.Underwater Prom Queens
39.Balance Slays the Demon
40.Hope Given "Dance of Dog's Howl"
41.QuelI->EX[cez]->{kranz};
42.Fortune Favours The Bold
43.Light
44.Apex of the World (Rain)
45.Unrest - The End of the Raging Waves
46.La Mer
47.GTR Attack!
48.Madness
49.The Explosion
50.14.3 Billion Years
51.Stella -Part 2-
52.Unknown Pollution
53.Navi Customizer
54.Brave New World
55.POINT OF NO RETURN
56.Id (Purpose)
57.Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke (14.5)
58.Full Steam Ahead
59.National Park
60.Fairfrozen
61.Prairie4
62.Wheels of Aurelia
63.Soaring Through A Blue Sky
64.Sight of Silence
65.Soft Collision
66.Op. 13
67.Narrowsky - Finale
68.Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke (OG)
69.Fateful Confrontation
70.Return to Oblivion
71.08:16 Home
72.Foregone Destruction
73.The Fine Draw
74.Mission 5 - Spaceship
75.Gentle Slope Cave
76.Let It Die ~ NOTHING TO DECLARE
77.Class::CIEL_N_PROTECTA;
78.Psycho Soldier Theme
79.Suspenseful Third Day
80.Weight of the World / English
81.The Heritors of Arcadia
82.Planet Wisp - Act 1
83.Ryoshima Coast
84.Impossible Worlds
85.Track 7 (Looney Tunes)
86.Love Psalm
87.Steam Gardens
88.Tellur Town (Autumn)
89.Terminal March
90.Glessing Way!
91.Laby VI - Vengeful God in Dark Ocean Abyss
92.It's Kill or Be Killed ~ Destroy Resort
93.Looting the Louvre
94.Octopunch
95.Face Shrine
96.Inevitable Struggle -Super Arrange Ver-
97.Way of the Monk
98.The First Thing
99.Sogno di Volare
100.Planet X
101.A Long Fall
102.Onegonjou
103.BREADY STEADY GO
104.Subterranean
105.It's Dangerous to Go Alone
106.Kasaneawase no Nekobako
107.Nekozamurai no Gyakushuu
108.Cradle
109.Nefertiti
110.Collapsing Rift
111.The Bloody Rose
112.Heartless Being
113.Rose-Killing Carmilla
114.BWLAUTE BEIRRD
115.Pressure Cooker
116.Fury Sparks
117.Fuse Man Stage
118.Battle at Journey's End (Tressa)
119.Neuchatel
120.Professional Problem
121.Stay Gold
122.The Rain Formerly Known as Purple
123.Dienos Advento
124.Avian Animosity
125.The Butterfly's Temptation
126.The Undying Shores
127.Out of Tartarus
128.Roar of the Jungle Dragon

anyway

i already mentioned this but i just can't get into regular ct ct. lacks some oomph.
never really liked rising up as much other go shiina zestiria stuff because of the vocals and the tone in some places but it is still go shiina zestiria stuff and therefore pretty ok

Rising Up

for reference, i'd have rising up and ct both very close to subterranean if they were in that list (probably above onegonjou and collapsing rift). actually that's also roughly where return to oblivion would've landed if i still felt the same way on it as i did last year

overall not the best day for vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wsjY20Amm8

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Chrono Trigger

You know, TBIYTC is growing on me. It's very calming. Unfortunately this isn't a match it can capitalize on that in.

---

Subterranean
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

Subterranean
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

---

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Rising Up

No strong feelings about anything today

---

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Rising Up

I don't really feel good voting against any of these songs in R1. There haven't been many matches where I could say that, let alone 3 in one day. Match 2 > Match 1 > Match 3 in terms of decision difficulty.

---

Subterranean
Dienos Advento
Rising Up
---

Return to Oblivion
Chrono Trigger

Return to Nu
The Best is Yet to Nu
Rising Nu

matches 2 and 3 are close.

(i decided on this naming pattern after the first two matches, without realizing CT was in the third match, and then proceeded not to vote for it. rip. Would not be upset if it wins, though.)
---

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Chrono Trigger

Oblivion
Dinos Advent
Chrono Trigger

easy day.
---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

Return to Oblivion
Dienos Advento
Rising Up

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Rising Up

---

Return to Oblivion
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES) - Subterranean
Metal Gear Solid - The Best Is Yet To Come
Tales of Zestiria - Rising Up

---