Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 9! (really) C2Forever/Vertex, RftMIS/Gahreesen, Power1/Pragmatism

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 16, 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=475935
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_IU5iCFTM_4WEx8ZWKwznMz5v2tarCKh1Ag0mxIgAes
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80027411
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0xxfgkmGKvEyWfHvNZ53Kbn
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16XAaBMDuUnQ4c5AxQNL9ZhvD7VG5kQyrXWWZxnkrn-o
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 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

The Blackwell Convergence - I Can See Into Forever
Composer: Jason Arnold, Sammy Allen, Jean-Yves Ducornet, Mark Nubar Donikian, John Scott Mulchaey
Loop Point: 3:37
Genre: NOIR GOTHIC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1aXcuLidSg

DoDonPachi Resurrection Black Label - Ve

WEIERSTRASS BASS
Uru
Wattson

7.5
8
0
8
8.5
7.5

NOIR GOTHIC
IMPERISHABLE SHOOTING
ELECTRIC POWER

sorry deo
will this be the year? probably not
wubs

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

The Blackwell Convergence - I Can See Into Forever
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst - Gahreesen Corridors
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter - PowerOne

ILLUMINATE MY ENDING SKYYY
Today's harvest:

[9.5] I Can See Into Forever
[9.5] PowerOne
[9.5] Gahreesen Corridors
[7.5] Vertex (Stage 1)
[7.0] Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
[6.0] Pragmatism -Resurrection-

I Can See Into Forever
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

Will we ever see Forever
Gahreesen Corridors
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

A day with a couple of songs that sound worse now then when I did bracket. Match two is insanely close.

Forever [7.5]
Vertex [6.5]
Gahreesen Corridors [7.5]
RftM [7.5]
Powerone [6.5]
Pragmatism [7]

I Can See Into Forever
Gahreesen Corridors
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

Match 1 is weird for me, because both sound like something I would listen to that *wasn't* VGM related in the '00s. Opting for something that makes me remember my Evanescence kick more than my club days.
Match 2: Is the "Immortal" part its function as a keystone of the competition? It's not my favorite, but I didn't really care for Uru's track either.
Match 3: Get those wubs away from me, please. They ruin every other part of the song, which I might've voted for otherwise. Also, c'mon, it's ELECTRIC POWER BUILDING.

DoDonPachi Resurrection Black Label - Vertex (Stage 1)
Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Arcaea - Pragmatism -Resurrection-
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/8/5/AAOGRhAADT-9.jpg

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

Match 1 exists and both songs are okay but not great examples of their styles
I like RFTM a good bit - part of that is nostalgia from being exposed to a few big remixes of it in rhythm games, but the original song holds up well. Gahreesen Corridors is decent atmosphere but largely not my thing.
PowerOne is much better atmosphere and has a nice mechanical sound - takes its sweet time building though.

And then oh my god it's time

Alright, so Pragmatism. I never thought a lot of the original song; it was fine, but always felt like it was missing both the punch of more electronic tracks and the emotional gravitas of other "dramatic" songs in the game. When it was revealed that it would get a Beyond chart (a bonus difficulty, essentially - usually much harder than the existing charts), I wasn't too excited until I learned it was a new version of the song (something that had previously been reserved for April Fools jokes), and then I was merely intrigued. I only had to play it once to be completely blown away, though - even the parts that are largely the same felt far more dynamic. The piano felt alive and the bass had power that I'd never noticed before. The added segments (1:18 - 2:18, with the last part replacing the climax of the old song) really make it come alive, though; it fully embraces its Drum and Bass aspects and then somehow manages to shift into a soft strings section without seeming too abrupt. And then the climax just puts together everything in the song and delivers maybe my favorite section in a rhythm game song ever. It's beautiful. It's determined. And literally Laur - generally not a favorite artist of mine and someone I mostly associate with LOUD and FAST - pulled it off.

Top 5 rhythm game song of all time.

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

The Blackwell Convergence - I Can See Into Forever
Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Arcaea - Pragmatism -Resurrection-

I Can See Into Forever
Gahreesen Corridors
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

NFUN posted...

0

Based

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

7.9
8.2
9.2
8.3
9.1
6.5

Really good day

Vertex
Corridors
Power

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever (7.4v - 46th place) / Vertex (Stage 1) (8.3 - 23rd place)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke (7.2 - 52nd place) / Gahreesen Corridors (8.7 - 13th place)
PowerOne (8.6 - 17th place) / Pragmatism -Resurrection- (7.1 - 55th place)

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

What a weak day, lol. The Arcaea song is good though.

5.6
8.45
7.8
7.7
8.6
7.25

despite the disparity in scores, i could easily flip between any of the last 5 of those as my favourite of the day depending on mood

with that said, for now i guess my present preferences are still matching my prior scores, even if the gaps between them are less apparent

HARD DRUM'N'BASS
IMPERISHABLE SHOOTING
ELECTRIC POWER (building)

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

Match 2 is perhaps one of the closest matches for me that I'm still choosing to vote in so far this year. Rftm is certainly real nice to still listen to but I also really like the very unique metallic atmosphere that Gahreesen Corridors has layered with differing elements of dissonance.

Also oops I just filled out my favorites bracket and I'm already going against it now that PowerOne is finally kinda hitting well for me today.

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

eternal sight
gary's corridor
Electric Power

Third match super close

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

I like Pragmatism. Okay day otherwise.

I Can See Into Forever
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

I like the 'sink into my never' line for some reason. Other than that, Forever is perfectly fine if not particularly remarkable. I really liked one of the DoDonPachi tracks nominated (A Peaceful Death) but this one doesn't really do it for me.

Reach for the Moon, more like Reach for the Alarm Clock. To hit the snooze button. Because I'm sleeping. zzz. OK nah it's decent, but I don't know why it's a perennial entrant here beyond memes. There are so many better ToeHoes.
Corridors grows on me more with every listen, it's a shame it takes so long to get to the bit at 1:00.

Power is really chill, an R2 between it and Corridors would be nice. Gets better as it goes on.
Pragmatism is better than I remember. Maybe it deserves serious consid- oh. The drop. Right. Not my thing I'm afraid!

4eva: 3/5
Corner: 2/5
toohoo: 3/5
Corridors: 3/5
POWER: 3.5/5
Pragmatism: 2/5

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

best loser: I Can See Into Forever

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

I'm suddenly really into Forever this morning and actively love that song.

1. PowerOne
2. ???
3. Scroll Stage
4. ???
5. ???
6. Dreams in a Pie
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. Passing Through the Forest
11. ???
12. ???
13. ???
14. ???
15. ???
16. ???
17. ???
18. Kusanagi Village
19. ???
20. ???
21. ???
22. Egg Reverie
23. ???
24. ???
25. The Glittering City of Yusnaan
26. ???
27. ???
28. ???
29. ???
30. The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
31. Time Moves Slow
32. ???
33. ???
34. ???
35. ???
36. ???
37. ???
38. ???
39. ???
40. It's Dangerous to Go Alone
41. ???
42. ???
43. ???
44. Yggdrasil
45. ???
46. ???
47. ???
48. ???
49. ???
50. Kaze no Ne

Duh. I think I've made it very clear that ELECTRIC POWER is my favorite VGM. Not much else to say, really - I hope it does well!

abstain
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors

Vertex (Stage 1)
Gahreesen Corridors
PowerOne

I Can See into Forever is solid if standard? I like it. Vertex isn't that interesting, though it's not bad.

I cannot vote against RftM. Gahreesen isn't my thing, but I do like parts of it.

Fuck this last match. Easily the strongest match in the tournament so far. Wish I could vote for both of these.

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke > PowerOne > Pragmatism -Resurrection- > I Can See Into Forever > Gahreesen Corridors > Vertex (Stage 1)

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-

Hello, Evanescence. I'm not the biggest 2000s alt rock fan, but it's fun stuff. I Can See Into Forever is a fun song. Solid vocals, guitars, and melody. Not much else to say about this one.

Vertex (Stage1) is pretty meh tbh. No interesting melodies, instrumentation, or anything. It's just there. At least it's not actively offensive. Easy vote for I Can See Into Forever in this match.

The tone of the fake piano in Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke kinda bothers me. Very repetitive melody, obnoxious fake instruments, nothing jumps out at me in this (typical for original Touhou songs tbh). Idk why this of all things has been memed into VGMC over and over.

Gahreseen Corridors has some very interesting industrial-type instrumentation. It's an interesting song, though certainly nothing special. It'll get my vote anyways, due to weak competition.

Another industrial kind of track in PowerOne, but this one is executed much better. Really neat percussion and effects in this one. Then when the synths kick in at 1:39, this track really takes off. The structure is mostly just ambient chords without any real melody, but I enjoy PowerOne a lot regardless. Easy vote for this one.

Oh, look, it's another track with unfitting DnB rhythms. The choral effects aren't great either. I do like some of the synths and piano in this though. Eh melody too, so this is kind of a middling track as a whole for me.

Weaker day today, but I Can See Into Forever and PowerOne were both pretty good.

Votes:
I Can See Into Forever
Gahreseen Corridors
PowerOne

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

< P0's Top 16 >
9.1 (2 left): Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
8.9 (2 left):
8.8 (2 left):
8.7 (0 left): The Wind's Blooming Mountain
8.5 (1 left):
8.4 (1 left):
8.3 (1 left): Don't speak her name! / Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
8.2 (3 left):

Of all the Touhous to become yearly returners, I'm glad we picked this one. REACH FOR THE MOON AND BECOME ETERNAL

Vertex (Stage 1)
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
PowerOne

Match 2 and 3 I could go either way with tbh. Really love Pragmatism, but PowerOne completely mesmerized me.

I Can See Into Forever
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Pragmatism -Resurrection-