Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 86! Limitless Cinderella/Tachi, Dance With the Shadow/Theme of D4

(+) 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!

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Match 1

Senko no Ronde Rev. X - Limitless Cinderella
C

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Tachi
D4

cruel match one :(

Tachi
Dance with the Shadow

7.6 (7.4 - 7.7) - Senko no Ronde Rev. X | Limitless Cinderella

Round 3 - 7.4 (7.2 - 7.7)
Round 2 - N/A

7.7 (7.4 - 7.9) - Neotokyo | Tachi

7.7 (7.5 - 8.0)
N/A

9.0 (8.7 - 9.2) - Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom | Dance with the Shadow

9.3 (8.6 - 9.6)
9.3 (8.7 - 9.6)

8.3 (7.9 - 8.5) - D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die | Theme of D4

N/A
8.1 (7.8 - 8.4)

Limitless Cinderella
Dance With the Shadow

Limitless Cinderella
Dance With the Shadow

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Tachi
D4

Tachi
Theme of D4

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow

Senko no Ronde Rev. X - Limitless Cinderella
Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow

Here we have another "match that would have done a great final" in Match 2. Best of luck to both! And to Tachi too. Match 1 had pretty surprising contestants....

Tachi
Theme of D4

Senko no Ronde DUO - CUCU (Cuilan Phase 4) (Yasuhisa Watanabe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZMgg8gylnw

You could probably pick any Yack track out of a hat and I'd find something good to say about it. This is a very light, floaty track-- the synths sound fairly muted, soft pads, main melody synths focused on the higher frequencies. The unusual vocals also lend it an ethereal feeling. As in a lot of Yack tracks, I love the chord choices here-- calm-inducing, a little wistful, a little uncertain. (I strongly considered Senko no Ronde - assemble here, possibly my favourite Yack track, and one of the tracks I would nominate if I decide to start nominating returners.)

Neotokyo - Footprint (Ed Harrison)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0EYd4rRoY

I've talked before about how much I love this soundtrack, and how my favourite tracks let me imagine the world such tracks would inhabit. Footprint is my longtime second-favourite Neotokyo track (after Imbrium); this track paints an incredibly vivid picture in my head of a cyberpunk noir detective story. A lot of this track is very deliberate in its pace, very measured in feel. 1:04, the detective carefully studying clues, trying to connect the dots. When the drums kick back in they're back on the streets, trying to gather more information. When those wonderful Neotokyo voice samples come in, you know they're getting closer to the answer. This has maybe the most dramatic payoff moment in the soundtrack, and it's just so rewarding-- a real confrontation moment. All the while, the whole track is drenched in sort of a dark mood, an underlying sadness befitting any noir story. I really never do get tired of listening to this track-- it's so much of what I look for in this OST.

Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Prove (Luca ft. Noa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoJL43Kchxk

This was probably the toughest pick for me-- FG/O Waltz's soundtrack isn't really up my alley, and Ryota Kikuchi doesn't have a large selection to choose from. Prove's verses express themselves very clearly in Dorian mode, and I really like that scale! I'm not as big on the chorus, which doesn't feel as impactful as I'd want it to be, and I wish it attempted something a bit more adventurous-- a modulation in the bridge, maybe. It's still a fairly pleasant listen overall.

CollarMalice - Thought Experiment (MANYO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aep2wigKTw

I was debating between this and Kara no Shoujo - Days; the latter is much more in the style of D4, but I felt like showcasing a different side of this composer's style. MANYO's quite prolific in the visual novel sphere; his work shows up in a lot of places. (He was the composer for noted VGMC entrant Aka - To the West.) He's good at very pleasant acoustic guitar-backed tracks but also swirling atmosphere-building tracks like the one above. One of the synth effects here sounds so much like Dispensary from Virtue's Last Reward that I wonder if it's the same thing. This whole track kinda sounds like it would fit in that series, actually-- a fitting place for a track titled 'Thought Experiment'. It also serves as an easy explanation for why I like it-- it's one of those tracks with a 'thinking' mood featuring very cool synths and rhythms. I love moments like 0:48-- such a fun direction after the first part of the track.

Tachi
Theme of D4

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Second match is very good.

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Tachi
Theme of D4

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Tachi
Theme of D4

Great first match. I know I should probably prefer the one with the nicer harmonies, but I like Ed Harrison's sound production ("world") ideas too much.

kaonashi1 posted...

Senko no Ronde DUO - CUCU (Cuilan Phase 4) (Yasuhisa Watanabe)

I like your pick here! So much great music in that game. I tried ranking the better part of the soundtrack. Then I ranked those again and the order of everything was completely different, hahaha... (except that Tactical Field was still on top and my #2 was still travelers in the shadow...)

Oh, yeah, and you should follow with Gates to Infinity's soundtrack. Of interest to you would be that four other tracks in the game are in the same vein as Tyrian Maze ~ Inner Chamber, so it's worth exploring for those alone.

Cinderelly
D4

Tachi
Dance with Shadow

Please don't let my retirement round losing streak continue...

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow

Tachi
Theme

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow

Match 2 is strong.

Senko no Ronde Rev. X - Limitless Cinderella
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Theme of D4

Tachi
Theme of D4

Tachi
Theme of D4

Senko no Ronde Rev. X - Limitless Cinderella
Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow

Tachi
Theme of D4

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow

18. Limitless Cinderella
3. Tachi
19. Dance With the Shadow
22. Theme of D4

Votes:
Tachi
abstain

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Limitless Cinderella is still not my favorite. Tachi is still super cool.

Dance with the Shadow is great. Theme of D4 is also great, but not as great.

Pretty solid day today.

Votes:
Tachi
Dance with the Shadow

Tachi
Theme of D4

I don't really like any of these songs. I think this is the worst fourpack of the round, and am sad these all beat songs I liked much more. Ah well, they're not bad at least.

Limitless Cinderella
Dance With the Shadow

Limitless Cinderella
Theme of D4

Neotokyo - Tachi
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Theme of D4

Today's afterimages:

[9.0] Tachi
[8.0] Theme of D4
[8.0] Limitless Cinderella
[6.0] Dance with the Shadow

Neotokyo - Tachi
Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow

T/4

D4 >= Tachi >= Limitless >= Dance

would be happy if any of these retired

Limitless Cinderella
Dance With the Shadow

I finally have changed my mind on Tachi, but it isn't enough for me to pick it over Cinderella.

Tachi
Theme of D4

Tachi
Theme of D4

Tachi
Dance With the Shadow