Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 43! feat. Spells, Names, Numbers, Stories, Lights, and the End of R1!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Dialga's Fight to the Finish!
The Grand Finale
To Far Away Times

White Spell
The 3 Karma
To Far Away Times

White Spell
The Grand Finale
To Far Away Times

Heaven Burns Red - White Spell
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - The Grand Finale
Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times

MATCH 1

I really like White Spell! It barely failed to make the cut for my support considerations playlist during nominations, but in hindsight, I should've included it anyway because I was going to make it my last support at the end of nominations if I had realized that I had one spare support open that I forgot about lol. Jun Maeda and Nagi Yanagi is truly an all-star lineup. I'm a big fan of Key visual novel soundtracks, in no small part due to Jun Maeda's contributions. Nagi Yanagi's vocal work here is amazing. I feel like I've only recently realized how much I like her singing lol. I think the first and only time I listened to a song of hers was To You Who Never Lies from Rewrite, one of the route ED themes, while going through the game. I knew her name from that, but I've been watching Oregairu lately and have jammed out a lot to the OPs to the show (mainly season 1 and 2's, but season 3's OP is great too), which I think is what gave me the realization. Anyway, back to White Spell, this was definitely my favorite of the Heaven Burns Red songs that got nominated, so I'm really happy that it made it in. I've known about the game for some time now, but I've never listened to any of the songs until this year's contest, so I ought to check out more stuff from it.

I like Dialga's Fight to the Finish a lot as well. It's not my favorite PMD song, but it probably belongs in an upper tier of PMD songs in my mind. Mainly for the motif that starts at the beginning of the song, though. The rest of the song leading up to those parts aren't as good. Unfortunate matchup, but t's not even close here.

MATCH 2

Not really a fan of The 3 Karma. Nothing really stands out to me in a positive way, and I don't really like the distorted vocals and other distortions that show up in the background.

The Grand Finale's a good song. Not amazing, but nothing bad about it either.

MATCH 3

Aegleseeker's not really my thing, but I definitely see the emotional value it can carry. Especially at parts like 1:37-2:09, which are my favorite in the song.

To Far Away Times is my favorite Chrono Trigger song! This one's more my kind of emotional song. Feels like a heartfelt goodbye (it is the ending theme after all haha). My favorite part is 2:38 to the end when it transitions into the minor chord arpeggios as a lead-in to the main theme's motif. Definitely the best rendition of the motif in any of the Chrono Trigger songs I've heard that use it.

To Far Away Times > White Spell > Dialga's Fight to the Finish! > The Grand Finale > Aegleseeker ("Afterworld" Full Version) > The 3 Karma

White Spell
The Grand Finale
abstain

White Spell
The Grand Finale
Aegleseeker

Heaven Burns Red - White Spell
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - The 3 Karma
Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times

abstain
The Grand Finale
To Far Away Times

Dialga's Fight to the Finish!
The Grand Finale
To Far Away Times

White Spell sounds enchanting with its vocals and J-Pop synths. I definitely wish that this was more like a proper song and the vocals were structured as such, but it's very pleasant to hear as it is regardless.

I can't tell how many times I've heard Dialga's battle theme over the years, even without playing the game it comes from! It doesn't offer the most complex melody or anything, but it does offer a good amount of dramatic tension that a grand boss battle like it needs; the way the flute midi starts reels me in every time, and the song kicking up with triumph only a few seconds after works like a charm. Such a solid way to finish off a game.

3 Karma sounds pretty interesting, I like the mixture of harsh industrial sounds with the other instruments. There's something I really like about the part around 3:10 where it's just the piano and the industrial rhythm playing off each other, the tension is simply dripping off everything here.

Grand Finale is simply one of Shimomura's best works to date, such a strong and emotional theme for everyone's favorite turtle monster to flex his guns and be the damn anti-hero the world needed for once. The piano does a lot of the heavy lifting here, but the synths are doing their part to help carry that intense energy throughout the song. Great battle theme overall!

Aegleseeker is in a weird place for me; I do like the song admittedly, but there's something about the way the song is handled that makes me imagine that Camellia had a bigger part to play in this instead of Frums, I can't hear much of his style except in only some select parts. It definitely leans too much on the side of "rhythm game song tendencies just for the sake of it" for me, as much as I like it's still nice to listen to.

I've yet to actually finish Chrono Trigger, so I get the feeling that once I do and finally hear To Far Away Times in-game I will just sit back and let the emotions wash over me in a bundle of satisfaction and wistfulness, just like when I finished Mario 64 and heard Staff Roll play itself out. As it is right now though, To Far Away Times already has that "adventure completed" feel to it, with its happy, triumphant tones in the beginning and then switching to a more emotional part at the end with the callback to the game's main theme. It's incredibly satisfying to listen to, all I'm missing is the emotional memory to have the song truly hit home and make it long for it every time I relisten to it. I'll finish the job someday, I swear it!

Dialga's Fight to the Finish!
The 3 Karma
Aegleseeker ("Afterworld" Full Version)

Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness - Dialga's Fight to the Finish!
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - The Grand Finale
Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times

White Spell was honestly really nice, probably an A+ for me. Unfortunately it's up against Primal Dialga. Still has unmatched "end of an adventure" energy and emotion. It's called The Grand Finale? Anyways, it's still great, 3 Karma had its moments though. Aegleseeker, clasically, has parts that are far too noisy for me but always comes back with some really cool parts in between. The good outweighs the bad for sure to be tbh. This was the best CT song i'd ever heard after like 5 seconds. Sounds like a credits theme, which I am generally weak to, but it felt like it lost a bit of steam as it went, though it picked it back up again a couple times. Really tough last match honestly.