Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XlGSo3SpiA&hd=1
An awesome song that I just happened to stumble upon (this is how this topic should work, for me at least). It actually almost reminds me of Hollow Bastion a little, though I'm not sure why.
I think what I like so much about this is how the foreground and background melodies play off each other; they really work together and neither element would be anywhere near as strong alone, though I definitely like the foreground effects/instruments more than the background ones. Really, it doesn't do anything I dislike, but I especially like the section at around 18 seconds until around 30 seconds. Really just a good song all around, and I even "get" the title, parts of this definitely make me think of a dance.
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t97-JQtcpRA&fmt=18
N is severely limited in options, especially since I want to save NieR for when I get to play it. Nostalgia's soundtrack did not impress me much, but this piece was nice. I am assuming it is a town theme. The wind instrument makes it for me, though the rest of the instruments used are good support for it. This manages to have a peaceful but still interesting feeling to it. I think the first parts are better than the following ones, but hey, it manages to be good.
Rating: 6.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SriP0TBw7uc&fmt=18
I have seen a lot of raving about Odin Sphere's soundtrack, especially since apparently it was made by the same person who did Final Fantasy Tactic's. Honestly, I do not get the praise. I listened to several to try and find a good one for today and none really stood out other than this one. This piece has strong horns and I am particularly biased towards that. The neat vocals effect at the end does not hurt either. So yeah, I like it a lot for those portions, but as a stand alone, it does not get much better than above average. Maybe I just missed the boat on this game.
Rating: 6.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
*Sigh*
This... kind of does nothing for me. Towards the very end it adds in some more effects, but it's way too little too late. 4.5.
Village of the Sacred Beast - Musashi: Samurai Legend
This might be a little better, it does have this one pretty nice section, but that's outweighed by the rest of the song. 4.5.
Tyrian 2000 - Asteroid Dance 1
This is... better... I think. 5.5
Tokyo - Nostalgia
I'll say 5.5. again. The beginning is the better part, rest of the song not helping much.
Valkyrie March - Odin Sphere
This is probably the best of this group, but even then... 5.5.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S65lt7SHqBQ&fmt=18
So, I like this song for a few reasons, which should be pretty clear to anyone who has somehow actually paid any attention to my write-ups. Vocals, the instruments, etc. So, instead, I'm going to make a different observation. For some reason, the very beginning (the first 13 seconds) reminds me of Okami. This strikes me as odd, mostly because I have never played Okami, and so my exposure to it is extremely limited. I don't get it either. What gets me more, is the vocals part of the song also seem incredibly familiar to me, but this time I can't place it at all. And that really bugs me. I feel like I've either heard that style, or that vocalist somewhere before. Oh well. 1:42 - 1:49 is probably my favorite section of this, again, I like how most of the instruments back off for that part for the vocals. Though really, all the vocal sections are great to me.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omcG1oJ6i8o&hd=1
This was a piece introduced to me by VGMC5, I believe, but knowing my memory, I could have heard it before and simply not remembered. Anyway, as I've made it clear at various points throughout this topic, I am not as big a fan of the piano as Kenri and CG7 seem to be. That said, I feel like this song does it very well. Of course, the vocals really help and everything combines to add up to a wonderful piece. 1:01 - 2:10 is probably my favorite part. I know, I know, that's half the piece, I'm sorry. Really, just take that as a sign that I think the piece is very well balanced.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R_tIUyvsRc&hd=1
It was always you that I despised...
This song is, to me at least, really unsettling. It's one of those songs that deals with material that just kind of... seems wrong to put to music, especially to a lullaby. And personally, I'm drawn to music that makes me feel something; "unsettled" qualifies. In fact, it's almost a prerequisite that all of my absolute favorites need to make me feel something, even if it's not a traditional... emotion, really. E1M6 The Cathedral makes me feel nervous; Champion Cynthia (Before the Battle) makes me feel powerless; Floater Land, unstoppable; Lost Courage, defeated but not giving up; Deadman's Gun, just plain sad. Some of them even trigger emotions I can't really quantify - Someday the Dream Will End and Conversation 1 are like that. But I digress.
My point is, that kind of thing can make me overlook a song's flaws. Room of Angel goes on for about 3 minutes longer than it should. I usually turn it off after about 4 minutes, because I can do that when I'm listening to music outside of silly projects where I need to judge it or compare it to other songs. >_> Some of the symbolism is also pretty painful and not nuanced at all. I still like it, though; it's not one of my absolute favorites, but I think it's quite well done outside of those two flaws, and like I said, pretty much anything that can provoke a really powerful emotional response is something I'm gonna like a lot.
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
...
...
...
...Dammit.
I really don't think there is a single part of this song I can praise, or really even "not criticize." The chorus is particularly painful, but the rest of the song isn't really any better. That it then also goes on for 7 minutes is just... augh... It is very rare for me to be unable to find any redeeming point in a song, but "congratulations" I guess. 0.5.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W3LSP-vCdU&hd=1
A topic on Board 8 not too long ago got me to thinking what was my favorite RPG World Map Theme. Initially I went with Corridors of Time and Memories of the City, however the more I thought about it, I realized that was probably picking a bit too quickly. It's probably Dreams of the Shore Bordering Another World... or this. This is pretty solid for most of the song, but the real highlight for me is 2:18 - 2:31. I really wish the whole piece was like that, or more of it at least.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
It is very rare for me to be unable to find any redeeming point in a song, but "congratulations" I guess. 0.5.
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
20G - No Redeeming Qualities Whatsoever
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
And yet, it is a lot easier to say than, "The instrumentals are beyond boring and the vocals are poor on multiple levels."
tbqh based on the rest of the topic it's the kind of song I'd peg you as liking,
I can only imagine this is based on some extremely lazy/shallow interpretation that I'll like anything with lyrics. It's not true. They can be used poorly just like anything else, and when that happens, I come down extremely hard.
though less so when it drags on at the end there.
That almost feels less awful because there's less things I can characterize as awful occurring there.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAeljBzzhsg&hd=1
This is the dungeon theme of one of, if not the, more climactic dungeons in FFXIII. There are still dungeons after this, but in a lot of ways this just "feels" like the climax. Or something. I'd kind of compare it to Zanarkand Ruins in FFX, which works on several levels actually. Like Zanarkand/Someday The Dream Will End, this is a dungeon theme that overrides the battle theme as long as you're in the area. While I do believe it's a lot more powerful in-game, it's still a pretty good song, IMO. My favorite parts of the song are typically when you have the vocals around, and specifically 2:11 - 2:58
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_46T7J3Wr0&hd=1
One of the later map themes in Fire Emblem 8 (I want to say it's after both paths merge again and not Ephraim exclusive, but it's been so long since I've played Eirika's path that I'm honestly not sure) and probably my favorite map theme from at least FE7 and FE8. Possibly even over any of the themes in FE9 and FE10 as well. There are 2 main sections in this piece that I really like, the first is at 0:30 - 0:46, but I think my absolute favorite of the piece is 1:09 - 1:24.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdnIdRPJtpo&hd=1
So, out of what I've heard from Touhou (still not that extensive), I think Perfect Cherry Blossom pretty much destroys the others in terms of music. The others have pieces I like, of course, but PCB has the numbers advantage in such a huge way. This is another one, though there are probably others I like more, but for whatever reason I feel like this one will get a more positive reception, so I figured why not, most of these are close in my mind, so I don't mind. Anyway, 1:40 - 2:17 is my favorite section of the piece, solely because of that instrument that begins at 1:52 - I really like that. Incidentally, the section immediately preceding this section is probably my least favorite in the song, but that's okay, it's outweighed in my mind by what I consider the first and last sections. (My favorite part being the last section, I'm pretty sure there's a loop here.)
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEwtPBjEcOs&hd=1
Arguably my favorite song from NieR outside of Song of the Ancients / Fate, with a caveat. To my knowledge there are 3 versions of this song. Memory, Roar, and a version of Memory with no vocals. The non-vocals version of Memory may be my absolute favorite of the trio, but well, you would almost think it exists only in my mind or something, even though I want to say it plays the most of the three in-game. Nevertheless, Shadowlord's Castle / Memory is an amazing song in its own regard, I just prefer the "feeling" the non-vocal version conveys to me. You can basically "imagine" it if you just ignore the vocals here more or less, but still. I can't really pick a favorite part to this song, it's just far too well-rounded IMO. While I'm tempted to say "the non-vocal parts" the vocals are still excellent, so I can't in any good faith say that.
NieR - Shadowlord's Castle / Roar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb9D8ycoKxw&hd=1
And this is the Roar version of Shadowlord's Castle. I think I prefer the Memory version, but honestly it's just extremely close, they are both so superb at what they do that I can't really pick a favorite between the two. As you may be able to guess, this is basically the variant used during battles, and in-game the transitions between the two is just great, and probably improve the experience overall, which is honestly very impressive considering how good I feel both songs are individually already. Here though, I can pick a favorite part to the song, and it is the vocals in this case. I feel they really excel in the much faster-paced Roar version of the song, so let's say 3:01 - 3:49, but really any part with the vocals could qualify.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
That title makes no sense! Snow in summer is a mad idea!
This is good, but not as high as some NieR pieces have been for me. I appreciate what the build up does, but the part before 1:10 was a little too slow and not overall that interesting to me. 1:54 or so gets really good, good enough for me to put it well above average, but the rest sort of holds it back for me. I think it works to enhance what comes up, yet at the same time, I would rather it all be like that second half.
Rating: 7.5/10
Tyrian 2000 - Asteroid Dance 1
Tyrian what now.
Hey, this is catchy! It all melds together pretty well and managed to stay at a constant 'good' level. I sort of hesitate to call it techno, but I am not sure what would fit it better than that. I could see myself listening to this for a while if it played ingame while enjoying it. Out of the game, not as sure, but I like it.
Rating: 6/10
Pop'n Music 18: Sengoku Retsuden - Kurokami Midareshi Shura to Narite
What the heck kind of a game is this supposed to be?
Okay, for the thirteen seconds Okami comment? I see where it comes from. I do not instantly think Okami, but the similarities with the drums and wind instrument can justify the comparison. The thing about Okami is almost all of its music prominently features instruments like that, which makes its music pretty distinctive compared to other soundtracks. Muramasa uses similar instruments and that is probably why I compare those two soundtracks. Anyway, the rest of this is pretty awesome, but it feels like it gets cut off too quickly. I would have liked a bit more length to it. Good otherwise. The vocals, for some reason, remind me a bit of the person singing in DORCHADAS, though not as good or memorable for me (not an insult considering what I am comparing it to). Thumbs up for sure here.
Rating: 8/10
Armored Core: For Answer - Someone Is Always Moving On The Surface
Okay, piano, I have got this.
I think the first part, while pretty, has nothing on the second. The second part has more elements to it that I like, though the first incorporates the piano and strings well (the vocals seem a bit sparse here). The one problem I have with the second is how the instrumental parts sometime seems to abruptly halt. A lot of pieces do this and it always sort of throws me off. I hesitate to use the word 'stopped' but I have no better way to describe it. Still a darn good piece.
Rating: 7/10
Silent Hill 4: The Room - Room of Angel
Looking at the length makes me go "...yay".
Okay, unsettling lullaby, it fits into Silent Hill for sure. Do I care for it? Not particularly. I disagree with xp for it being absolutely irredeemable and awful, but this is definitely not doing much for me. The length hurts a lot, and when it comes to lullaby pieces in general, I can only think of one that I liked a lot, and I hesitate to even call it a lullaby because I think it is just the title rather than the piece being in that style. The, uh, static I guess, that did not help much here either. Too much and too disorienting for me.
Rating: 3.5/10
Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica - The Second Tower
I do believe xp recommended this to me for my world map music quest I was on a while ago.
Ar tonelico, of course I like it. This one definitely invokes memories of some other pieces I have heard. There is one sound effect after the wind instruments that is really awesome, I am not sure what to call it though. The entire thing just sounds great together. The only weak point, if I can call it that, is the part where it gets far more quiet and focuses on a single instrument, but that is not bad, just not as good to me as the rest. That part with the whispering further in, on the other hand, I like more.
Rating: 7.5/10
Final Fantasy XIII - Dust to Dust
The write up makes me excited to hear this in game. I love overriding battle themes.
On its own, this is a lovely piece. As most people here should know, I love vocals, and these are done beautifully. The background is also pretty good and lets the vocals stand out while giving some support. On its own, the background music is sort of closer to average, but the vocals make this great.
Rating: 7.5/10
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones - Truth, Despair, and Hope
I am pretty sure this plays in Eirika's path too, but it is hard to recall.
This is definitely one of the better, uh, battle map?, themes for Fire Emblem GBA games. Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn have some I rank higher, but from the GBA ones I have played fully, yeah, this is high up there. My only issue with it is 1:01-1:09, it seems really out of place to me. It is such a short section that it really does not matter, but I would like it more without that. Otherwise, this manages to be pretty good throughout.
Rating: 6.5/10
Touhou Project: Perfect Cherry Blossom - Phantom Ensemble
Perfect Cherry Blossom>=Mountain of Faith>Imperishable Night>=Embodiment of Scarlet Devil for me. Love all four of those though.
This is an interesting piece. Embodiment of Scarlet Devil had a lot of more basic themes that sounded good but were not too complex in terms of instrumentals. So in comparison, Perfect Cherry Blossom, and particularly this piece and the one before it in the OST, feel more fleshed out. This one is far more indepth in terms of instruments to me, it feels like it has multiple layers that other pieces lacked. This actually makes sense because it is for the Prismriver Sisters, who are a trio of instrument players. This, and its quality in general, might be why this piece gets so many remixes. There is at least one remix soundtrack, Phantom Dreamer, that uses this as its namesake and leads with a remix of it. But the one before it, the Prismriver Sister's stage theme, is also notable because it is a flipping four minutes long without looping. This is ridiculously long compared to most other tracks up to the point of these OSTs, as most clock around two minutes, three absolute max. Anyhow... that was a lot of rambling that can be condensed into "I like this".
Rating: 7/10
NieR - Shadowlord's Castle / Memory
Oh man male vocals hype.
Darn good stuff here. I think the sheer beauty of Ultimate Weapon outweighs it on my ranking list for NieR music, but man, this comes close. I am not sure just how much I would like it without vocals; certainly I would, but as much, most likely not, just because my bias for vocals is very high. This is great though.
Rating: 8.5/10
NieR - Shadowlord's Castle / Roar
Then there is this, which I am sure will also be quality.
Vocal wise, I prefer Memory. Instrumental wise, I think I prefer this. There are some great bell moments and overall everything goes well together. They average out to about the same, but I have to give the edge to Memory. Not that my scores will reflect that.
Rating: 8.5/10
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And now for something to celebrate me finishing Xenosaga III!
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Xenosaga III - Godsibb
Well, this is it. The piece that has been the longest hyped for me, courtesy of xp.
Did it live up? Yep, sure did. This is the most quality piece in Xenosaga III for me. That says a lot, because that whole soundtrack is darn amazing. Beautiful vocals that are mixed with a good pace makes great music for me. The instrumentals are just as complimenting. It also really fits the fight it goes with. The cutscene it is in was sort of hard for me to watch because I kept trying to focus on the vocals while attempting to listen to the whole speech the main character of that scene made, so I preferred hearing it in battle since the only other noises were 'space shooting' basically. In any case, excellent stuff.
Rating: 9.5/10
Xenosaga III - Assault
Yessss.
This most likely qualifies as my favorite out of battle piece, though I may be forgetting a few I would rank it against. The part this plays in enhances its tragic beauty. Before you question that choice of words, really, it is the best way I can describe it. This sounds truly beautiful, but at the same time, it leads to an aching in my heart. A very powerful addition to the soundtrack, this one is, and one of my favorites in general from it.
Rating: 8.5/10
Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra - Hepatica (KOS-MOS)
Another good choice, I see.
Total agreement with xp in that this is not what I expected from a battle theme. I was really surprised when I got to the fight where this played. But it fits, and even if it did not, it is so beautiful. I much prefer the parts with vocals, but the rest still is quality material. Definitely one of the most notable pieces in Xenosaga III for me.
Rating: 9/10
Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra - Promised Pain
Literally just heard this ingame today!
Now here is a shocker: my favorite part is not a vocal one! 0:49-1:07 is my favorite, even though I love the vocals. That part is just phenomenal to me for some reason. I think this gets beaten out by some other Xenosaga III battle themes, yet at the same time, I do not mind. This may be the final boss, but other battles in the game affected me much more emotionally than the final boss, and those consequentially got better themes, at least in my opinion. Hepatica (KOS-MOS) is a good example of that. Still, love it, it gets a high score.
Rating: 8.5/10
Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra - We've Got to Believe in Something
Cool title here.
I do not remember this ingame as well, even though xp remarks on where it plays. Then again, that cutscene was full of so much awesome that I can understand not paying attention fully to the music. In general, this is good, but not as good as some of the other pieces it has. I do really like that they have the same wind instrument as Assault, since these two play in the same area. And, of course, the vocals are a credit for me. Yeah, this manages to be great, just not on the same level as some others for me.
Rating: 8/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Castle I - Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHHJYwNy_bc&fmt=18
I never expected RPGs that start with P to be so limited. We have Phantasy Star, Pok
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyYtwM9HRhQ&fmt=18
WELL THEN. There are apparently two options for Q RPGs: something from Quest for Glory or Quest 64. I went with Quest 64 because I hate myself. I chose this piece because it has a rare occurrence for me: I actually prefer the background melody to the prominent one. That said, it is not necessarily a terrible piece, but at the same time it never really does much to interest me. What makes this remarkable is that this is the best Quest 64 piece I could find. Good grief.
Rating: 4.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xJ42lF8CrA&fmt=18
I get a feeling that nobody else is going to like this entry. Well, for what it matters, I do. The string melody is good, the other instrumentals are good, and while I was unsure about the 'vocals' at first, I wound up liking them a lot too. I guess this is a level theme, though I wonder what sort of level it looks like with this piece. In any case, above average for me and I will remember it, which is more than I can say for what I posted yesterday.
Rating: 6.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UbXErRWn-k&hd=1
As a note, I doubt anyone else cares, but CG7, I know you're blindrunning Touhoumon, so if you don't want to know Sariel's role in the game, don't click on that link... or just open it in the background or something.
So I've been pretty down on RPG battle music in this topic, and I've even been pretty down on Pokemon's battle music when I normally like Pokemon music... though part of that is that I've just heard them all so many ****ing times... but anyway. Here we have a piece that isn't really Pokemon music, but definitely tries to be. And it ends up being pretty damn good. I really like that intro, and then it gets somewhat worse from there... well, really not worse, but it gets somewhat less unique, which is kind of an issue. I still like it a lot though, and if you throw it in with the battle music of actual Pokemon games, I have to think this is near the top for me, if not #1.
Touhou Project 1: Highly Responsive to Prayers - Now, Until the Moment You Die
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm9ct3_i1qE&hd=1
asdfghjkl
the reason this hasn't been posted before today? I couldn't ****ing figure out this song. I THINK I've eventually got it figured out, so I'll tell you and you can either correct me or at least agree that it's ****ing confusing.
1. It seems to be known by both Now, Until the Moment You Die and Now, Die For the Debt You Have Accrued. The latter also sometimes comes up as Accumulated instead of Accrued.
2. This is one of two battle themes for the same character, so I had to deal with that as well, and for a long time I thought the two themes were the two listed above, but I guess not.
3. There seems to be an original version which this ISN'T, which doesn't appear on the soundtracks, instead THIS version appears on the soundtracks, and in the sound test of Mystic Square, a DIFFERENT Touhou game, so I'm not even sure which game I should credit this version to, unless I'm wrong and this IS the original version. But I'm going to stick with what YouTube does and credit this to Highly Responsive to Prayers.
And on top of that I had to deal with all the videos labeled "Touhou: Highly Responsive to Prayers - Now, Until the Moment You Die" only for me to play them and determine VIA COMMENTS, or just INTUITION, that they're REMIXES, EVEN THOUGH THAT SHOULD BE IN THE ****ING NAME OF THE VIDEO.
ASDFGHJKL
I HAVE ANGER
ANYWAY
I don't like this version as much as the Touhoumon remix, but it's still good and I like it more than most Touhou music I've heard.
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fifr8nwqwU&fmt=18
This one was sort of a toss up. There are at least four Feldschlacht pieces on the original soundtrack; there might be more, but I could not find them on my resource. I was torn between II and IV, but IV won out because it has a section I absolutely love. II might be better throughout, but 0:29-0:36 of IV is so, so awesome to me for whatever reason. I would listen to an entire piece making use of that section if I could. As it is, the rest of this piece is still good, that part just crowns it out for me. I did hear a really good remix of these pieces, but since I think it was a remix and I was not sure how strictly it stuck to the formula, yeah, I just left it alone. I and III are good too, for what it is worth.
Rating: 7/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuyCy3HIr4g&fmt=18
I had a bit of trouble figuring out whether the title should be "Bird Chirps" or "Birds Chirp". The former seems more accepted. I like this title a lot, for whatever reason. Anyhow, this is a vocal piece, so basically by default it promised to be on my good side. It has this male vocalist that appears a few times, and while I can easily see others considering it too weird to like, I like it for whatever crazy reason. The female vocalist is pretty, and the instrumentals are good. It's unusual, for sure, but in this case its oddness makes me appreciate it.
Rating: 7.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpfZpvQcTc&hd=1
Probably my favorite track from Punch-Out!!, certainly top 2 at least. Then again that game only had like two tracks total that I can think of. Ah, well. I actually never knew this was the credits theme too because I never beat the game because I could never get past... I think Soda Popinski, but whatever.
Anyway, I quite like this track and always have. As I've mentioned like a million times, chiptunes and I have a love-hate relationship, and this one definitely falls on the "love" side of things.
Insert your own NSMB joke here (and no I don't mean New Super Mario Bros.)
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vF5Q_hJVzA&fmt=18
Yeah, yeah, another SaGa game. Sorry about that, I forgot I had this planned for U, mainly because U is pretty barren. I should have looked more in S for something else, but oh well, the piece itself was good. As for this piece, I am not used to finding fast paced pieces where strings are the dominate force. This does it and it does it well. I really like a strong string piece, and this satisfied those regards. I think this is a variation of another theme in the game, but I liked the speed of this one more. The other had several slower sections that were not as compelling to me. For what it matters, this seems like a good soundtrack overall.
Rating: 7/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6PzRsN-4fc&fmt=18
Even without knowing about the relationship between Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, I could easily tell their soundtracks had a lot of similarities. Vagrant Story seems to have a lot that rely on atmosphere, to the point that some had me creating an atmosphere in my mind as to where it would play. Out of those, this one gave me the greatest image of a place I have never seen. That probably sounds utterly stupid, but what have you, I think this does a lot of things well. It gives me a really eerie feeling, as if something is not quite right, without making it, oh, jump scare music or something. Which I hate. Jump scare music, I hates it, I hates it so much. ...Anyway.
6.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
Oh boy... This sure is... something. Yeah, can't say I particularly care for this. 4.0/10.
Crystal Valley - Quest 64
...Eh... this is probably better, but not by all that much. 4.5/10.
Holy Valley - Rogue Galaxy
I guess things are slowly getting better. Emphasis on slowly. 5.0/10.
Touhoumon - Sariel Fight
This causes a bit of a conflict in me. There are some pretty decent sections to this, but then there are others that are... not. I'll say 5.0/10 again, I guess.
Touhou Project 1: Highly Responsive to Prayers - Now, Until the Moment You Die
Okay, this is pretty clearly the best of this group so far. Which... can be taken quite a few ways I guess, because even though I like this, I don't like it excessively or anything. 6.0/10
Feldschlacht IV - SaGa Frontier 2
Hmm... This has a fairly nice section to it, but then the whole rest of the song is there. I guess 5.5/10.
The Bird Chirps, I Sing - Tales of Legendia
Augh, that male vocalist. Just "what the." Every time I hear him, I want to like... penalize the song like 3 points or something. Which is a shame, because this is pretty good when that's not happening. Not amazing or anything, but... I'll cut it a break and say 6.0/10.
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - Training ~ Credits
...Man, this might be the best so far, which is kind of... yeah... I mean, that sure is something. 6.0/10.
Battle Theme I - Unlimited SaGa
I guess this one is also up there too. Between everything with a 6/10, I can't really pick which wins. 6.0/10.
Temple of Kiltia - Vagrant Story
Definitely a step down from the last couple of pieces. Eh, let's say 5.5/10.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcxPPm-V0_w&hd=1
So, this is apparently the normal battle theme for Digital Devil Saga 2. Which might mean it's automatically my favorite normal battle theme. Again, I'm never comfortable with making statements like that. Well, usually, at least. Anyway, I just really like the pace of this piece, as well as the instruments. I also really like that effect you can hear at various points in the piece, like at 0:15. Can't really say I have a favorite part really, it's just a very solid song overall to me.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
Welp, time to let you down more than usual. (And for the record I legitimately feel bad about this but ehhh.)
...I like Hepatica (KOS-MOS), I really do, but it has a LOT of parts that are basically downtime where nothing happens, and these hurt it. It especially just drags near the end. It really has nothing going for it for me other than the vocal parts, which are quite good and manage to carry it... when they're around, which isn't always, and that's where the issue comes in.
That said, it works really, really well in-game. Way better than a traditional battle theme would have, for a number of reasons, none of which I'm going to get into right now. But I can't give bonus points for that so eh.
6/10, instrumental+vocal parts are like 7.5-8/10, instrumental-only parts are like 1.5-2/10
Village of the Sacred Beast - Musashi: Samurai Legend
Jew's harps are the best instruments. And by best I mean "best".
I actually think this is really good, and the Jew's harp adds to it rather than detracting like in Welcome to Slaughter Gulch. I wouldn't really compare it to Okami, but whatever, it doesn't need to ride on Okami's coattails when it has a lot of its own merits.
Also I really want to play this game now, but mostly just because I really like those character designs, the outfits especially. <_<;
7/10
Tokyo - Nostalgia
N what a bad letter, not a credit to team
Well, what I'll say here is that, as far as I can tell, you did the best with what you had going for you, but my reaction to this piece when I heard it prior to you posting it was "mehhhhhh" and it still is "mehhhhhhh" now. It's not BAD but still, mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
4.5/10
Valkyrie March - Odin Sphere
Yeah I don't get the love for Odin Sphere's soundtrack either, nothing really jumped out to me when I listened to it. I'm surprised neither you nor xp seem to particularly care for Odin Sphere's Theme (or especially the Shanachie version) though, it strikes me as something you'd both like (and I've almost posted both versions a couple times).
Anyway, this. Again, to your credit, this is definitely one of the better pieces from Odin Sphere I've heard, but to your NOT credit, you should have gone with Opoona for O, because that game has a better soundtrack. Yep.
5.5/10
Pop'n Music 18: Sengoku Retsuden - Kurokami Midareshi Shura to Narite
oh right, this. The song that's like... Okami + Nier + some anime OP rolled into one and with a somewhat unnecessary electric guitar because it's fashionable, but luckily its contributions here at least break even, though it doesn't really improve the song much.
It's... good. I like it enough to listen to it multiple times, at least. It just never really grabs me.
6/10, almost a 6.5, I just don't feel right about giving it one <_<
Armored Core: For Answer - Someone Is Always Moving On The Surface
A very good song from the VGMC5, but my opinion of the VGMC5 is I think substantially lower than yours, so when I say "very good" what I really mean is "I don't want to turn it off within seconds of starting it".
...i am being overly negative today, i need to stop that
I like this! It is good to listen to. Pianos usually agree with me and here is no exception. It's not incredible but it is quite good and I should probably check out the rest of the soundtrack.
6.5/10
Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica - The Second Tower
ar tonelico reminds of a three sided coin that you flip and it either gets heads or tails or side and side is represented by purger/aurica because the coin then rolls into a gutter and you lose your coin
also this is a tails flip
4/10
Final Fantasy XIII - Dust to Dust
someday the dust to dust will dream to dust to dream to end the dust
it will
believe me
5.5/10
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones - Truth, Despair, and Hope
truth, despair, and hope, and sadness, and freedom, with liberty and justice for all reminds me of the kind of song i would be reminded of when playing a fire emblem game because it is a fire emblem song and i'd be listening to it
4.5/10
Touhou Project: Perfect Cherry Blossom - Phantom Ensemble
trivia: whenever i listen to a touhou song i preemptively reduce my volume and there is a split second when i consider reducing it to 0% so i don't have to hear the touhou song
moral of the story: touhou is not a delicious fruit, but pineapple is
5.5/10 for touhou, 10/10 for pineapple
NieR - Shadowlord's Castle / Memory
The vocals for this are just not doing it for me. In fact they're doing the opposite of doing it for me. I will give it credit for not being just another NieR song, but at same time I think I'd have preferred just another NieR song. <_< Also, when I say I'll give it "credit", I mean "credit", which is non-redeemable for actual points, because you guys talked me out of a system like that. u guys.
3/10
NieR - Shadowlord's Castle / Roar
This is significantly better. The two really aren't even comparable. My god.
7/10
Castle I - Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
This is half generic, half terrible, and half whyyyyyyyy.
2.5/10
Crystal Valley - Quest 64
Well, at the very least, this is definitely one of the better Quest 64 pieces you could have chosen. Though it's still not as good as Isle of Skye, and Isle of Skye is not a particularly difficult song to beat, so...
5.5/10
Holy Valley - Rogue Galaxy
The vocals save this... well, they save it from mediocrity, by being something unique and vaguely wonderful. Really though, dunno why you thought nobody else would like this, I think that, historically, I've been pretty kind to music with this style of vocals.
6.5/10, almost want to go with 7/10 here.
Feldschlacht IV - SaGa Frontier 2
i'm distinctly okay with this until it becomes a thing that is not not unlike the other fchechlchdchschachts because i think i prefer those
6/10
The Bird Chirps, I Sing - Tales of Legendia
if this song was the longest flight ever recorded by a chicken, it would not exist because chickens do not record flights
they're chickens
they can't even use video cameras
6/10
Battle Theme I - Unlimited SaGa
Yet Another Pretty Okay Battle Theme That I Am Okay With (Thanks For Posting!)
6.5/10
Temple of Kiltia - Vagrant Story
5/10
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 - Battle for Survival
This was a thing all right. It is an all right thing. Just not my style at all, but it's okay.
5/10
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P85nOedAKUA&hd=1
This is the opening theme to Namco X Capcom, which as far as I can tell is a Turn Based Strategy/SRPG game that never came to North America, but which had some of its (original) characters end up coming to NA via the SRW: OG Saga: Endless Frontier series. Anyway, this is not what I expected from a game with this title. Although, part of that is because I also thought beforehand it was a fighting game like the many in the Capcom vs. series. What immediately grabbed my intention was that intro, really, after that, vocals were pretty much unnecessary to solidify my liking the song, but they are a welcome addition nonetheless. For my favorite part, it's either the intro or 1:12 - 1:29 but really I enjoy pretty much all sections in the song.
Namco X Capcom - Subarashiki Shin Sekai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlJtBDpoJWg&hd=1
And this is just the full version. As far as I can tell, it has a bit more in the very beginning, end, and an extended section in the middle right before and the after that 1:12 - 1:29 section from the opening version, which, if you're following this rather convoluted explanation, the "before" part of that would be "added" to my favorite part of the song, making it approximately 1:25 - 1:55 in this version.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLSD8SMfE4U&hd=1
Have I mentioned that I really like music composed by Hideki Naganuma? Might be my favorite VG music composer at this point! Rest of the topic can ~*=-DEAL WITH IT-=*~
Let It Go mixes a bunch of different styles of vocals, and unlike a lot of songs that do that, where I end up liking one style and wishing the others weren't there wastin' my time, I like all of the ones this song uses, and I think they all add up to a really fun song. I'd probably like it either more or less if I could actually understand the lyrics, because lyrics tend to make or break songs like this for me, but oh well. One thing I can make out is a reference to Bugs Bunny, which is probably a good sign. Well, in my mind it is.
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic