Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOoSCE_fEwY&fmt=18
Back when I was talking about how I wasn't sure if EXEC_RE=NATION was my favorite AT1 hymn or not, but was definitely Top 2, this was the hymn that made it difficult for me. Since then, I feel RE=NATION has taken a clear advantage, but RIG=VEDA is still awesome.
Interestingly, for some reason I associate this hymn more with Ar tonelico II than Ar tonelico. I'm pretty sure it plays in Ar tonelico II and that that's where I realized how much I enjoyed it... but ever since then, I'm no longer sure if it actually ever played in Ar tonelico II. Because if I assume it did, then there's an Ar tonelico II hymn that I can no longer place as "Okay, this occurred here." I mean, it's entirely possible they both played in Ar tonelico II, and I'm hoping this is what happened, but I find it really strange. Guess it just means I have to replay Ar tonelico II sooner rather than later to figure out why I'm having so much trouble determining what exactly happened here!
I imagine the horns in the hymn will make it one of the more "polarizing" hymns, but horns are another thing I'm perfectly okay with! (See: Compression of Time)
Now for my favorite part, this is actually a pretty easy one for me to do this time, 1:58 - 2:09, I just love how most of the song goes quiet for the lyrics there.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqU4_Dsb77w&feature=related
Yume Nikki does not have many tracks worth mentioning. This one is pretty cheerful though and at least semi-memorable for me. Funny how happy it is, seeing as most of the game is nightmarish WTH material. I'm not sure if any of the pieces have actual names, so I just put what the video had; it plays in the area of the game based off MOTHER.
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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=pJ5di2hHniE&fmt=18
Turok 2 was one of my favorite games as a kid, despite the fact that I never got very far in it without cheats. I really want to go back and give it another try now that I'm not ****in' terrible at video games anymore.
Anyway, back then I didn't really notice music in games much if at all, but in retrospect Turok 2's got a pretty good soundtrack. The only track I've ever really heard any buzz about is Hive of the Mantids, but I honestly think that's one of the weaker ones. My favorite is probably this one, Slaughter by the River of Souls, which I have to assume plays for, or near, the level River of Souls. River of Souls is I think the game's second level, and if you want to know more about it... ****in' figure it out, the name should make it pretty damn clear what it's going to look like.
I think this music is pretty appropriate, though. It's atmospheric enough, definitely, and it's a little bit foreboding, but not overwhelmingly so - it strikes a good balance. I think it actually reminds me a little bit of Metroid Prime's music, which is almost universally a good thing to be compared to.
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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
Well, this is another one that's a bit hard for me to handle. It starts out... not so good... and just as I was beginning to fear it'd be another case of "not going anywhere" it did go somewhere... Only that didn't help! Then it got a little better later, and... well, I'm just going to say it all comes out to like a 4.5.
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - Slaughter by the River of Souls
This, however, is pretty classic, "I don't feel this really goes anywhere." ...Until near the very end, then it does, and it's a better song for doing so. Considerably. However, that's not enough to make up for everything else. I'll say 4.5 for this also.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
Oh man, RIG=VEDA. This ended up at the end of my hymn inequality last time, and adding in EXEC_PURGER/Misha extracting and that one from AT3 you linked me to recently... it's probably still at the end of my inequality. Which really just equals like a 6 or maybe 6.5, so it's still doing pretty well for itself, but yeah.
MOTHER Area - Yume Nikki
I honestly and truly have nothing to say about this that xp didn't already say, except I'm apparently meaner than him, because it really barely even manages to hit a 3.5 for me. >_>
This, however, is pretty classic, "I don't feel this really goes anywhere."
Pfft. It goes somewhere good, pretty much immediately, and then stays there, and never bothers to go anywhere else. There's a difference!
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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=kmrbYe9aQJg&fmt=18
The only non-battle-theme Phase Theme from G.U., and also one of my favorites (but then, really, there's no Phase Theme from G.U. that I don't like, except maybe one. Which has to settle for being "merely" average/above-average. I like this Phase Theme for the reasons I like most of them: The bells, and the vocals. Really, between the different Phase Themes, what separates them for me is usually simply how good they are at using those two things. However, I like all of the effects in this song, which is another thing that practically of the Phase Themes have in common.
My favorite part has probably got to be when the vocals really start up, so 0:38 - 0:52, but the reality is I like every part of the song, so I could pick pretty much any part.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbyYcJcWgCY
I doubt this piece will be well received, but in my searching for a track to post today, this one stood out more than the others. The orchestration probably is why, along with the powerful horns. This is another piece I could see playing in a movie more than a game. I guess this could take place in a cutscene; I never played Prototype so I'm not sure. It's got an epic feel to it once it builds up to the two minute mark or so.
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Eh, I like the vocals here, but the rest of the song doesn't really grab me or do anything special, and even the vocals only last for a few seconds. I think I'll just default back to 5.5/10 here.
A Dream of Armageddon - Prototype
As usual, the pieces that people doubt will be well-received are, in fact, well received! I think everything works here. It takes a little while to get going, but after about the 40 second mark I like just about all of it. Not one of my favorites or anything, but overall it's a yes for me. So... let's say 6.5/10
I guess this could take place in a cutscene; I never played Prototype so I'm not sure. It's got an epic feel to it once it builds up to the two minute mark or so.
Unless I'm remembering wrong, it plays during Prototype's opening cutscene.
(I only know that from the "guess the opening cutscene" contest on GameFAQs.)
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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
Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRT3et5xv88&fmt=18
Well, this didn't get into the Board 8 VGMusic Contest despite my best efforts/it having four nominations, so I decided the next best thing was for me to post it here. And yes, that does loop at some point, I'm pretty sure; even if it doesn't, you have my permission to not listen to all 6 minutes of it, that would be crazy.
There are at least two different versions of this piece, so I might as well link to the other one now and then talk about them both.
Super Hang-On (Arcade) - Winning Run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjuOq8akOZE&fmt=18
...These actually are pretty similar, now that I listen to them both back to back. In fact, you can just skip this one if you want, even though they are different enough for me to definitely prefer the Genesis version.
Anyway! Even before restarting this topic, I had pretty much come to the conclusion that I really only like one song, and that all of my favorites are just variations of that one song. And I think if you listen to Lost Courage/Tragic Resolution/Conversation 1/Champion Cynthia (Before the Battle)/there are probably more but I'm blanking on them, you'll notice a theme there, and then you'll be able to always pull down 8.5+ scores from me by just posting tons of music like that. (Or maybe I'm just crazy and you'll see no connection whatsoever.) But yeah, Winning Run joins that ever-growing pile, though I think it's probably my least favorite of the set, but whatever.
My favorite part is... really, all of the song, except for the part at about 2 minutes, 6 seconds (in the first link at least), which is just weird and I don't like it. Luckily, it only lasts for a few seconds. I guess it's really more of an effect than a part, but whatever, semantics.
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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
Eh... I can't rightly claim this didn't go anywhere, but at the same time, it just never grabbed my attention or anything. 4.5
Super Hang-On (Genesis) - Winning Run
This does have some good parts to it, but overall it also fails to really grab my attention. I'll say 5.0
Super Hang-On (Arcade) - Winning Run
If I had to pick a preference between the two, I guess I'd go with this one, but really it's so close it hardly matters. 5.0 again.
Even before restarting this topic, I had pretty much come to the conclusion that I really only like one song, and that all of my favorites are just variations of that one song. And I think if you listen to Lost Courage/Tragic Resolution/Conversation 1/Champion Cynthia (Before the Battle)/there are probably more but I'm blanking on them, you'll notice a theme there, and then you'll be able to always pull down 8.5+ scores from me by just posting tons of music like that. (Or maybe I'm just crazy and you'll see no connection whatsoever.)
...what the. how can you connect any of those, but especially the first two and the last two?
But really, the more frightening implication here is that EXEC_SPHILIA/. and EXEC_RE=NATION/. (and Godsibb, Location of Power, etc.) would presumably have to qualify as well, and the idea that not only are they the same song somehow, but that they're the same song as those other four but especially the last two is absolutely horrifying.
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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=wS9zgWLiM8c&fmt=18
This is the ending theme to G.U. Volume 2, and as it turns out, only my 2nd favorite G.U. ending theme, but it's still quite good. There's not too many out of the ordinary things in this for me to comment on except, I suppose, the chanting in the beginning and the end, but those are both rather short sections. I definitely prefer the vocal parts of the song, but at this point that shouldn't be surprising anyone I should think.
Picking my favorite part here is also very easy, it's without a doubt the section from 3:06 - 3:32. It's my favorite part of the vocals, and again I feel like the rest of the song going quieter just enhances it.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
But really, the more frightening implication here is that EXEC_SPHILIA/. and EXEC_RE=NATION/. (and Godsibb, Location of Power, etc.) would presumably have to qualify as well, and the idea that not only are they the same song somehow, but that they're the same song as those other four but especially the last two is absolutely horrifying.
man, how do you possibly interpret "I only like one song" as anything other than hyperbole, especially in a topic where I've rated around 200 (and growing) songs as above average. <_<
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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
Because as appalling as I would find it, it would answer a lot of questions. Well, I guess what I'm saying is that it probably wouldn't make a Top 10 strangest thing I've noticed in this topic.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLid2005n38
Okay, I suck at MGS and get caught a lot. But at least I get to hear this nice theme. I enjoy it; it conveys the tenseness but fast-paced action well.
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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=HDYDJ_LfdOM&fmt=18
I mentioned Fire Emblem 4 having a big soundtrack, right? Well, part of that is the fact that every single chapter has its own player phase music, in addition to most enemy factions having their own enemy phase music, so the normal turn music stays interesting throughout the whole game.
I'm not quite sure whether I like the Chapter 2 music or the Final Chapter music more. I probably lean towards Chapter 2, though with context factored in Final Chapter probably wins. I dunno, I go back and forth on this; they're both top 2, in any case. Final Chapter's got a few parts I really like, but I like the entirety of Chapter 2, so yeah, if you held a gun to my head, I'd go with Chapter 2.
As for the chapter itself... I didn't really like it. It's probably either my least favorite chapter in the game or my second least favorite. I know some people really like it, mostly because you get Levin in this chapter, and Levin is like the best character in any Fire Emblem game, but... I dunno. There was just so much backtracking and this music really didn't help make that more tolerable, despite its best efforts. But that's neither here nor there.
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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
This is indeed pretty good. I especially like the sections from 0:23 - 0:31 and 0:41 - 0:48, though the former is better, IMO. These two sections probably push it up around half a point to 6.5.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War - Chapter 2 (Disturbance in Agustria)
Better than I had expected, but that isn't saying much considering how low my expectations are becoming for songs like this! I'll say 5.0.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
The parts with the "normal" (non-chanting) vocals are great. The rest isn't. Luckily the normal vocals make up the vast majority of the song.
...man, I ****ing hate rating songs with lyrics. 8/10 seems high here because it didn't really do anything "special", but it makes me want to listen to it again, so eh.
Encounter - Metal Gear Solid
Eh, this is sort of like Screaming Target in that it probably works for the situation, but not too well outside of it. Except it's easier to listen to than Screaming Target, so I'll go with like 3.5/10
This is indeed pretty good. I especially like the sections from 0:23 - 0:31 and 0:41 - 0:48, though the former is better, IMO. These two sections probably push it up around half a point to 6.5.
...
Kenri of the Yuri (43): Board List | Topic List | Post New Message | Tag | Log Out | Help
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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=NAzWrC9sDZE&fmt=18
This is, if I am not mistaken, the ending theme to Chrono Cross, and also quite possibly my favorite ending theme, but I'm not completely positive on that - G.U. Vol 1 has an argument at that, at the least, others might too. Radical Dreamers is simply a beautiful song, and again, I can't find any part of it to really criticize. I feel the vocals are pretty much just perfect, and the other parts of the song are top-tier as well.
Picking a favorite part is pretty much impossible for me, as mentioned, I love the vocals, and they're present for the vast majority of the song. So, I'll just say 2:12 - 2:38 but really, I could say "any part with the vocals" and it'd be accurate. Normally the "vocal"-like effects at 3:18 - 4:01 would have an argument for this, but I feel the actual vocals are done so well, that that might be the weakest part of the song to me.
Also, a fun fact that I somehow did not realize until rather recently. The one doing the vocals here in Radical Dreamers is the same as EXEC_SPHILIA/. (and EXEC_RIG=VEDA/. too) which actually could explain a lot about why I like it so much!
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNHuIAL6N8s
Okay I never actually played an F-Zero game. I only know of this piece due to Brawl. I like it for what it is. 0:23-0:40 and the sections like it is why I remember it more than the other pieces that I have heard from this game.
White Land - Super Smash Brothers Brawl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOp0pwxQmRU
You know, now that I have heard the original, I think the 0:23ish section was done better in the original, but everything else was done better in the remix. *Shrugs* I'd probably rate them about the same. Take that as you will.
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Anyway, for today, I couldn't decide what to post, so I decided to stop editing stuff into my old posts and just do a post where I revisit old favorites. Of course, because it's sort of a cop-out, I'm doing a two pack. It's a cop-out either way, but uh... it gives me more time to play Xenosaga 2? Yeah, that's an excuse, all right.
Super Robot Wars Compact 2 - Fallen White Angel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMI2BE2Bqxk&fmt=18
Let's start it off with Fallen White Angel, the original version of a song I posted much earlier in the topic, Platinum Lucifer (Excellen's Theme) from Super Robot Wars Original Generations. Obviously, this version being older (and on a portable, I think, either the GameBoy or the WonderSwan or some such), it's going to be simpler and all, but I actually think I like it more. Really, I like both versions - I just like this song in general - but I think I give this one the edge by a narrow margin, if only because it seems more consistent (both in quality and otherwise).
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - A Toccata Into Blood Soaked Darkness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8EfxAhz8-o&fmt=18
Obviously, this is a remix of Final Toccata, which is... you know, I'm sure it's exactly what anyone who has played SotN wants to hear, more Final Toccata. But screw you guys, this song rocks. >_>
Actually, this version especially rocks! Maybe it's just because it's new and different, but I actually like it quite a bit more. It's very fitting of a climactic encounter - I think this is the Dracula battle theme in Curse of Darkness, or at least one of them - so even though it loses out in atmosphere, I still like it more. One of the rare battle themes I actually like, it seems.
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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