Editor
To those of you who understand how this topic works by now, feel free to jump right in and start posting.
To everyone else, this is a topic where I post a track I like from a video game every day (or almost every day). CG7 and xp also get in on the action. And as always, we encourage you to drop in and post something whenever you feel like it! Can be every day or once a year, but every single contribution is appreciated*.
*Some contributions may not be appreciated; linking to Crazy Bus is grounds for immediate moderation; ask your doctor before contributing to the topic.
xp, CG7, and I also rate every single song posted in these topics. You're welcome to do that as well! If you're interested, just jump in and start rating any of the songs posted so far, new and old. Submit enough ratings and I'll give you a column in our HANDY SPREADSHEET, which tracks all the relevant info of every single song posted thus far.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?authkey=CJ6q6EM&key=0AkayxkFdxlWkdHBPaXBnOVJwcHo5N09hREprQm9aQ2c&hl=en&authkey=CJ6q6EM#gid=0
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"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtaaxFaLP6s&hd=1
I think I've determined that I prefer Touhou music from the earlier games and the later games, but not so much the games in the middle. As usual, this seems to be the exact opposite of popular opinion. Yay for being unique, I guess??????
World of Empty Dreams is about as minimalistic as you might expect from the name, a fact that I feel works out in its favor. It also manages to simulate a non-descript plucked string instrument fairly well, which helps the feeling of the minimalism and contrasts with the much more obviously synthesized effects in a very dream logic-ish way. It's also probably the most mellow Touhou track I've ever heard, which, again, might go a long way towards explaining why I like it.
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"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
New Moderator
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXRMcwnaok8&hd=1>
Yeah, I posted a Sonic the Hedgehog track, look out for the flying pigs wearing ice skates that are on fire. I prefer Marble Zone to this, but Scrap Brain Zone is fairly nice. I sort of hesitate on saying whether I like or dislike those drum noises that appear every now and then. The rest is pretty cool with its effects.
Rating: 6/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
As I was saying previously, I'm around 95% sure this is the same composer as G.U., so it being good is not (or should not) be a surprise. That said, I still like most G.U. songs more. 6.5.
Touhou Project: The Story of Eastern Wonderland - World of Empty Dreams
This is fairly good, but then, I like most Touhou pieces anyway. I think being fairly toned down for a Touhou song plays to its advantage here. 7.0.
MS Saga: A New Dawn
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYHv1h7-12E&hd=1
So, Armored Core has some pretty good songs in it from what I've heard. Still think Someone is Always Moving on the Surface is my favorite, but Thinker is pretty great too. For some reason the vocals remind me of FLCL, really the whole song does in a few ways, which is a nice thing, even if I'm not sure it makes any sense at all.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
Liberal Arts Major
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PT_EBzBj0I&hd=1
It really is becoming challenging for me to come up with any kind of commentary at all at this point. I've just kind of run out of things to say for the most part. I mean, I like vocals in general, so I don't think it's too shocking I like this. There is one section around the middle where the vocals go away for a bit and I think that's the weakest section of the piece, but eh...
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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=MVSVT-VcHMc&hd=1
The Dark Spire's OST is... interesting. It's a mix of tracks like this one, and weird operatic tracks that I don't like very much. Then, every song also has a "Classic" chiptune version. For example, 1st & 2nd Floors -Classic-.
Anyway, I think this song is pretty cool. It uses a piano, but I wouldn't really qualify it as a piano piece, because there's plenty of other stuff going on. Through all the different effects and instruments it manages a rather cool feeling, though I'm not really sure how to describe it... Mysterious? I dunno. I like it, in any case.
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"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytgMJYZcNK4&hd=1
Even though this got submitted to the ranking topic, I actually have heard it before. It stuck out to me because those strings are really, really good. The rest is a little more questionable, but I can overlook those elements for those strings. I want Ghost Trick so badly. Even more so, now that I know its music seems fairly good. I could see this being a split opinion for listeners though.
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=T_TmhQ19Va0&hd=1
Did you guys know I like boss themes with ominous chanting music? Because that is basically what this is and I like it. It does nothing that makes it particularly stand out from other ominous chanting music, so if you are not incredibly keen on those types of tracks, this probably is not going to appeal too much. Since I do enjoy them, I enjoyed this, and there is little else to be said. Except that I should probably play this game because it sounds hilarious. Not surprising, seeing as who made it.
Rating: 6/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
Yes, this is a very cool song. Very neat, IMO. 6.5.
Ghost Trick - Jowd ~ A Captive of Fate
Not the best Ghost Trick track, still fairly good though. 6.0.
Z.H.P.: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman - The Last Last Battle!
What are you talking about? This most certainly does stand out from most other "ominous chanting music" in that it is much more of a mess than most of them. I'd suggest that's because it needs to spend more time ominously chanting, but I'm not entirely sure that'd be too much of a help! A lot of the instruments and effects just... clash in a bad way for me here. Not sure if anyone will get what I mean/agree, but maybe Kenri will so I'll wait to see what he says. This does have some good sections, but this is countered by the other parts. 4.5, because there is this one section (that occurs twice) that is just legitimately pretty good, and so I feel bad being too harsh on everything else.
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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=G3JN0BNi_bM&hd=1
Oh man, that beginning. That beginning is fantastic. I don't like where it goes after that nearly as much, but it's not really bad. However, that beginning is just so great it pretty much carries the entire song by itself whether it likes it or not. It's a variant of the part I really like in Plains of Time, although Plains of Time is just all around stronger IMO.
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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=cpcx0UQt4Y8&hd=1
The worst thing about finding a cool song on SupraDarky's list is when you then go to look up the rest of the OST and find that it doesn't exist on Youtube. As is the case here. Music from other versions of the game seem to exist, but are less good. Whatever.
It's a cool song, in any case. I wouldn't really have characterized it as either Eerie or a Forest, though. It has a much more mechanical feel to me, and it's not really eerie at all. I do like how it builds up to a fairly satisfying payoff a couple different times throughout its 4 minute runtime, rather than just doing it once.
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"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
New Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiQgYfyUdDs&hd=1
I never understood why people loved this track so much. However, it is the best title theme I have heard for Mega Man. I wanted to give at least one title theme some representation, so this got picked. If it was just the second part, I would like it more. The first is a good build up, I just am not as interested in it.
Rating: 5.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN4sXqnHZoI&hd=1
Another one of my favorite pieces from Mass Effect 2, this is pretty obviously Tali's theme in the game. Although, the way character themes work in ME2, this plays during her recruitment mission as well as her loyalty mission. Like with Suicide Mission, the different sections of the piece play as the missions progress. The more active sections tend to play during combat, but beyond even that, the further into the mission you go, the further into the piece plays. (I guess what I'm saying is if you stalled in a battle towards the beginning you wouldn't actually hear the later more active parts of the song, you'd have to be far enough in the mission for it to have moved on to using those sections.) At least, I'm pretty sure that's how it works. Another thing I'm pretty sure of is that this piece makes an epic return for some missions in Mass Effect 3. I was pretty hyped when I realized it had made a return. It was my favorite section of ME3, and having this return for it was even more fantastic. In general, I prefer the later parts of the piece, and the more active sections in particular, but it's great all around, if you ask me. A great theme for a great character.
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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=qwi529twCpY&hd=1
xp already posted the three hymns from Qoga that I feel are the best. However, I also like this one and thought it deserved some representation. I could see why some people may not be fond of it. It has this effect that I can honestly only describe as tapping the side of a metal mixing bowl. That could irritate some, I am sure. I personally think it is an interesting effect. The vocalists are also quite good, which is a given because, you know, hymn. The strings that get added in are a nice touch too. ...And, of course, it has an unpronounceable name, which I guess is worth noting! (I could probably say it out loud, it would just sound silly as all get out.)
Rating: 8.5/10
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
This was pretty neat for the first minute. Less of a fan of what it starts doing at around 80 seconds. It's not bad though. 5.0.
Mega Man 3 - Intro
They like this song because it's a Mega Man song that's not bad. Anyway, MM3 Title is a pretty good piece, honestly. Which makes it all the more sad that you chose it just to "give a title theme some representation" when there are people like me who legitimately enjoy it! Especially when you picked a link that just has it abruptly... cutoff like that. 6.5.
Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel - EXEC_ViiBaCi_MjiiRa/.
Not one of AT3's better hymns (mostly because they have already appeared), but also not even close to one of its worse ones (because oh man there are some that... oh man...) While this has some legitimately good sections, it also has other sections that... make me sad. Which basically adds up to one of the weaker, if not weakest, hymns yet. 6.5
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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=pQVuAGSKofs&hd=1
Theme of Simon Belmont is probably fairly high up there on my list of favorite Castlevania songs (though definitely not at the top, or on that tier,) it's just really catchy. I really like most of the first minute, I think it drops a little after that, but it's still fairly good. That first 50 seconds though, that's just pretty great, IMO.
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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=-Dk_x3I7kOY&hd=1
This is in a pretty different direction in terms of battle themes, at least compared to Persephone IPCC_3927 IMO, but that's okay with me. I do think that over 2 minute build up... is really pushing it, but thankfully it does finally give way to a fairly good song. The buildup doesn't even really bother me itself, it's just there for much too long. If it were considerably shorter, I'd probably like it!
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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=U_RLVB4RgWE&hd=1
Yet another song from the ranking topic. VISIONNERZ is about as weird as we've come to expect from Darius music (and music nominated by Mycro, though it's also awesome, so there's that. It has vocals (two styles, in fact), but I wouldn't really call it a vocals song. The whole thing seems kind of... off-kilter, even during the piano section early on, and the vocals add to that, the first kind being breathy and vaguely disturbing. There's one section at around 2:40 that I don't like; the song loses some of its unique flavor there as it becomes really chaotic. But then the second style of vocals, which are more operatic, come in and pull it all back together.
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"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
New Moderator
New Moderator
Liberal Arts Major
This is pretty neat, though I definitely prefer the first half or so to the second half, it kind of starts... spiraling a bit out of control there, IMO. 6.0.
Klonoa 2
Liberal Arts Major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I1sUb5BXz4&hd=1
The actual best town theme in Vesperia, although United Oath is great also, so I can respect that choice too. Unlike United Oath though, it's pretty unfortunate that you don't really get to hear Beyond the Mirage that often. The amount of times you'll be in this town are both a lot fewer, and typically shorter stays in comparison.
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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=yXu6ZYy2WLg&hd=1
Still more ranking topic. Myst IV's Main Theme is a really neat song, partly because it's sung in D'ni, Myst's created language. So, you can add that to the list of languages we've covered.
To me, this Main Theme is really dark. The vocals have a chant-like quality to them, and they can get really intense at times, especially towards the end of the song (something that I initially didn't like but have now sort of come around on). It's probably because of this that the song reminds me of Who Am I? (and a couple other songs) from Alone in the Dark 2008, which I like, so it's a good thing to remind me of! The weakest part of this song is almost certainly the middle, but I feel like that's necessary to balance out the last burst of super-powerful vocals; I do think it could have been handled a bit better and still had the same effect though.
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"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Advanced
Punch out - Fight theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE8vKLEK6A8
Sure, in the remake, they gave each fighter their own remixed version of this theme, but this one still felt intense back when i was playing every fighter in that game and i'll never forget it <3
Little Ninja Brothers - Exploring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOl-NlGzm5E
One thing i lived about this game when i was young was listening to this sweet song while walking around... and then suddenly... BAM!
Little Ninja Brothers - Battle Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMVcDLYJfVY&
This started playing XD there was no delay, it just flashed your screen and played this music.
Scheherezade - Battle Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCshSzT5iZ4
It's very hard to find Scheherezade music online, but this game has some very memorable music. This one alone reminds me why i loved fighting in this game so much with it's arabian-like tune.
Scheherezade - Overworld 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuXOuX1upCA&feature=related
Most overworlds are you going back in time, so the music gives more of a cold, simplistic feel to it.
Dragonseed - The Baby League
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPLh9NYI_g&feature=related
Dragonseed was a neat game that tried to combine Dragons with Pokemon with swords and shields, but when this game only really had 3-4 real-live dragons... it was silly. but hey, it was no slouche with this music at the very least. :3
Azure Dream - Tower floor 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87k7oiUBa_Y&
What Azure dream had was a brutal tower climbing system. You climbed a tower without saving, and if you died, you dropped everything your guy acquired, making you make hard decisions at times. The theme of the tower in Azure Dreams was always the same, but became more threatening as you climbed it's 100 levels. Floor 70 got the most memorable version i find with it's slow paced music switching to high paced music at this point.
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"But friends, i ask you. What is a GameCobra? From where does it come? Who are it's people?" - A Random Day on World of Warcraft
Liberal Arts Major
Yeah, the middle is definitely the weakest part, but the rest of it is great, so that can be overlooked to some extent. Definitely preferred the part right before the middle though. 6.5.
Punch out - Fight theme
This is fairly good. I think it loops quite a bit, which is understandable, because I'm pretty sure it'd be quite short if it didn't. 5.5.
Little Ninja Brothers - Exploring
I think I liked Fight Theme just a bit more, but it's fairly close. 5.0.
Little Ninja Brothers - Battle Theme
Hmm, this is a bit harder. I think I like Exploring more, but this has some fairly neat sections too. Think I'm going to side with Exploring because there is some down time here, IMO. 4.5.
Scheherezade - Battle Theme
I feel like if this went one step further with what it was doing, I'd like it considerably more. Alas, it does not, think it starts looping instead. 4.5.
Scheherezade - Overworld 2
I think this is my tendency to be disinclined towards simpler stuff striking again. 3.5.
Dragonseed - The Baby League
Hahaha, I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting going into this (Well, okay, I guess a chiptune, but still), but this was not it. I like it for the most part though, so that's fine! It has this one really good section and even the rest of it isn't too bad, I just really like that one section. 5.5.
Azure Dream - Tower floor 7
Similar to before where I think if this took one more step, I'd like it more. 4.0.
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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=K2Nud4kLLQg&hd=1
I had a hard time before deciding if I liked this or Thinker more. At the time I went with Thinker, but now I'm thinking I should have gone with Panther. I'm really bad at this! Unlike Thinker, there's no vocals here, but I think the instruments are just so solid all around that it's overall better. I'm not even sure which part/instrument is my favorite, you have the percussion, what I believe is a piano, and what I believe is a guitar, not to mention some other great effects. And I just can't choose between them!
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?