Rate the Person's Video Game Composition Above You!

[The Lolwut Pear]

Awright, time for DQ/W G's first forum game!

Title is self-explanatory, you can post songs from ANY game (please keep to actual game; no orchestral/rock/fan remakes, however, feel free to post them, but only the in-game version will get rated), feel free to rate more than one person's song if you please (i.e: two people above you.) and finally, any version of the game will work, such as say you wanted to post a Dragon Quest IV song, the original, the PS1 remake or the DS remake, doesn't matter.

However, don't just leave a number and continue, please write what you liked and maybe what you didn't like. Please try to be positive, no "0 tat sung suxxd!!1!1oneone". However, in depth criticism is accepted so long as it's in check.

With that, I open!

The Great Plains March (NA Version)- Dragon Quest VIII by Koichi Sugiyama.

EDIT: Changed the title, videogame? What's wrong with me?! That, and Song > Composition, cause I'm professional like that. cool  

[ThePersonInFrontOfYou]

Cool idea!

Lessee... While I like the normal field theme better than the March, I still really like it, and think it is a good variation that suits faster travel on the back of a giant sabre-toothed tiger. Not only is the tempo faster, but the variation itself has more of an upbeat, sure swing to it.

I'll give this one an 8 out of 10.

I have a lot of songs that I would like to hear people talk about, and that I have various different opinions on. But for now, I'll leave you with this.

Intruder Alert- Team Fortress 2 (One of the possible menu themes, debuted in Meet the Spy) by Mike Morasky  

[The Lolwut Pear]

8.3/10- It gets a base of 8 because the lady who taught me music was a BIG jazz head, and most of her examples she used in class examples were either jazz or rock, so naturally, I've come to appreciate jazz.

Only thing that was holding it from a perfect score is that it sounded almost too much like something out of James Bond or a spy movie, so in a way, it was sort of.. predictable in a way? However, don't get me wrong, it was still a fantastic song to listen to, I had to listen to it twice.

Extra points where it won were the big use of saxophone, which is a welcome thing in jazz, matching theme for the song (in speculation, "Intruder Alert" n' all) and rarity of genre in video games I've at least played, in the mass piles of games I've ventured into, rare was it for me to hear a jazz song, a climatic one like that- even rarer.

Just a heads up, most (probably not all) of my songs starting will now be from near unheard of games. As a musician, I am simply overjoyed when someone shares new music to me, instead of the same stuff I hear daily (nothing wrong with that) and hopefully there is at least someone out there who shares the same nerdy musician sense as I do.

Filmoa- ActRaiser by Yuzo Koshiro

Or as the English pronounce Filmoa- Fillmore, I was just being lazy so I found the Japanese OST video first. : P  

[ThePersonInFrontOfYou]

Oooh, now that's a catchy sucker. I started tapping my foot almost immediately, and that's enough to have me regard it fondly.

There's nothing like SNES synth- that happy middle ground between beeps and orchestra that ages much better than straight synth by people who aren't Motoi Sakuraba. And this really is a great tune. It sounds like an epic adventure through harsh levels with stuff flying at you from every turn. And I love the rising and falling scales and the quick pace. It fits a lot of stuff in there without ever sounding too busy. I'll give this a 9/10.

And while not all of my song choices will be popular or obscure in particular, I won't love all of the stuff I post. Which ones are which? I'm not telling you! I just know that I'll try to fit in a variety of genres.

Also, in regards to my previous pick, Team Fortress 2 has a very cartoony 60's aesthetic to it, and the spy movie feel for a lot of the tunes was wholly intentional. I love TF2's soundtrack not only for this, but also because a lot f the music is very descriptive, especially character themes. And for something with as colorful a cast as TF2, that's even better.

Anyway.

Molgera's Theme- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. By Koji Kondo (As well as Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Toru Minegishi. I forget which song was done by who).  

[The Lolwut Pear]

I loved it, it got me in mind of Zelda immediately with its mystical woodwind part and proud trumpet kicking everyone in line every now and then, but that's a boss song? Despite its upbeat happiness, I have troubles seeing Link fighting a giant worm like flora horror to such a mystical song, maybe anti-climatic is the word.

Even so, for following the Zelda song archetype wonderfully and being awesome and upbeat, I'm going to have to give a 7.8/10. (I'm nitpicky towards precise %'s so I use really specific numbers >_< )

I think I will do that with my songs too, originally, I planned to do all the songs I liked, but now that I think about it, that's no fun!

I think you nailed your rating perfectly for mine, ActRaiser is a pretty tough game at times, and not to mention, epic being a perfect word for the adventure as you are literally playing as God cleansing the world of monsters to eventually duke it out with Satan.

Anywho..

Valhalla- Valkyrie Profile by Motoi Sakuraba  

[ThePersonInFrontOfYou]

I love Motoi Sakuraba, as you know. His work is very distinct. But sometimes this can be a little bit of a fault. One thing that's interesting about listening to different compositions, or even different soundtracks, is that you can sort of tell when he's trying to break the mold, when he isn't, and when he is really inspired. I'm not even just talking about how he often uses similar base melodies and structures. I'm sure you know what I mean.
Listening to this piece, I was actually very happy at the beginning. I don't hear Sakuraba doing C major stuff a lot. But as it went on, it gradually turned into generic Sakuraba. That's not bad by any means, but I feel like the song looses its identity.
In addition, the beginning sounds a lot more like ambient heavenly Valhalla music then the later parts. Again going with the earlier observations. It is by no means a bad song, but it doesn't stick with me at all. I give this song a 5/10.

Again regarding my previous pick... you were pretty on the mark with my thoughts too. Molgera's Theme is one of my favorite songs in The Wind Waker, but out of the four dungeon boss themes, it is the least descriptive. Especially since the other three are very descriptive.

More people need to get their butts in here. I know for a fact that we aren't the only music fans here. And I would give someone else an opportunity if I didn't get as much joy out of stuff like this as I do. I'm gonna bug them when I see them.

Unknown World- Dragon Warrior 3 (SNES version) by Koichi Sugiyama  

[gabriel sama]

Dragon Quest has always been a reliable series to bring out excellent music, and DQ3 is no exception to the matter. It's got a melancholic feel to it, which fits the first time it's played (entering that underworld place, wasn't it?). Shame it's short, but it loops in the game to make it up. Overall, I'm gonna give it an 8/10.

Vaati's Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap by... shoot, I dunno who it's by. I don't know if Koji Kondo took part in this.  

[The Lolwut Pear]

I understand how you feel, even if it seems that I do not know as much Sakuraba as you do (I usually stick to the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile side), but now that I think about it, that flute segment in that song, he sure likes his arpeggios, eh?

I know there is still an active person (in our guild standard) around here who likes music too, I'm not sure if we're talking about the same person, but hopefully they'll pop up...

For Unknown World, although I really do like the basic NES version more, I still always get that sense of nostalgia when I drop into Alefgard in DQIII SNES, and if DQIII had a major thing for me, that is nostalgia and DQ I references galore. So naturally, because it still gets that sense of nostalgia, I'd give it a 3.5/5, reason why not a 4 is simple: I just like the original version more.

Vaati's Theme- I am a total fan of organ-work, and I felt this song used the instrument very well to convey that ominous look, and for that I loved it. At first, the four note pitch figure was magical, however, I couldn't help but feel it got redundant later on? Granted, I still greatly enjoyed it however. 8.2/10, organs make me very happy, as does drums and a catchy beginning.

The Great Wall of China- Illusion of Gaia by Yasuhiro Kawasaki

Edit: Ninja'd by the man I was talking about, how I love the world! Will edit my reply to include Roy's rating.  

[ThePersonInFrontOfYou]

This is an interesting one for me. The song sounds like a video game level on the Great Wall of China should. A bit of oriental feeling, done well with the good ol' SNES synth, and it gives me the feeling of running down the very long, very tall great wall towards an important goal, and I gotta get there fast. My favorite part of the song is whenever it backs off for that little repeating melody, only to play the same melody at full force right after.
However, the song feels somewhat disjointed to me. I feel like there are too many little bits and melodies, and they themselves aren't long enough to establish themselves and contribute to a greater whole. That, and I feel like speedy rising and falling bits in the background at the beginning of the whole thing sort of cheapen it. They don't fit in with the rest of the song, I think, since it's slower paced and much more percussive. I don't really know what to give this. But a It's hard for me to nail a number for this one, but I'd say... 7/10.

As for my Sakuraba knowhow, while I primarily know him from two series myself (Baten Kaitos and Golden Sun), I've played other games he has worked on and listened to other soundtracks. I don't hold his tendency to reuse themes over him like some people do, but it's noticeable, especially when I feel the song isn't as memorable as some of his other ones.

Also, while the DWIII SNES soundtrack I feel isn't as good as the original overall, I like both versions of Unknown World. They have different effects, both of them nostalgic and with a good tune at their base. I had a feeling you would say what you did. :B

And Roy too! Yay!

Player Phase- Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light (Original) by Yuka Tsujiyoko  

[Belzayne]

This one reminds me of Mario at the very beginning. It feels like something that would go on in a Mario game, and here it is for the Player's Phase. It is different than the others.

I'm sorry that I'm being short with these. Anyways, here's mine. Who's There? - Persona 4  

[gabriel sama]

Ah, Persona 4. How I love thee. The song is nice and has that creepy feeling in there, like something is not right with the situation at all. Atlus has always been my favorite game-producing company. However, this repeats itself far too much for my liking, and personally, this was not one of the better songs of the game.

I'm gonna give it a 7.5/10.

Dark Prison (extended version) from Super Robot Wars: Original Generations.

((Oddly enough, SWR: OG was one of my options for an LP. It's like Fire Emblem but with robots.))  

[The Lolwut Pear]

SRW, eh? I am on a mainstream FE forum (SF) and I hear that title a lot. I like giant robots being a little boy at heart, I like wars, I like SRPGs, I like epic music, this sounds like a game for me!

As for the song, it's very climatic, my cuppa tea! Only thing is they used the same pattern for most- if not all of the song, but that doesn't bring my score down, total 8.5/10!

Battlefield Without Light- War Theme # 2 Genso Suikoden II by Miki Higashino

EDIT: Ignore the ending of my song I posted, it doesn't do that in the game. O.o  

[gabriel sama]

SRW is pretty interesting. Some of the characters are insanely overpowered though. Like the guy that commands the robot in Dark Prison. You'll just have to see for yourself just how broken he is.

As for your song, I have never played Suikoden II. It's got that nice build-up, like they're preparing for war or some sort. That orchestral feel it's got is quite excellent. It sounds a tad bit soft, but it might be because I lowered the volume some.

I'm going to go with a 8.25/10 on this one.

Termination from YS: Origin by Falcom Sound Team JDK/Yukihiro Jindo/Yuzo Koshiro  

[The Lolwut Pear]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADS:OFAJ:SFDKLHASLDKFVNHA, I was going to do a Ys song, but I was holding off as I already Yuzo Koshiro'd this thread up! D;

I would have gone with Holders of Power, but Extermination works just as well.~ I give a more than generous score of 9/10, one thing I've come to appreciate of Ys is: 1.) Yuzo Koshiro and 2.) the beautiful rock music that brings the game up a notch. However, this song in particular stuck to me a little more because it has singing in it, almost sounds like doomsday, or dare I say, an Extermination?

Funny story really, I just got into the Ys series last month when I bought Wanderers of Ys III for $10 at a retro store, played it, loved it, and played the I and II remake for the PSP at the same store for $20 and loved it even more, my God, anime done right!

I wish to continue this epic-streak, rock opera chain we have going on and offer:

Dragon God- Chrono Cross by Yasunori Mitsuta  

[gabriel sama]

Ahahahahah. Score one for me. 8D

Oh man, that is quite a generous score for Termination. I was expecting an 8.75 at the best. I'm quite pleased though. 3nodding

Oh man, I wish I could get my hands on Ys, or one from a similar series.

And you went with Dragon God. Chrono Cross has brought many excellent songs, and Dragon God is no exception. XD I'm going to give it a more than generous 9/10 just because I was playing that song right when you linked it. Funny how that works.

Rock opera chain of epicness, huh? Lemme see what I have...

EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION/.~lamenza from Ar Tonelico 2. And yes, that is the name of the song.