Ken Hisuag

The three-year anniversary of Celeste happened, and in commemoration the team formerly known as MattMakesGames released a sequel to the Pico-8 classic version. While there was technically only one track composed for it, the piece holds its own as a follow-up to both the original classic and the main game.

Spontaneous appreciation for Louie Zong. There's something very "music for music's sake" about his style, and even though his compositions are a bit on the short side, they're always full of charm. He's also fairly diverse in the genres he covers.

The editing of this makes it less funny than it could be. But it's still pretty funny . . .

Tournament thoughts:

The PC-98 themes are generally perceived by the fandom to be lesser known. I assume this is because the games are more inconvenient to play, and the majority of the fandom is familiar with the music they hear in-game.

I've sometimes wondered about the popular opinion concerning Akiyama's OST bonus arrangements. The popularity poll doesn't distinguish between different versions of the same theme, so the rating likely reflects upon the original version in any given case. There have been several cases where I've preferred Akiyama's version over ZUN's, or at least considered them on equal footing (each with strengths in different aspects). So on the chance that some may not have discovered these remixes yet, here's some especially noteworthy tracks.

Well, I was correct in my prediction concerning Ori and the Will of the Wisps; now that I've played some of it, I find I'm enjoying its soundtrack immensely. This was the case for the first game, too. For some reason, I needed the experiential context to appreciate the music. Possibly this is due to the cinematic nature of the soundtrack, but I would need to compare with similar experiences to be sure. No matter, here's my selection.

Had I managed to play the game earlier, its soundtrack would have been my #4 for the year.

The main leitmotif of the first game is retained for this one, but in a more restrained and powerful manner, possibly representing Ori's interactions with the new world. There's also a second leitmotif introduced early on which seems to be a variation of the first; whether this is Ku's theme, or an expression of the expansion of the second game from the first, I am currently unsure of.

I'm really glad I finished the first game before playing this one; Escaping a Foul Presence felt that much more satisfying as a brief return to old experiences.

Gonna try and get this in before Jssf posts the first round.

Second day of the year I thought it'd be interesting to check Youtube for Touhou of that week, to find the last of old year and first of new. One specific acoustic arrangement sent me down a rabbit hole, and I ended up finding a bunch of really old but really good guitar solos. So here's some of those.

For obvious reasons, I won't normally post independent remixes here. However, I believe an argument can be made for their inclusion into the metagenre of VGM. Arrangements most often take their source material's contextual situation into consideration, and I've yet to find a remix that can take the game out of the music.

In several cases, my first exposure to a soundtrack that I would later consider among my favorites was a remix. In commemoration of that, here are three such pieces which introduced me to larger spheres of VGM.

For the final chiptune artist feature (though certainly not the end of chiptune on this thread), I present . . . actually, I'm not sure which is his primary alias. It's either "pigdevil2010" or "Pigu."

When I said my submission to RT3 wasn't the best example of Touhou chiptune I knew of, this was the guy I had in mind. Unlike most of the previous features, his style encompasses both retro and experimental, while also making use of a variety of chip types. I specifically considered his Egoistic Flowers as a tournament submission, but ultimately decided against it.

Just to rap it up, an extra chiptune piece from an unexpected artist:

Tower of Heaven registered as a Flash game on my browser, so it should be noted to try it by Monday if you're interested.

EDIT: This comment was instigated by a preceding feature from a since deleted account. This is a restoration of that feature's contents.

Quote

 

It's about time we covered Rivals of Aether. I probably don't need to sell it, but . . .

Composer flashygoodness has a unique style to his chiptune that settles on the fringes of the genre; he's able to create impressively complex arrangements of sound that set them apart from retro style, but aren't so far from it that it has to be considered something else (Undertale might be a good example of that; maybe CrossCode?). There's also a slight reverb that gives his pieces an airy feel; I'm unsure of the intended effect, but for me it adds another layer of complexity to the sound.

As a sort of bonus, I'm linking the main menu theme. It's not so much for the music, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpuy_uKMroE

If you can't figure it out, sort the comments by new and start from the bottom.

This is not intended to be an extra chiptune feature, but . . .

+TEK's recent album featured guest artist Rumya, and I was struck by the style of the extra arrangements. They remind me a bit of Rivals of Aether; an airy, floating chiptune that still maintains exhilarating energy.

Also, it seems Jaz:3 visited recently, and I just happened to find this accordion remix the other day.

I wanted to be careful about this first post of the year. For some reason, this piece stood out to me.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm about done with the chiptune features; there's only one more artist after this one, and I'll have covered the highlights from my perspective.

I chose to use +TEK in RT3 because the sound of his productions appeals to me strongly. While it is still technically chiptune, it's on the far fringes of the genre (especially in the latest album), and I'm not comprehensively sure why.

With that, the year is on the verge of conclusion. In commemoration, these are my personal top five video game OSTs of 2020.

For the record, I haven't played any of these; my experience with them is almost entirely musical. If anyone's willing, I'd love to hear what soundtracks stood out to others this year.

For reference sake, I'm also including a record of the postings made on this thread over the past year (plus the time previous, since there wasn't much). As of initial posting, it only includes the tracks which are currently available; some links are broken, and as such I can't determine what they were. This is partially why I'm creating a reference record now, in hopes that I can accurately maintain this thread as a catalog (of sorts) of VGM.

Note that some of the broken links are mine, and I intend to fix them. When I do, and if any of the other broken links are fixed, I'll try to update this list to reflect the new availability. New posts will be cataloged for next year (assuming we all last that long).

I was trying to determine what my personal top five soundtracks of the year would be, and could only think of four that had really stuck in my mind impactfully (discounting DLC soundtracks for games released in years previous, such as Cadence of Hyrule). So I sat down to quickly look through a bunch of OSTs that I'd been putting off to see if anything stood out.

To address the obvious: I can appreciate Darren Korb's work on a technical level, but it does not immediately appeal to me for casual listening. I've come to enjoy Transistor, but it is an enjoyment that was developed over time. I believe a large part of this is the strong bond his compositions have with their situational context, i.e. the game. I was not able to appreciate the music from Ori and the Blind Forest until I'd experienced it as part of the whole product, and I suspect it will be the same with Will of the Wisps. Having never experienced any of Supergiant's products, there is (or may be) a vital component missing to my understanding its merits beyond the technical. Doom Eternal, on the other hand, was something I fully expected to dislike for its emphasis on adrenaline-fueled metal. I was mistaken, however; the tracks carried a progression that I could fully enjoy getting swept up in, and I even experienced a nice nostalgic effect from the style's similarities to a certain old RTS I used to play.

With all that being said, it was actually a quietly released metroidvania that I had intentionally ignored that now caught my attention. Batbarian: Testimony of the Primoridals has a surprisingly good soundtrack which bounces between disco and rock in a way that reminds me of Castlevania and Crypt of the Necrodancer.

I doubt my currently high admiration for this soundtrack will last through my eventual reconciliation with Will of the Wisps, but for now it will fill my number five spot.

Nope, that's new stuff to me. It's a bit difficult to tell if it's a remix or a mashup (or perhaps, in the vein of the recently referenced DJ the S, both?). I haven't had much luck in the past finding enjoyable mashups, so I tend to be skeptical of them. If this is a mashup, it's very cleverly edited together and actually rather pleasant to listen to.

Chiptune feature: pedipanol.

One of the only musicians I've come across who composes non-Touhou remixes in the PC-98 style, and does well at it, I might add!

Since my recent searches for requested styles of music, my recommended has included an increased representation of these genres. I won't say y'all should expect more of those genres long term, but you can enjoy them while I've got 'em.

Will this be my last post on this thread for the year? I'm not sure yet; we've still got just under a week to go. One way or another, I hope y'all had a good Christmas.

For future reference: Touhou-related music (theme remixes, style remixes, and original themes) should be posted in one of the threads dedicated to it to avoid confusion.

For the record, I have posted Touhou-related music in this thread.

I shouldn't be here today. I wanted to post these yesterday, and preparations took more time than I had anticipated.

These are some remixes I had considered worth holding onto for a future tournament. In the past, I've chosen submissions based on my desire to hear others' evaluations. I'd held back on these pieces because they are from fairly well-known artists.

Merry Christmas, y'all, and I'm sorry for not getting these out sooner.

I'm late!

I really wanted to [finally] feature Okami properly, which isn't easy to set up because the OST is massive and full of seven second jingles. Plus Christmas preparations have taken up my time, so I've only managed to listen through the first disc of the soundtrack. I'm still considering it a win, and now I have a good excuse to revisit it later.

What makes Okami unique is its incorporation of traditional Japanese folk instruments and music. One might be inclined to assume this limits the stylistic range of the soundtrack, but this is far from the case. As such, I consider it one of the best examples of the genre.

Also the only reason I'm not using Spirit Extermination is because it's already on the thread (and is in fact how I became aware of this soundtrack in the first place). It is hands down the best track on the first disc.

Also, on the heels of having just taken some requests, I'd like to make a request of my own. I have not had much luck finding remixes of the original themes from Urban Legend in Limbo or Immaterial and Missing Power. Specifically I've been looking for arrangements of NKZ's Wanderings and U2 Akiyama's Bell of the Antipodes, respectively. No particular style, just something imaginative.

Okay, I swear I'm not doing this intentionally, but I just found out that ShinkoNet is releasing a new eurobeat album at the end of the month, and this is beginning to get weird.

Also, guess what other genre he remixes in!

Additionally, here are some specially selected arrangements to balance out the post.

I'd like to draw attention to Aka Kyuketsuki's piano arrangement abilities, since she's more well known for Touhou style.

I fully intend to be back here before Christmas, but just in case I'll wish y'all a merry Christmas now.

Merry Christmas!

I was thinking of rock and metal as synonymous, but comparing the Bad Apple remix against the other two does evince a distinction. Perhaps pop rock?

some searching later

I'll have to keep an eye out, but in the mean time I believe I've found the perfect remix to cover your requests.

Rock,
DnB,
and . . .

Yeah, I'll keep looking.

I've always thought both of Sanae's themes had unnecessarily long titles. But hey, at least neither of them are The Darkness Brought in by Swallowstone Naturalis Historia (Dark Side of Japan).

I did not know Falkkone did chiptune, and it's a pity he doesn't do more because these are really good!

I'm glad someone else posted Yume Nikki. I dislike the game myself, but I can understand the endearment it has with others.

This Friday marks the two-year anniversary of this thread. In commemoration (actually I'm just using this as an excuse), I'm returning to the first game posted on the thread: A Hat in Time. I don't know what piece specifically was originally posted, and I intentionally avoided the most popular tracks in my initial post (with the exception of Rush Hour), so I've got plenty of material to work with.

This is still one of the most diverse soundtracks I have ever come across, and still one of my all-time favorites.

Found something!

It's not full choir, but it is four part harmony!

The circle is 幻想郷グリークラブ, or the Gensokyo Glee Club (but the English name is less likely to bring up search results).

22 minutes ago, Garison DeCrick said:

I'd give you're post the ol' Ken-Thumbs-Up if the admins hadn't removed that emote (R.I.P.)

I was wondering what the arrows were replacing. Oh well, advance and adapt.
Still no chin-stroking/thoughtful reaction.

Digging through the folder for these videos had made me more anxious to empty it further, so here's some bonus stuff unrelated to the topic at hand.

On 12/14/2020 at 7:13 AM, buskerdog said:

Eternal Melody

I've had this sitting in my folder for several months now. It's the first half of a double remix, but I didn't appreciate the second half as much and went looking for a shortened video.

5 minutes ago, Garison DeCrick said:

more of your piano recommendations

I've actually been holding a few for potential tournament submissions, though at this point my Tournament Worthy folder is getting rather full. Maybe I'll drop a few for Christmas.

Also there's this!