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Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne This one was torture to pare down to three. Unfortunately, none of the atmospheric dungeon themes made the list, nor any of the moody, misty cutscene tracks. The whole soundtrack is great! 3. Large Map ~Last Area~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQuEwWJHYM4 2. Reason Boss Battle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fylg8zp4Pzo 1. Demons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR6pHaeRV3w This one is really meant to be paired with TALK, but that's not allowed so it will stand on its own. One of my favorite battle themes from any game. It sounds like it's blowing itself up.
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Feb 25, 2020 02:05
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Here's a tough one: Yakuza 0 Just about the whole soundtrack is great, but it's so varied that it's very tough and kind of arbitrary to evaluate one song against another. You have moody incidental music alongside drum-and-bass battle tracks, not to mention the 80s-style karaoke. But here's that list anyway. I used this playlist to find the tracks. Using screencaps instead of embeds in an effort to speed up the loading of this page. 3. t u s k  Music that plays when Kiryu is going through main-quest battle gauntlets. 2. Oath of Enma/Pledge of Demon/however it's translated  Boss fight music with Kuze. 1. As You Like  Playing dress-up with hostesess. The song I found myself singing the most after playing. Here's a pastebin of my full ranking for the OST, if you'd like to shake your head at my poor musical tastes.
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Apr 1, 2020 03:35
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Civilization II (Using this playlist as reference) I have a lot of nostalgia for this one, but many of the tracks don't hold up when listening to them now. It's very much of its era in terms of audio quality - perfectly clear MIDIs with mediocre instrumentation. Musically, the original soundtrack (I think the first ten tracks on the playlist) are not great, but I like some of the tracks from the later releases - my version of choice was the Multiplayer Gold Edition. Anyway! On with the listing. Dubious honorable mention  Aristotle's Pupil (PS1 version) This is not really praising the track as much as I have to express how this is burned into my head decades after the fact. While I played plenty of Civ 2 on PC, most of my time was spent playing the Playstation 1 port. I put a lot of time into this version, and I mean A LOT, so I got familiar with the music. Other than stuff like menu blips and Wonder of the World cutscenes, you'll hear nothing but the background music for the entirety of your playthrough. However, the background music doesn't change on its own; the player has to do that manually. But who's going to think to do that while they're in the middle of playing a game like this? As a result, from the beginning of every game to the end, you hear the default music selection - Aristotle's Pupil - over and over, over and over, until it gives you Stockholm Syndrome and you can't imagine playing the game with any other background music. 3  Mars Expedition It just gets so tense! 2  World of Jules Verne Very calming, great to have playing while doing all the city-based micromanagement during peacetime. 1  Fantasy/Tolkien I thought it sounded really cool and misty back then, and I still like it now. Plus it's refreshing to hear Tolkien in music that does not originate from Howard Shore.
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Apr 5, 2020 15:33
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I saw the OP mention this thread in the BYOB traveling thread, and felt the need to bump it. This time let's look at... Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen One of my favorite games ever! Certainly top three for the 2010s, maybe at the top of that list. The gameplay and Pawn system are more interesting than the music, but there are some choice tracks in here. It's a fairly traditional and safe soundtrack, and as a result can sometimes sound like generic fantasy fare. I find that the Dark Arisen music is generally more interesting than that from the base game, and the giant monster themes are all nice and bombastic. I am using this YouTube playlist as a source, which doesn't include all the songs in the game, but none of the omitted tracks were going into my top 3 anyway. IMPORTANT: I do not have Into Free ~Dangan~ on this list, since it is technically not a part of the Dark Arisen soundtrack, but you may consider it an honorary #1. 3. The Carrion Beast's Flock  What plays when fighting Cursed Dragons/Elder Ogres/Garm at Bitterblack Isle. RIP to my level 30 Arisen in the above picture. 2. Character Creation  There needed to be a great track for the create-a-character, and they nailed it. Smooth, unobtrusive, cool, it hasn't gotten old in the hours I've spent in CAC. 1. Imprisoned Cyclops  Probably not most people's top pick for this game, but I love it. It really sells the idea that you badly hosed up in releasing this monster from its shackles. The Condemned Gorecyclops honestly isn't the most interesting giant monster fight in the game, but I like fighting them just for this track. Also, here's a Pastebin to my full ranking of the soundtrack.
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May 21, 2020 06:53
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Something Awful may be collapsing, but that doesn't mean I can't rank another video game soundtrack before the end! This time, I'll go with... Xenoblade Chronicles Without doubt one of my favorite games, it also has an incredible soundtrack. It's a great team effort by ACE+, Manami Kiyota, and Yoko Shimomura (plus a token vocal theme by Yasunori Mitsuda), and it's a cohesive mix despite each composer having distinct styles. I just spent two hours ranking the entire soundtrack, if that shows how much I like it (and how much idle time I have right now). There were some tracks that I thought were locks for the top three that barely made top ten; this was a cruel list to pare down. I cannot believe that Eryth Sea didn't make this list. Link to the full ranking on Pastebin (I stole the preview images from elsewhere, please don't sue me) 3. Gaur Plain  That drop about 45 seconds in gets me every time. Probably the quintessential Xenoblade track (and it was basically a coin flip between this and number 4 on the list). 2. Satorl Marsh (Night)  Pro tip: Before walking into Satorl Marsh for the first time, set the clock to a few in-game hours before nighttime. Watching (and hearing) the transition from day to night should be experienced fresh. 1. Valak Mountain (Night)  Like the last ranking I did, this one is probably not number one for most people, but I love the atmosphere of this. Valak Mountain very similar to Satorl Marsh in that it goes from a kind-of bland daytime setting to shining nighttime splendor. That slow buildup to a beautiful minor-key piano piece; it's what I crave.
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Jun 25, 2020 06:23
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