Rate the video game music above

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

This isn’t my favorite out of the Monster Hunter battle themes that I’ve heard here so far, but it’s still pretty decent if a tad non-involving for my tastes. Not that it’s tepid or sluggish or anything, but I suspect that I’ve heard too much of the whole traditional Asian instrumentation-plus-orchestra mix to be surprised or automatically endeared to it anymore. Nonetheless, it does its job and is, again, decent; I don’t think that it’s really possibly to have any bad music in these games, really. 7/10.

Also, @Tactician Karina, I had no idea that piano’s your favorite instrument — a lovely instrument indeed! — or that you played the flute before! That explains a lot about some of your music selections here, haha.

Speaking of piano (and another one of my favorite instruments):

 

[Ryoma Maser]

9/10.

 

[Tactician Karina]

8.5/10 I don't think there's really any bad tracks in Astral Chain, the music is just so great and fitting for it's setting and plot. That and it reminds me a bit of most music in the Metal Gear series, so that's a plus as well. Still makes me sad for no proper rep in Smash, when we could've gotten banging tracks, ah well. Anyway, this specific track is great in that you do get a sense of danger and needing to do/complete a mission now. I really need to replay this game yet again sometime soon.

My favorite version of "Poison Mind":

 

[Alpine64]

8/10
Don't know exactly what I like about it, but it just goes hard

 

[CharizardFan7]

7/10
Not bad, I kinda hear other Kirby songs mismashed in there too. Can't quite put my finger on which ones they are, though. However, I kinda like this one better:

 

[Tactician Karina]

8/10 I quite like this version of Green Greens. Though it sounds more like a remix of the Planet Robobot version, which is nice cause I liked that one too.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

A suitably haunting piano to go with a suitably sad-sounding theme (especially if the title is anything to go by). While this isn’t my favorite example of a sad piano theme ever, it’s certainly quality sad piano music that does its job and does it well. 7/10.

Let’s brighten things up a bit after that, shall we?



(Title is “Theme of Affection”.)

 

[Ryoma Maser]

7.5/10.

 

[Tactician Karina]

7/10 a smooth and chill theme for an all right character, not much else to say about it though. (now I just need to actually finish DMC 5 one of these days)

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

Just OK to me for some reason (it’s a tad subdued for a boss fight, I think), but it does definitely stand out in just how rather dire it sounds for ”only” a killer rabbit fight, since I suspect that it’s not exactly final boss-level in terms of toughness (regardless of its actual toughness, which I also suspect might be greater than I think). Nonetheless, 6.5/10.

I’m in an arrangement kind of mood again today. It may or may not be the season for this for whoever’s listening, haha, but how about…

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

9/10
Oh yeah, that time Kirby went to post-apocalyptic Earth. I like it. It's real fun and jolly.

 

[Ryoma Maser]

5/10-Wasn't really the greatest fan of it.

 

[Tactician Karina]

8/10 one of my favorite Fates OST remixes in the game.

I know other people have posted RF5 music here before, so apologies if this specific one has already been posted:

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

Night themes are always great! Even if this particular one doesn’t happen to be my favorite night theme ever (while still being good, of course). It does have that especially tranquil feel to it compared to some others that I’ve heard, though, which makes it quite appealing on those merits, I think! 7/10.

In a remix mood yet again today! Perhaps with a different kind of tranquil compared to the above, haha, or even compared to the original track that it’s based on. With that said, here you go:

 

[Tactician Karina]

8/10 I surprisingly like this remix more than the original! Most Pokemon OST remixes are very hit or miss for me (mostly the latter), but this one actually sticks with the original theme and isn't drastically different, makes the instruments pop out more and the added beat really fits the vibe I had first imagined for this city (but unfortunately somewhat disappointed by).

Time for a theme from one of my favorite characters within the Touken Ranbu series (and unfortunately an underrated recent Musou installment, at least in the West):

 

[Ryoma Maser]

8/10-I strangely hear a Hatsune Miku song in there. This also reminds me Cardfight Vanguard did a collab with Touken Ranbu where they got their own clan and such for a booster.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

Ah, the inevitable “melancholy” RPG theme. As far as those go, they can be pretty standard, with piano being a staple instrument in at least half of them, I’d bet. That said, there’s a reason why that’s the go-to instrument for such themes: it’s a brilliant musical tool for creating a sense of both beauty and delicateness that lends itself well to melancholy themes. With that said, I felt that this one went by a tad quickly despite its three-minute runtime, as if it were building up to something amazing that ultimately never comes. Oh well; what’s there is still pretty lovely anyway! A bit standard, admittedly, but definitely lovely (piano always is, haha). 7/10.

You know what else can be a great instrument for “sad” RPG themes? Guitar. I believe this song to be an especially good example of that, but let’s see what everyone else thinks:



(The full title is “Garden of Memories”, in case you can’t see it all on your browser for some reason.)

 

[Tactician Karina]

7/10 the in-game version is nice, but I prefer the CD version of the track; and I think the melancholic feel of it works better there imo.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

This actually happens to be one of my favorite themes from Shining Force II’s OST, which on the whole is quite excellent (something that you no doubt have your own opinions about, haha). The FM sound chip of Mega Drive/Genesis, for all of the flak that it sometimes gets with certain styles of music (especially the orchestra-like styles that this OST is comprised largely of), really serves itself well here with providing a uniquely ethereal atmosphere that the SNES’s sound chip — or even a live orchestra, arguably — probably wouldn’t be able to capture in quite the same way (if not necessarily a better way, whatever that would even mean). That said, solely for the purposes of listening, I largely prefer it in a suite with its sister track (“Water Goddess Mitula”), which I feel compliments and completes this track in a way that makes it stronger than it otherwise would be alone. A solid 7.5/10 otherwise, though!

Oh, and regarding Dark Chronicle’s OST… the soundtrack versions of the songs (and those of its predecessor, for that matter), are weird in that they mostly sound completely different from the game versions (to the point of them often even being in totally different keys!). I myself actually prefer the game versions by default, because while the soundtrack versions obviously sound objectively better and might be closer to authorial intent (maybe), there’s something about the more synthesized nature of the songs playing on the PS2’s sound chip — including all of that lovely reverb! — that just sounds more… welcoming, I guess you could say, versus the high-end software synthesizers that are no doubt being used for the soundtrack versions that sound more plain and uninteresting to me in comparison. Or maybe I’m just that much of a geek for console sound chips and what they’re capable of compared to the more expensive stuff; who knows. But to each their own, of course!

How about something from another SRPG great? In this case, the PSP remake of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together:

 

[ripplefieldz]

like, 6/10? it's not terrible, it's actually pretty decent around the 1 minute mark, but overall it just feels pretty generic

i've never played guilty gear in my life, but i gave strive's ost a listen a while back and this one is one of my favorites (the ost in general imo seems to have a habit of starting off kinda meh but then having a REALLY GOOD PART in there or just flat out being great for most of the song after that meh beginning, this one falls into the latter i'd say)