Point of order: Neither me nor Djinn ever claimed to have the right name for the G3 opening - hence the "or whatever the opening is called" comment.
Heartful Cry (Persona 3: The Answer) vs.
EXEC_SPHILIA/. (Ar Tonelico 2) - Sphilia is extremely excellent, one of the few AT pieces which is awesome with no qualifications.
Guiding Star (Tales of Legendia) vs. Live & Learn (Sonic Adventure 2) - Shockingly enough, I actually liked Live & Learn, at least the first half (it got kinda repetitive after that). It's still facing Legendia.
Tower of Caelum (Phantasy Star Online Episode 3) vs. Silent Hill (Silent Hill) - Silent Hill is nice, even if it sounds like the composer liked The Godfather way too much. Tower of Caelum sounds pretty neat.
How Long will the Rain Last (Breath of Fire IV) vs. Castle Imitation (Breath of Fire V) - The rain could last awhile.
Wind Scene (Chrono Trigger) vs.
Rune of Punishment ~ Meeting the Cursed Rune (Suikoden Tactics) - Pianos and violins beat up a cute innocent CT track, news at 11.
The House in Dust (Scratches) vs. R&R Junkie (Phantom Brave) - Intrigued by House in Dust. R&R is standard Tenpei Sato, which isn't bad, but I've heard it before.
A Challenge to God - Four Kings Battle (Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song) vs.
Duel with Gadwin (Grandia) - Mild antivote, as while Four Kings is undeniably more musically complex and interesting, it feels like a performance piece meant more to show off. (And also did very well last time.) Duel with Gadwin is excellent in context and is just fun AND dramatic.
Pleather for Breakfast (No More Heroes) vs.
Intrude upon Happiness, Plunder the Future (Wild ARMs XF) - Points for originality to Pleather, and parts of it are cool, but Intrude is just more fun to listen to.
FAILURE BRACKET
In the Sky (Grandia 3) vs.
Bitter Dance (Star Ocean 3) - Dumbly likable > Just dumb. Also, the full version seems to omit the "Ahhh!" screams that graced the original, which is a definite improvement.
ANIME
My Omelette (Dragon Half) vs.
Inner Universe (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) - Apparently in order to make a musical omelette you need to crush many classical eggs. I'm sorry, Ode to Joy and friends.
Hemisphere (RahXephon) vs. Rose (Nana) - The full version of both Hemisphere and Inner Universe suffer from the "doesn't translate as well to full length" problem a bit? They still win, though.