Author Topic: OST Ratings (Read 15974 times)

superaielman · « **Reply #175 on:** March 23, 2014, 06:15:05 PM »

Suikoden III

Best Song Standalone: Exceeding love.
Worst Song Standalone: Lizard clan track. It's memorable and quirky in game, hate it on it's own.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): The Glittering Sword. I can just visualize the various really hard battles you can lose vs Luc and co when his track pops. It brings to mind tense battles and the sound of parrying and PC's getting knocked out. It's a good track!
Worst Song In Context:

Overall Impression of OST: Couple of good tracks, lots of filler. Pleasant background noise in game at least.
Final Rating: 6/10.

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #176 on:** March 23, 2014, 08:56:07 PM »

The World Ends with You- 4 raters, 7.1 average rating.

Blue Dragon

Best Song Standalone:
Worst Song Standalone:

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game):
Worst Song In Context:

Overall Impression of OST:
Final Rating:

Dark Holy Elf · « **Reply #177 on:** March 23, 2014, 09:10:26 PM »

Best Song Standalone: Eternity

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Eternity

Overall Impression of OST: It's Uematsu getting to do several awesome rock tracks. Everyone knows Eternity and yeah it is great, The Seal is Broken is a memorable/awesome final boss track, CAVERN is a very different style of melancholy hard rock. When he's not doing rock this soundtrack is pretty average, though. I mean there's nothing really wrong with the town themes or the world map theme (the latter at least sticks out in my mind in particular) but there's nothing special either.

Final Rating: 7/10

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #178 on:** March 24, 2014, 06:25:40 PM »

Suikoden III

Best Song Standalone: Transcending Love. Obvious pick is obvious.
Worst Song Standalone: Crystal Valley. Ehhh.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Um. Um. I really enjoy Glittering Sword but... so there's like five towns I could pick between. But I honestly lean towards Amur Plains. Weird I know.
Worst Song In Context: Something something one of the fight musics I forget where it plays.

Overall Impression of OST: Where the other Suikodens are really about one nation with disparate parts that have to be brought back together, in Suikoden III's OST really sells that these are different people and nations that are united by common need. And of course it also works great at creating strong music and place/moment association. Not a lot of out of context value but... it's also all good.
Final Rating: 7/10

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #179 on:** March 24, 2014, 08:08:31 PM »

Blue Dragon

Best Song Standalone: Eternity. For sheer memorability I have to give it the nod.
Worst Song Standalone: Mystery of the Ancient Machine. bleeeggghh.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Nene's Paradise. So perfect for him.
Worst Song In Context: Anger and Sorrow. Neat song, don't remember it existing ever.

Overall Impression of OST: Way better than I gave it credit for actually playing the game. I feel like that's just the setting and plot being so bleh.
Final Rating: 7/10 feels right.

interrobangbang · « **Reply #180 on:** March 24, 2014, 09:36:16 PM »

Blue Dragon

Best Song Standalone: Eternity.
Worst Song Standalone: Eternity.

Best Song In Context: Eternity.
Worst Song In Context: Eternity.

Overall Impression of OST: Eternity.
Final Rating: Eternity. (7.5/10.)

Never has a song so completely gripped me and perfectly encapsulated the game in all regards while drawing me out of the game entirely and made me laugh so damn hard. It fails at everything it sets out to do in game and out of game, yet... Eternity.

NotMiki · « **Reply #181 on:** March 28, 2014, 04:48:23 AM »

Suikoden III

Best Song Standalone: Exceeding Love. Shout outs to Rustling of the Wind, The Wind and the Earth.
Worst Song Standalone: False Altar. Kinda an encapsulation of how boring the game's music can get.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Transcending Love. A funny name for the song, because the intro sequence is all about love - a beautiful love letter to the world of Suikoden. Some of the town music is also very good. And some of it, coughVinayDelZexaycough, is not very good.

Worst Song In Context: Karaya Ablaze.

Overall Impression of OST: This OST has some nice points, but frankly it is a wasted opportunity. For the most part, the soundtrack simply cannot keep up with the emotional range and depth of the game, particularly on the dramatic side. Karaya Ablaze is a good example of that. It feels hurried and oddly perfunctory. Maybe that's a little unfair. What's not unfair is that as a ps2 game the synth used for the music is bad bad bad, so that even tracks that are well-composed end up sounding flat and uninspired. I can't help but compare this negatively to the Suikoden 2 OST, which always brought its A game to the scenes that most deserved it.

Final Rating: 6/10

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #182 on:** March 31, 2014, 06:06:15 PM »

Suikoden III- 5 voters, 6.8 average rating.

Chrono Trigger

Best Song Standalone:
Worst Song Standalone:

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game):
Worst Song In Context:

Overall Impression of OST:
Final Rating:

Dark Holy Elf · « **Reply #183 on:** April 02, 2014, 06:44:35 PM »

Chrono Trigger

Best Song Standalone: Mmm. Probably either Battle with Magus, or Schala's theme. Zeal silbling supremacy.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Battle with Magus. This time there's no doubt in my mind. It even syncs up with the text at the start of the battle and everything.

Overall Impression of OST: I go back and forth between this, XG, and if I'm feeling charitable to out-of-game, XS1 for favourite Mitsuda soundtrack. CT is a pretty brilliant first effort though. Oddly I think he struggles a bit less with battle themes than in some of his later games, though they're not the highlight of the soundtrack - Battle with Magus is good but only kind of a battle theme, World Revolution is very solid though. Dungeon and town themes are kind of whatever overall (or even absent entirely) though I like a few such as Azala's castle, but there are some very good event themes: most of the "character themes" are very solid, as is the haunting melody of Lavos.

Final Rating: 7/10. I feel like I may be kinda underrating it even? I can't pinpoint much I dislike about the soundtrack; it's just not at personal favourite levels. Still very good of course.

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #184 on:** April 06, 2014, 09:14:30 PM »

Blue Dragon- 3 raters, 7.2 average.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

Best Song Standalone:
Worst Song Standalone:

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game):
Worst Song In Context:

Overall Impression of OST:
Final Rating:

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #185 on:** April 14, 2014, 08:52:11 PM »

Chrono Trigger

Best Song Standalone: Chrono Trigger. I have the strangest fondness for the song, I don't get it.
Worst Song Standalone: Chrono Trigger likes to use the OST for what amounts to sound effects and jingles sometimes, and aside from the one that was recycled for Chrono Cross' victory song (and is practically Lucca's theme) they're all annoying when just cruising the OST.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Lavos' Theme. It's so brilliant at conveying the horrible FACT of Lavos and the utter despair Lavos inflicts.
Worst Song In Context: I'm tempted to cheat and say Singing Mountain, since I did play the version of the game that put it in and they completely wasted it! Uh otherwise... honestly, Schala's Theme. It speaks to the character, but both scenes it's used are essentially Schala going "welp off to martyr myself" which it feels wrong for. Too much going on. Like it way better in Chrono Chross.

Overall Impression of OST: Chrono Trigger's like the only game of the era I just adore, and my tendency to associate game and music certainly has a role in that. All the character themes are excellent, and a game like Chrono Trigger actually benefits from the battle themes being so damned bombastic.
Final Rating: 8/10.

DjinnAndTonic · « **Reply #186 on:** April 16, 2014, 02:50:01 PM »

Quickies:

TWEWY: 8/10 - I have a fondness for J-pop anyway and the game uses it in-context superbly. I listen to most of the good tracks out of game too. Calling is the obvious frontrunner, but there are a good number of other earworms.

Suikoden 3: 6.5/10 - Vinay del Zexey theme makes me angry. Rest of the music is boring save the opening. Exceeding Love is gorgeous. Oddly, my favorite in-game track is Great Hollow. The percussion just makes me wanna boogie~

CT: 8.5/10 - Zeal, Schala's Theme, even the battle themes, I just love 'em all. There are meh tracks here and there, but I hold this one in high regard overall.

FF4-2: 7/10 - It's unsurprisingly exactly like FF4! Oh wait, there's like 2 new songs. Mysterious Girl's theme is probably the best part about her? (I don't think it merits a higher score than FF4 though).

Dark Holy Elf · « **Reply #187 on:** April 16, 2014, 04:51:25 PM »

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

Best Song Standalone: Battle with the Four Fiends. The classic major boss theme that has the player saying "Oh yeah, it's on" and remains a joy to listen to outside the game, too.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Recycled music is cool and all, but unless it's used in new and creative ways (spoilers: TAY doesn't do this in general) it's gonna have trouble winning this category. As such I almost have to give it to Mysterious Woman's boss theme by default. Fortunately said track is certainly good, it lends a definitely otherworldly feeling to those battles, and has enough punch to accompany the generally high level of challenge the battles provide.

Overall Impression of OST: Uematsu was, I think, still really finding his groove with FF4, and still getting used to SNES synth, but he still created a lot of classic tracks with it. All three of the main battle themes are extremely solid, and there's the Red Wings theme, Tower of Babel, and others I'm quite fond of. TAY doesn't really change much here, but the new additions manage not to disappoint, so the games can earn the same rating.
Final Rating: 6/10

SnowFire · « **Reply #188 on:** April 17, 2014, 03:27:26 AM »

Chrono Trigger

Best Song Standalone: Undersea Palace.
Worst Song Standalone: Burn! Bobonga! Perfectly adequte for its context, but I'll pass on prehistoric feast music.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Sure, Battle with Magus.
Worst Song In Context: A Strange Happening? It's not bad, but it is a tad overused. Snarky answer: Battle 2 & Singing Mountain, due to being MIA. SNES memory limiiiiiiiiiiiiiiits!

Overall Impression of OST: Hard to rate. Chrono Trigger is just tons of fun in-game, dramatic & humorous & inspiring at turns. However, most people agree that it probably isn't Mitsuda's best soundtrack, even if they disagree on which one is the best? CT has lots of short loops, and the regular battle & boss battle theme are only sort of okay. But all the areas are very flavorful - the prehistoric music sells a different mood than the ruined future which is different from a robot factory which is different from Zeal. It's great.

Notable good tracks other than the two mentioned above: Secret of the Forest (criminally underused), Zeal Palace, Schala's Theme, World Revolution, & To Faraway Times. But lots of good stuff.

Final Rating: 8/10

Dark Holy Elf · « **Reply #189 on:** April 17, 2014, 03:56:01 AM »

I've certainly seen people who consider CT to be Mitsuda's best. For myself I'm not really sure, but I do think CT is one of the ones in the running.

Sierra · « **Reply #190 on:** April 17, 2014, 08:46:01 PM »

Chrono Trigger

Best Song Standalone: Schala's theme.
Worst Song Standalone: Sure, pre-history tunes can get tossed here.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Undersea Palace. Fantastically effective at communicating shit is about to get real. Honorable mention to I think Corridors of Time? The basic Zeal music. You know generally what's going to happen to the place the instant you set foot there, because you've found pieces of it all over the future timelines, so the music just came across as very sad to me (at least before it turns out they're mostly dicks there).
Worst Song In Context: I dunno, I guess one of the regular battle themes? They get the job done, but eh.

Overall Impression of OST: Objectively there are probably better Mitsuda soundtracks (XS1 springs to mind), but I don't think there's one I'm more attached to.
Final Rating: 9/10

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #191 on:** April 21, 2014, 06:01:39 PM »

Chrono Trigger- 5 raters, 8.5 average rating.

Final Fantasy X

Best Song Standalone:
Worst Song Standalone:

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game):
Worst Song In Context:

Overall Impression of OST:
Final Rating:

SnowFire · « **Reply #192 on:** April 25, 2014, 03:15:16 AM »

Final Fantasy X

Best Song Standalone: Someday the dream will end.
Worst Song Standalone: The Burning Sands. (Fine in context, but yuck standalone.)

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Someday the dream will end.
Worst Song In Context: Been too long, but probably one of the lesser event musics.

Overall Impression of OST: To Zanarkand & Someday the dream will end are fantastic 10/10 tracks. Suteki da Ne is quite good as well, although I actually prefer the English version. Seymour's Theme & the boss battle theme are pretty good too. Lots of generally competent tracks, but also some filler. Good stuff overall, although the Yu Yevon boss music (Decisive Battle) may have been a tad too intellectual, felt like a performance piece a pianist uses to show off.

Final Rating: 8.5/10

Dark Holy Elf · « **Reply #193 on:** April 25, 2014, 04:46:52 AM »

Final Fantasy X

Best Song Standalone: Sure, let's go with Someday the Dream Will End
Worst Song Standalone: Burning Sands is a good choice.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Otherworld. Simply awesome.
Worst Song In Context: *shrug*

Overall Impression of OST: So the game has several great dungeon themes (Sprouting, Calm before the Storm, Mi'ihen), some good battle themes (the regular one, Otherworld, Seymour... I'll throw Decisive Battle in here too), and some of the best event music in the genre (A Truth Revealed probably benefits from the scenes it's played in, but I still like; Dream, Auron's Theme, To Zanarkand... even something like Blitzball Gamblers or Lulu's Theme captures the mood of the scenes it plays in very well). It doesn't do too much wrong. It has a pretty weak (but not terribly so) regular boss theme, and a few of the environmental musics (Bikanel, both Sin themes) are kinda meh whatever, but even those generally aren't bad. Lots of good stuff here.

Final Rating: 9.5/10.

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #194 on:** April 25, 2014, 05:19:36 AM »

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

Best Song Standalone: Dreadful Fight. Four Fiends still wins despite the expanded and arranged OST.
Worst Song Standalone: I'm torn between Another Moon and Hello! Fat Chocobo.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): The Eidolons Shackled. TAY doesn't use Dreadful Fight like at all until the cameo bosses, which is fine but kinda a waste.
Worst Song In Context: Into Darkness. Generic, boring, and fuckin' everywhere. Just like FFIV sadly.

Overall Impression of OST: That sure is FFIV. But we knew that going in.
Final Rating: 6/10. Being an FFIV dungeon crawl means you're spending that much more time wiht Into Darkness sadly.

DjinnAndTonic · « **Reply #195 on:** April 25, 2014, 11:47:12 AM »

Final Fantasy X

Best Song Standalone: Otherworld, rock out yo.
Worst Song Standalone: Hmm... I don't like Suteki Da Ne out of context, honestly. Probably my least favorite FF vocal theme. It's too plodding for me, despite working nicely in-game.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Otherworld. Seriously, just get hyped and slightly intimidated, shit's going down.
Worst Song In Context: Uhh... Guadosalom? I recall disliking spending inordinate amounts of time there.

Overall Impression of OST: It doesn't do anything wrong, but I don't find myself thinking of the music when I think about all of the things I love about FFX. It's just kinda serviceablely good. I wouldn't ever change any of the songs if they came up in random shuffle (except Suteki Da Ne, oddly enough), but I don't find myself going out of my way to listen to most of them either (excepting Otherworld).
Final Rating: Maybe 7.5/10? Could be convinced it's worth up to an 8.5 on a good day? Split the difference and call it 8.0/10.

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #196 on:** April 28, 2014, 05:10:42 AM »

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years- 3 raters, 6.3 average rating.

Bravely Default

Best Song Standalone:
Worst Song Standalone:

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game):
Worst Song In Context:

Overall Impression of OST:
Final Rating:

Cmdr_King · « **Reply #197 on:** May 02, 2014, 03:21:30 AM »

Final Fantasy X

Best Song Standalone: Mmm. Zanarkand? I listen to the Ending theme a lot but that always feels cheaty for standalone.
Worst Song Standalone: The temple puzzle music whose name escapes me I guess.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Someday the Dream Will End. Hard to argue with there.
Worst Song In Context: Yuna's theme. I can only ever remember hearing it the once in Besaid which is crazy considering Yuna's the main character.

Overall Impression of OST: Along with FFVI, I find myself more enamored of FFVII's OST but wondering if FFX's isn't actually better. So unsurprisingly it gets teh same score as FFVI.
Final Rating: 8/10.

superaielman · « **Reply #198 on:** May 02, 2014, 01:56:02 PM »

Chrono Trigger

Best Song Standalone: Magus's theme.
Worst Song Standalone: Gato's theme. Funny in game but out of it? Eh.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Ocean Palace or Magus's theme.
Worst Song In Context: Robo's theme. augh my ears.

Overall Impression of OST: Classic OST for a reason. I'm not much of a CT fan but I adore the music.
Final Rating: 9.5/10

Final Fantasy X

Best Song Standalone: People of the extreme north.
Worst Song Standalone: Normal Battle.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Otherworld, yeah.
Worst Song In Context: Normal battle.

Overall Impression of OST: Really don't care for Normal battle. There are tons of classics in the OST though.
Final Rating: 7/10

Pass on T AY because the only new theme I recall is the one that plays for the evil blue haired chick. I like that one well enough though.

SnowFire · « **Reply #199 on:** May 16, 2014, 06:48:12 AM »

Bravely Default

Best Song Standalone: That Person's Name is ( = Asterisk boss theme). Honorable mention: The Day the Wind Blew (some nice psuedo-Miyazaki vibes) & Wicked Battle (a tad repetitive but still pretty rockin').
Worst Song Standalone: Strained Time. Not particularly good "oh crap" music. A Crystal's Sparkle isn't great either.

Best Song In Context (ie, song used the best in-game): Visitor ( = Asterisk showdown chat theme) -> That Person's Name is. Awesome. I didn't mind listening to this all the time despite skipping a lot of randoms, although interspersing the various PC themes during the special moves also helped keep overuse in check. Nice long loop, too, it's 2:53 before it loops. Honorable mention: Land of Civil War, aka the Eisenberg town theme. Nicely fitting. (World of Scattering Flowers might be in the running but meh, the game itself didn't sell Olivia's death too well.)
Worst Song In Context: Silence of the Forest, Cave of Darkness, & Infiltrating Hostile Territory are hella overused, the game's three dungeon themes. None of them are bad exactly, but they all wear out their welcome.

Overall Impression of OST:
Radiant Historia isn't a bad comparison, some really good tracks but not enough variety for a game of its length, especially in dungeon music (BD is a longer game than RH, too!). Except Radiant Historia's best tracks are better than BD's best tracks, but hey, that's no shame to be in the same league at least.

Final Rating: 8/10

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Author Topic: OST Ratings (Read 15974 times)