2023 vgm thoughts #1
here we go again muahahaha
it's intense music listening time y'all yeeeehawwww, and shit i'm starting extremely late rip...well luckily it's holiday season so i got a healthy amount of free time (+mental's recovering woohoo), so i'll give some vgm thoughts as i prep for fave list! i don't think i'll go as hard as i did last year, but we'll see??? (though my compiled list this year is ~60 soundtracks + rhythm games so...uhhhh)
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first off, some really great OSTs i missed from 2022
roadwarden
- gorgeous melancholic acoustic stuff here
- i don't really see a lot of non-rock/metal guitar-focused game soundtracks, so it's such a treat to hear one that does it so beautifully
- it's very "reflective montage of main character solemnly staring out a car window on an interstate" vibes
paradise marsh
- disasterpeace babyyyy
- apparently the music in this game is heavily procedural, but even with that in mind, i just adore how unabashedly free and experimental this OST came out
- has funny froggy fuzzspeak, see that just rules
the forest quartet
- some goooood classic cool jazz
- yeah i'm a complete sucker for this, it's just a standard clean jazz combo and i love it
- there's nothing else to say i like jazz
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OKAY now some stuff THIS YEAR thank you very much
playmaker
- maxo once again proving to be too powerful for the rest of us
- that menu theme is lodging itself into my subconscious, i can feel it and i couldn't be happier
fire emblem engage
- holy shit this soundtrack is so pretty aaaaaghhh (although i guess that is expected from this series)
- ok but seriously though, who is the guitarist over there at intelligent systems
- there are 4 tracks that are purely acoustic guitar and they are so unbelievably groovy and smooth and virtuosic, it's amazing and i'm in love
- tbh i'm not the biggest fan of the battle themes in this one, but the proggy trial arrangements personally make up for it in spades
- also, an otomatone, a chopped choir, and an electric guitar walk into a bar and order the final battle theme and the bartender goes what the fuck
blanc
- some really lovely modern classical pieces in here!
- i really love the subtle ambience in the background of many of these tracks, just gives a special tenderness to it that i really connect with
pizza tower
- pizza time babyyyyyyy
- it's very sweet that the internet collectively loves pizza tower. the game isn't just shitpost though, there's real thought and serious passion put into it, and that extends to the soundtrack
- it leans haaaaard into the gruff attitude of gba wario land rock/funk vibes, and even with some awkward moments here and there, it still completely assaults you (complimentary) with so much personality and genuine silliness that you kinda just go along with it
- "unexpectancy 2" is a big fave of mine, bringin me back to the OFF OST
- also "ground bound" made me laugh out loud
- RAVIOLI
alright that's it for now, stay tuned for more words tyyyyyyyy