the Hearth @Felthry@awoo.space

#FelthrysVGMSelection

I debated what to put here for a while, but then remembered that, for some reason, a lot of people dislike Harmony of Dissonance's soundtrack. So let's go with Offense and Defense, from the soundtrack to Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, by Soshiro Hokkai and Michiru Yamane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3y7S6YmUFg

People complain about this soundtrack's sound quality, but we're pretty sure that was largely the point. It uses basic wave shapes--square, sawtooth, triangle--rather than the more realistic instruments the GBA was capable of, because those basic shapes sound harsher, more "dissonant"--fitting for a game called Harmony of Dissonance that its soundtrack be made up of "dissonant" notes playing in harmony.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

Some of the most relaxing, calm, and overall *fitting* town music we've ever heard is Rising Tide from the Suikoden soundtrack, composed by Miki Higashino, Tappy Iwase, Hiroshi Tamawari, Hirofumi Taniguchi, and Mayuko Kageshita.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-J3Y1EBvWM

This plays in the quiet lakeside villages of Teien and Rikon, and its slow, relaxed pace suits those villages perfectly.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

Undeniably, without a doubt, Final Battle from Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished: Omen.

Fuck that fight.

Great music though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3CNy_PvyBA

Composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Yukihiro Jindo.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

This didn't take much deliberation: Frozen Hillside, from the soundtrack to Kirby Air Ride, composed by Shogo Sakai, Jun Ishikawa, Hirokazu Ando, and Tadashi Ikegami.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTOt8uUBj4A

Kirby Air Ride is an underappreciated game in general, but its music definitely stands out--Kirby games nearly always have great music, and this is no exception. It *was* actually difficult to decide which track to select for this one--definitely give Checker Knights, Sky Sands, and Forest Stage a listen as well!

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

This is a tough one--we don't know many covers of tracks by a different artist that show up in video games!

Eventually, I decided to go with Vermilion City, from Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4u0FAJIvwg

This soundtrack was composed by Junichi Masuda and Go Ichinose together, but this specific track was arranged by Go Ichinose from the original (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7fWDQgCrjU by Junichi Masuda).

This track changes the upbeat, energetic tone of the gen 1 music to something calm and relaxed. You've already beaten the elite four and are here for a vacation in gen 2; your adventure is winding down, not ramping up like in gen 1. And the rearrangement really helps that mood--not just this track, but many others in gen 2's Kanto region feel calm, relaxed, and nostalgic. Which is exactly what they were going for.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

This one has to be Iron Blue Intention, from the soundtrack of Castlevania: Bloodlines, composed by Michiru Yamane. There were few games released in 1994 that we know of, that have good music, and that are relatively obscure (as mentioned before, I'm trying to go with games that not everyone knows for this), so out of the choice of Castlevania: Bloodlines, Final Fantasy VI, and Mega Mans X, X2, and 6 (wow, capcom was busy), this is the one we chose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2l7ZC8i1Ck

Bloodlines is one of the less appreciated Castlevania games, but Iron Blue Intention is a fantastic track. We first heard it in Portrait of Ruin, which has rearrangements of all the best Castlevania music, but this is its original version.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

This one was also hard, honestly. But eventually I realized: Valak Mountain (Night) is a track I don't think it's possible to get bored of.

This is from the soundtrack to Xenoblade Chronicles, and while I can't find credits for this particular track, the soundtrack is credited to Manami Kiyota, Tomori Kudo, Hiroyo "CHiCO" Yamanaka, Kenji Hiramatsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Hiroyuki Sawano.

It's just such a calm, relaxing piece... and brings back memories of a beautiful location in the game it's from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adi77ZTq9Ho

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

I'm not really quite sure what this even means, as once you get to 16-bit stuff you have a lot more opportunities for music; it's not as distinct a style as 8-bit. But I'll try anyway!

I could go with one of the eternal classics like Stickerbush Symphony or Aria di Mezzo Carattere, but I have been trying to put a spotlight on some lesser-known music here, so... How about this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkYQQwepoc4

This is Underworld, from the soundtrack to Terranigma, composed by Miyoko Takaoka and Masanori Hikichi. It's a sad, stoic piece, but not one without hope, hope for a better future, to repair the broken world.

It fits the game it's from perfectly.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

This one was *such* a difficult decision... I'd even typed up a full post on An Earnest Desire of Grey, but eventually changed my mind: this slot gets Decisive Battle II, from Octopath Traveller, composed by Yasunori Nishiki.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gul2Oi7V1c

This whole game is great, really. And it seems to be overlooked a lot, as a JRPG that's not part of one of the big series. But it's really good to see a more personal story in a jrpg. Each character has their own motivations and their own goals.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

Normally, we can't stand music with vocals, especially English vocals.

This is the one exception we've found: the track Advanced Wind, from the soundtrack to Wild Arms 3, composed by Michiko Naruke and sung by Samantha Newark. It's rare for a dubbed version of an originally Japanese song to sound good at all, but this one blows the competition out of the water!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvoueEiVyWE

The lyrics are all relevant to what the game is about, in ways that you don't even realize until you learn more about the game's world... Even though we only got the one version of the opening here in the US, rather than the four different verses in Japan, it doesn't feel like anything is missing.

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#FelthrysVGMSelection

We're not too big on sports games in general. This is a game we don't like, but not a game we *dislike*; it's just not our thing. Hopefully that's okay!

The track in question is Game Point - Break Point 2 from Mario Tennis, which some absolute genius decided to have Motoi Sakuraba compose the soundtrack for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq9mS7fj-7c

Since it's a game we don't particularly like, I'm afraid we don't have much to go on for any further commentary, though!
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