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[serenewarfare]

I'm guessing Crypt of the Necrodancer wasn't eligible because it is Early Access? That game's soundtrack is one of my favorites in a long time.

 

[Dark Schala]

It was eligible.
3 people voted for it; it got 4 points. It also had 4 honourable mentions.

 

[Jotamide]

I was just looking at the other thread. Didn't see that you allowed my lttp vote for Xblaze to pass. Thanks Dark Schala! Also, solid list for the top 10/

 

[woopWOOP]

Oh, missed this thread yesterday. DKCTF neck and shoulders above the others, and totally deserved. Too bad Valiant Heart's nowhere to be seen tho.

Thanks for organizing this, Schala

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Damn, I expected Wolfenstein to at least make the list. Congrats to Tropical Freeze, though: Best soundtrack in years.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Because I just got to play it a little more and I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in this year's or last year's thread, I wanted to highlight the soundtrack to Caladrius Blaze. Sadly, I could only find the OST of last year's 360 version on YouTube, but the updated PS3 version does have a few new tracks, so it would have also been eligible this year.
It's certainly not "top 3 material", but as someone who likes power metal (but don't quote me on the exact genre of this one) I think it's worth getting mentioned.

Album: Caladrius Blaze Original Sound Track & Drama CD
Composers: Manabu Namiki, Yoshimi Kudo, Azusa Chiba

Some examples:

Silver Flames
Wings of Fate
Cantata Wildderan

 

[Dark Schala]

Damn, I expected Wolfenstein to at least make the list. Congrats to Tropical Freeze, though: Best soundtrack in years.

Wolfenstein: The New Order:
2 honourable mentions (derp, read the wrong column)
6 people who voted for it / 7 points total

Because I just got to play it a little more and I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in this year's or last year's thread, I wanted to highlight the soundtrack to Caladrius Blaze. Sadly, I could only find the OST of last year's 360 version on YouTube, but the updated PS3 version does have a few new tracks, so it would have also been eligible this year.
It's certainly not "top 3 material", but as someone who likes power metal (but don't quote me on the exact genre of this one) I think it's worth getting mentioned.

Well, that was easy to add! (Thanks for having the links ready)

 

[Nocturnowl]

Not really feeling DKC:TF's soundtrack, either in-game or from the suggestions here. Freed from the limitations of the SNES, it feels like David Wise has created something better suited to be the background audio for a movie whereas I prefer the clearer, more game-like melodies of the 16-bit DKC games. With the SNES games, the music could not be ignored, whereas these songs, though competently created, easily fall into the background.

As odd as this may sound regarding in game I really don't think it helps much that by default Retro's games have the music come across more drowned out by the sound settings. Coming off Returns the first thing I did when starting up Tropical Freeze was boot the sound effects slider to about halfway down so the music could be more easily heard, I actually had to do the same in Smash Bros where music was noticeably muffled behind all manner of sound effects.
Well I'm not here to really try and convince you otherwise, though I would also add that the tracks of the original trilogy do tend to get more opportunity to leave an impression by the time you reach the finish since more stage archetypes occur 3 times throughout in the case of DKC2 while TF has quite a few one and done tracks, in general though I find Wise's work here to be like a much stronger take on the DKC3 GBA approach with a touch of DKC2 in places and ultimately in line with the series.

I want to do this! It seems fun!

2014 Soundtracks to Follow Up On

...which means I never got to play the copy of Bayonetta 2 that I got for Christmas (and thus I barely got to listen to the soundtrack since character action games' soundtracks are generally better-served in-context like Revengeance's and DMC3's were).

You know what must be done and it ain't just for hearing the music!
I've not actually said anything about this game's soundtrack on here, I felt its new pair of vocal themes were stronger than those of the original game (yet oddly underused as the Moon River fans will tell you) but the various tracks outside of them didn't make as big an impact as those of the original. It's fitting and all, just that when the original played up its angelic choral angles be it almost serene scene setting or booming boss encounter it did it with more gusto than the sequel.

I would very much like to get a little more familiar with Freedom Planet (which I'd bought but haven't had time to get to)

This was a really late one for me, just recently finished up my third run to have played through with all the characters. Interesting game, it certainly has its flaws in spots but I found a lot to enjoy in the end. One of those games where bosses would beat me into the floor yet have me itching for another go instead of dreading the retry even if the lack of invincibility frames on hit can cause much grief, I'll probably post something more on it in Sonic GAF at some point.
Music wise it could've got an HM from me, it actually took me a bit by surprise and I definitely found it be one that came across more strongly in game than when I previously had just listened to some of the examples Shadow Hog had in his vote.

Thoughts of Soundtracks of 2014

Compare this with 2013 or even 2012 when I had an incredibly tough time picking three soundtracks out of the many many many that I liked on my shortlists for those years! This time, it was relatively easy. I'm a bit disappointed that there weren't a lot of dark horse soundtracks from some lesser-known/new composers or lesser-known games to me. Those usually stood out the most since I started voting on GAF and it's kind of unfortunate that I didn't get to hear a lot of stuff on par with some of the stuff from previous years. I also felt like the usual heavy-hitters in terms of publishers/developers didn't seem to hit it off with me. Sometimes it took multiple listens to go, "oh yeah, this is neat", or it just didn't jive with me at all for whatever reason. Maybe it just wasn't my year. I just felt like there was a lot of homogeneity in 2014, and there were some soundtracks that didn't seem to carve out their own special sense of identity. Some seemed to be oddly inconsistent, and I found that to be a bit unfortunate.

Interesting to me is that I'm willing to say that the last few years were a bit stronger as whole but I'm at least more pleased myself with my main choices and honourable mentions this year than I was last year where my top 3 felt like more of a "this will do I guess". But yeah looking over what 2013 had to offer it is a more diverse mix of musical styles in there so I can see why this year comes across as more of a miss to some.

I dunno! 2014 was just a year where I was slightly apathetic towards a lot of things related to gaming, but started to enjoy the act of gaming again. I stopped platinuming games, I started dropping games I didn't like (I KNOW! Usually I stick with games that make me want to cry! Nocturnowl must be stunned by this development and he probably thinks I've lost my mind!)

I'm not so much stunned as I am pleased, I recall that it really felt like you were killing your own enthusiasm for games when enduring some of the more tedious platinum tasks and of course the string of shoddy games, it's fun to play something naff every now and then but boy I wouldn't dare do it on the regular.

Looking Ahead to 2015

2015 is here already! We have some soundtracks coming out and some have already come out!
Some Hotline Miami 2 stuff

Part of me wanted to hold back on hearing anything until the game drops, the other half of me already followed the link you gave earlier and allowed the first track to be heard.
But no more until later!

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse's soundtrack seems neat based on Japanese footage.

From what I've heard it's more in line with my tastes for the series. It's not really a secret at this point that I haven't been overly fond on the direction the series music took in Return to Dreamland and Triple Deluxe, not to say there isn't any good in there because there is. To me it's kind of like how it seems to have one foot in Kirby's plinky plonky platforming jaunt and the other in a more experimental or atmosphere heavy style without bringing the two together in a way I personally find to be that cohesive, some sound samples also feel a touch lacking.
Rainbow Curse seems to have that joyful kick in play for its music, hopefully the game itself can also make good on improving the already stellar groundwork of Canvas Curse.

There's an Okami jazz arrangement album that's coming out soon (samples in that link).

Something about this particular choice strikes me as odd, not that Jazz arrangements are unusual for Capcom in particular but Okami isn't where I'd be thinking to give the treatment to next.
Personally I think Ryoshima Coast would benefit more from going all in on a big band swing style here.

I played the Bravely Second demo (and uh, apparently I didn't finish it because it was still on when I went to download Boxboy! I guess I got preoccupied with studying), and while I think some of the tracks in the demo fall short of Bravely Default's consistency, I'm interested in seeing how Bravely Second's entire soundtrack ends up turning out.

Bravely Default was actually one of those ones of mine to follow up on based on last years list and your big writeup, I never followed through on this beyond the demo due to the mixed impressions, still keeping my eye on this sequel though because I did really like what I heard of the original.

Woah that took a while, don't feel that you have to respond to all this.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

As odd as this may sound regarding in game I really don't think it helps much that by default Retro's games have the music come across more drowned out by the sound settings. Coming off Returns the first thing I did when starting up Tropical Freeze was boot the sound effects slider to about halfway down so the music could be more easily heard, I actually had to do the same in Smash Bros where music was noticeably muffled behind all manner of sound effects.

I'll give that a shot next time I pick it up. What really bothers me about the game is that the TV/gamepad are all or nothing - my preferred way of playing Wii U games is to play on the TV but have the music coming through headphones via the gamepad. Unfortunately, DKC:TF doesn't allow that.

 

[Voliko]

Did anyone vote for the VA​-​11 HALL​-​A prologue OST? One of my favorites from last year for sure. It has a cyberpunk-y theme going on.

https://garoad.bandcamp.com/album/va-11-hall-a-prologue-ost-sounds-from-the-future

I really can't wait for the whole thing. A couple of newer tracks have been posted on youtube.

Because I just got to play it a little more and I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in this year's or last year's thread, I wanted to highlight the soundtrack to Caladrius Blaze. Sadly, I could only find the OST of last year's 360 version on YouTube, but the updated PS3 version does have a few new tracks, so it would have also been eligible this year.
It's certainly not "top 3 material", but as someone who likes power metal (but don't quote me on the exact genre of this one) I think it's worth getting mentioned.

Album: Caladrius Blaze Original Sound Track & Drama CD
Composers: Manabu Namiki, Yoshimi Kudo, Azusa Chiba

Some examples:

Silver Flames
Wings of Fate
Cantata Wildderan

Thanks for the tip, I can get behind anything with Namiki involved.

 

[daydream]

The sample TF tracks aren't even in the top 10 from that soundtrack!

Spoiler

No need to change it although I *am* serious.

 

[Dad]

The sample TF tracks aren't even in the top 10 from that soundtrack!

Spoiler

No need to change it although I *am* serious.

You'd best not be trashing Amiss Abyss.

 

[daydream]

You'd best not be trashing Amiss Abyss.

Amiss Abyss might come in at number 10.

 

[Dark Schala]

You know what must be done and it ain't just for hearing the music!

I knooooooooooooooow. I wiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllll. Then I'll say something about the music use somewhere.

Music wise it could've got an HM from me, it actually took me a bit by surprise and I definitely found it be one that came across more strongly in game than when I previously had just listened to some of the examples Shadow Hog had in his vote.

Yeah, I heard that the full game is harder than the SAGE build. I'll try it out. I wanted to make a point to do it after I saw that blooper video. And the music isn't too bad. It's a decent blend of a lot of Mega Drive content (reminds me of Ristar in a lot of places, but you can hear other content in a lot of the music).

Interesting to me is that I'm willing to say that the last few years were a bit stronger as whole but I'm at least more pleased myself with my main choices and honourable mentions this year than I was last year where my top 3 felt like more of a "this will do I guess". But yeah looking over what 2013 had to offer it is a more diverse mix of musical styles in there so I can see why this year comes across as more of a miss to some.

If I had to go back and re-vote on something... hmmm... actually, I'm pretty comfortable with all of my choices for SotY on GAF. I would go back and change GotY 2012. But that's unrelated.

If I had to go back and write up/evaluate something again even though it wasn't on GAF, it would probably be 2010 for the sheer breadth of soundtracks released that year and I'm not sure if I listened to everything. Looking back, I didn't even the guts to have a tie-breaker. My #1 soundtrack that year was apparently a tie between NieR and Sonic Colours.

So it went... (since this was a list of 20)
NieR/Sonic Colours
Pac Man Championship Edition DX
ClaDun: This is an RPG!
Xenoblade/Final Fantasy XIII
Dangan Ronpa
Bayonetta
999
Last Ranker
Etrian Odyssey III
ZHP: Zettai Hero Project
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Rockman 10
Deadly Premonition (Red Seeds Profile)
Patchwork Heroes
After Burner Climax
The King of Fighters XIII
Arc Rise Fantasia
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Gray Matter

So I definitely didn't have the guts to break ties or anything on even a personal list! It didn't help that 2010 was really really outstanding and it was hard to leave anything off. If my GAF account were activated then, and I had posted in the thread, I wouldn't have been able to make up my mind. Also i didn't get to hear Zero no Kiseki's soundtrack until later on, it wasn't in contention.

2008 would be a pretty interesting time to revisit since I was trying to catch up on games I didn't bother to play in high school and didn't get to hear all of 2008's material. Same with 2006--lots of end-of-gen/start-of-gen/second-year-of-gen games and neat soundtracks too.

I'm not so much stunned as I am pleased, I recall that it really felt like you were killing your own enthusiasm for games when enduring some of the more tedious platinum tasks and of course the string of shoddy games, it's fun to play something naff every now and then but boy I wouldn't dare do it on the regular.

It definitely really was. One game completely drained me at the beginning of 2014 and I questioned my direction in life because of it. Then I played another game with a really bad story and decided that I'd had enough, heh. Sonic Boom, I dropped after playing it while drinking didn't work, so it's all good.

But yeah, playing games I genuinely like (and completing most of my bucket list of Famicom RPGs I never played before) reaaaaally helped with the whole "do i even like video games anymore?" thing. No, I was just playing the wrong stuff for a year straight.

From what I've heard it's more in line with my tastes for the series. It's not really a secret at this point that I haven't been overly fond on the direction the series music took in Return to Dreamland and Triple Deluxe, not to say there isn't any good in there because there is ... Rainbow Curse seems to have that joyful kick in play for its music, hopefully the game itself can also make good on improving the already stellar groundwork of Canvas Curse.

I know; we've had our disagreements on Triple Deluxe / Return to Dreamland before, heh. I do think Rainbow Curse might be something we can agree on, though! The music sounds cute.

Something about this particular choice strikes me as odd, not that Jazz arrangements are unusual for Capcom in particular but Okami isn't where I'd be thinking to give the treatment to next.
Personally I think Ryoshima Coast would benefit more from going all in on a big band swing style here.

Well, I think it's a series:
Okami Henkyokushuu Vol.1 Retro (arrange) - only 3 extra tracks on the album (which was originally a 2006 venture)
Okami Henkyokushuu Vol.2 Jazz (arrange)
Okami Henkyokushuu Vol.3 Lounge (arrange)

I'm willing to see how some of them turned out.

Bravely Default was actually one of those ones of mine to follow up on based on last years list and your big writeup, I never followed through on this beyond the demo due to the mixed impressions, still keeping my eye on this sequel though because I did really like what I heard of the original.

Well, it's not the same composer, and the inconsistency of some of the tracks in the demo really makes me hope that the final product is better.

==============================================

Did anyone vote for the VA​-​11 HALL​-​A prologue OST? One of my favorites from last year for sure. It has a cyberpunk-y theme going on.

Nope. Next time, you can decide to vote for the full thing (like Crypt of the Necrodancer, it was eligible this year too).

I will add that to the archive tomorrow, though.
So... that's...
-Wayward Souls
-VA-11 HALL-A Prologue
-Demon Gaze
-A Bird Story
-UNIEL
-whatever else can fit from the HM catalogue

Basically:

• There were 98 different games voted for the honourable mentions category
• There were 80 different games voted for the main list
• There were 35 different games voted for the LTTP list

Going through the votes for a preliminary analysis and setting up how I'd like to count the votes on Friday, that variance was much lower so I'm pretty pleased that the amount of games voted on increased in the last weekend or so.

 

[Yuterald]

Thanks for the quote on Kero Blaster, Schala! As much as this thread is about actual compositions/music, I still feel like sound design (or BGS in general) is under appreciated and hardly ever discussed/noted. I really enjoy talking about that kind of stuff.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

If I had to go back and re-vote on something... hmmm... actually, I'm pretty comfortable with all of my choices for SotY on GAF. I would go back and change GotY 2012. But that's unrelated.

If I had to go back and write up/evaluate something again even though it wasn't on GAF, it would probably be 2010 for the sheer breadth of soundtracks released that year and I'm not sure if I listened to everything. Looking back, I didn't even the guts to have a tie-breaker. My #1 soundtrack that year was apparently a tie between NieR and Sonic Colours.

So it went... (since this was a list of 20)
NieR/Sonic Colours
Pac Man Championship Edition DX
ClaDun: This is an RPG!
Xenoblade/Final Fantasy XIII
Dangan Ronpa
Bayonetta
999
Last Ranker
Etrian Odyssey III
ZHP: Zettai Hero Project
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Rockman 10
Deadly Premonition (Red Seeds Profile)
Patchwork Heroes
After Burner Climax
The King of Fighters XIII
Arc Rise Fantasia
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Gray Matter

So I definitely didn't have the guts to break ties or anything on even a personal list! It didn't help that 2010 was really really outstanding and it was hard to leave anything off. If my GAF account were activated then, and I had posted in the thread, I wouldn't have been able to make up my mind. Also i didn't get to hear Zero no Kiseki's soundtrack until later on, it wasn't in contention.

2008 would be a pretty interesting time to revisit since I was trying to catch up on games I didn't bother to play in high school and didn't get to hear all of 2008's material. Same with 2006--lots of end-of-gen/start-of-gen/second-year-of-gen games and neat soundtracks too.

Etrian Odyssey III...you know what? I'm saying it: it's Yuzo Koshiro's best OST. I myself say that'd be the SOTG. Yup. It has that clout, and the retro chiptune soundtrack to beat.

Thanks for the quote on Kero Blaster, Schala! As much as this thread is about actual compositions/music, I still feel like sound design (or BGS in general) is under appreciated and hardly ever discussed/noted. I really enjoy talking about that kind of stuff.

CS's OST is neat, so I know I'd like Pixel's new stuff. I need to get around to buying that...

 

[nib95]

More Nintendo domination lol. I thought Transistor would have been higher, but either way it's a great list overall.

 

[The Xtortionist]

The sample TF tracks aren't even in the top 10 from that soundtrack!

Spoiler

No need to change it although I *am* serious.

 

[daydream]

uwotbear.jpg

Songs I prefer (in no particular order): Busted Bayou, Windmill Hills, Horn Top Hop, Wing Ding, Alpine Incline (Mountain), Grassland Groove, Irate Eight (Tension), Cannon Canyon, Credits, heck, throw in Big Top Bop, Rodent Ruckus and Twilight Terror (Rocket Barrel) in there, as well.

Not to say Scorch 'n' Torch and Amiss Abyss aren't fantastic (don't care much for Seashore War). I do, however, think a sample selection of three should be varied in tone. But like I said, no need to change it.

 

[Nocturnowl]

If I had to go back and re-vote on something... hmmm... actually, I'm pretty comfortable with all of my choices for SotY on GAF. I would go back and change GotY 2012. But that's unrelated.

If I had to go back and write up/evaluate something again even though it wasn't on GAF, it would probably be 2010 for the sheer breadth of soundtracks released that year and I'm not sure if I listened to everything. Looking back, I didn't even the guts to have a tie-breaker. My #1 soundtrack that year was apparently a tie between NieR and Sonic Colours.

2010 was pretty crazy, both for soundtracks and if I had a GotY list, alas I was not on GAF at the time.
I run into a similar predicament there, having a quick thought of my favourite OSTs that year
- Super Mario Galaxy 2
- Sonic Colours
- Nier
- Kirby's Epic Yarn (actually 2011 for PAL)
- Ace Attorney Investigations
- Valkyria Chronicles 2
- Scott Pilgrim vs The World
- Layton 3
Heck I only planned to mention 5 and the list just kept growing, I could even throw a compilation nod to Castlevania Harmony of Despair, oh and maybe DKCR as well, maybe.
Point is 2010 was killer, guess I'm also kinda glad I didn't have to make the painful decision to cut some votes off there.

As for if I'd change any that I've done, 2011 may have a bit of a switcheroo.
I went with Xenoblade, de Blob 2 and Skyward Sword. While I still think SS has the best Zelda soundtrack as a whole in years I'd probably drop it down to an HM, leaving a scuffle between Bastion, Pokemon Black/White and maybe Mighty Switch Force, oh the indecision!
My late arrival to Dustforce also presents a dilemma for 2012, ah there just ain't enough spots in a year sometimes.

2008 would be a pretty interesting time to revisit since I was trying to catch up on games I didn't bother to play in high school and didn't get to hear all of 2008's material. Same with 2006--lots of end-of-gen/start-of-gen/second-year-of-gen games and neat soundtracks too.

A Quick 2008 from me would likely end up with de Blob, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia and Valkyria Chronicles for a hasty top 3.
For whatever reason I don't tend to think back by year for favourite soundtracks before 2010.
Also noting looking at the release lists back around this time that game music rally benefited from the rise of Indie games, they have added a lot of variety and options.

Well, it's not the same composer, and the inconsistency of some of the tracks in the demo really makes me hope that the final product is better.

That is a small shame, well I'll still keep an eye on it.

Songs I prefer (in no particular order): Busted Bayou, Windmill Hills, Horn Top Hop, Wing Ding, Alpine Incline (Mountain), Grassland Groove, Irate Eight (Tension), Cannon Canyon, Credits, heck, throw in Big Top Bop, Rodent Ruckus and Twilight Terror (Rocket Barrel) in there, as well.

Not to say Scorch 'n' Torch and Amiss Abyss aren't fantastic (don't care much for Seashore War). I do, however, think a sample selection of three should be varied in tone. But like I said, no need to change it.

I like seeing peoples favourites outside of the usual trio as it tends to start getting much more diverse in selection and it's all great as well.
Don't often see as much love for the mountain region of Alpine Incline nor the various rocket barrel themes so that's neat, Rodent Ruckus is easily my favourite of Return's remixed rocket theme.
I think the most lesser praised of my own top 10 is Mountain Mania, that track has such energy to it and really goes with the rampaging Rhino action.

 

[Rutger]

I'm surprised to see Mario Kart 8 in third place. Though I really shouldn't be, it's a great soundtrack.

Tropical freeze at number one is no surprise, nor is Shovel Knight in second from what I remember seeing in the voting thread.

I did not expect to learn there was another game released in 2014 that David Wise worked on. Turns out it's something I saw on a Nintendo Direct, then heard nothing of since then.

I'm looking forward to listening to the music in the archive. There's a lot I haven't played.

 

[Chamber]

Damn, Velocity only got 11 points?!

 

[Maravers]

So? It's official? I've lost?
Hi there, I'm David from The maravers.
Just stopping by to say I'm honoured to be listed in this contest. So many games, so many different stories and feelings, so many good sounds to choose from.
Wolfenstein is probably my favourite, really liked the "tarantino like" style from soundtrack.
followed by... D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
Thx for showing any kind of support and interest in video game&music.
David