Ybrik Metaknight

Fun mix showing a little love to a catchy and criminally underused soundtrack!

Anyone else notice the quote of "Prologue" from A Link to the Past? It's the "broodier minor key development at 1:14" that Rexy noted in her judge's decision. Shouldn't that melody be tagged on the mix page? Also, Nice Work as usual for Rebecca! Short sources can often make for some fun mixes like this one!

Hot holy damn this is good

I always liked this source, and it lends itself very well to this kind of experimentation. Very fun mix!

Fantastic mix, very relaxing! Very nice job of blending the two popular themes. I have to take issue with it being classified under FFIV, though. The only FFIV source is Prelude, which of course is one of the most frequently recurring themes in the FF series. In particular, the FFIV version of Prelude is, on a fairly basic level (i.e. ignoring specific instrumentation, soundfonts, etc.), musically identical to the versions of it from FFV, FFVII, FFIX, and, relevant to this mix, FFVI. In other words, I don't get what makes this an FFIV/FFVI mix (classified primarily under FFIV), and not just a straight FFVI mix. I felt like Terra was more prominent than Prelude anyway..... But enough of me being a stickler for classification. Great job on this gorgeous mix, timaeus!

That's really too bad, because you're missing out on some really good stuff. The debut album (Materia: FFVII Remixed) was absolutely awesome. I think Successor (FFVIII) is more hit and miss (like a lot of sophomore albums), but it too has some really good tracks in a lot of different styles (if you like this track, check out Ruby Toung's Valse for the Moon from that one, I think it's on iTunes and other digital distributors). Zodiac, the FF Tactics album, and Spira, the album this is from, also have a lot of fantastic arrangements, many of them classy, minimalist, and organic like this one. And I'm only talking about the FF stuff here; their hub has just a ton of different stuff: different source materials, different artists, different styles. Some of it you don't even have to pay for to listen to once or twice, because it's on Bandcamp. I would recommend that anyone who likes OCR check out Materia Collective as well. As for this track itself, there really isn't a whole lot to say. It's fantastic. I'm a big classical music junkie (a big part of why VGM has always appealed to me so much), so chamber music is among my favorite styles for mixes. Sean Schafianski's arrangement is top-notch, straightforward enough to please fans of the original track but with enough style-appropriate embellishment that it's definitely not a straight cover, and the performance and recording, as always from Triforce Quartet, are flawless. Fantastic mix, glad I listened to it again. Might need to listen to the whole album again soon!

Very neat treatment of a fun, if frequently covered, source material. I've always liked Dragon Roost Island, and while I feel like there are quite a few arrangements of it out there, I definitely dig this different take on it.

This is a very solid mix. While I must admit that it's not one of my favorites from this album, simply because this style isn't my favorite, a fresh listen today has given me a little new appreciation for it. I'm not huge on hard rock remixes of most RPG music, this one is quite clean and very recognizable, and I really dig that slower, softer bridge section, which really ties the whole thing together quite well. I also want to give some love for this album on the whole. It's one of my favorite large-scale project albums from Materia Collective. It's not as good as Materia (FFVII), but it's probably a touch better than Successor (FFVIII) and about the same as Spira (FFX). Anyone who hasn't checked out Materia Collective needs to do so.

I remember UnMod, and I remember a few of these names. I don't know how many here actually remember me, but I spent about a year really active on OCR, circa 2003. I eventually migrated over to OneUp Studios, which was my online home for many years (I also went to more OUS gatherings than I can remember) before it too died off. These days, most of my online interactions happen on Facebook or, occasionally, Twitter. I miss old-school message boards, though, and I pop up here occasionally.

How interesting that I get a pretty heavy Secret of Mana vibe from this mix! Maybe it's just Rebecca's usual style shining through; her mixes always lend themselves to the same feel that Kikuta's two Seiken Densetsu soundtracks often had for me. At any rate, this is some very enjoyable treatment of a relatively obscure Zelda piece. Nice Work!

So the mixpost doesn't direct to this thread, so that's weird... What isn't weird is this mix. Trance is an odd genre for me; I'm not super into most of the electronica-related genres, preferring more organic sounds most of the time, but for some reason trance tends to grab me more. Still, I'm never quite sure what to expect when I start listening to a mix like this, particularly on a source material that has not only been covered pretty extensively but has actually been done in this style before. I needn't have worried, because this one rocks. I found myself sort of dancing in my chair in my little office at work. Probably my favorite treatment of this source material, and definitely will go into my trance VGM playlists.

Holy crap, this remix is crazy! In the best possible way! I'm generally not a huge fan of chip-heavy mixes, but I've always thought it works really well with Kirby for some reason, and particularly this game, which is very near and dear to my heart. I didn't really notice any of the transition problems others have mentioned, at least not enough to pull me out. Great mix, start to finish. Edit: Oh, and on a second listen, I'm really, really digging the transition that starts around 7:50, leading into Gourmet Race. Awesome stuff.

Cool mix! I love the mixture of vibes here. I love it when an old standby gets a new and unique treatment. Definitely a solid arrangement of my second-favorite DKC2 source (I like Forest Interlude ever so slightly more than Stickerbrush Symphony; it's super-close). Nice Work.

This is my favorite track from a very solid album. My one and only complaint is that it isn't longer! But oh well, that's why God made the repeat button. Such a fun mix of a source tune I've always loved.

The arrangement here is fantastic -- and I particularly love the selection of the Link's Awakening overworld, which I feel is a highly underrated variation on the main Zelda theme. Other highlights of the arrangement are Saria's Song (I prefer that title for the track to differentiate it from ALttP Lost Woods) and Hyrule Field. Unfortunately, I found the synthetic samples quite grating in many spots, particularly toward the beginning; being a brass player, synthetic brass always bothers me a bit. However, I can't let that drag down my opinion of the mix too much -- after all, relatively few mixers have the capability of getting actual instrumental musicians to record for their mixes. In the end, the arrangement shines over the synths. Nice Work.

This is something truly amazing. I'm not saying this is my favorite mix of all time or anything (that kind of a declaration usually requires a source material I'm already really attached to being handled in a way that feels absolutely perfect to me), but it's definitely something special. Here's why: Until this mix, I always regarded this source material as a forgettable and, yes, boring little ditty that accompanied a minigame that I hate (Triple Triad>>>>>>Tetra Master). This mix, however, truly has, as djp hoped, cast the tune in a new light for me. The instrumentation, the liberal arrangement, the overall vibe (and, oh yeah, those wonderful vibes...see what I did there?) make this mix one of my top ten standout tracks from a great project album, and probably the biggest pleasant surprise I've gotten from an OCR album since Balance and Ruin.

How did I miss this gem a couple of years ago? Glad I decided to stumble around on OCR today, because this is quite enjoyable.

This album is awesome. FFVI is my all-time favorite game and soundtrack, so I had high expectations, all of which were met. Do I like every track? Not really, but I didn't expect to. I don't get too into most techno mixes (though I did enjoy the Mega Man sounds around 2:41 into There's Nothing Like Flying), but there are so many other styles represented (and represented so well) that I really don't care that a few tracks fall outside of my personal tastes. From the incredible arrangement of the theme of my favorite character, Shadow, in A Fistful of Nickels (the first Shadow mix that I've felt really captured the essence of the original) to the amazing Bohemian Rhapsody treatment of the opera to the piano and violin piece covering the entire ending (not to mention the impressive number of other pieces using live and/or acoustic instruments, which is what my tastes run toward), there's really just so much to love from this album. Easily my favorite in an already impressive line of OCR albums.

I'm a bit behind on my OCR-age, so I only just downloaded the album this afternoon and have only listened to a few tracks thus far, but I still feel confident in saying this is easily one of the highlights of the album. The Queen homage is both obvious and amazing, well-executed to the point that I feel I could recommend this song to non-VGM fans and, other than the length, they wouldn't bat an eye. If most of the other songs are even one-third as good as this, I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the album.

This is one of the best ReMixes I've downloaded from OCR in a long time. Pure awesome.

I love DKC2, but not quite as much as the original. The first DKC, there was just something almost magical about it. Particularly, level design and aesthetics were just a bit better on the first one, in my opinion. Gameplay might have been a little better, as Dixie added some good dimensions, but I still love the original the best.

I keep trying to replay Xenogears. The lack of quicker text doesn't bother me too much, but I keep getting distracted by shiny objects. I still love the story and the soundtrack, and the gameplay's OK, but I've never been able to get back into it. I think that after I get through some of my massive RPG backlog, I'll give it another shot. Maybe that'll happen in another year or so. I definitely won't get rid of it, so I figure I probably have time.

Hahahahaha yeah, voice acting was terrible, writing wasn't much better. The PSP version makes some improvements to both of those areas, but not a whole lot. I still love the game for its gameplay: The battle system, the skill system, item creation, private actions. Oh, and the music. One of my all-time favorite soundtracks. Just love it. The graphics aren't bad either. At least, the backgrounds are gorgeous. Characters close up are way too pixely and spell effects are kind of meh, but those backgrounds were always awesome. On Lufia...I have both SNES games but never really played them. Funny enough, I just decided earlier today to try them again. Barely started Fortress of Doom before I remembered I had to do some other stuff. But I hope to get back to it tonight. I think I'm glad I'm playing them in order of release and not in story order, because based on everything I've read and heard and what I remember from my little time with each game, I think that I'd be sorely disappointed with Fortress of Doom if I play it after Rise of the Sinistrals.

Fireburg has the same theme as the other three towns, just a very different arrangement. I'm talking more about the more subdued, relaxing versions. I'd love to hear either a piano or acoustic guitar version of the music that plays in the other three towns (Foresta, Aquaria and Windia, I believe). Actually, there are two very slightly different versions of that (basically, different synth instruments) but they're substantially the same theme.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island I remember loving it the first time through. Never did get 100 percent. Now I can't stay with it more than a few levels, a couple of worlds at the very most. I replay lots of games, but that one just doesn't seem to work for me. I still really enjoy Star Ocean 2. One of my all-time favorites. I replay it frequently.