*NO* Final Fantasy 6 'Forsaken World'

[djpretzel]

ReMixer name: Darangen

Real Name: Michael Boyd

email: darangen@hotmail.com

Name of game: Final Fantasy 6

Name of song: Forsaken World

Comments:

I like the way this turned out.

I'd been humming this tune in my head for the last few days, and I felt the only way to get it out of my head would be to arrange it . This is the theme that plays in the World of Ruin, and in Narshe in the world of ruin. When I used to play the game years ago this tune annoyed me, but after a while it grew on me to become one of my favorite tunes from this game.

There are some Metallica - Orion influences in some parts here (mainly the harmonies).

It also goes from normal volume to loud-ish, so don't turn your speakers up too loud (You've been warned!)

While making this arrangement, my intentions were not to make it balanced out, or perfectly constructed. I was trying to emulate a destroyed world where nothing was in balance. Keep that in mind while listening . But it's ok, I like girls.

Enjoy!

[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ff6.rsn - "Dark World" (ff6-305.spc)

Strong stuff. Much more solid than stuff like "The Fall of Zeal" to be perfectly honest. Good simple acoustic guitar work for the first minute or so. Really loved whatever instrument came in at 1:23; very haunting yet beautiful sound from what sounds like a piano, and good fadeout from it closing at 2:00 to lead into the electric guitar and percussion work at 2:03.

Liking the drum shots at 2:22 & 2:29, though I would have preferred something that sounded a bit more realistic. The vox note hanging from 2:45 until 2:58 kind of pushes the boundaries of realism as well, but it's not a big deal or anything.

Great metal energy working in tandem with gentler acoustic instruments, melancholy vox & sound effects. Expansive for most sections, interpretive in others, it was a pleasure to listen to and play back on VGF38. I've liked the source tune ever since OverCoat remixed it over at VGMix, and this one does a great job putting it's own spin on the theme. Excellent work, Mike. More cohesively presented than some other rejections, this was stronger material more along the lines of "From Within".

YES

[Malcos]

Nice acoustic guitar work here, good production, arrangement and interpretation. Not much to critique, except that piano-like sound that I can nitpick at. So I say

YES

[danny B]

The acoustic guitar sounds good enough - unfortunatly it repeats FOREVER until something new happens. I got tired of the acoustic the first time through. The melody was presented well enough, and the backing piano-esque thing was alright - a bit dry, could have used some kind of filter envelope or vibrato to keep from stagnating.

Then, after a weak little whisper of a snare drum, it blows into a metal section out of nowhere. There really should be some kind of musical segue into the new section. The little tap that is there right now definately doesn't cut it. Also, the guitar - seems a bit fake - sounds a bit out of tune.

Add to these factors that there is little expansion upon the original, if any. When I think metal, I think IN-YO-FACE guitar shreddage with a fully exploited stereo soundfield. This sounds very empty and weak, and really doesn't do anything to expand upon the original. It also doesn't help that the drums sound like they're from Duke Nukem 3D. Give this one some attention to arrangement and sound quality, and we might have a winner here.

NO

-D

[DarkeSword]

I like it. It has a really nice texture; the guitar is played well, and the switch between acoustic and distortion is pretty good, though I would have liked a better transition between the two initially. Drum samples could have been better, but that's a minor gripe.

Good stuff.

YES

[zircon]

I'm liking the acoustic guitar here, but that initial piano sample.. oof. Some reverb/delay to give the "dream piano" effect would really help - same with the background choir, which sounds fairly dry as well. However, the panning piano-style sample that comes in is much better. Once the electric guitar section begins, the mix really picks up. Drums sound good to me, and the guitar recording/playing is clean. Great variation and improv work. I'll agree with Dan that the transition to the metal section isn't that fluid, but I think the other aspects of the rest of the mix make up for it.

It would be nice to have a version with more spatial processing on the opening piano, choir, and maybe the drums, as well as tighter transitions, but I believe this passes our guidelines. YES

[Vig]

i liked the extended introductory section. the acoustic guitar works well, the piano that comes in works well..at the 2 minute mark i have the impression that this is going to be a really epic piece. the metal section comes in with little preface...the drums are REALLY weak. i think for this section you really need to kick up the bass and drums and rhythm guitar.

The drums continue to sound terrible. this is partly because of the sample, but the sequencing is also quite unnatural, especially during the metal sections. the drums definately need some tinkering.

on the whole i think the song dies out early and kind of fizzes out at the end. the drums just disappear. the swirling distortion guitar is cool but it isnt utilized well. I feel like this song has the opportunity to pick up lots of power and momentum that it just doesnt take advantage of.

It could be really epic, but for now, NO, listen to http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR00744 (which this mix reminded me of) work on usuing and building upon your momentum, and resubmit.

[Israfel]

On the whole, an enjoyable mix, but there are a few problems. Your piano lead instrument was a bit weak , I felt, but even so it fares much better than the rather GMIDI-ish sounding drums. The sample and sequencing on that percussion part could certainly be improved upon.

I agree that the rhythm guitar is repetitive, but then, that's how it is in the original. Which brings us to another problem; this mix is really rather similar to the original. You did add a few minor accompaniment tracks, and a quick guitar solo, but for the most part this is a reinstrumented version of the original. Now, it's not so close to the original that it makes for an easy and automatic no, but it's close enough that, given my initial reservations, I don't think I can pass this.

NO

[Digital Coma]

Organ in original constantly repeats, thus Darangen had the acoustic rhythm repeat throughout the intro. Makes some sense given that there's not much to the spc. Chorals are similar to the wind sfx. There may not be much to the original, but what little is there hasn't been changed much here. I agree that the transition to the electric guitars is very weak, given the crappy snare. An electric replaces the acoustic rhythm, yet it still just plays on the original organ. Weak resolution.

NO

[The wingless]

Firstly, I don't think there is much to totally deny this song from entry in OCR. There are, however, valid points about issues that need change, least of all are drums and transition.

In all honesty, I think this piece is at 90% of its total 'coolness' capacity because of those issues. It's still 90% good, but that other 10% is somewhat glaring to the educated ear.

Good enough for OCR? I think so. Good enough for a resubmit, I think so too.

I'm giving this a yes, on the stipulation that you yourself see the wisdom in the critiques given here, and really focus on transition and drumwork in your next piece.

YES

[danny B]

I'm giving this a yes, on the stipulation that you yourself see the wisdom in the critiques given here, and really focus on transition and drumwork in your next piece.

I really had hoped we were beyond "this needs work but do better next time! YES"

I think it's a very bad idea to pass a song with a request to make a passable song NEXT time.

Let's focus on the current song. If you feel it warrants resubmission, ask for it.

Once it's posted, it's done. There's NO harm in requesting a resubmission.

-D

[The wingless]

Never

YES

[analoq]

well, i seem to be in agreement with the no votes.

- there isn't a lot that breaks up the monotony of the rhythm guitar.

- the transitions seem abrupt

- the non-guitar instruments are on the weak side

- this expands on the original in a limited number of ways.

honestly i feel Darangen's last submission was more ocr-worthy than this one.

i much prefer a well-done loose arrangement over something like this.

no

[zykO]

i hate to play the part of executioner but i have to.

this is a solid piece by a solid guitarist and musician. i cannot, though, get over the fact that the first impression i get is that it is slightly on the boring side. and that's the first impression which usually bodes for bad things once you've heard something a couple more times.

the arrangement doesn't do a whole lot to intrepret the original and the acoustic guitar nearly puts me off with its monotony. its an honest effort but it isnt' up to par with what i expect from darangen.

it just loses its energy over time and that isn't what you want from something as potentiall epic as this. its solid and without much error but it is not exceptional

sorry bro but this is a NO

[GrayLightning]

My vote is sort of unnecessary at this point, but I would like to chime in regardless. I've been listening to this for some days now, this was a very difficult one. I think there's a lot of things done right here, but there's a lot of things that could be improved on. Particularly, the arrangement content being on the conservative side of things, the repetitive strumming could have been changed up more as sometimes the monotony of it does drag on a little. Neat mix for sure, but I think this is slightly short of being there.

Darangen's mixing skills continue to improve and certainly he has the talent to make a return to OCR after his awesome debut DKC mix. But this falls a bit short. This has a lot of potential, with some more work/polish. I am definitely looking forward to Darangen's next submission.

Borderline NO.