ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild "The Triforce Needs Five More Minutes" 4:15

I do think Breath of the Wild deserved its numerous "Game of the Year" awards - I haven't beaten it yet, but I've made time in a rather impossible schedule to put some serious hours in, and I admire the ambition & risk-taking, the transformation of a known & loved franchise into a new paradigm, and the detailed execution & balance of concerns. Perfect? No, but damn impressive and fun. I'm also impressed that Nintendo was able to develop for two different platforms/architectures - explains the delays. I've been playing strictly handheld, on Switch, making it one of the very best portable gaming experiences I've EVER had. But enough about me; newcomer Joe November (Joe Thomas) gives us a hip-hop/trap/funk jam peppered with in-game vocal snippets for a chill, narrative vibe:

"My submission for a remix of "The Temple of Time" from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I was so mesmerized by the minimalist piano melody whenever you visit the ruined Temple of Time, that I wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it? Here it go!

I've removed some elements of the track for clarity and cleanliness. Thank you again for the feedback, and it would be a dream to have a track of mine posted on the best video game remix site on the planet. I've been a fan for years!

Thank you for your consideration."

Dream realized; Joe did a good job of heeding panel feedback, and while many judges were still on the fence about the extensive use of vocal samples, that's more of a stylistic matter than anything else. Piano & EP blend for a lush keyscape, a trappish beat features a solid, satisfying kick, a minimal chip groove anchors the whole piece, and synths bring the funk. I think the arrangement could work with zero vocal snips, but it would need some retooling, as they lend a narrative structure and divide parts pretty extensively. While I think the English voice acting was actually one of the weaker aspects of the game, I ended up diggin this particular application, and Sir_NutS summed it up nicely:

"Speaking of the arrangement, I thought it was pretty sweet, the melodies and performances are a strong point, very jazzy, yet chill and freeform. I didn't take as much issue with the more crowded sections, and I really enjoyed the arrangement, even if I never heard the BOTW soundtrack before.

Production is pretty solid for the most part, clean and warm in most places. I believe the vocal sfx will be a big point on contention in people's minds (and youtube comments!) if this gets posted, but this is the artist's vision for the track and the amount of sfx and whether they are enough or too much is now so borderline I think it will come down to preference. I would still like to point out to listeners to look beyond them as there's a very solid and enjoyable arrangement behind."

Vocal samples will indeed probably trigger some, and that's fine - just as it's the artist's choice to employ them, it's the listeners' choice to get hung up on them, get into them & dig the vibe, or land somewhere in between. Either way, it's cool to have our first mix of this modern classic on OCR, and I like the hybrid, stylized approach Joe took - hope to hear more!