ReMix:Final Fantasy VII "Finding Your Inner Alien" 3:12

Platonist (Jonas Loman) hits us up with an older-school chip/demoscene-style arrangement mashup of two classic themes from FF7 & FF8:

"This started out as a plain "J-E-N-O-V-A" deep trance remix, but as I jammed over the track on my keyboard, I started playing "Find Your Way"-ish leads, so I just had to see if I could combine the two and adapt the key/chords for "Find Your Way" to the chord progression of "J-E-N-O-V-A," and it almost fit like a glove. I had to change some chord coloring here and there, but the melodies themselves work together thanks to the long note at the end of each "J-E-N-O-V-A" expression. The result is a short and experimental arrangement of two of my favorite Uematsu works. Cheers!"

The judges hit most of the highlights; MindWanderer touches on the genre & integration of themes:

"Not sure I'd call this trance, it doesn't have the long grooves I usually associate with that genre, but it is an interesting arrangement, cool mix of chiptune and chiptune-ish synths. Despite the loud, gritty bass, I didn't have any trouble hearing the individual lines. The FF8 breakdown in the middle was an elegant touch, I didn't realize what I was listening to at first, with how well it blended in. Fun stuff all around."

"trance" isn't the first genre that pops into my mind, either, but it's definitely EDM of some ilk, and the thing that'll stand out more to most folks is probably the chip instrumentation, which Gario focuses on:

"'Alien' is the right term for this - it's such a strange blend of C64 synths and more conventional electronic synths, it sounds rather... er, alien. Some really nice plays with the rhythms in order to blend the sources appropriately, it works so well in its strange way.

If I had to point anything out, the production sounds lacking in the higher EQ balance range, but that's more a nitpick than anything - it doesn't cause too much concern for me. So strange, but really cool - great work on this one!"

From a mastering perspective, I agree with Greg that it could use a little more air & sound a bit crisper; hopefully something Jonas considers for the future. The highlight for me is the manipulation of the main "J-E-N-O-V-A" riff into something familiar but different, blending with FF8 & unified by an upbeat, retro computer aesthetic. Good stuff!