ReMix:Final Fantasy XI Online: Rise of the Zilart "Grav'iton's Dream" 4:30

Newcomer but long-time community member Brink-of-Time (David C. Jacobson, Jr.) makes his featured-mix debut with this cinematic synthwave take on FF11's Rise of Zilart expansion:

"This is my submission for a remix I did from Final Fantasy XI: Rise of Zilart. It's been a long time since I have submitted anything to OC ReMix (over 10 years!). I don't dabble in music as much as I used to. But I still try to write or remix on occasion. This is a remix that I have been working on and off for about 6 or 7 years. I personally have never played FFXI, but I really like the soundtrack. This track in particular is very good. I had a lot of fun remixing it in a more of synthwave sorta feel. I like it. I hope you all do too."

Simple but warm & lush synth chords open with a nice grand/vast feel, and there's a gradual build to more structure & downbeat, with things eventually even going double-tempo for an almost pop vibe. Synthwave is usually more about atmosphere than dazzling complexity, so the pared-down approach can work well. NutS writes:

"Love the warm synths here, they're silky smooth and just lovely. The drums are minimal but well sequenced and fit the rest of the textures very well. Heavy use of filters everywhere, and some effects like the initial bitcrunch on the drums. The mix is clean and I don't hear any issues that would drag the overall song down. The adaptation is great, fits the new genre and tone like a glove. The arrangement is ok but nothing super deep or complex. The ending was the biggest letdown here, very sudden and unfulfilling."

I don't think he's wrong, per se, on the ending, but it didn't bother me as much - your mileage may vary, etc. Rexy chalked it up to the genre, and didn't mind:

"You took a 6/8 acoustic BGM and transformed it into a synth-driven 4/4 arrangement. Aside from the minute-long intro, the source material is readily identifiable - either with the melody proper or with the transformation of the original's acoustic guitar loop. It's a solid structure too - intro aside, it's ABA with no drums in the second A variant and some careful extra segueing between them. I also feel like I'm the only one who can appreciate the ending as well - ending on a chord that isn't the root is always going to feel unconventional, but that's what makes the explorative nature of electronic chillout what it is."

Overall, David does a great job transforming an organic source into an electronic synthscape, and manages to develop from something more ambient/cinematic into synthwave, then go further upbeat from there - all in a pretty tight, 4.5 minute package. Good stuff - enjoy!