Golden Sun "Force of Nature" 2:20

It has truly been a banner year for the Golden Sun series on OCR, but there's always room for one more - newcomer Mental (Ly) sends us a short-but-absolutely-epic cinematic/hybrid take on "The Elemental Stars":

"I would like to submit a piece of music I recently composed. A tribute to the game Golden Sun, one of my all-time favourites and their soundtrack defined my style of music. Original composition by Motoi Sakuraba. It is my first submission to this site."

First time's the charm; while brief, this arrangement sets the stage and then blossoms from the intro piano motif into a fully-realizing hybrid/symphonic soundscape, complete with vocals and epic "trailer"-style percussion; judges were unanimous, and I like the specific praise that Emunator had to offer:

"There's no shortage of Golden Sun remixes to have graced the site lately, but what harm could one more do? Let's see what you've got here.

Right off the bat, I'm loving your piano tone and the subtle string articulations. You're clearly working with some powerhouse sample libraries here, but you've wielded them to great effect. As things progress, you continue to develop a lush soundscape that transforms the Elemental Stars motif into something stirring and transcendent. The high string legatos particularly gave me chills, and the use of kit drums along with orchestral percussion was unexpected but very cool. This is a short arrangement, but what you do in a limited time is actually staggering - this would feel right at home in the extended cinematic trailer for a hypothetical big-screen Golden Sun adaptation.

Extremely professional sounding take that should be right at home on our site. Fabulous job!"

What he said; Wes hit all the high points, and this is indeed very Hollywood & very gripping/immersive. In less than two and a half minutes, Ly draws us in, develops the thread, wows us with expansion/climax, and leaves us wanting more... but still pretty damn satisfied. Superb, immediately impressive debut from Mental - absolutely looking forward to hearing more!