It’s round 9 of the playoffs! The Final Four!

Since it’s the playoffs, groups will be active until 9:00 am Pacific the day after they post, or for roughly 24 hours. You can listen to a playlist of today’s songs (in matchup order) here.

PLEASE LISTEN TO BOTH SONGS IN A MATCH BEFORE VOTING

Voting will be live until Tuesday, June 23rd at 9:00am Pacific

Previous Round’s Results:

Wild Arms	Into the Wilderness	5	14	Chrono Cross	Scars of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	Gerudo Valley	15	8	Grandia	Theme
Chrono Cross	Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World	10	10	PaRappa the Rapper	Chop Chop Master Onion
Chrono Cross	Dreamwatch of Time	8	9	Final Fantasy VIII	Man with the Machine Gun

This might be the hardest tie I’ve ever had to break. I love PaRappa. The entire series OST is one of my favorites. But Chop Chop Master Onion? Do I really love that one specifically?

So ultimately, by the thinnest of margins, I’ve got to give this to Chrono Cross – Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World. It would have made for a more diverse top 4 to include PaRappa, but ultimately less honest. So instead Chrono Cross gets to be the first game to ever place 2 songs in a top 4.

So! The top 4! We have two sweeping, beautiful pieces from Chrono Cross. Despite being something of a hater for this exact style, I have to admit that both Scars of Time and Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World are excellent. I just saved Dream even!

We also have Gerudo Valley, from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It’s probably my favorite song from the OST, but I figured something with a higher pedigree, like the title theme or Hyrule Field would have claimed this. I’m very glad they didn’t. But, so far two other Nintendo songs have made a semifinal round; Super Mario Bros. – Overworld and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – Dark World. Neither has advanced to the finals. Can Gerudo Valley break the curse?

Finally, Final Fantasy VIII’s “Man with the Machine Gun” rounds out the top 4. We probably all expected at least one Final Fantasy song to make it this far, but I’m still pleasantly surprised it was something as atypical as this. “Machine Gun” isn’t exactly unpopular, but it doesn’t sound even remotely orchestral. It’s unashamedly synthy, with rock sensibilities, and I love that it’s here to show that there’s more to JRPG OSTs than beauty and grandeur.

Fun Stats About The Top 4

[spoiler]

Top 4 by group:

Lol these numbers have been junk for days. Look here I guess.

Top 4 by game:

• 2 songs:
  • Chrono Cross [-1]
• 1 song:
  • Final Fantasy VIII  
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time  
• Remember The Fallen
  • Grandia
  • PaRappa the Rapper 
  • Wild Arms

By console:

PlayStation: 2 games, 3 songs
Nintendo 64: 1 game, 1 song

[/spoiler]