It's that time again when I've decided that we've gone far too long without some exposure to some tracks from Nier which, I mean, you've heard it here before so you know that this is a grievous lapse in personal responsibility. Fun Fact: The first 'Music!' post I made was for Nier and was actually on January 7th, so this is almost like a belated anniversary post or something. Or it's just an excuse to do a Music! post since I haven't done a proper one lately and also an excuse to throw out some more Nier tracks since come on. However, there is going to be a slight change in plans, as today I'm only going to be featuring tracks from the DLC, the "15 Nightmares & Arrange Tracks" which are by and large, simply remixes or a version of the song using different instruments (like a couple of the tracks in the 11 songs are simply Piano versions). Or something else, as you'll hear in the last song I feature.
I must warn however that, especially after hearing the original versions, remixes of these songs might come off as a bit, well...offensive. As in, offends the senses, because you can't understand why someone would take a song from the Nier OST and do anything to change it. You might even think that they're not done by the same team, but I am fairly sure that they are, so there's not really any 'vision' lost or anything here. Just have an open mind going into these and you'll be fine, honestly. Because they are great songs on their own merits even if you end up preferring the originals.
The first song up is one of the tracks used for one of the DLC areas, specifically "The World of Recycled Vessel", and is one of the tracks that has been just remixed. These remix tracks are more the ones I warned about since they are definitely different, and very 'Club' sounding, but in the best way possible. There's already been exposure to the remix tracks in the first Nier Music post I made, but this is the 'official' remix/DLC post, so let's just run with it. The track is remixed off of Emil's theme, who is one of the more underplayed characters in the game for the first half of it. When he hits his stride, you -know it- and then he becomes much more important, but I personally forget about Emil all the time. Possibly less so after hearing "Emil - Ultimate Weapon No. 7".
As I said, it is very 'remix-y' sounding which might turn some people off, especially those more attached to either version of Emil's theme that came before it, but it's a very exciting track on its own. It definitely carries the spirit of so many of the other songs off the original soundtrack in that it's really, really sets the stage for combat, which I imagine is what it's used for in the DLC. I haven't purchased/played the DLC yet because I've been holding off on playing Nier since I know the last ending will utterly wreck me, and thereafter, I'll need to play the game over again to get one of the trophies I missed and all sorts of other stuff and it's convoluted really, but I will get/play the DLC some day. Just when that day is, I'll never be sure.
That said, for as "It's BATTLE TIME" as the previous song was, it simply cannot hold a candle to the song I'm throwing down next, because this song has a friggin' monopoly on fight music. This was, originally, going to be the song I went out on with this post, but, well, after listening to the other song (I mean really listening), I had to change plans a bit because....well, you'll see. Anyways, "Blu-Bird - Hansel und Gretel" is obviously a remix of both those songs from the original soundtrack, but it also has a layer of 'badass rock' layered overtop it in the best way possible.
I hate throwing the term "Epic" around as much as the next guy, and I especially hate the guy who says he hates the term "Epic" being thrown around like it's nothing and then using it anyway, but I'll be damned if I can use any other word for this song in terms of 'rock-ness'. Which is about all I can say about it, really. If you listened to it, I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from here. There is very little that can be said about it other than "It fucking rocks", and that's all there is to it. Power from simplicity.
The last song I'm going to put in is one of the "Arrange Tracks", which, I'm not too up on musical terms, so I don't know what that means. If I had to guess, I would suggest it means that it's been arranged differently instrument-wise, as the song itself plays out just as the original. It just, well...sounds different because it's not the same output. The difference between an Electric Guitar version of a song and a Piano version of a song is what I'm getting at here, which will likely help. This song, however, goes a little beyond just switching out a guitar or something, and it's rather amazing for that. I'll let what it does be a little surprise, though. (Or at least as much of a surprise as it can be with the name it has and the paragraph under where I talk about exactly what it is.)
Now, if you haven't listened to the above already for whatever reason; perhaps you're just letting it load, perhaps you want to read and then listen to the songs, whatever, screw all that and listen to the whole damn thing right now. I don't ask for much, and this is something you'll thank me for.
Done? Okay.
Holy Shit. I'm going to be completely honest here which is going to make me seem really, really unorganized/unprepared but I don't even care right now: I hadn't listened to that song in its entirety until just before I started writing this part. I'd always just listened to the start and said "Heh, yeah, this is pretty neat, taking the main theme and turning it 8-Bit. Sounds really cool." and then going on to something else. This is because I am apparently dumb because I never saw the time that it had displayed, meaning I never realized that just under 9 minutes was too long to be just one song. And this is because it -isn't- just one song, it's the bulk of the more known songs from the soundtrack made 8-bit, and it's fucking fantastic. And then at the end...That's just...I honestly didn't expect the Vocals at the end, and without spoiling much, them being there has so much goddamn meaning to the song and the game itself that my mind is literally fucking boggled. Have you ever been caught off-guard so much that you just throw your arms up in the air and go 'what the fuck' because you're processing about a million things at once? That's what that did to me. This probably doesn't make any sense to you, whoever you are reading, but trust me on this one.
This friggin' game, man. I know I'm probably one of the bigger fanboys of Cavia out there (even though they've been dissolved because there's absolutely no goddamn justice in the world), but I honestly think I'm being a rational human being when I say the following: If you haven't played it for yourself, it's out there for like $20 new in America, and probably not much more than that in other countries. Do yourself a favor and get on it. Seriously.
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