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I'm in shock that the thing that messed up the NieR Replicant hype for me wasn't anything related to Cavia's programming but rather the new music mixes. It's way overproduced.
It's not *horrible* but the originals had a way better sense of balance and a much more intimate sound.
It's not *horrible* but the originals had a way better sense of balance and a much more intimate sound.
The upside to this is that it's just a matter of time before anyone finds the source audio files in the game and replaces them with the OG ones. Even Square can do that through (hopefully) free DLC so PS4 users aren't missing out, but damn.
Toylogic (NeoCavia) could have done something absolutely horrendous to the game's coding that I would have accepted it, but Keiichi Okabe? That caught me offguard.
In the end the man just wants his paycheck and I understand that if the producers tell him to add more layers and make it sound more grandiose because people come from Automata, then there's not much he can do, but it's still kinda eugh.
Chunks of the original mixes are completely gone. What the hell?
I'll say this.
The rearrange has a lot of effort put into >texture<, and some aspects of the mastering are much more ambitious, and I can see why they wanted to add more layers, but in the process they changed a lot of the instrumentation and dynamics.
The rearrange has a lot of effort put into >texture<, and some aspects of the mastering are much more ambitious, and I can see why they wanted to add more layers, but in the process they changed a lot of the instrumentation and dynamics.
In all fairness, comparing it side to side, I can see what Okabe was trying to do, as the original's sound palette was kinda muted and I appreciate some of the touches that make some sounds pop, but the original's more folkloric sound has been overtaken by the orchestra.
The budget killed the dreamy lowkey balance of some compositions. Temple of Drifting Sands it's just not the same song.
Nier Replicant: 1.Horror Vacui
On a purely technical level, these new mixes have more budget and more attention to textures, sound palette and "pop".There was a legitimate effort put into enhancing the NieR OST, that's undeniable. But the folk, somber and quiet side of the original was murdered in the process.
It's a shame because some of the touch ups here must have taken a ton of hours of fine tuning. They didn't just saturate the original's sound, but drums are different, layers on top layers were added, some cheaper sounds were completely overhauled... there's a LOT of work here.
I don't want anyone to feel discouraged from playing the new NieR version, this is purely a thread of me trying to piece together why >to me< it doesn't sound the same. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, this is just me thinking out loud to get my thoughts in order.
Song of the Ancients (Popola): *dreamy synths*
Song of the Ancients (Popopla) 1.22 ver.:
Song of the Ancients (Popopla) 1.22 ver.:
HAVING SAID THIS, PLEASE KEEP DISCUSSION CIVIL
OKABE'S JUST DOING HIS WORK, WE MAY COMMENT ON THE NEW ARRANGES AND EVEN MEME ABOUT IT BUT PLEASE LET'S NOT TURN THIS INTO SOME BITTER BETRAYAL TALE, PLEASE BE CHILL
OKABE'S JUST DOING HIS WORK, WE MAY COMMENT ON THE NEW ARRANGES AND EVEN MEME ABOUT IT BUT PLEASE LET'S NOT TURN THIS INTO SOME BITTER BETRAYAL TALE, PLEASE BE CHILL
On the topic of Song of the Ancients (Popola) https://twitter.com/chatomaltes/status/1385194555566432257
This is more or less my position on the matter. I would have preferred more tracks to coexists with their OG counterparts, and rather than replace the originals would have done a spin on them in certain segments to enrich the OST and add variety.
It's a perfectly valid version, it's just that a significant part of the sound's identity was lost for an OST I hold very dearly to my heart. This isn't a drama or anything, I'm just being chatty. Let's keep it real.
I'm appreciative of the work behind the mixes, and some stuff definitely sounds richer, it's just that the end result is a different beast altogether and I don't vibe with it.
