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Elsewhere - Original Game Soundtrack's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #72 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Impression | #107 | 3.816 | 3.816 |
| Overall | #138 | 3.751 | 3.751 |
| Creativity | #152 | 3.776 | 3.776 |
| Quality | #155 | 3.776 | 3.776 |
| Correlation to theme | #345 | 3.388 | 3.388 |
Ranked from 49 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- You have a good sense of development, I think-- each example seemed like it always knew where it was going, telling a coherent little mini-story in musical form. Moreover, I didn't feel like you got stuck in a rut-- I always felt engaged and interested in the new textures and melodic ideas that you were bringing to the table. Balancing variety while still keeping the whole coherent can be very difficult, and I think that this is a good example of how to do it-- variety with a core of similar elements that tie everything together. Very good choices and writing. Even with looping music, you can still writing endings for the music-- if you're really clever they won't even need post-editing to make the loop work. I think that it is worth doing because it forces you to complete the musical thought fully and can make a surprising difference on everything leading up to it. Thus I do encourage composers to write genuine endings, even if the idea is to eventually loop the music. Additionally, I think some of the tracks here are a bit too brief-- I think this submission would have been better had it had less tracks with more extended tracks like "Dream Home" which to me was extended enough that it said something substantial but didn't overstay its welcome at all. My only other comment is that the correlation to the theme strikes me as a bit stretched. For all the delightful music here, I struggled to connect it back to the theme except in a very general way. I appreciate that the text is quite open-ended and so I certainly wouldn't say that this "doesn't fit" the theme, but it didn't stand out as very obviously fitting in either. Overall, however, there is a really lovely attention to the sonic palette that really elevates the music here-- I can tell you're experienced with making these instruments and samples gel together, and overall I was very taken with the style and very human feel of the music.
Description
This is a soundtrack to a fantasy life sim with JRPG combat elements, titled "Elsewhere". It's a game rich with mechanics, including farming, fishing, crafting, relationships, and of course combat. The goal is to live peacefully in your hometown, but this cannot happen unless you defeat the Fears - monsters of the mind that spawn so long as the denizens of the world are troubled.
For the music itself, I relied on folksy and acoustic compositions for town life, soaring orchestrations for overworld exploration, and high-energy rock and metal for battles and Fear-related events. These each have leitmotifs associated with them. Woodwinds and acoustic guitar were notable pieces of the puzzle - woodwinds were present in my last OST Composing Jam submission in lesser quantities, but they're everywhere this time around, to lean heavily into the peaceful fantasy setting and provide a sense of familiarity. My previous submission did not have acoustic guitar anywhere in it, though, which I opted for this time around to capture warm homely vibes. For the most part, I also tried to avoid synths and electronic instruments outside of battle and Fear themes.
All tracks were made in Reason 12, my DAW of choice. And a note to those of you who are rating submissions - I know I've made a lot of tracks, but all of them loop, except for one! And I don't believe any loop is longer than 2:00 at most. So feel free to just listen up to the loop, then continue onto the next track. Hopefully that abates any worries with rating this soundtrack.
The tracks represent the following:
1. Utopia - Title Screen
2. Imagination - File Select
3. Past Life - Opening
4. Someplace - Town Theme
5. Dream Home - Home/Farming Theme
6. Phantasy General - Shop Theme
7. Illusion Lake - Lake/Fishing Theme
8. Cloudland Tavern - Tavern/Job Board Theme
9. Elsewhere - World Map
10. Face Your Fear - Battle Theme
11. Déjà Vu - Victory Theme
12. Eternal Sleep - Game Over
13. Fear of God - Boss Theme
14. Well of Wisdom - Ending
Message from the artist
I have been immensely busy with music work outside of this jam, and was worried going into this that I would not have the energy to last the full nine or so days. In fact, towards the beginning of the jam, I was struggling to motivate myself and get excited about my idea. I was concerned that I was just rehashing my previous jam submission, and thought my correlation to the theme would be my downfall. But as I kept pushing forward, I grew more attached to the sound I had chosen and world I was forging, and those worries slipped away. I hope people see the vision in what I've crafted and give this a chance - I really challenged myself and came away with a body of work I'm very proud of.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
The story of the game, as briefly outlined in my description, revolves around the player's state of mind as well as the collective state of mind of the town. When that's shaken up, the Fears manifest - a physical embodiment of what's inside your mind.
Many of the names of locations in this game also suggest an imaginary reality, something that can only exist inside your head.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/mediamonochrome/sets/elsewhere-original-game-soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxqCS6LidLmvuvRYR-45ZYH45A9EX0AJy
Number of tracks14
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
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Comments
The JRPG vibe is on point on this one too ! It's not easy to keep so many tracks coherent and interesting, yet you did. Truly video game music too ! A lot of submissions are great music for films or standalone, but this one really feel like I'm playing Xenoblade or The Last Story all over again.
xenoblade was a notable inspiration for certain tracks, particularly "elsewhere"! thank you!
A truly magic journey, one of my favorite listening experiences thus far in the Jam
tysm, and thanks for the stream reaction too, really enjoyed seeing that live!
Just overall showing what a team effort by a bunch of true professionals can do. Enjoyed every minute of it. Fantastic work.
hah i'm only one guy! thank you!
Nicely done, lots of content impressive. Well written, mix is pretty nice there is some tweek to fix but who doesn't anyway. The only thing I would change is in illusion of lake the piano chords all stacked on left hand with melody on right, you can change the voicing of your chords in both hands to make everything sound wider and cleaner. Well done !
yeah, illusion lake was definitely not super thought out in terms of the piano playing, i kept it very simplistic. thank you!
You nailed it with the RPG vibes! Setting the mood, carrying a leitmotif, and even pushing to 14 tracks! I could definitely imagine this soundtrack coming from a real game.
thank you, that means a lot coming from a fantasy composer like yourself lol
I'm impressed by this if for nothing else then the sheer amount you managed to get done, and still have everything sound really clean!! I love the use of leitmotif and how natural it is, helps you keep a very strong through line in this. Really encapsulates the JRPG style, so you should be super proud of this. I wish i had the energy to go through and talk about every song more in depth individually but as it stands i don't have that in me rn, but i might revisit later. I think Fear of God is ultimately my favourite, Your instrumentation and arrangement really peaks here and feels like the most full and complete song of all of them, if anything I think you should aim to try and make the rest of your songs feel a little bit more full, so that even in the more quieter and relaxing things you can have something to keep everything flowing, using more instruments and taking advantage of their full range as well as panning to create a wider sound can really help flesh out your ideas. YOu do this very well with a thinner instrumentation in well of wisdom, the use of the ping pong delay on that main melody with a bit of contrast with where the piano is directly placed in my ears makes it incredibly compelling despite a relatively thin instrumental. You should be very proud of this, I hope the feedback makes sense, feel free to pop me a dm on discord or something if you are confused lol cause this got kind of rambly
OH YEAH QUESTION WHAT FLUTE/WHISTLE PRESET DO U USE I NEED TO KNOW
thank you for the praise! i do agree that some of my tracks weren't as full as they could have been, i'd just chalk that up to me moving fast and getting a little sloppy. as for the flute/whistle vsts, a number of the tracks used impact soundworks' ventus ocarinas, some others used an embertone whistle.
This submission nails the folk JRPG vibe perfectly. It reminded me of Pokemon at points, Final Fantasy at others, while also sounding like something entirely new. I’d love to hear these arrangements with recorded instruments!
thank you, i'm flattered that this reminded you of those games! i definitely think these instruments not being recorded live was a major potential hindrance in terms of achieving that sound, but looks like it wasn't too big a deal for you and other people, which is a relief
Wow, there's so much variation here! The composition and production are so beautifully immersive and effortlessly transport me into the world you've crafted. I have very little to criticize, so I'll try and go into detail about what I loved. First of all, the guitars heavily present throughout this OST were a very pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of your third track, Past Life. Face Your Fear was a jaw-dropping head-bopping boss track. Overall, an absolutely incredible submission that just might deserve to stand in the Top 20. Great job! :D
wow, top 20 is a pretty bold statement for this little thing, thank you!
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!!
I thought you would run out of ideas and variation by like track 4 but there’s always something new right around the corner! Lots of variation in style, but still all one musical identity, which is super impressive. I don’t know if I have something to say about every track, because everything is super catchy and there’s always something there to keep you pulled in! I couldn’t help but listen to everything in full despite your warning about the length in the description, it’s just so juicy!
ah thank you! i am relieved that it didn't come across too repetitive as a good portion of the soundtrack was largely in the same folksy style, and I definitely milked my motifs for all they were worth haha
Toot, toot, toot, toot, toot, toot, toot, toot, toot
I listened to the whole soundtrack (and some tracks several times. They are very beautiful) The lack of a detailed description of what moments these tracks are for, gives the imagination free rein!
The orchestration is top notch. You can feel the atmosphere of the fantasy world)
Utopia - Light... Oh, my God. It's beautiful! The abrupt transitions between calm and edgy are brilliant!
Imagination - Cute)
Past Life - Wow. That's, uh. Atmospheric Guitar?! I feel like I'm sitting by a campfire!
Someplace - Percussion! I love percussion everywhere.
Dream Home. Home cute home.
Phantasy General - Oh. This seller must have either navy or hunting experience. Accordion (It's an accordion, right?) multiplies the atmosphere by a factor of 2!
Illusion Lake - ... I wanted to go fishing (Also, I don't know why, but this is the track that reminded me of the Slime Rancher soundtrack.... heh)
Cloudland Tavern - just a tavern (probably some madman picked up a flute and started seducing the ladies).
Elsewhere - Nice contrast to the previous tracks! (Can I say about the drums? They're grrr good!)
Face Your Fear - I thought I said Elsewhere had a good contrast.... so... I take that back! Face Your Fear has even better contrast! Very groovy composition
Déjà Vu - I'm... won? Hip hip hooray!!!
Eternal Sleep - ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz....
Fear of God - Epic! Hot! (Another track from this jam that had me getting up out of my chair and doing folk dances. No kidding)
Well of Wisdom - A nice cute note to end the OST.
What I want to say in conclusion... You managed to create your own, unique and interesting world! These half an hour was filled with a lot of emotions and adventures..... Thank you for your OST! It is really suitable for fantasy RPGs!
PS: I am waiting for new works)
thank you for such detailed feedback!
Nice JRPG vibes, cool range of sounds from metal to beautiful folk stuff. Enjoyed pretty much!
many thanks, i did my best to display range that would be considered reasonable with the game genre
Good stuff man. Well of Wisdom, Face Your Fear, and Utopia were my favs.
thanks! those guys are definite standouts for me too!
I listened to the music before reading your story, and I immediately thought of JRPS, which I love. You NAILED it. Great job.
thank you, glad i hit my mark!
You have a very classic sound! I hope you don't mind the comparisons but I'm getting Bravely/Octopath out of these! Excellent stuff.
i'm honored to be compared to those games' soundtracks lol, tysm
Fantastic as always!
you're the best lol