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Strange Tides: A Confluence (OST Comp Jam #7)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #4 | 4.435 | 4.435 |
| Impression | #17 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Overall | #17 | 4.207 | 4.207 |
| Composition | #25 | 4.247 | 4.247 |
| Quality | #34 | 4.259 | 4.259 |
| Correlation to theme | #118 | 3.894 | 3.894 |
Ranked from 85 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- It is so nice to listen to something that so instantly grabs my attention and holds it throughout. I very much appreciated the eclectic instrumental choices as well as consistent variety of material and tone-- all while keeping a consistent identity-- no small feat that! It was a real treat to listen to the "rock-forward" music you so seamlessly work into the material. Bringing this kind of unique palette really makes your entry stand out-- you have a unique approach that I haven't heard anywhere else, I'm sure it will serve you well in the future! It is honestly hard for me to find anything to critique here-- perhaps the one note would be that I feel the distorted rock guitar parts occasionally feel like they need just a bit of a tuck into the mix, as at times I had to focus to really listen in to the other parts when they were really shredding-- but I suppose that could just be the way that style/genre works. "The Buzz Merchant" brought a smile to my face-- I will admit that at first it was a little "unique" compared to the other tracks, but then you bring in the drum kit and it just clicked into place for me, and the segue to the misbegotten gods is at once smooth and still appropriately dramatic. "Cavern of Dreams" was wonderfully evocative. "Confluence" opens with some seriously great textures-- wonderful work with the march-like snare against the lithe vocal line. It is a unique, interesting, and beautiful texture in a submission that is just a complete feast of them. "'Inside my world" rounded things out perfectly-- again bringing a unique approach to the whole without departing so much that I felt it came from some other work. The live vocals here are much appreciated and a brave choice. This whole thing had me smiling from beginning to end. Fantastic work.
Description
You awaken knowing two things:
1. This world is not the one you know.
2. Your beloved lies waiting in a prison in the sea.
Strange Tides: A Confluence is a narrative-first action-adventure game about fighting your way through the sea inside a strange new world. Combat fierce endemic life, meet a colorful cast of friends and foes, overcome obstacles of the natural and spiritual world, and find your way to the one closest to your heart.
The album for Strange Tides: A Confluence was developed for the OST Composition Jam #7. It is a genre-defying mix of various orchestral instruments and native instruments of various diasporas, amplified with modern synths featuring rock-forward boss fights.
The album is a brief 11 minute sampler of four tracks:
- Awaken by the Verdant Sea, infamous for the occasional Ironshank Rampage.
- Find the amicable and mysterious Buzz Merchant, but thieves beware: the shopkeeper does not tolerate Misbeegotten Goods.
- Travel deep through the Cavern of Dreams to face against the tyrannical Herald of the Maelstrom.
- Two souls meet in Confluence and lose each other Inside My World.
Strange Tides: A Confluence is made possible through Reason by Reason Studios. The electric guitar tracks were created with the Ample Metal Hellrazer VST by Ample Sound, and the jaw harp tracks were created with the Cowboy Harp VST by New Nation Audio. Vocals provided by Reed Coale and Amelia Giarusso. All other instruments, effects, mixing, and mastering was made and performed within Reason and its freely included Rack Extensions, including the Orkester Sound Bank, Humana Vocal Ensemble, and Klang Tuned Percussion.
Strange Tides: A Confluence is inspired by:
- The genre-bending melodic storytelling of Darren Korb (Supergiant Games), Yoann Laulan (Dead Cells), and Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
- The imaginative and dense worldbuilding of games such as the Monster Hunter franchise and Felix Isaac’s tabletop roleplaying game, The Wildsea.
Cover art by Reed Coale.
Message from the artist
To Reed, my confidant and muse, whose soul can fill an orchestra beyond measure.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
“Inside My World” is both literal and figurative; your soul mate lies trapped inside their world as you travel deeper and deeper to the inside of the world to face them. The illustrated theme shows two people, two souls so close yet separated by the thinnest veil between worlds, drifting in an unfamiliar and colorful sea.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/amelia-ridz/sets/strange-tides-a-confluence-ost-jam-7
Number of tracks4
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
wow the sounds in this one are super quirky and unique. The way things get detuned or chopped up and slid around feels like im in a funhouse almost. Great submission!
I really loved the beginning of the Verdant Sea and A Confluence, both took my breath away. The Buzz Merchant was fun and crazy ! Thanks for sharing and good luck!
I like the fact that you split each song into 2 to convey the situation within the song, like the "buzz merchant" being very chill then "Misbeegotten goods" (nice bee pun there) being more tense in the span of one song, its such a neat way to show each scene and how they connected. "Cavern of dreams" is a very ambient and chill song then when it transitions to "Herald of the Maelstrom" to becoming more rock and roll, its very well made especially how you kept the bells in the first half as the connection, one of my favorite songs. then the vocals for the first half of the final track is cool, then suddenly, it starts getting lyrics with the the guitar accompanying the second half is peak. it's amazing how you connect these two songs that I wonder if you were trying to do adaptive music in your game.
I also love the titles for your songs, they are very charming. and the fact that it's basically a rescue action adventure game is pretty neat.
One of the most original submissions and certainly one of my favorites! Every song is great and goes so hard, you did an amazing work and I'm waiting to hear more of your music in the future!!
The Verdant Sea was so good !! ^_^
I love the cover art you made. And the hard rock was not what I was expecting. Great soundtrack! Cavern of dreams was my favorite piece.
OMG! What an incredible work, I'm impressed with how all the tracks have energy and are incredibly surprising! They move easily between such different moods, it's chaotic and organized at the same time, incredible!!
Love your take on the theme here. "The Verdant Sea" is a powerful first track, I was not expecting the pick-up around 1:52! From its initial sea ambience to that stylized, heavy reverb guitar and beyond, this track progresses really nicely and never lulls for a moment. This track goes hard when you really weren't expecting it to. Great work!
An interesting departure from the first track, "The Buzz Merchant" starts things off whimsically before bringing in a solid groove at around 0:14. This track shows off a lot of your diversity as a composer and it was very interesting to listen to it develop in unexpected ways while still calling back to the opening silliness.
The echo on the snare in "Cavern of Dreams" gives it great presence and definitely makes things feel cavernous. The chord progression when the rhythm guitar comes in is top notch, truly beautiful music here. "Herald" finishes things off by revisiting that same progression with a satisfying crunch and well-earned guitar solo. This whole track was just pure ear candy.
"Confluence" is another solid offering, again turning melodic ambience into a straight-up jam. If I hadn't already gotten Hades/Darren Korb vibes from this album, Confluence really would have dialed it in. Excellent job working in the title of the theme with just the right amount of cheese; that whole build-up was masterfully executed.
This is easily one of the best offerings I have heard from this jam, and I really enjoyed listening to it. I love how you blended each track together, it was a great method of revisiting your established melodies and worked well to keep me listening and wondering what was coming next. Amazing work overall, definitely looking forward to hearing more from you in the future!