VIP Mariam Abounnasr, A Rising Star? #vip

Discussion in 'Announcements Area' started by Cats777, Aug 10, 2020.

  1. Cats777 ┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)

    https://vipvgm.net

    Here comes another "featured artist".

    So I was checking out this incredibly popular Eiyuden Chronicle Kickstarter campaign. It's supposedly a spiritual successor to Suikoden, created by some of the same developers. Who knew Suikoden was so popular? The only Suikoden I've ever beaten was Tierkreis. Yes, laugh at me for playing one of the bad ones. It was the only Suikoden on a handheld that I took with me everywhere, so sue me. In any case, I forgot everything about the game, because my memory sucks ass.

    Anywaaaaay, I was at the Kickstarter page and the first section I looked at was music. Suikoden always had some unique pieces of music, but something caught my eye: Motoi Sakuraba was a mistake. Actually, it's the one with the weird name: Mariam Abounnasr.

    This piece from this seemingly no-name artist surprised me. Other things that surprised me: she's a girl, she's Japanese, she has an English accent. (She should be the poster girl for multiculturalism.) Oh, and she's a protege of the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda! Yes, that guy who did the music for those time travel games.

    It turns out Abounnasr entered the VGM industry just recently, but more of an official arranger than composer. Some music she has arranged include FFXV, Xenoblade 2 and NieR. This update contains all the games for which she has composed music.

    Code:
    Another Eden - Dancing Sword of the Storm
    Another Eden - Another Eden
    Another Eden - Masaki Takeuchi - Gail Carrigo -Roulette of Destiny (8bit Arrange)
    Another Eden - Stand Against the Darkness
    Another Eden - Paradoxical Dreamers
    Let's start with the most popular one, Another Eden. It's a freemium JRPG developed by some key figures who were responsible for Chrono Trigger, including Masato Kato and Yasunori Mitsuda. A bunch of people say Another Eden is a spiritual successor. As a game with many arcs (and possibly still has some more to go), it has 4+ OSTs, all of them top-notch. I wish they would just release expansions instead, so I wouldn't have to limit the number of tracks to add. It's really hard to choose between the tracks; they're just so good! I ultimately added 5 tracks and each of them are from a different artist.

    Code:
    Oninaki - Omukust
    Oninaki - Battle -Threat-
    Oninaki - Battle -Kushi-
    Oninaki - Battle -Oni-
    Oninaki is a game by the same devs as I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphere. It has an OST composed by Mitsuda's proteges, Mariam Abounnasr and Shunsuke Tsuchiya. They did an excellent job without their sensei.

    Code:
    Valkyria Revolution - Pledged Revenge
    Valkyria Revolution is a terrible game with a pretty mediocre OST. It's a stain on the Valkyria Chronicles franchise that tries to copy Dynasty Warriors and fails badly. It's a game no one asked for. The OST was composed by Mitsuda, with Abounnasr having arranged some of the tracks (her very first VGM work). It's mostly filled with generic, unmemorable cinematic music that sound more appropriate in movies or Medal of Honor games.

    Code:
    Revolve8 - To the Top -A New Beginning
    Revolve8 - In a Small Inferno -Little Match Girl theme
    Revolve8 - Welcome to Lieu-Gouet Resort -Urashima Taro theme
    Now we get to the sad situation that is Revolve8. Despite the OST being good, it went completely under the radar. It's a mobile game developed by SEGA, directed by Jet Set Radio's Masayoshi Kikuchi, with character designs by Castlevania's Koji Igarashi (and music by Mitsuda's studio). With such a top-notch team, nothing could go wrong, right?

    Wrong! The game flopped so hard, it quietly shut down its servers in just a year! Some say it was the lack of marketing. Some say it was the pay-to-win store. Some say it was the sell-off to a different company. Some say it was because it's a Clash Royale ripoff. Perhaps it was all of the above? In any case, it was a complete waste of talent. Well, not really a complete waste, since we have a great OST out of it.

    While Revolve8 was shutting down, SEGA released another Clash Royale ripoff called League of Wonderland, which shut down earlier this year (~6 months of life this time). It was in development while Revolve8 was out. Were they really planning to have two Clash Royale ripoffs out at the same time? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

    ...

    In conclusion, watch out for Mariam Abounnasr.

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