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(+1)

as usual, Jofes, YOU COOKED.

A World of Old - IMMACULATE VISUALS. The way the music itself tells the story through the same distinct instruments fits very well for an opening cutscene in the start of the story.

Human Township - heavy medieval vibes nicely represent a fantasy-style village. And GOD THE FACT THAT YOU USE INSTRUMENTS TO REPRESENT DISTINCT CHARACTERS IS SO COOL, I GENUINELY THOUGHT I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO DOES THAT CONSISTENTLY

Moment of Respite - swing rhythm and general lute melody really shows Alyxia's cheerfulness despite the situation. I think it represents the character really well.

The Bells of Battle - bells specifically representing combat fits so nicely with the story since they also represent the citadel, the reason for this war to begin with. Pretty rhythmic, while keeping the same medieval style. Woodwinds really do give it an authentic ethnic vibe.

Take Stock - satisfying percussion and I like how you hold back on representative instruments to keep it neutral for each character. Though I think it'd be an even cooler idea if this track would change dynamically depending on a character, but it's just an idea.

As A Bell Tolls... - HOLY INTRO. The way everything silenced with only bells tolling gives such a majestic feeling to it. And the slow rhythm indeed makes it sound like an anthem of sorts, something enormous.

...The Citadel Beckons - organ and bells fully joining in now brings a bit more grandiose feeling to the sound indeed. Although I think it could've been a bit more tense for the final boss theme, it represents their determination to stop the Citadel with the melody very nicely, the melody itself mostly circling around the root note (if I got it right), adding more stability to their goal.

A World Renewed - I love the uplifting feeling it brings as the conflict is finally resolved, and again all representative instruments combining gives it more width in sound and a more crowded feel if you know what I mean. Yet, even as it's the end of the story, it brings continuation in the sound, like it's only the beginning of a new story, like the world will live on after the end of this story.

Overall... Dude. I use the gimmick of instruments representing characters too, but I did not hear anyone else really use it that much up until that day and I'm so happy to hear it here!!!!!! Although the story is relatively short, it's one of the most well-written ones on the jam from those I've seen, and the concept itself is amazing too. If I had to give any criticism at all it would be that the songs usually sound pretty hollow because of limited instruments, especially on low frequencies and driving percussion in battles, but that's understandable since it's supposed to almost exclusively feature ethnic instrumentation, and besides, the melodies themselves are really complex and thoughtful. In two words - you cooked :3

(+1)

Thank you so much!!!

Having take stock change dynamically based on party member is such a cool idea! I wish I had thought of that before because that would have been so fun to do!

I knew right away that I wanted instruments to represent specific people. In my first OST jam, Crunch time 3, I did that with a dragon and piccolo, but it didn't really work. It needs multiple characters so that they can mix and match rather than just be present or not. 

With the hollow feeling, I wanted to avoid crowding the low end for fear of making the songs too muddy. I had a bass pizzicato and a second quieter and different sounding bass pizzicato to give it more depth, but besides that, a lot of my instruments worked better in mid to high ranges.

I used what I learned from Pix in the overtime jam about percussion samples and loops and had a ton of world percussion loops I wanted to use. They were complex though, and when I sped them up too much they became annoying. Most of the tracks play in double time at like 80 bpm, so it feels like 160. But the percussion I used for the citadel beckons worked best at a tempo somewhere in the low 100s so it was still fast, but it had a different feel.

Either way, thank you so much for your feedback!