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Zelda Music Battle: --Gerudo Valley-- vs. --Vah Naboris Battle Theme--

PogiJones

PogiJones

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,636
Zelda Music Battle: Desert Edition!

First, we have the classic and well-beloved Gerudo Valley Theme from OoT:

It's catchy with a nice, beautiful Latin flavor. It evokes a thieves' fort in the desert perfectly, probably in a desert in Latin America.

VS.

Next, we have the Divine Beast Vah Naboris Battle Theme from BotW:

This is incredibly evocative of the Arabian desert. In fact, I would love to hear a game piece that makes you feel more like Lawrence of Arabia than this piece. (For real, if you have one, shoot it my way. I love this stuff.)

Which is your favorite Zelda desert piece between these two? Would you actually pick a different desert piece than these two?

Personally, as much as I love Gerudo Valley, I think I've heard it enough times that its impact on me is slightly less than it used to be, so I have to go with the latter. What about you?
 
Abicus

Abicus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
489
Australia
It's just so hard to go past Gerudo Valley. The live version they played on the Symphony of the Goddess tour took it to another level.
 
ReyVGM

ReyVGM

Author - NES Endings Compendium
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
5,431
There's no contest. Gerudo Valley will always win.
 
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PogiJones

PogiJones

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,636
I fully expect Gerudo Valley to win... but I want to be wrong! Come on, Vah Naboris! Show people the Arabian flavor is superior!
 
Rand a. Thor

Rand a. Thor

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Oct 31, 2017
10,213
Greece
Gerudo Valley is what the bowel movement of angels sounds like, the Vah Naboris fight wishes it could hold a candle against it.
 
-shadow-

-shadow-

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,110
As much as I love Vah Naboris, therest just not a strong melody. Unlike Gerudo which, well come on...
 
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PogiJones

PogiJones

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,636
TheOGB said:
I mean, Gerudo Valley is one of many iconic tunes from an iconic game.

But of those two I choose Vah Naboris.

Unless this is in contention
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Now THIS is a good version.

ReyVGM said:
If you were gonna pick a desert song from BotW I would have gone with the Molduga music to be honest.

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I thought about adding it as a third option, since I know some people like it more than Vah Naboris, but I wanted to keep it head-to-head, and it doesn't really evoke a desert as strongly as the other two, IMO.
 
Rand a. Thor

Rand a. Thor

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
10,213
Greece
Also this discussion is exactly why I am slightly less favorable of BotW's soundtrack than most. While it has some excellent slow arrangements and the amazing Hyrule Castle track, the game has none of the oomph or bombast of previous titles. Gerudo Valley is one of those songs I can mention to understand what I mean, but its not only that. Each Zelda has that one track, or several in cases like TP or ALBW, which just sweep you up in the pure emotion they present you, and etch their way into your memory forever. BotW just doesn't have that energy or emotion in its soundtrack, or at least not in the way I wanted it to. Open World makes it hard obviously to have a soundtrack so heavy as you will spend way more time doing stuff and exploring compared to previous titles, but they could have had some moments where it could be done. Even the series' main theme can't fit in the musical style or emotion that BotW was trying to convey, which is one of my main arguements as to why it fails as a Zelda Soundtrack. Again, the music has its moments, but like I said, not as a Zelda Soundtrack. If it were a soundtrack to any other game I would give it praise.
Final Edit: The Switch Presentation track for example is what a Zelda Soundtrack should include. Its uplifting, its dramatic, its there to sweep you off your feet into a world unknown. If the soundtrack had even THREE tracks as well made and as emotional as this, it would have been excellent. But no, ambiance and low key movements won the day. Fuck that noise.
 
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B. Spaceman

B. Spaceman

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,296
Spain
Gerudo Valley always sounded more like flamenco to me. You know, the folk music from the south of Spain
 
Fliesen

Fliesen

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,251
Abicus said:
It's just so hard to go past Gerudo Valley. The live version they played on the Symphony of the Goddess tour took it to another level.
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Signed. "Gerudo Valley" the theme way outshines the zone / area in OoT and it's very much among the GOAT pieces of Zelda music. (whereas i still consider the Wind Waker soundtrack to be the better overall soundtrack)
Like, it was the blandest and least interesting area with annoying sneaking missions, yet the soundtrack was so strong and memorable.
 
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PogiJones

PogiJones

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,636
Come on, Vah Naboris, buddy. You can do it. You have my vote, and another semi-committal vote against like 12 votes for Gerudo Valley. But I believe in you to mount an underdog comeback. You can do it!
 
Pascal

Pascal

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
10,224
Parts Unknown
Gerudo Valley of course. It's such a memorable tune. Also here's another desert themed song from BotW that I really like.
 
Davevil

Davevil

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Oct 27, 2017
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User Banned (A Day): Thread whining drive-by. Accumulated similar infractions.
Another useless thread about game's OST. is this the quality of ERA?
 
dlauv

dlauv

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,507
Those orchestrated versions of Gerudo remind me of

So fucking terrible. The Gerudo compositions fare better tho.

I like the second track, but the hook isn't anywhere near as strong as Gerudo's. You couldn't pick it out of a line up. Granted, there are other factors that define the context we listen to Gerudo in.
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

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Oct 27, 2017
2,055
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There is no contest, Gerudo Valley is better than all music in BotW and Vah Naboris is not even BotW's best track (that would be the magnificient theme).
 
Segafreak

Segafreak

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,756
Instantly recognizable tune vs unremarkable, unmemorable tune I'll forget half a minute later

Gerudo Valley sounds a trillion times better than anything botw has to offer.
 
Yarbskoo

Yarbskoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,980
That BotW piece is great, but Gerudo Valley is in the top 20 when it comes to best video game tracks.
 
ReyVGM

ReyVGM

Author - NES Endings Compendium
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
5,431
PogiJones said:
That's the reason I said Latin, rather than Latin American. :) I must admit, maybe it's because of OoT that it evokes a desert to me.
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True, but you did say afterwards:
"It evokes a thieves' fort in the desert perfectly, probably in a desert in Latin America."

:P

In my case, BotW's music is way too nuanced for my tastes. There are some great tracks, like Hyrule Castle, one of the Minigame tracks, the village themes, but the other ones? Way too slow or ambient for what a Zelda OST should be. But whatever, they were trying something different with the game, maybe for the next one they'll increase the amount of powerful tracks and use ambient tracks sparingly.
 
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PogiJones

PogiJones

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,636
ReyVGM said:
True, but you did say afterwards:
"It evokes a thieves' fort in the desert perfectly, probably in a desert in Latin America."

:P

In my case, BotW's music is way too nuanced for my tastes. There are some great tracks, like Hyrule Castle, one of the Minigame tracks, the village themes, but the other ones? Way too slow or ambient for what a Zelda OST should be. But whatever, they were trying something different with the game, maybe for the next one they'll increase the amount of powerful tracks and use ambient tracks sparingly.
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Haha, also true! But I was mindful of the geographic shift, hence why I didn't say "It evokes a thieves' fort in a Latin American desert," instead putting a generic "desert," then putting after a comma "probably in a desert in Latin America." Because that's the kind of desert seems closest to the evoked desert to me, but I was aware the music was more Spanish than Latin American (which do share some traits).

Yeah, I get that people looking for bombastic music missed it. Two of my favorites are very bombastic: Hyrule Castle (LttP and its variations in other games) and the Dark World theme (also LttP). So I can sympathize.

For me, though, I played BotW only a year ago, and I already feel nostalgic hearing those piano tinkles. In contrast to bombastic pieces, which remind me of the area I played, those piano tinkles almost send me back to BotW's Hyrule.

Here's an excellent video about the musicality of it, and how expertly crafted it is, if you're interested:
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,881
Gerudo Valley is just the best, so many good takes on it. The Vah Naboris battle music is good, but what's the point when you only hear it for barely a minute in game? The Gerudo Town night theme is the best desert music in BotW imo, love how it incorporates some otherworldly sounds to emphasize the mystical aspects of the town and embraces the absolute silence of the desert at night

 
Byvar

Byvar

Member
Oct 26, 2017
535
Gerudo Valley for sure, one of the best themes in the whole Zelda series.

Also:
PogiJones said:
I would love to hear a game piece that makes you feel more like Lawrence of Arabia than this piece. (For real, if you have one, shoot it my way. I love this stuff.)
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If you're looking for Lawrence of Arabia's music in games, look no further:

(except Lawrence of Arabia's actual theme music is of course much, much better)
 
RagnarokX

RagnarokX

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,742
Eh, Gerudo Valley is one of the top videogame songs of all time and Van Noboris battle is an unmemorable song from possibly the least memorable Zelda OST. It lacks a strong memorable/catchy melody to hook you in.
 
Etrian Oddity

Etrian Oddity

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,429
The best Ganonblight theme is Vah Ruta, and Gerudo Valley is pretty timeless.

To be fair, the music that plays at the lookout station before the Vah Naboris battle is actually pretty amazing.
 

Deleted member 36578

Dec 21, 2017
26,561
Gerudo by a mile. It's up there with my absolute favorite videogame tunes of all time.
 
atbigelow

atbigelow

Member
Oct 29, 2017
185
Gerudo Valley was always a great song. I think it gets a bit too much credit overall, but it's great.

But the orchestrated version from the 25th Anniversary really pushes it beyond the in-game version. The Twilight Princess Medley does the same thing: TP was held back by its bad sampling but orchestrating it really brings out the nuance and depth of its composition.
 
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