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Mari's World's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #206 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Impression | #229 | 3.524 | 3.524 |
| Composition | #282 | 3.476 | 3.476 |
| Overall | #303 | 3.419 | 3.419 |
| Quality | #351 | 3.381 | 3.381 |
| Correlation to theme | #481 | 3.048 | 3.048 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
I'm usually a big hater on the themes for some events but I loved the picture theme here. I loved that the girl was dressed in ostensibly traditional East Asian clothes (maybe I could use something like a shamisen pluck synth?). I loved that she was underwater (maybe I could be playful with the lowpass filters?). I loved there were all these childish drawings and particularly the implication of all that "imagination-land" evoking material superimposed with what appears to be a motherly shape in a bubble dancing with the girl, as if this were a place where the child can cope with the loss of a loved one. That felt ripe for some kind of "twisted lullaby" feel.
That was ambitious though and I spent the first few days noodling with Asian plucks and other nonsense and feeling uninspired. I did ultimately find some chord progressions that I liked with a Kontakt guitars and so that formed the basis of a lot of the motif development. It unfortunately never got very loop-able so it comes across more strictly narrative-driven and linear than I might like repeating in the background of a game, but I'm generally happy with its direction.
I did misunderstand the submission guidelines and so instead of a playlist, I just prepared a single file. There are 6 "tracks" (which are maybe easier to tell apart in the soundcloud link version):
1) Welcome to Mari's World
2) Reclaim
3) Sweat and Tears
4) Oh Am I Not What You Expected?
5) To Terms
6) Isn't What Drives Most People Childish?
They were meant to follow some elements of a story circle: You, Need, Go, Find, Return, and Change.
Theme
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/anthony-phillip-katona/frkatona-maris-world
Number of tracks6
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
I guess everyone talked about the guitar, it’s really good for the sound, but it’s also super well written so great job. The whole OST was really enjoyable and well done.
Welcome to Mari's World: Ooh is that Electric Starburst? Great progression.
Reclaim: Bouncy piano! Short and sweet.
Sweat and Tears: Cool instrumentation!
Oh Am I Not What You Expected?: Great pads and piano combo.
To Terms: More sweet guitar. Unique take on a chromatic descent progression at the start.
Isn't What Drives Most People Childish?: Wasn't expecting the positive ending!
Great work!
What a unique sounding OST, it's beautifull. I'm guessing you are a guitarist? LOVE the sound of them especially, and it's inpiring, because you don't usually hear guitar all that much in soundtracks for games like these. Great job my man.
Nice chord progressions especially in Welcome to Mari's World which IMO is your best, the mix is well made very easy to listen, just a shame that it seems like it ended abruptly, feels like it needs a part 2, I assume it was Return to Terms but I think it would be better as a whole, personal take. Sweat and Tears is nice but very muddy in the mix and very loud we lose all the beauty of some instruments but nice transition to the next song. Isn't What Drives Most People Childish? same thing as Sweat and Tears, but too loud and saturated if you tone down everything I think it would be a lovely piece of music. Good job !
A nice and varied OST. I think the fourth track might have had some clipping with the piano and super synths but overall it was nice!
There’s so much contrast between each one of these tracks, kept me guessing the whole time! Great job!
Very cool soundtrack!!!
Lovely contrast between Sweat and Tears and Oh Am I Not What You Expected?
Also, really nice guitars, they have a warm tone that greatly enhances the compositions you have created.
Great work!!
Great work with the guitar in tracks 1 and 5 - played well, nice articulation and good progressions. Loving the reverb as well - washing out just enough to set the tone and drench the atmosphere. Loving the tone as well, works well with the tracks.
Track 3 kicks off into some serious 00s kind of vibe - adore the choice of instrumentation here and the voicings chosen. The guitar work in this is nice and buried so that the other elements can really shine, and I really dig the seamless transition into track 4. Again this is absolutely soaked in ambience; lots of rich textures in the pads and just the right amount of lead piano to add some shimmer to the top end. Good opportunity here to say that the mixing is on point as well - good job on the production, especially whilst handling so many elements at once.
Finally, track 5 is pretty good too. Feels more upbeat and perhaps triumphant than the others and almost waltz-y at points. Taking this chance to compliment the percussion also - very fitting throughout and never strays outside of its lane.
Great job with this as a whole, really enjoyed it. Nice and varied tracks, cool live instrumentation and solid arrangements all around. Best of luck!
Mh... a very soulful soundtrack and WONDERFUL instruments. (Many people have already talked about the guitar... I will also say: the guitar is good)
Thank you! It's a Kontakt-based plugin so it took care of the heavy lifting of the cool pluck patterns, though it can be finnicky and I spend a while fine tuning the chords and voice leading that played nicely with it so I will take the compliment! Here's what the midi looked like for the intro
Lovely tracks - well done! My only (very minor) comment is that the tracks feel a bit disconnected from each other, and I would love to hear more how they flow into each other and carry motifs and emotions across the whole soundtrack. Good stuff!
I knowwww it's the curse of the jam where my brain built a wall between all the individual ideas and only right after I clicked "submit" did I think of a million ways I could've made it all cohesive. SUCH PLANS. Thank you for your listen and comment!
I liked the guitar plucks in the first song and especailly in the 5th song, I liked the fact that you tied the tracks together into one song which makes me notice how they are linked together
Though I have to ask, what is up with the electric field physics image you chose for your cover?
I'm sure it's exactly like you'd guess, I forgot to make/choose an image until the very last second and so I found the first image on my computer that looked relatively unique. Come to think of it, I should have cited the creator. It was in a friend's PhD thesis and I'm 90% sure she made it herself. Her name is (now Dr.) Emma Van Burns. It's meant to illustrate plasmons in metal nanoparticles resonating with the electric field of light
And thank you for listening and your kind comment!
I really liked the use of reververation. The intro and track 4 were my favorites!
I liked the soundtrack overall, but my favourite track was the last one (really sad it didn't last longer) it's a really hearthwarming conclusion to it and I love the use of synths in contrast to the rest of the album.
Great work :D
Next level strings on the intro to this track and then turned out to be equally great everywhere else the piece traveled, the pads later on etc. And who doesn't like physics for a cover art lol, outstanding!