ReMix: Chrono Trigger 'The Final Battle'

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This one's been on hold for a good, long while... the circumstances are a bit extenuating, however, and it can't be chalked up solely to the "OCR delay factor". In this instance, a "special edition" of Chrono Symphonic was going to be released, and this track was going to be a new addition, along with remastered versions of the original tracks. For whatever reason, that never happened, but the confusion around whether it wuz or whether it warn't accounts for the bulk of the delay in this piece showing up here on OverClocked ReMix in a much-belated fashion. Newcomer PLBenjaminZ, in real life known as Preston Lee Benjamin Bautista Samoranos (cue Freudian name envy), sends us an orchestral arrangement of Lavos Theme, World Revolution, Chrono Trigger, and Last Battle, that clocks in at five minutes even. The ReMixer explains:

"This remix was made for Chrono Symphonic but my computer crashed around a week before the deadline and I didn't get to recover my data until after the deadline (sounds fun huh?). It sucks because I spent a lot of time on it and it never made it onto the album but oh well. I'm submitting it to OCR wondering how it stands by itself. It's supposed to go on the Chrono Symphonic Special Edition, but I don't know what happened to that... "

Criticisms focused largely on production, with some judges noting the rather average sound quality of the samples and the muddy effect the production took on at times, but most concurring that the creative, dynamic arrangement more than compensated. JJT writes:

"I'm in agreement with TO, the arrangement sometimes gets really muddy and too involved. Another major gripe of mine is that the percussion is mixed too quiet for my tastes. However, you made great use of some not-so-great samples, and provided plenty of interpretation of the source material. The dynamic shape of the piece is well thought out. By the time it's finished we as listeners are not at the same place we started; the journey has been coherent, intentional, and at times, very beautiful."

I'd say that's spot on; this isn't a mix that will blow you away sonically, but we've had pieces in the past that fit a similar mold of being a tad bit lopsided towards the arrangement end of the spectrum, so that's nothing new. Anyone looking for a thoughtful, carefully constructed orchestral CT mix should be very interested, and most of that demographic can probably forgive the somewhat centered approach to panning and other production qualms rather readily. It'd be great to see what Preston can do if he continues to pursue mixing, builds up a sample collection, and brushes up on EQ a bit, but for now, this is a great starter track, compositionally mature, and fun to listen to.

― djpretzel