ReMix:NiGHTS into dreams... "Panzer Nightopia" 2:38

NiGHTS... in the style of Panzer Dragoon? How cool... Matt E. Waldman (formerly MattInc) gave us a sweet Panzer Dragoon II ReMix back during our 10th anniversary mixflood, and it seems he was still in a similar mindset when Stevo hit him up for Lucid Dreaming:

"For this ReMix, the style sort-of came to me by accident through experimentation with a drum VST I bought. It reminded me of the tribal/ambient-ness of the Panzer Dragoon series (I was still in a Panzer Dragoon obsession phase), so I just slapped on an appropriate title. (sounds silly, yeah?) When it comes to music, I'm not the strongest writer ever, so instead of relying on that, I tried evoking a more moody/ambient style in this piece. I went with a very electronic/symphonic sound as opposed to the pop-y cheerfulness of the source."

You can definitely hear the Panzer influence on the blend of orchestral, film, and ethnic textures, specifically with the percussion and the portamento string bends; good stuff. Album director Stevo Bortz writes:

"Panzer Nightopia...what can I say? This song is the embodiment of adventure and intrigue. Taking a source tune from one of the Saturn’s most iconic games and giving it the genre treatment of another of the Saturn’s iconic games is the idea of a mad genius. MattInc crafted this incredibly interesting soundscape, with tribal drums and lush strings layered between warm synths and a crystal clear piano. Since his first WIP, I had it in mind that this would be the way to start the project off. It is definitely a stark contrast to the style of the source, but the melodies are still all there and given amazing treatment. It also gets the NiGHTS leitmotif a thorough runthrough, preparing the listener for its inclusion in the tracks that follow the rest of the project. Great work from a super-nice ReMixer, and a perfect start to the album."

Palpable chimes in on the unanimous judge decision:

"I'll just add that the ambient arrangement was a great match for the original, which is a less melodic take on the NiGHTS melody than many of the other songs in the game. This arrangement had a strong soundtrack feel, and the strings and piano floated beautifully atop the warm pads, like whispers in the wind."

Eloquently put; consensus was that this arrangement was a perfect addition to the album since it provided a LESS melody-intensive take on the main theme, which is emphasized in abundance elsewhere, providing a more expansive, cinematic context. I definitely agree - I'm a fan of how Matt approaches his arrangements, and I think he sells himself a little short; while the main strength of this mix might be the production, it still took some definite skill to blend the major-key, sugary pop sweetness of the NiGHTS theme with the arid, desert adventure of PD and come up with something this good. Kudos for combining two totally different Sega classics into yet another fantastic track off of Lucid Dreaming!