We spotlight Lufia II: Of Gods and Men once more as the dubs be WUBBIN'! Rockos grew up a fan of this classic JRPG, which encouraged him all the more to add his signature brand of aggro energy to it:

"Lufia 2 is a really great game. Playing this is a part of my childhood that I can't forget. The soundtrack is very awesome and nostalgic to me.

This mix was done due to a track that reopened late during the project. I WIPed up a WIP mix and Bahamut accepted to take me on board.

The mix itself is pretty conservative. The whole new part is the wub and the bitcrushed bass that gives it more than the original. The arpeggio, tho, got a lot of change in every pattern so it won't repeat itself all over the song. The real tune from the game was mellow and slow-ish. I got a more slower beat and a bit less aggressive mix than the other I composed earlier. I also had fun adding chiptune. This is a pretty short source and this led to a short mix, about 3:26.

I tried to keep the feeling you had when you first step out in the world map and took the first shrine to the whole new world.

Hope you guys love it as much as I do."

Rockos's invoking of "conservative" may be applicable to the melodic handling here, but when it comes to sound design and comparing it's mood to the source material, y'all best acknowledge just how liberal it can be! Rockos was one of the album contributors who joined early in the project's life back when Bahamut was leading things, but it didn't mean that eventual Of Gods and Men director Gario wasn't also impressed with his interpretation:

"This arrangement is a great way to start moving the listeners to the end of the album -- opening slow and building to some rich, heavy electronic goodness. The wubs and dubs hit hard against those drums, and yet the arrangement also knows when to pull things back enough to give the listener some space to appreciate the heavier moments. Great stuff from Rockos!"

Would certainly recommend checking this one out within the full context of the album, as it does make an effective connective bridge between mellower material preceding it a well as some truly intense takes on Lufia II during the back half of the final disc. Fellow judge Chimpazilla also enjoyed her walk through the door:

"Yup, it's mastered nice and loud but I think that works for this genre. [...] I'm loving the grungy wubby/yai-yai stuff. I love how you hinted at it before the drop, great way to transition it in. Fun synth choices and effects, really nicely done bass writing and glitching, love the little lo-fi and chippy bits too. Arrangement is great. This is sounding very badass to me."

You might assume this is going to be a genteel affair until you get that first bass wobble at :27, and the track finally caps things off with the first major verse at :59, very plainly demonstrating that there's POWAR in them thar hills! Nice work by Rockos with a dynamic yet forceful subversion of such a modest theme, really ramping it up with a strong mixture of electronic, chiptune, and dubstep elements to truly step (in)to the Lufia II journey! :-) There's plenty more appealing arrangements for you within the complete 2-hour album, so don't be shy and give Lufia II: Of Gods and Men a try!