YIIK (OST) - Puzzle Pieces (Allanson-Bowen-Manfredonia) (Vocals by: Niko Tsakalakos)

Personal Note: My favorite song on the entire soundtrack!
I do not own or profit from anything in this video. All rights belong to AckkStudios and the artists involved.
I did purchase the soundtrack and it is phenomenal! You can buy it by clicking on this link: andrewallanson.bandcamp.com/a...
You can also purchase YIIK here: store.steampowered.com/app/45...
Game Page: yiikrpg.com/

[@programmesubliminals9033]

Actual lyrics: Give your final words to me, I'll take a leave of absence from walking by the sea There's a path I'll take with so much at stake, just try to understand this is not a mistake, Underneath this heavy load, I'll travel through the moonlight, deciphering the code of the task at hand, please just understand I can't tell you what you want to know 'til I know! Where's the piece of this puzzle, I'm beggin' please! Where's the answer the one needs to find? To keep us sane above the ground, I'll risk my life! Hoping I can play the key, The key unlocks our safety, from death eternally. Past the iron gate, I'll crack the code of our fate! Just try to understand this is not a mistake! Until my loves lives it out... I'll keep searching underground. The lights will guide my way! To reach another day In the end, I cannot fail. I cannot fall... Where's the piece of this puzzle, I'm beggin' please! Where's the answer the one needs to find? To keep us sane above the ground, I'll risk my life! I'm drowning with uncertainty, I'm drowning until I find the key, I'm drowning 'til I find, the answer dropped to its side In the end, I cannot fail. I cannot fall...

[@JaydeeArrr]

It sounds good to me even if it doesn’t rhyme, that’s genuinely impressive

[@SmartCreeper]

​@@JaydeeArrrpostmodern music

[@supahcomix]

Pointless fact: The lyrics to the beta version of the song say "piece to this puzzle"

[@supergamemaster2279]

"It's *fucking puzzle pieces!"* -Tehsnakerer on his interesting and entertaining anylais of the game.

[@litarogers3984]

I disagree with him that this song os bad, this songs fuckin fire

[@notafbiagent473]

@@litarogers3984 Some do absolutely fucking suck. Battle, Battle with Uzu, Alex Eagleson and Years to come; for example

[@joshzuker8308]

@@notafbiagent473 Alex Yiik's own theme is objectively good. It reminds me a bit of the Neverhood

[@peppermillers8361]

@@joshzuker8308 it would've stood out better if the rest of the soundtrack wasn't a mixed bag. Then again, maybe I'm just biased considering I love the Neverhood soundtrack.

[@peppermillers8361]

His video elevated the song from funny to godlike.

[@DACopperhead2]

So after learning about the loss the Allanson siblings faced during the making of this game, and going through something similar myself recently, I feel so much more....kind to this entire game. This entire game, every line of code, every bar of the soundtrack, every bit of art is connected to the sudden and tragic loss of their mother. No wonder the game is unfocused, confused, and seemingly filled with hatred. Of course Andrew got upset, people shit all over a game that had to have some bloody tight ties to one of the worst things a person can experience. Yiik feels like a game made out of sorrow, an ultimately nihilistic game with humor that seems to exist in order to try and lighten the mood of an unbearably dark time. I'm probably reading too much into things, but Yiik feels much, much sadder to me now that I've gone through something somewhat similar, If i was the Allansons, I would both absolutely hate this game with every passion of my being, and defend it to my last breath. I honestly hope that they are still making games and doing what they love.

[@Helokus]

they are actually making an update to overhaul the story and everything in the game

[@Michaels_gun]

​@@Helokusoverhaul? The story is still the same

[@Helokus]

@@Michaels_gun Ey I was telling what I heard.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

It's so hard to listen to this song without picturing Proto-Comet's silly dance.

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

Whose face pretty much mirror my own contempt to this game at that point.

[@pablostufff]

Honestly hoping they keep the noodly-armed comet for I.V because it's pretty iconic

[@bitchassmoththing]

​@@pablostufff they are

[@misterpockets4763]

I love that this song is slightly bad on purpose, to show the desperation of a liberal arts student in the face of death

[@reidysmeidy5772]

I think people's problem with this song (and a large portion of the ost) is that some of the parts of this song are out-of-tune when that's a perfectly 90s punk/grunge thing to do. Despite all my problems with the game, I have no problem with the OST it went for something risky and memorable, just that the game itself ruined its chances.

[@coolcatkim22]

I don't think this song is out of tune. My problem with it is that it sounds like the vocals were peaking during recording so it's all terribly distorted.

[@asdwz458]

@@coolcatkim22 the distortion sounds like an intentional choice, like in the years to come prototype version the vocals are clean but in the final version it gets distorted for effect

[@reidysmeidy5772]

@@coolcatkim22 will say I am no audio expert. All of this does sound intentional.

[@littlemoth4956]

@@coolcatkim22 Dude, I mean no disrespect, at all. But it’s overwhelmingly obvious that that was intentional. Not understanding that is a bit dense.

[@pachicore]

The thing is that the instrumentals are sappy and dramatic which grunge music doesn't really have

[@Takimeko]

Lemme spin ya'll a little tale of when I first got to this boss. So, like, before I bought this game, I learned about it through Ruggington, and then I found the OST, heard this song, and absolutely loved it and played it on loop over and over in the months before I bought the game. I played through it, having a decent time (I actually do enjoy this game quite a bit, yes) and then I got to the final boss and got really excited cuz I was finally gonna hear Puzzle Pieces in it's intended context. So I got my headphones on, started the battle, and a minute in I thought "Hmmm, i'm using Rory right now, what if I used that one ability of his where he causes monsters to run away?". So I used it, and the battle ended not long after. Puzzle Pieces didn't even get to loop once. I was absolutely fucking shocked cuz normally I don't think it's supposed to work on bosses, but I guess they missed this one. It was gloriously terrible.

[@jackeroni216]

wait did u win?

[@porky1118]

@@jackeroni216 Sounds like. Did the monster run away?

[@KirbyFanDude]

That's amazing. Honestly I hate when you can't do stuff like that on bosses

[@Takimeko]

@@porky1118 No, the final boss' health went down to 1, since it's one of those "supposed to lose" battles

[@Jetterz1999]

I like how OneyPlays singlehandedly made us notice that yiik's ost is actually pretty good lmao

[@TheKhfan001]

I do genuinely like most of the music on this OST

[@TheHumbleHollow]

Yiik's story and gameplay may fall flat, but basically every single soundtrack is incredible.

[@ctpp64]

​@@TheHumbleHollow the art direction can be pretty amazing too during the surreal sections

[@bingobongo321]

I'm annoyed how much I genuinely like this song

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

I dont know why, but for some reason I like this song. Theres something about its tone that fits a losing battle.

[@JayTohab]

It's like the game hates the situation more than you do.

[@SHDW-nf2ki]

The whole song is supposedly full of hints for the "secret" ending which the devs cut and then uploaded to KZbin as a prank.

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

@@JayTohab "Ok, I know you don't like me, but please understand this isn't my fault. I'm sorry to spent so much time preparing for a fight you never were going to win anyway cause of the developers idea of 'story telling.' Please forgive me for this..."

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

@@SHDW-nf2ki Yeah I Found that out long after the fact. You can hear bits of it in other themes too. Perhaps they did the music with the original idea and than forgot that when they decided to change it up.

[@Michaels_gun]

​@@SHDW-nf2kiwhat? That isnt what happened at all

[@TheFuzzyOcelot]

My favorite part has to be at the end, when a lot of the instruments cut out but unlike the rest of the song the singer doesn’t lower the intensity to match. Really sells that feeling of desperate struggle. That followed up by the one final reprise of the main melody after the instrumental bit right at the very end is just wonderful.

[@blaz9474]

This song *really* shows the sad truth of YIIK. It has beautifully interesting scenes - at least in terms of concept. Everything was just... done in the worst way possible.

[@slowpoke8585]

I love this song! I like how this track gives off that feeling that you're fighting a losing battle and death is imminent. It was also depressing to see your friends be banished one by one to NEVER be seen again.

[@thereallifesaiyan]

For as mediocre as YIIK is, the part with all your friends being banished one by one still hit hard, being in a better game would make that shit hit HARD

[@porky1118]

@@thereallifesaiyan It didn't hit hard on me. I didn't expect this to really be the end. After the fight, they would reappear, and we get a happy end...

[@Hanesboi]

I love this song! It's awesome when [major spoilers for no reason] No hate it was just kinda funny.

[@Bird_in_a_Trenchcoat]

@@porky1118except that’s not really how it went. Alex never gets his friends back. Sure there’s different versions of them at the end but it’s not really them. Alex lost genuinely everything and he doesn’t get it back in the end. Yiik’s story wasn’t great but honestly i think the ending was the most well done part of it

[@porky1118]

@@Bird_in_a_TrenchcoatIsn't the ending what YIIK is most criticized for? They originally planned a different ending, and everyone seemed to like that much better.

[@theincursion5898]

i cant believe alex yiik taught me that punk/grunge can actually sound good

[@sammettik]

Nothing is sadder than a wasted idea.

[@VerkatosEnsei]

This game is... frustrating to think about sometimes I know it's garnered an ironic fanbase and I'm absolutely on board with all of that, Alex YIIKing out and all that When it's bad, it's bad, it's just pretentious and long winded for its own sake, and it's unintentionally hilarious for that reason But then you have moments like New Year's Eve and how it ALMOST works Seeing all of Alex's friends and the entire world lose all detail, it was a cool indicator that shit's falling apart, and that they're up against something they know they have no chance of defeating but they still have to try anyway, and everyone's so excited like nothing's gone wrong, at least until they somehow suddenly remember their mission And the song that plays on New Year's, as well as this one, really adds to that sense of dread that the game was clearly going for The song that plays before this feels pretty bittersweet, it sounds upbeat but the lyrics are about an impending doom, while this theme sounds like a death march, against an unstoppable force (said impending doom), but Alex and the gang have to try anyway and actually give a shit for once The comet is also just a noodle man with Alex YIIK's face on a rock, and when it banishes the party, there's no like, reaction whatsoever Then after the quote fight unquote, reality's destroyed, and the adventure you just went on for the past however long with Alex's friends all seemed... so pointless, because they're all gone and dead, and you just fight with alternate versions of them by the end anyway Or, I guess the point was that after an entire game of Alex being a selfish jackass, he has a chance to try and save an entire reality for once since he wasn't able to save his reality I don't know, I'm honestly not sure how I'd fix it but I do think there are some really cool ideas, concepts, and visuals in this game but the execution and the super long winded monologues and clunky gameplay really marred it At the least, they could've made the Alex comet actually huge, ala Majora's Mask moon, it'd be as big as Alex's own ego and how his hubris would be the thing that destroys reality or something like that Or hell, they could have it start it off as the noodle man and then as the fight continues it just grows in size until Alex has to realize that it's pointless and he fucked up or something Still... The fact that the devs are working to try and fix the game's flaws does make me slightly hopeful that we can actually see some of these interesting concepts properly executed They even poke fun at themselves, like they reworked the Golden Alpaca because they knew it was the most made fun of and nonsensical part of the original game, and even when you run into the Alpaca afterwards in the game he just kind of parrots Alex's most memetic lines (like the one he says to Rory about his sister) It also foreshadows the end of the game when it runs into the group in the sewers And yet, it's still kinda cheesy and campy in its own way because it's wielding a giant ass sword and has wings, so it's still kinda silly, but it's now actually plot relevant tl;dr Game's got cool ideas but awful execution, pretty good music though (for the most part, not everything's a hit) And I hope that they have cool ideas and GOOD execution with any updates they're working on

[@sapphire4310]

the thing about YIIK is that the only real problem is the execution. the story itself is completely fine, but the game does a bad job of actually portraying the real story to you, so it's very hard to figure out, which isn't a good thing in my opinion. it takes multiple playthroughs, or multiple reads through the story to really figure things out. the vast majority of people only played it once, so they take everything at face value and think that the story is badly written. the official discord for YIIK is full of extremely dedicated people who genuinely really like this game. i went there originally because i liked the game ironically, but after learning more about the story through them my opinion changed, and i genuinely like this game now. the huge update that the devs are making is coming very soon, all they have left to do is localization, and i think it's going to make the real story much easier to figure out for people who originally didn't see it

[@spessmen13]

An overy long monologue to surpass alex yiik

[@lokiofasgard7780]

Another example of really good musical storytelling in this ost. Too bad the fight it accompanied doesn’t live up to its soundtrack

[@vids4thewin4]

This is also my favorite song on the track, makes the whole fight feel triumphant yet desperate

[@Evflasky]

I agree man, it was so hard to watch the fight when I really loved the characters. Especially my boy Rory :(

[@porky1118]

@@Evflasky I didn't even know, Rory could still be alive at that point in time.

[@notafbiagent473]

@@porky1118 He survives if you chose to kiss him when given the choice

[@porky1118]

@@notafbiagent473 I tried to kiss everyone I could and he died anyway...

[@Angel_Kittichik]

I like this theme, even though the singer sounds a bit tone deaf, but I think that's part of the point in the meaning. To me it sounds like the desperate battle cry of the average, and despite them not being special they're still willing to fight against an overwhelming threat. My only qualm with it is that the voice sounds a bit too gravelly in some parts. Everything else I enjoy how it's been put together.

[@mrbruh8241]

Alex be YIIKing

[@Angel_Kittichik]

@@mrbruh8241 YIIIIIIIIK

[@matthewlong7547]

The Audio is yiiking

[@randomcommenter4405]

bro… i just yiiked….

[@littlemoth4956]

I disagree, the singer sounds like he’s struggling to blurt out the words. It fits the tone well

[@heehooobsessor7907]

I love/hate this song. It sounds good when it's at the slow parts (the ending being the exception), but the singing gets obnoxious when the song gets heavy.

[@unserioes0815]

for me its the other way around! The heavy parts are so fitting they give you this helpless feeling while you have to watch meteor alex banish all your friends away :D

[@FireyTheAlienDragon]

@@frankman1998 you know honestly the game is a whole tire dumster fire it clearly wanted to be something unique and different with its music and its style. But if they just worked with the story and improved it. An put some mmmpph into some of the characters and fix some man issues with the game they could;'ve had a very nice gem created

[@Fuges]

This should've been the final boss theme, not whatever that generic ass RPG maker sounding song was that we got for the final boss

[@SakuraPottage]

NOT FINAL LYRICS. THE DEVS WON'T POST THE OFFICIAL ONES. Give your final words to me I'll take a leave of absence from walking by the sea There's a path I'll take, with so much at stake Just try to understand, this is not a mistake! Underneath this heavy load I'll travel through the moonlight, deciphering the code Of the task at hand, please just understand! I can't give you what you wanna know til I know Where's the piece of this puzzle? I'm beggin please Where's the answer the one needs the most? To give or save? Above the crown, I'll risk my life! Hoping I can play the key The key that unlocks our safety from death eternally Past the iron gate, I'll crack the code of our fate Just try to understand, this is not a mistake! Until my loves live on... I'll keep searching underground... The lights will guide my way, to reach another day In the end, I cannot fail, I cannot fall... Where's the piece of this puzzle? I'm beggin please Where's the answer the one needs the most? To give or save? Above the crown, I'll risk my love! I'm drowning with uncertainty I'm drowning until I find the key I'm drowning til I find the answer trapped inside In the end, I cannot fail, I cannot fall... This is like the Nyx Avatar battle...except...

[@TheSbugZone]

yea its like the nyx avatar battle except that battle had a good theme

[@programmesubliminals9033]

except you are anti protag

[@megamimantenseirock9154]

Feline Within Anti Protag?

[@programmesubliminals9033]

@@megamimantenseirock9154 because you dont actually save the world

[@mythosinfinite6736]

Funny, this song seems to hint towards the removed true ending that we're not supposed to get. And we can't find it because we're missing that last puzzle piece that we're begging for (the missing code). That's neat. The game would be better, significantly, if we had that puzzle piece.

[@synth-wave_steve]

The context that this is referencing a ending that the devs made only assessable by a KZbin video is great.

[@flamboyant_king]

I've had this on loop for like 3 hours yesterday. There's just something about this...

[@faustojavierdarosa1119]

RIGHT NOW is the perfect moment to listen the music

[@Takimeko]

How so?

[@phaidreo]

I love this one so much. It's the best one, but Little Eyes is pretty good as well.

[@hitmontopguy]

Truly one of the songs of all time

[@Mark-fc7tu]

Despite everything, I really like this song.

[@caligulas430]

feeling a strong 5 to a light 6

[@Takimeko]

Is that an intentional Anthony Fantano reference?

[@thereallifesaiyan]

YIIK’s OST is on the same level as MBDTF

[@trevorBbracket]

I think I love this game. It's got some uncanny similarities to a game that I'm working on, honestly. I wonder what the original YIIK looked like in their heads, before it became this? The YIIK that wasn't anything more than someone's psyche formed into words, art and code.

[@deadmemes9056]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoKrlqhqhsyhl68

[@trevorBbracket]

honestly the fact it's specifically the onett stage in smash checks out so hard

[@gratingasshat2995]

I've been looking for the song that plays in the city before you fight the Proto Comet.

[@alphakenny1620]

little eyes

[@runawayredmin8263]

The Sonic 06 effect, game is God awful but has a really nice soundtrack.

[@GlassbrainZ]

The vocalist has adjacent energy to that one from Blue Dragon' boss theme.

[@jaydencooke1805]

FEAR AND AWW HEAR IT NOW

[@koallante]

Lmao oh shit I hear it now

[@politickz6591]

I honestly don't hate this song, it sounds out of tune but that's the point, it doesn't sound bad when it happens and it makes the singer sound more desperate. If the Allansons were just composers instead of writers and designers they'd probably be looked at much more fondly.

[@mrbruh8241]

Alex Yiik

[@Serious_Face]

It's... its fucking mocking me!

[@leechlord]

Heartbreaking: The Worst game You Know Made A Great song

[@BunPrince]

Can you upload a Distance voice

[@sip9549]

unironically peak this goes hard

[@ValerWave]

If only there was an instrumental...

[@Takimeko]

I have an instrumental of this on my channel, but it's not the best.

[@ValerWave]

Better than nothing, I guess. :0 but seriously i would kill a man to remove the lyrics from here... The vocals are like grunge, but without the good parts of grunge.

[@Takimeko]

@@ValerWave The singer sounds like he's singing out of his range.

[@Drakengard82]

@@Takimeko what range lol

[@Takimeko]

@@Drakengard82 This guy does have talent. I've listened to some of the stuff he did outside of this game, and he sounds completely different compared to this song.

[@DeathMothhh]

any song Titled Puzzle Pieces gotta be a hit XD I have a song called that (loomian legacy fan song) very epic.

[@robertanderson9447]

I have a bit of an odd request: Could you upload the track called "Wilde Venue Groove"? I really like that one. If not, that's okay.

[@Evflasky]

Yeah you got it dude! I'll always try to post music if it's a request.

[@robertanderson9447]

Thank you so much.

[@Evflasky]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGKwpmqpgNujf9k Here you go dude! Let me know if I got the wrong track, but I think this is the song you're talking about.

[@thehammurabichode7994]

@@robertanderson9447 You seem like such a chap

[@robertanderson9447]

@@thehammurabichode7994 I don't know, I'm just another guy on the internet. But thank you.

[@swampertmogo7222]

vella was banished!

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

Guess he did fail.

[@faustojavierdarosa1119]

So, does this game hit hard as 2020 so far?

[@luorsimiliar]

do you know that this bossfight is not based from the iconic Moon of Majora's mask but is in fact taken from Sonichu? you don' believe me? just search on google images "sonichu stone age" and you'll witness true beauty if that's the place where ackk has searched for inspiration for their game it's no wonder why everyone with a brain hates it and the actual battle against it... hmmm what a great example of game design, totally worth the 9/10 + balanced moveset + low hp so it doesn't feels like you're fighting a bullet sponge + memorable pre boss dialogue ad death animation -shouldn't have blue arms -doesn't shouts "it's no use" every 5 seconds and after this i'm totally gonna create my yiik's original cha.... my ALEXONA, draw and post online gigabytes of lewd fanarts

[@porky1118]

This would mean, I don't have a brain.

[@LandoBrah]

i like this song lol

[@xicdul6955]

I love this song. Even if he does turn into Kermit at 2:20.

[@Wanderer_bun]

The theme to a really disappointing boss battle.

[@Takimeko]

Tell me about it, tbh. I used Rory's "Talk" action on the boss and it actually worked, but it only brought his health down to 1.

[@Jay-ro4sz]

@@Takimeko *laughs in lp toss*

[@faustojavierdarosa1119]

If you can see this comment, I'll play this music before it's new years eve (2020) because that's the year when COPPA will probably destroy the KZbin universe...

[@Raven-2000]

lol

[@bitchassmoththing]

lmfao no it didn't

[@OneManCast]

Don't give Ackk any ideas. The last time someone gave Ackk Studios an idea, YiiK was born.

[@Drakengard82]

Did the singer listen to himself ? God, this is so cringey It's a shame, the instrumental is not bad at all

[@Takimeko]

He sounds much better on the other songs he's done outside of this game. He was just singing *incredibly* out of his range here.

[@Drakengard82]

I have 'researched' and and i totally agree! This guy has a great voice, he's really talented! But that makes it even worse! I guess he only had one take or something...

[@Takimeko]

@@Drakengard82 They probably told him to try a heavier type of voice and were completely okay with this.

[@Superluigi881]

I hated it at first too but tbh its kinda growing on me. You can tell he's at least passionate about it. I can't deny it's kinda catchy.

[@joshzuker8308]

I love the vocals man. The screechy vocals kind of hit hard for me alongside what they were kinda going for with the boss fight.

[@ThirdXavier]

I'm surprised to see people liking this song. Sorry if this is a little mean but I streamed this game in a Discord full of people who love pop punk and midwest emo and we agreed it was horrible. The mixing is amateurish and all over the place, and the vocals are off key and low energy. For me this was the worst song in the soundtrack which is otherwise pretty decent especially compared to the game its in.

[@Strix2031]

The point is that it is intentionally amateurish for that early 90's garage rock band feel

[@theblekedet6467]

It's horrible and I like it

[@THE_CORNELIUS]

"a Discord full of people who love pop punk and midwest emo" this is not doing you any favors in trusting your opinions on music

[@ThatEntityGirl]

This guy is NOT good at singing...

[@littlemoth4956]

I disagree, the singing is quite good.

[@ThatEntityGirl]

@@littlemoth4956 Yeah, I get it now. Not my favorite style of singing but this is fine

[@B1esky]

@@ThatEntityGirl character growth moment :)