RPGFan Music Podcast (Rhythm Encounter) Thread

[Dalamud_Descends]

You guys are keeping me in suspense!  So ready for MOTY!  Hope to see it soon!

[Mike]

We ended up needing more production time than expected on the podcasts, but you may see it rolling out sooner than you think...!

[Reta]

Fantastic job on everything this year, and excellent picks! I'm greatly honored to see you played all three of my requests.

By the way, Caitlin, about that riff in Phantasmal Blaze and other CS2 tracks - it's not taken note-for-note from anything in 3rd, but it's an obvious homage to The Final Choice from that game (which is reused in both Cold Steel games as well, pretty much confirming the reference is deliberate). Awakening Will in particular is basically The Final Choice 2.

I also totally see what you mean about it reminding you of Ace Combat - I'd thought the same thing. The beats in Phantasmal Blaze really remind me of those in Megalith -Agnus Dei- from AC4 in particular. There aren't any actual connections between the composers and Ace Combat, though. You weren't missing anything there.

If you haven't heard it already, definitely check out Liberation Drive from Tokyo Xanadu since you like Phantasmal Blaze so much - they share some common elements and I'm very sure they were both composed by the same person, Takahiro Unisuga. (I think he did both The Final Choice and Awakening Will as well.) While the game itself isn't necessarily Falcom's best, it has an exceptional soundtrack even by their standards.

[Arvis]

Woof.  Here we go.

Thoughts on Rhythem Encounter MOTY 2016 First Movement

Give Me!! / Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
It's J-pop!  Yep.  Pretty catchy.  Cute!

Epiphany Fields / Oxenfree
Mmmmm.......
This is a pretty aptly-named track.  I like it when the synthy tweeters appear a minute or so in.  It feels sleepy, but also emotive, like it has weight.  I feel like this is what 3am would sound like if it were a song and not a time of day.
*"It's in an undeniably happier key".  That's a good way of describing it, yes! 

Furuya / The Silver Case
Good heavens, this is a very cool track.  That bass line... the way it just keeps pounding and moving the song forward.  Makes it difficult to not move along with it.  And of course, the melody being essentially unending scales on some kind of xylophone instrument, I don't know, it was awesome.
*Incidentally, the Persona Q track that played in the background of this discussion here sounded pretty great.

Forever Flame / Dark Souls III (Miracle of Sound)
This is pretty bad.  But... I understand that's just my taste.  I dislike this series very much, I dislike this genre of music in general, and these lyrics are wretched.  The vocal performance is not good, either, until the chorus hits, where it works much better.  There's good stuff here (wailing guitar solos are always welcome) but overall, this is maybe my least-favorite track ever featured on Rhythm Encounter.  I almost skipped it.
*TBF, I paused the podcast after this and this song was totally stuck in my head.
*GAH, it's growing on me as it plays in the background!  Dang it!
*Totally agree with @Lian_Kazairl about the vocals.  They are definitely helped by never going distorted.  The chorus us legitimately good.

MORE TO COME!

[Arvis]

Simple Gratitude / I am Setsuna
Don't know when I'll ever get around to playing this one, but I love the soundtrack.  This piece really helped melt some of the stress of the day away.  Solo piano always has something special to it.  The simplicity of just being able to focus on the melody here is welcome.

Hellfire / Final Fantasy XV
I'm not always a big fan of the Epic Chanting Chorus pieces from FF boss battles.  In context, of course, they're amazing.  This one, though, is very good.  The breakdown, especially, makes it special by preventing it from feeling too "patterned", if that makes sense.
Love the variety here, too!  No short loop, but various sections that all feel complete and well-connected.



Corridor of Reveries / The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
Great track!  So excited to get into this series this year after all the accolades it earned last year.  This track is really solid!  I love that it "feels" like a Trails piece, but at the same time, higher quality and "newer".

New World Order / Granblue Fantasy
Is this an Uematsu track?  Because it honestly sounds like whoever wrote this was channeling Hamauzu pretty heavily.  It's not bad.

The End of the Road Should Be Here (English) / Fire Emblem Fates
Heh.  I cracked a smile when I heard "You are the ocean's gray waves" at the beginning.  That got old pretty quickly in Fates.  This melody is quite good, though!  This is a cut above a lot of Fire Emblem music, which tends to be a bit too busy overall and weak on the melody side.

[Arvis]

World of Sunshine / World of Final Fantasy
This.... this is awesome.  This speaks to my heart.  A song that can take me back to my childhood, when the game it's from is new and I haven't even played it yet!  Impressive.  Flute-driven, bouncy, and in a joyous key.  This is what I come to RPG music for.  Really really liked this.

Soul of Cinder / Dark Souls III
As the host said, this is completely different from the preceding track. :P
Not my usual taste, but this is certainly well-done for the style.  Sort of LotR-lite, which is a huge compliment from me.  These kinds of compositions tend to be overdone, but this one feels fresh; sufficiently epic without trying too hard.
Wow, though, the way it breaks down into a softer, but ultra-somber, violin piece (with, of course, the ringing bells, which I always love) makes this more than good!  Excellent selection from a series I don't care for with music I usually don't like much!
*Totally agree with the host's comments about "too much bombast".
*Yep, second half sold me on this, too, @Lian_Kazairl

ARDYN II / Final Fantasy XV
This is gonna sound weird, but did this feel like a really good Tales of track to anyone else?  I kinda got that vibe, a bit.  Either way, it was pretty good.  I love a lot of the XV soundtrack, but this isn't one that I have really heard/noticed before.  It's a bit of a slow burn, and I think I need to hear it a couple more times.

Interminable Dilemma / Zero Time Dilemma
Mmmm, this is exceptional.  A lot of games from this genre tend to have soundtracks that excel at ambience, but this is good even among them.  I really like the synth voice, and those clear ringing notes that drive the main melody (before it gets a bit dirty on the breakdown).
*"Haunting and beautiful", yes, well said.

Wintry Arrival / The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
Loving this.  This track meets kind of a high standard set by the rich world of JRPG music that came before it.  It's not Mitsuda, but it is still sufficiently evocative and sets an unmistakable tone.  It doesn't get too "wall of sound"-ish, a la Tales, which is always welcome.

Battlefield — Activation (FM Ver.) / Etrian Odyssey V
What on earth!?  This is catchy and fun, but not what I was expecting from EO5, at all!  This sounds like something right out of a Mega Man title.  My only experience with EO, though, is Untold, and the music in that was, I thought, amazing, but nothing like this at all.  It was all higher-fidelity tunes with a modern feel and not a lot of ultrasynth like what's happening here.  What's the difference between this "FM Version" and another version of this same track?


Listener Picks
Ahhh!!  I can't believe you guys chose my selections from Stardew Valley for this segment!  I really couldn't be more thrilled to have contributed to my favorite podcast.  Thanks again, guys.
Typing up commentary on these would seem oddly self serving, though, so I'll forego it this time. ;)

[Arvis]

Melancholia / Final Fantasy XV
Shimomura at the top of her game.  The title really says everything.  I love how it manages to have "pace" while still being very somber and sad.

Alight (Storm) / Fire Emblem Fates
I like that little whistle that pops up in the background!  Gives the whole thing a burst of flavor in what might otherwise be a somewhat generic track.  Fates really did have good music, moreso than a lot of the classic FE titles.  Even without the whistle, though, this is still one solid piece of music.

Melodia de la Montaña / Chronicles of Time
I really need to pay more attention to Chrono arrange albums being released if this is the kind of stuff on them.  This very Western European instrumentation makes me insanely happy, with Spanish guitar and accordion (or at least some sort of synthy accordion).  I'd be very surprised to hear if this was the State Song of Montana, because it doesn't feel "American" at all, much less midwestern.  ;)

Noctis / Final Fantasy XV
As someone who isn't even to Ch. 5 of this game yet, I'm very curious when I'll be hearing this one.  It's definitely beautiful; a classic string/piano composition, with a classic melody, and a lot of heart.  It feels like something that would play during a montage that starts sad but becomes happy and hopeful as it goes, before ending on another sad note.  That was a very specific description, I know.

Phantasmal Blaze / The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
Uh... yeah, this definitely sounds like it's called "Phantasmal Blaze", that's for sure.  The main violin hook here really stands out, and I like that the urgent percussion is understated.  I am getting more and more eager to play this.  I'm surprised at how long it goes without looping.

Gladion's Theme / Pokémon Sun & Moon
Although this track doesn't particularly stand out to me amongst all the RPG music from last year, I do think it's a very interesting piece for a Pokemon game, and really harkens back to early SNES soundtracks, which is a good thing.
*Yes, Mega Man X is a good comparison!

Your Love is a Drug / VA-11 HALL-A
This just needs the lead singer of Depeche Mode singing over it and it would be complete, I think.  I do love the synth a lot, and that bell sound they use to drive the melody is fantastic.  Such a nice little noise.  The synth electric guitar is a bit cheesy, though.
*LOL, glad I'm not the only one who thought 80s after the first 3 seconds. :P

The Sound of Leaves Rubbing My Back / Atelier Firis
Atelier music is consistently my favorite of everything Rhythm Encounter covers.  I just love happy, flute-driven pieces with strong melodies, and this franchise always supplies them.  This one has TWO flutes!  The acoustic guitar work underneath them is very welcome, too.  Other than the rain chimes, I think that's all of the instruments.  I love it!  Simple is often good when it comes to music.

Oblivion (Never Let It Go Version) / Final Fantasy XIV: Duality
When I heard the rain chimes early in this one, I thought it might be a weird continuation of the Atelier Firis track, especially since it was all acoustic.  But the vocals tell me otherwise.  This is quite gorgeous, and the little splashes of cello are amazing.  Kinda sounds like an Imogen Heap song.  Breakdown is lovely lovely lovely.

??? / Host's Choice

Spoiler: show

Ah, a Persona 5 track!
This started pretty generically, but then got a bit more creative after the first 10 or 15 seconds.  Persona has always had fantastic music, but I'm not a huge fan of battle themes in general.  This was decent, but I've already forgotten it.

[Mike]

Ah, I always love seeing your commentary here, Arvis. :D Every so often when you podcast, it can feel like you're talking into a vacuum, hoping someone is hearing it and liking it, but you never know! So it means a lot that you always come here and offer up such detailed commentary. It's fun talking about these on the show, but even better hearing it resonates with you. :)

And yes, there's much Chrono out there from 2015-2016, but if you only dive into one... well, it should be the official arrange album, haha. But if you dive into TWO, then Chronicles of Time should be your next venture. It's epic in both sound and diversity, and if you couldn't already tell from this, I wholeheartedly recommend it!

[Arvis]

Thank you, @Mike . :)

Rhythm Encounter is my favorite podcast, and I just can't help but want to get involved.  I love VGM so much.

Also, I have officially added To Far Away Times, Chronology, and Xeno Cross to my list of albums to check out.  The only reason I'm not hot on Chronicles of Time is because I'm not as big a Trigger fan as I am Cross, so I went with Chronology instead, for the jazz.
It'll be a while before I get to any of them, as I have a list I'm trying to get through.  Currently working on listening to the FFXIII-2 soundtrack (best part of the game), and then I've got about 21 other albums on the list before getting to these.  The original Chrono Trigger OST is included in that number, though. :P

[Dalamud_Descends]

Not a knock on Marcos and the interviews he's been getting, but when can we expect a new episode of Rhythm Encounter?  I've been missing you guys and after Mike's State of the Site address, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.  Hope all is well with you guys and hope to hear more from you all on the podcast!

[Mike]

Hi! I have to apologize for how this was handled. We were still figuring out what to do when we recorded that interlude in March, and I'll admit our messaging in the recording and episode description was confusing - "Are they on hiatus or coming right back?" was likely the question.

We should have explained better then – and the error in communication is exactly why I published that Letter from the Editor, as an example of the kind of thing we can't do.

To the point: Caitlin and I both had to leave the show, because our work efforts were needed elsewhere. For me, I also knew my own change in position was looming, right alongside E3. I adore Rhythm Encounter, but I didn't want to risk affecting the quality of the show and turning in weaker efforts, since I have to spend the energy elsewhere.

As for the future of "regular" episodes, we're not sure what to do with it yet, even though we discuss it. Everyone on staff is committed to their departments, so it's hard to find people to work in a time-heavy show like Rhythm as well. I want the show to have a phoenix moment, but I can't promise anything right now.

I know that's... kind of a downer answer, haha. But you folks in this thread are such committed listeners, and you deserved an explanation. My apologies again for that explanation coming so late, and we'll do better about this in the future.

[Dalamud_Descends]

That is very sad to hear, but thanks so much for being open and honest about it.  I hope that Rhythm Encounter can be revived and if there's any way that I can help, please let me know.  You guys were the first VGM related podcast that helped satisfy my craving to find new RPG music that I might not have ever heard before.  I've found a significant number of great VGM podcasts since, but you guys offered something special that I hope can still continue.  Best wishes!

[Wild Armor]

Yeah, what's up with that Marcos guy, sheesh! ;) [/it'sjoke]

I know how you feel, @Dalamud_Descends . I'm very eager to have regular Rhythm Encounter episodes start up again, but things have been a little busy lately. We've been having the interviews because it's a little easier and we've just been getting the opportunity to chat with some enthusiastic arrangers and composers.

However, like Mike said, when the show does come back, it will be a Phoenix moment, where we come back lively and with full force. Until then, thank you everyone for being understanding and being patient with this break.

(Also, you rock @Dalamud_Descends! Thanks for being an RPGFan Music listener (you too, @Arvis! [/endterriblepunIhavenoregrets]. ;)

A parting gift: One of my favorite boss themes for this year: BLUE REFLECTION: TIGAR(ALL PHASE MIX) (They need to let Hayato Asano compose more projects solo!)

[Electricb7]

I miss Rhythm Encounter >:(
Is it never coming back?

[Arvis]

Same