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RPGFan Music of the Year 2023 Editors’ Favorites: Hilary Andreff

Posted by Hilary Andreff on November 7, 2025

Dave the Diver Original Soundtrack MINTROCKET truly has a hit on its hands with Dave the Diver. There’s something inherently satisfying (and wholesome, I think) about Dave’s deep sea sushi adventures, whether that’s narrowly escaping a risky diving situation or admiring the undersea ambiance. The so… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2023 Editors’ Favorites: Rob White

Posted by Rob White on November 7, 2025

2023 was quite an unusual year for me. Various life events took place that often caused gaming to be placed on the back-burner, and when I was playing something, it was often older stuff that had been sitting in my backlog for a while. However, this was the year I played my first MMO (FFXIV), which… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2023 Editors’ Favorites: Matt Wardell

Posted by Matt Wardell on November 7, 2025

In 2023, I was hardly a twinkle in RPGFan’s eye, but I’ve since ridden my time machine back to share the soundtracks that jumped out at me. As always, Square Enix was killing it across their official soundtracks and arranged albums, but I won’t harp on what my fellow writers have already talked abou… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2023 Editors’ Favorites: Mike Salbato

Posted by Mike Salbato on November 7, 2025

What a surprise, my Music of the Year for 2023 includes coffee and Final Fantasy XIV! Coffee Talk Episode 2 ~Hibiscus & Butterfly~ Official Soundtrack It’s safe to say that if a Coffee Talk game releases in a given year, I will talk about it in this feature. Toge Productions’ coffee shop sim vis… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2023 Editors’ Favorites: Patrick Gann

Posted by Patrick Gann on November 7, 2025

Time seems to move so quickly these days. It really feels like I was just writing about my top picks of 2022, and yet, so many more great albums have been published in the past 12 months. Additionally, while I doubt my complaint made a difference, my non-award to Nintendo must be lifted as Xenoblade… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2023: Part 2

Posted by Mike Salbato on November 7, 2025

That’s right, it’s more of our Overall Music of the Year 2023 list! Like albums 1–10, these are listed alphabetically with no ranking — it’s just a list of our favorites! When you’re done, don’t miss the six Editors’ Favorites lists as well, for even more musical musings. Intro by Mike Salbato Overa… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2023 Editors’ Favorites: Audra Bowling

Posted by Audra Bowling on November 7, 2025

I’m using my list to promote stellar soundtracks from 2023 that might get overlooked when compared to the rightfully praised scores of Final Fantasy XVI and Baldur’s Gate 3. So, without further ado, let’s get to it! Adol Christin -Ys 35th Anniversary Music Works- You can’t really go wrong with Falco… Read More »

Golden Oldies: Our 25 Favorite “Old” Characters in RPGs: Part 2

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on October 2, 2025

And we’re back with some more of our favorite “old” characters, including a number of them who are significantly younger than I am! And if you somehow ended up here first, be sure to check out part one, as well. Intro by Zach Wilkerson Col. Jade Curtiss – Tales of the Abyss Writeup by Stephanie Syby… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024: Top 5 Arrange/Remix Albums

Posted by Mike Salbato on September 5, 2025

For Music of the Year 2024, instead of having all music releases in a single pool, we opted to spin off arrangement and remix albums as well as vinyl releases, to let us highlight an even larger variety of music from throughout the year. See five of our favorites below and check out the rest of the… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024: Top 5 Vinyl Releases

Posted by Patrick Gann on September 5, 2025

Continuing our new categories for Music of the Year 2024, we have a selection of notable vinyl releases. There’s constantly so much going on in the world of vinyl, both inside and outside of the video game music space. Many vinyl releases do not cover new releases, as we routinely see new vinyl edit… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Audra Bowling

Posted by Audra Bowling on September 5, 2025

There were some amazing RPG and visual novel music releases in 2024. Here are six that I particularly enjoyed! The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak OST This mini-soundtrack released with the Limited Edition copy of The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak was only available through the… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Gio Castillo

Posted by Gio Castillo on September 5, 2025

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Original Soundtrack In terms of scale, it’s difficult to top the seven-disc (eight, if you count the limited edition) behemoth that is the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth soundtrack. The top-to-bottom quality is undeniable, even if the orchestral tracks do less for me than when t… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Rob White

Posted by Rob White on September 5, 2025

2024 was a year absolutely stacked with great new RPG releases, many of which contained music that I enjoyed. Persona 3 Reload and Granblue Fantasy: Relink were two early 2024 releases that came packed with strong gameplay and OSTs to match. I revisit music from both of these now, even when I’m not… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Mark Roddison

Posted by Mark Roddison on September 5, 2025

Favorite Soundtrack of 2024: SKALD: Against the Black Priory Original Soundtrack Vol. I Retro, synthwave soundtracks have made a comeback in recent games, such is the appetite for retro-gaming and nostalgia, but SKALD’s score really does take it to another level. There’s a real earnestness and since… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Jimmy Turner

Posted by Jimmy Turner on September 5, 2025

When I’m not headbanging to the heavy sounds of metal’s many genres, I like to let my ears relax with RPG tunes. While metal provided some bangers in 2024 (Opeth’s The Last Will and Testament and Crypt Sermon’s The Stygian Rose), role-playing games also had their fair share. Here are my three favori… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Matt Wardell

Posted by Matt Wardell on September 5, 2025

Like every year, 2024 was packed with too many amazing games and intimidatingly huge soundtracks. I probably listened to more new games than I played, but even then I’ll be catching up with this year for the next decade. Here are a handful of albums and scores I did listen to that impressed me. Unic… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Paul Skevington

Posted by Paul Skevington on September 5, 2025

2024 was a colossal year for RPGs, with so much goodness crammed onto my plate, I was in danger of popping, probably accompanied by an explosion of numbers above my head. Consequently, the volume and quality of soundtracks to choose from was bountiful. Although I haven’t managed to get through every… Read More »

RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Patrick Gann

Posted by Patrick Gann on September 5, 2025

Wow… 2024 has come and gone. The sheer quantity of game music released continues to grow with each passing year. But I’m not just looking for quantity, I’m looking for the highest quality! Here are my top five (combined OST and arrange) I found in the last year! 5. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the… Read More »

「聖剣伝説２」作曲家菊田裕樹インタビュー

Posted by Matt Wardell on August 6, 2025

日本人作曲家菊田裕樹さんほど、人々の記憶に消えない痕跡を残したゲーム作曲家はいないでしょう。菊田さんは、30 年以上にわたり、『双界儀』 (1998 年)、『クーデルカ』 (1999 年)、『インディヴィジブル闇を祓う魂たち』 (2019 年) などの作品を手掛けてこられました。また、『聖剣伝説２』 (1993 年) から『聖剣伝説VISIONS OF MANA』（2024年）に至るまでの『聖剣伝説』シリーズの大半の音楽をご担当されています。『聖剣伝説２』の象徴的なオープニングテーマが深く脳裏に刻まれている JRPG ファンを探すのに、さほど労力は必要ないでしょう。過去 10 年にわ… Read More »

So you want to get into The Legend of Zelda Series… (3D Zelda Games)

Posted by Noah Leiter on July 23, 2025

Welcome to part two of RPGFan’s “So you want to get into the Legend of Zelda series…” primer, where we go through the three-dimensional Legend of Zelda titles available on home consoles. Check out part one for a deep dive into the 2D entries, and part three for the Top 5 Places to Start… Read More »

So you want to get into The Legend of Zelda Series… (Top 5 Places to Start)

Posted by Noah Leiter on July 23, 2025

Thanks for popping in on this list of top Legend of Zelda games. If you’re here for a consolidated recommendation of where to start, you’ve come to the right place. If you want detailed rundowns of all the games, check out part one for 2D Zelda titles and part two for 3D Zelda games. Below are five… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Jerry Williams

Posted by Jerry Williams on April 25, 2025

1. Shining Force II I visited my friend’s house and Shining Force II was blaring through the CRT TV speakers with its exquisite battle music as my compadre walked up to orcs and gargoyles in top-down strategic glory. Until then, I had only played traditional RPGs, so this blew my elementary school m… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Aleks Franiczek

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on April 25, 2025

1. Final Fantasy VI Final Fantasy VI came out the year I was born, so suffice to say I didn’t play it on release. I did, however, grow up in a house with two older brothers where the game was heavily in rotation. Before they even trusted me to handle their precious games and pick up the controller m… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Jimmy Turner

Posted by Jimmy Turner on April 25, 2025

1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic When I met my future wife in 2005, the only RPGs I had played up to that point were JRPGs. Furthermore, she did not even know what the term RPG meant (at the time). Both these things changed when we discovered Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Being th… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Audra Bowling

Posted by Audra Bowling on April 25, 2025

1. Suikoden II If FFVII holds a special place in my heart as my first ever RPG, Suikoden II holds one for being the first I bought with my own money. My sister and I pooled our saved allowance to buy it solely based on its gorgeous cover art and premise. We weren’t disappointed, immediately sucked i… Read More »

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