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 editions of classic games. And due to the nature of vinyl and their collectability, we thought they were worth highlighting on their own, not only for the music within, but for the packaging, and overall notoriety of each package. We hope you agree that these are some of 2024’s best RPG vinyl releases!
Overall Best Music of 2024
Podcast
Editors’ Favorites
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Harmony of Dissonance, Circle of the Moon
by Patrick Gann
In March 2024, Limited Run Games issued vinyl releases for the three games in the Castlevania Advance Collection (Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow). This period of Castlevania’s musical history can be easy to overlook, but it is a crucial bridge from Symphony of the Night to the DS trilogy. LRG published single vinyls for Harmony and Circle, and a double vinyl for the longer Aria (which features some of my favorite Michiru Yamane compositions).
Interestingly, LRG also published cassette tape versions of these three OSTs. I love the novelty and portability of that format, but the visual grandeur and prestige of vinyl make for a special treat. The cover art and multicolor vinyl variants are stunning. Unfortunately, as is the case with many a “limited run,” these vinyls are all sold out, so if you want to collect these, you’ll have to rely on secondhand sales.
Highlighted Track: “Ruined Castle Corridor (Aria of Sorrow)“
Citizen Sleeper
by Matt Wardell
Few soundtracks capture the anxious, cybernetic mundanity of a life inside a neo-capitalist future as well as Amos Roddy does with 2022’s Citizen Sleeper, and fewer still do it with such style and listenability. This isn’t bombastic, epic music for a cyberpunk shootout. This is waiting in the rain amidst neon signs you can’t read for a loanshark to give you enough credits for your augmented body to continue functioning. There are traces of electronica, ambience, hip hop, and industrial here, and each track has its own identity thanks to the huge variety of synthetic instrumentation. For anyone who has loved the writings of William Gibson, or movies like Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell, the Citizen Sleeper soundtrack is one you need to own—and now you can do that physically so no megaconglomerate faction can take it away from you!
Highlighted Track: “Signal Haze“
Sea of Stars
by Gio Castillo
I’m still digesting the absolutely enormous Sea of Stars soundtrack, but I love what I’ve heard of it. It’s one of those OSTs that, even without playing the game, might sound comfortable and familiar because of where it draws from. At 30 tracks long, the vinyl is just a small selection, but I find it to be pretty representative of the entire work. Yasunori Mitsuda’s contributions even get a whole side to themselves. The package itself is gorgeous, with the cover showing the three main characters embossed(!) front and center. And when you open it, you get a wide illustration showing what I assume is every NPC and monster in the game, just hanging out. Bryce Kho is simply on another level.
Highlighted Track: “Volcanic Pursuit“
Persona Dancing Vinyl Soundtrack Bundle
by Patrick Gann
If ever a trilogy of games deserved a vinyl release, it is the disco-fused Persona Dancing spin-off games. Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight feature new arrangements of nearly every vocal track from each of their respective games, as well as new original pieces written specifically for them. Being a mix of rhythm game and visual novel, P3D, P4D, and P5D have offered me great experiences over the years, and having a bundled vinyl set from iam8bit has memorialized that experience. This collection offers two vinyls per game, for a total of six vinyls. The musical selection is condensed from the full CD OSTs, discarding some incidental instrumental tracks (menu music, visual novel BGM), but keeping the vocal tracks front and center. Next time you have a dance party, you’ve gotta have these records on-hand! “Here’s another one!”
Highlighted Tracks: “Dance!” and “Heaven Norihiko Hibino Remix“
Shin Megami Tensei V
by Patrick Gann
Ryota Kozuka, alongside other Atlus Sound Team composers, brought together an absolute beast of a soundtrack in 2022 with Shin Megami Tensei V. Five hours of dense, layered music combining acoustic and electronic sounds? I mean … sign me up, right?
Two years later, Fangamer comes along with a massive five vinyl set, capturing the majority of this massive OST, with over three hours carried over from the full CD and digital release, now in hi-fidelity. The curated picks from Michael Kelly are spot on, holding onto the best “Battle” and “Da’at” (environment) themes.
Additionally, as is often the case with Fangamer, the packaging art and design are a visual delight, perfectly complementing the aural delight that is SMTV OST.
Highlighted Track: “Da’at: konan“
