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What do you do for the tenth anniversary of a game that looks like an anime version of The Nightmare Before Christmas, except starring pre-teen demons, pop idols, and Power Rangers? Nippon Ichi’s answer to that query was to make a new Disgaea strategy RPG, Disgaea Dimension 2. Disgaea D2 is a direct sequel to… Read More »

Mugen Souls Z is a game filled with contradictions. It’s whimsical and deep, fun and complex, delightful and sadistic. These contradictions fall in line with various archetypes protagonist Syrma can morph into (e.g. ditzy, tsundere, hyper). Of course, dealing with a bundle of contradictions can be both fun at times and also an absolute chore.… Read More »

When Square Enix published Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster for PS3, they reissued their respective soundtracks. FFX, which had a full aural upgrade, was released as the FFX HD Remaster OST, on a single Blu-Ray disc. The reissued FFX-2 soundtrack did not get any upgrades, but it did undergo some significant changes from its original… Read More »

I’ll preface this review by stating that Chrono Cross is THE soundtrack that brought me into the world of video game music. My head was filled with the tracks long after I put my PS1 controller away. The reason: Yasunori Mitsuda‘s compositions express not only how magical music can be when tied to a gaming… Read More »

I thought my relationship with Dark Souls II ended when I beat the game. I thank RPGFan Music’s headmaster for the recurring nightmare. Hearing the soundtrack to the nightmare, however, wasn’t as painful as it had been for the original Dark Souls. The music isn’t as evocative or memorable. While playing the game, I never… Read More »

When people recall their favorite Uematsu-composed soundtracks, the debate typically centers around classics like Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII. Although no one can refute that the FF series has been blessed by Uematsu’s touch, most don’t place FFX in their top 3. I stray from the pack in this regard, and not just… Read More »

Who is TPR, and why is he so amazing? I can’t tell you. All I know is that TPR has yet to disappoint me. TPR released a series of these “Melancholy Tribute” albums many years ago, but did so without proper licensing, making them fully “fan/doujin” arrangements. More recently, TPR re-released his work for FFVII,… Read More »

Note: This review is for the English release. No official soundtrack release exist for the original Japanese version of the game. Bless the soul(s) who decided to bring in Jordan Steven (AKA Jordan “bLiNd” Aguirre) to recompose the soundtrack to The Lost Angelic Chronicles of Frane: Dragons’ Odyssey. Not only was the tracklist more than… Read More »

This album is an unabashedly prog affair, but it’s just as laden with evocative soundscapes as it is with Space Laser Pitch Bending. Prog might require a refined palate to fully enjoy, but the transitions and movements found in these songs work hard to make the experience a sum greater than its parts. Jumping into… Read More »

Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 is stylized as a mid-’90s RPG, but with modern sensibilities applied to its core game mechanics in combat and customization. Its soundtrack has a similarly modern touch, with over twenty unique tracks of beautiful music that definitely succeed as an RPG soundtrack, but belie Rain-Slick 4’s… Read More »

If music is a key part of your video game experience, you should definitely play Transistor. Composer Darren Korb shows off his stuff once again in the second game developed by American indie game studio Supergiant Games. The Transistor soundtrack is strong enough to stand on its own, debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard… Read More »

The Drag-on Dragoon series (Drakengard in North America and Europe) has come along in a most unconventional way. Square Enix acted as publisher as developer Cavia put together the first game, a multi-genre mix of Panzer Dragoon, Dynasty Warriors, and more. The game’s music was a strange and cacophonous mix of sound, wherein composers Nobuyoshi… Read More »

No doubt that when Uematsu composed music for the Final Fantasy series he envisioned sixty iterations of piano arrangements of his work for the next thirty or fifty years. Really, he should be lauded for his humility, because his music will be redone for at least the next seventy years. So, here we are, another… Read More »

Let’s start with the basics for people who may not know who Taylor Davis is. Taylor is a violinist/arranger/composer who has gained fame on YouTube for her various arrangements of songs from Videogames, Animes and Movies. Since her first video on YouTube in 2010, she has gained a following of close to 500,000 subscribers and… Read More »

I’m fairly convinced Adam Carolla is some kind of genius. Just stay with me on this. For those unaware, Adam is, among other things, a TV, radio, and now podcast personality that is exceptional at telling it like it is. Sometime in 2009, a discussion came up on the podcast between Adam and his co-hosts… Read More »

Editor’s Note: Note that the original mobile release of Grinsia has a different score than the 3DS and PC versions. This release is only heard in the latter two versions. The popularity of chiptune and indie faux-retro game audio in the past few years suggests to me that it isn’t just nostalgia that draws us… Read More »

Do you know how when you go into something with high expectations, you tend to be disappointed? Before playing Child of Light or listening to its soundtrack, I had already heard how wonderful the music was, so when I began to play the game, I was expecting it to be pretty great. Fortunately, in this… Read More »

Remix albums can be a hit-or-miss. Some soundtracks seem like they would lend themselves well to club DJ style remixing, but miss the mark. The World Ends With You has a soundtrack that thoroughly embraces that modern remix feel, but I feel that the Subarashiki Kono Sekai Crossover ~Tribute album is complete overkill. Persona 3… Read More »

Editor’s note: You can get a copy of this album through the game’s Steam listing. When I reviewed the adventure game The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief, I found a lot to like. In fact, it might be better to say that there was very little about the game that I didn’t like. And… Read More »

Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty was a dry DLC pack for Borderlands 2—dry in that it featured a desert landscape and oceans of sand. Fortunately, the music that accompanied the various locales and shootouts is anything but dry. “Wurmwater Ambience” and “Oasis Ambience,” both Raison Varner contributions, are moody and bassy, hinting at the… Read More »

Perhaps due to its bite-sized nature in comparison to the other Borderlands 2 DLC albums, Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt has been made available a bit later. It’s a brief affair; the only two tracks to be found on it are “Hunter’s Grotto Ambience” and “Hunter’s Grotto Combat.” Composer Cris Velasco brings us these subtle… Read More »

When I come into an album of arrangements or remixes, one of the first things I find myself doing is checking the track selection. Is it made up of tracks I’ve heard reworked many times before? What style are the arrangements set in? Prescription for Sleep, an album of sleepy but hardly soporific piano/saxophone arrangements… Read More »

Bravely Default released last year to widespread critical acclaim, and one of the game’s most praised aspects was its over-the-top, rock orchestra soundtrack. Our own Stephen Meyerink adored it, and so did I, even if I was a bit less enamored with the game itself. Four of the most memorable and catchy tracks on the… Read More »

The PLUS series of Final Fantasy soundtracks have never been all that great. Mainly, they’ve consisted of music from CG cutscenes and various throwaway outtakes and remixes of random tunes. Sadly, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack PLUS follows in that notorious tradition of being a throwaway soundtrack. Indeed, the words “more of the… Read More »

Aside from a card game spin-off, it’s been 7 years since the last Mana game, Heroes of Mana, was released on DS. Rise of Mana, the newest entry, was released as a free-to-play game on Android and iOS last month. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not we’ll see it localised, but at least… Read More »