Archives

Path of Exile has burst onto the scene recently as a solid, online action RPG in similar vein to the Diablo and Torchlight series. Independently developed by Grinding Gear Games, Adgio Hutchings, with some contributions from Gautier Serre, helms the extensive soundtrack list that is integral to the dark, brooding atmosphere of the island of… Read More »

In the interest of full disclosure, let me first say that I have been friends with Jayson Napolitano and looked to him as a mentor of sorts for years. Scarlet Moon is Jayson’s record label, and he is using it as a vehicle to publish music that otherwise wouldn’t see the light of day. So,… Read More »

In the interest of full disclosure, let me first say that I have been friends with Jayson Napolitano and looked to him as a mentor of sorts for years. Scarlet Moon is Jayson’s record label, and he is using it as a vehicle to publish music that otherwise wouldn’t see the light of day. So,… Read More »

One of my most memorable experiences of E3 2012 was attending the Video Games Live concert, and the portion of the concert that stuck with me the most was the performance of Pokémon music, because it made me take a long, hard look at perhaps the most overlooked and underrated aspect of the popular phenomenon.… Read More »

I had been highly anticipating Blake Robinson‘s third volume of Chrono Trigger Symphony for months. The first two volumes were great, but this was where some of my favorite tracks would be. While Robinson didn’t arrange every track from Chrono Trigger, he did follow the track list of the game’s original album, which meant the… Read More »

As a game, Saturday Morning RPG is all about the ’80s references, and one might think that this would be a little hard to translate into the backing music for a Christmas episode… but thanks to a visit from our friend the electronic keyboard, Vince DiCola was able to bring that ’80s feeling into this… Read More »

Just as its name might lead you to believe, Dragon Fantasy is a retro-inspired indie RPG series that borrows generously from titles released during the genre’s golden years. I admit I wasn’t a fan of the first game, which I felt had hit-or-miss humor and hyper-simplified mechanics, so I did not particularly anticipate Dragon Fantasy… Read More »

Daisuke Minamizawa’s third and possibly final volume in the Final Fantasy Guitar Collection series echoes the first two in terms of quality. Classy acoustic guitar enthusiasts have much to celebrate with this collection, and those who missed some of their favorite pieces may be satiated in this broad selection. Hosting tracks from every numeric Final… Read More »

Randomly select any five tracks on the Shining Ark Tenshi no Fandisc OST, and you’ll likely be delighted by a mix of gentle, atmospheric tracks and perhaps one or two more extravagant melodies expressing the danger of battle or the heights of victory. Listen to all fifty tracks (188 and a half minutes, that is),… Read More »

Five years after its initial release, The World Ends With You still remains one of the most unique and stylish JRPGs I’ve played in recent memory. Among its many standout aspects is a soundtrack whose compositions are inspired by hip-hop DJ-style remixing and other urban/street styles of music. This album contains remixes of TWEWY’s music,… Read More »

I’ve personally witnessed ‘net-chatter among FFXI fans clamoring for a third “Star Onions” arranged CD. Fans of this MMORPG tend to be quite faithful to all things related, whether it be collectibles, manga, or (of course) the beautiful music. Well, it seems the Star Onions either broke up or went on indefinite hiatus, but in… Read More »

Note: As of this writing (end of 2013), Drag-on Dragoon Chips Music is planned only to be released with the Japanese limited edition of Drag-on Dragoon 3, which costs roughly $200, so the entry fee just to experience this music is steep. Consider yourself warned. An unlikely thing happened. Well, a few unlikely things happened.… Read More »

Shackled by capricious gods and forced to play puppet in their schemes, Lightning is a woman whose entire adult life has been a battle against an unjust fate. Her involuntary journey across time, space, and worlds has at last reached its end with the release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The game’s setting, Nova… Read More »

Editor’s Note: Please note that these are rough tracklist translations that may not necessarily be 100% accurate. If you see an error in the translation and have suggestions for how we can tighten them up, feel free to contact me via email. – Stephen M. Wizardry Online’s expertly composed soundtrack features two helmsmen: the famed… Read More »

Buried in the Snow: A Melancholy Tribute is like a collection of those Christmas tree bulbs that seem to be made of impossibly thin glass: grasp one too hard between thumb and fingers, and it will shatter. Globes of red, silver, and gold in which you see a clownish copy of yourself. This album’s songs… Read More »

Final Fantasy VI is one of my favourite games in the series, and to this day has some of the best music. If you’ve read any of the recent Final Fantasy news stories I’ve posted, you may have noticed my hopes that VI will one day see a re-release on a modern system. In the… Read More »

A game like Mars: War Logs doesn’t inspire verbosity, and if I have little to say about the game itself, I have even less to say about its soundtrack. After two competent opening tracks, the War Logs OST crumbles into unmemorable pieces: distant industrial sounds, broad synth groans, and mundane drum beats. The first two… Read More »

Final Fantasy IV Original Sound Version was released in 1991, was re-released in 2004 and now sees a special re-release in 2013. Final Fantasy IV Original Soundtrack Remastered Version is an upgraded version of the original OSV release. Similar to a DVD to Blu-ray upgrade, the core of the album is the same, but it… Read More »

I wish I hadn’t listened to this album. Hearing all these crisply remastered versions of nostalgic FF7 tunes only makes my inner fanboy further clamor for that HD Final Fantasy VII remake that everyone wants Square Enix to create. FFX and Kingdom Hearts got the HD remaster treatment, so why not a full-on HD remake… Read More »

Author’s note: the track names on these CDs are given in Japanese only. The English track names listed below are unofficial translations. It’s funny how you can play entry after entry in a series without ever really noticing the way its music has evolved over time. You simply hear the themes you’ve heard time and… Read More »

The Final Fantasy franchise has evolved in many ways since its inception. No two Final Fantasy games are alike, and each game offers a unique experience unto itself. But whether the games are single-player or MMO, traditional fantasy or post-modern/futuristic, turn-based or action RPGs, one creature has been a constant companion since Final Fantasy II:… Read More »

In Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, two of the biggest names in the puzzle/crime solving video game genres, team up to unravel the mystery of Labyrinth City. Likewise, the composers of both series, Tomohito Nishiura (Professor Layton) and Masakazu Sugimori (Phoenix Wright), with newcomer Yasumasa Kitagawa, collaborate on a 3-disc epic that captures the atmosphere… Read More »

When last we visited Blake Robinson, he was making incredible music. Not much has changed (dude, get some sleep!), though Volume 2 of his Chrono Trigger Symphony album boasts more artistic license than Volume 1. Is there merit in his wide brush strokes, or is he better off painting by numbers? If he were painting… Read More »

Growing up, I never appreciated orchestral music. It’d be played at school or come on the television and my immediate reaction would be “boring.” Like many things I thought I knew as a teenager, I was so, so wrong. The Videri String Quartet’s rendition of these famous game scores is proof of that. Portals is… Read More »

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has the distinction of being one of the first games to cause me to shed a tear over a game’s story. Since Final Fantasy IV released 2 years prior, that game may have been the first, but even the (meaningless) deaths of characters there didn’t hit me as hard… Read More »