Archives

In 2018, Square Enix dropped the massive NieR Orchestral Arrangement three-disc box set. And while it was a great set of music, it was lacking in one department: vocals. Thus, it came to pass in the year 2020 that a follow-up album, NieR Orchestral Arrangement Album – Addendum, was published for fans to enjoy. This… Read More »

It’s time to check in on the mobile/live service title Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe: now back with a third collection of music! It’s a good one, but it could be the last collection released as well. I am writing this review while grappling with the frustrating news that the global version of Re;univerSe is shutting down… Read More »

Prior to listening to the Unicorn Overlord Original Soundtrack, I had heard good things about Unicorn Overlord. The latest in the unique, creative lineup of games from development studio Vanillaware has received a great deal of praise, including my colleague Joshua Lindquist granting the game a 92 out of 100 and an Editor’s Choice award.… Read More »

Sean Schafianski released Jazz Arrange Version: Chrono Cross on November 18, 2024, coinciding with the game’s 25th birthday (its Japanese launch date was November 18, 1999). Alongside being a well-timed release to celebrate the game’s anniversary, this album also comes approximately ten years after Schafianski’s Chrono Trigger: Jazz Arrange Version, one of the earliest albums… Read More »

SaGa series composer Kenji Ito returns with a cavalcade of musicians in the latest series entry: SaGa Emerald Beyond. Released nearly a decade after its predecessor, SaGa Scarlet Grace, was originally published in Japan, Emerald Beyond takes a leap from medieval fantasy to a multi-realm fantasy including sci-fi, modern, gothic, and other settings, very much… Read More »

Among the plethora of top-tier RPGs in the last five years or so, Disco Elysium stands as one of the more innovative and unexpected critical and commercial hits. It drew a huge range of industry and critical accolades, and the immersive graphics, exceptional narrative and voice-acting, and meaningful decision systems still resonate as strongly today… Read More »

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. The original and the two other PlayStation Final Fantasy entries, FFVIII and FFIX, are three of my favourite games. They each hold a special place in my heart, and I revisit them regularly. Playing them gives me a serotonin boost and makes… Read More »

I came into Sea of Stars and its music with some prior context: Sabotage Studio’s 2018 title, The Messenger. That particular indie gem featured action platformer gameplay akin to Ninja Gaiden and an incredibly catchy soundtrack by Eric W. Brown (who utilized the moniker “Rainbowdragoneyes” at the time). The Messenger OST featured two parts: “The… Read More »

I can’t believe nearly five years have passed and I am only now digging into Final Fantasy VII Remake! This ambitious project focused and expanded upon the events of Final Fantasy VII within the confines of Midgar, roughly the first third of the game. So, how much music would you expect to accompany this remade… Read More »

Among all the great RPG remakes in the past few years, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven might be the one that surprised me most. This surprise was not necessarily about the high quality of the remake itself (though I’m inclined to agree that it was, alongside Ben Love’s review). For me, the surprise… Read More »

Friends: the main To the Moon trilogy may be complete, but the humbly titled side story Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode suggests there is more on the way. I couldn’t be more excited about that. Until that new title arrives, however, I want to take a moment to let readers in on… Read More »

When Nintendo announced they were publishing a full soundtrack for Pokémon Legends Arceus, I was elated! While the publisher has a history of (eventually) releasing OSTs for the main series, music for spin-off Pokémon titles has been notoriously overlooked. Thankfully, that trend ends with Nintendo Switch Pokémon Legends Arceus Super Music Collection, published in February… Read More »

Epic. Intense. Eerie. Dramatic. These are probably the four key words I’d associate with both playing Elden Ring and listening to its soundtrack. However, though those words do encompass much of the game’s mood, they certainly don’t cover it all. They don’t include the moments of absolute joy when beating a tough boss, the feeling of determination… Read More »

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hideo Kojima’s graphic adventure classic Policenauts, the duo “F/N” (Motoaki Furukawa / Koichi Namiki) created a new recording and music video for the song “Just who I needed to see.” This catchy tune was the opening track to their 1996 arranged album Policenauts F/N. This is an arranged album… Read More »

I recently took some time to play Wasteland Remastered, as watching Amazon Prime’s Fallout television series renewed my interest in Wasteland. Given I had played the 2013 port of the 1988 PC classic game around the time Wasteland 2 was released, my love for the spiritual predecessor to Fallout made me want to try out the latest version of this classic game. And when… Read More »

In February 2024, The Pokémon Company decided to make up for lost time by publishing not one, not two, but three OSTs on the same day. Among them was the soundtrack to their gen-9 flagship title: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet! This soundtrack is the largest of any from the franchise to date, spanning six discs… Read More »

Wizardry is a series with a storied history, dating back to 1981 with the release of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. From a musical perspective, there wasn’t much to say with the first few titles throughout the ’80s … at least, not in America. As Wizardry found its way to Japan in the late ’80s with Famicom (NES)… Read More »

One of my favorite arrange albums from last year was the third volume in the Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies series. The evergreen duo of soft jazz that is GENTLE LOVE (Norihiko Hibino on sax, AYAKI on piano) are back with a fantastic new arrange album specific to the game ActRaiser. This album, titled… Read More »

The expectations put on a sequel are always great. The next movie has to be better, the next game has to improve the mechanics, the next book has to have even more suspense and tie up loose ends, and so on and so forth. Soundtracks, however, have a lot more freedom than most other elements… Read More »

Of all the soundtracks to go without publication and finally see the light of day 30 years later, I never would have guessed The 7th Saga. The mere fact that this album exists is noteworthy. In this review, I devote equal attention to this soundtrack’s unlikely existence and the quality of the music itself. Investigation… Read More »

Prior to the release of Slay the Princess‘ upcoming Pristine Cut, the developers at Black Tabby Games released a content update patch that offers an extended “true ending” and some other small scenario additions/changes to the game. Alongside this update, they integrated some music that had been in the works and, to my knowledge, was… Read More »

Since I recently reviewed the supernatural themes and dark streets of The Thaumaturge and came away pretty impressed, I was stoked to get my copy of the game’s digital soundtrack. The Slavic themes and minimalist, ambient background music offer quite a surreal experience as you race around gathering clues and making conclusions in the game, so I was… Read More »

Fire Emblem’s legacy is long but relatively new to audiences in North America. That exposure is largely due to Super Smash Bros. Melee showcasing some of the series’ heroes and some of the stellar soundtracks. Moving ahead to more recent entries, 2019’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses featured new pieces from series composer Takeru Kanazaki. While Three Houses is a… Read More »

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask offers incredible source material for musicians to play with, and gosh, have they over the years. Koji Kondo’s work on this poignant entry in the series continues to evoke feelings of joy, pain, mystery, triumph, and more to this day. So it’s no shock that MILK BAR: An EDM Tribute to… Read More »

We’re early in 2024, and I’m already looking at a strong contender for arrange album of the year. The jazz/funk/rock ensemble Tournament Arc came out of left field with a debut album that launched alongside a live performance at Super MAGFest 2024. After multiple listens to this senses-shocking album, I now regret even more deeply… Read More »