Archives

This is the OST to the very first game in the “True Love Story” series. It features some compositions from the man who would become the series mainstay, Noriyuki Iwadare. It also features four beautiful string arrangements at the beginning, middle, and end of the disc. Other than that, the album sounds a fair bit… Read More »

Two years after the first game, “Hatsukoi Valentine Special” hit the Japanese dating-sim market, and with it came the release of this soundtrack, from Absord Music Japan. Let’s take a quick look at this album release. The tracklist is laid out in a simple, “themed” fashion. The first twenty tracks encompass all of the character… Read More »

There was an explosion, and subsequent saturation, of the RPG market for Japanese gamers around the close of the 8-bit decade (1989-1990). NEC’s PC-Engine was privy to a swarm of RPGs from all manner of developers. It’s difficult for an American to fathom the size and scope of the saturation, and it’s also very difficult… Read More »

Graphic adventures, digital novels, dating sims from Japan, huzzah! “Hatsukoi Valentine” jumped aboard just about the time that this genre, popularized by Tokimeki Memorial, really started to take off. Other games, like True Love Story and Sentimental Graffiti, were starting to pick up around this time as well. They had plenty of things in common:… Read More »

The True Love Story series, which is best known by VGM fans for its contributions from veteran composer Noriyuki Iwadare (Lunar, Grandia), had its start with the un-numbered “True Love Story: Remember My Heart.” This game spawned a sizeable fan following in Japan, and the series has continued to grow and change over the past… Read More »

Ohji Hiroi, founder of RED and creator of awesome franchises like Sakura Taisen, has traditionally counted on composer Kouhei Tanaka to do his bidding. I’m a huge Tanaka fan, so when I stumbled upon “Mars Story,” I was pumped. But then it turned out that Tanaka only wrote the theme song “Wing,” and the rest… Read More »

Tokyo Majin Gakuen (“Tokyo Demon High School”) got its start as a series in 1998 on the Sony PlayStation. The original game, for which this soundtrack was printed, received one remake, one direct sequel, and a whole onslaught of “cousin” games (including Tenshou Gakuen, Kowloon Youma Gakuen, Kamiyo Gakuen). Developer “Shout! Designworks” has switched up… Read More »

Lux-Sound is a promotional soundtrack for the Japanese version of Lux-Pain. It features a bunch of “pre-arranged” tracks (hence “ver.0”) and a lengthy drama track starring the game’s Japanese voice actors. The first four tracks are arrangements of Kenji Ito’s pieces and the second four are arrangements of Yasuyuki Suzuki’s pieces. The arrangements of the… Read More »

“Seinaru Itami wo Daite” (translated “Holding the Holy Pain”) by Yoko Takahashi is the opening song for the DS visual novel Lux-Pain. The song features a lush instrumental with a variety of sounds including strings, piano, and occasional spurts of electric guitar. Takahashi’s voice sounds great and fits the vibe of the song, which itself… Read More »

Lux-Pain, a surreal visual novel for the DS, features music by Yasuyuki Suzuki and Kenji Ito. I am not all that familiar with either composer’s body of work, but I am aware that Kenji Ito has composed for various SaGa games. I enjoyed the music while playing the game, but how it fares outside of… Read More »

Composer Hidehito Aoki is fortunate to be a part of one of the greatest legacies in gaming history: the Shin Megami Tensei series. The two “Majin Tensei” games are cousins, or “gaiden” titles, in the overall SMT franchise. Most people associate SMT with two composers: Shoji Meguro (for the newer games) and Tsukasa Masuko. But… Read More »

At the time of its release, the MMORPG for Shin Megami Tensei had the “Shin” dropped off of it, but it was later added back on. In 2007, when “Megami Tensei Online IMAGINE” was first released in Japanese stores, the box came with a promotional soundtrack. This is a review for that soundtrack. The two… Read More »

Is there anything in this world that’s cooler than (Shin) Megami Tensei? I DON’T THINK SO! Okay, so that was the most subjective statement I’ve made in a couple years. But seriously, Atlus has really allowed Shin Megami Tensei to take off in the last five years. The series is rich in historical, religious, and… Read More »

I cannot be the only one who remembers those old commercials for Polly-O string cheese with the tagline “it’s the best part of the pizza without the pizza.” The same tagline could be applied to the Memories Off: Theme Song Complete Works soundtrack. In this CD are the vocal opening and/or ending theme songs from… Read More »

When fans think of Noriyuki Iwadare, the first games that come to mind are the Lunar and Grandia series. Some of my favorite battle themes come from these series, so I tend to associate Iwadare with killer battle themes. Imagine my surprise when I heard that he scored a series of love adventures such as… Read More »

Wizardry is one of the oldest and most beloved computer RPG series. The impact Wizardry (along with the Might and Magic and Ultima series) had on RPGs both in the US and abroad should not be understated. Games such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and numerous others, were inspired by and emulated many ideas from… Read More »

Three Wizardry Gaiden titles were released for Game Boy, and each got its own arranged album. For Wizardry Gaiden IV, a Super Famicom exclusive release, the only official music publications were three 8cm “mini” CDs. The setup for each of the three CDs was the same: track 1 was an arranged instrumental track from Ikuro… Read More »

Three Wizardry Gaiden titles were released for Game Boy, and each got its own arranged album. For Wizardry Gaiden IV, a Super Famicom exclusive release, the only official music publications were three 8cm “mini” CDs. The setup for each of the three CDs was the same: track 1 was an arranged instrumental track from Ikuro… Read More »

Three Wizardry Gaiden titles were released for Game Boy, and each got its own arranged album. For Wizardry Gaiden IV, a Super Famicom exclusive release, the only official music publications were three 8cm “mini” CDs. The setup for each of the three CDs was the same: track 1 was an arranged instrumental track from Ikuro… Read More »

The PS1 game “Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou” made a lot of waves, and the ripples of those waves affect us even today. The hit game saw several remakes, as well as a sequel, some gaiden titles (such as “Tenshou Gakuen” and “Kamiyo Gakuen”), and even had anime and radio drama made after it. This album… Read More »

The third Tales title to hit the DS, which actually came in two different versions (you could buy the “CG movie” or “anime movie” version separately in Japan), Tales of Hearts brings back some of the classic sounds of the series, but the synth is forced into a level of compression that may displease VGM… Read More »

My friends, it is as the front cover suggests. This is one jazzy album. Sometimes it’s funky, sometimes it’s smooth, sometimes it’s crazy atonal stuff, and other times it’s “espionage jazz” (you know, James Bond music). But the soundtrack to the Kowloon Youma Gakuen Ki (“Chronicle of the Kowloon Ghost School”) manages to work all… Read More »

Tanioka’s back with what is now the third published soundtrack for a Crystal Chronicles title. Two versions of the game were released: one for Wii, and one for the DS. Based on the audio quality of this two disc set, it seems the music was originally written for Wii (and published as-is for this soundtrack),… Read More »

Exodus Guilty is a video game that is truly epic in scope. It features lengthy intertwined storylines starring protagonists from current times, 1200 BC, and 13,000 AD. Revelations in one character’s storyline presented clues to solving another character’s conundrums in a different era. This graphic adventure was released in three parts for US audiences by… Read More »

Elemental Gimmick Gear, or E.G.G., was one of the first RPGs for the Sega Dreamcast. This action RPG had lush, hand-drawn environments and fun, Zelda-like gameplay. Unfortunately, it also had an embarrassingly choppy localization and often vague plot direction. I did not remember much of the music from playing the game, yet listening to Haruyoshi… Read More »