Archives

The Dragon Quest “on Piano” albums are known for their simplicity. Though VI and VII bring some complexity to the table, the three albums before it are little more than transpositions from a full orchestra to one instrument. Dragon Quest V‘s piano album is, I dare say, the most inconsistent. There are some songs that… Read More »

The Dragon Quest VI on Piano album featured new arrangements from, that’s right, a new arranger. Tsukasa Tawada made a splash on the VGM scene in the mid-90s, and seemed to hit it off well with Sugiyama and other Enix staff. Tawada’s arrangements are darker, more complex, and more decorative than his transpositional counterpart (who… Read More »

Years ago, I purchased and reviewed Dragon Quest on Piano Vol.II. And, having the Final Fantasy Piano Collection standard in my mind, I couldn’t stand the simplicity of the album. Years later, here I am with the first volume, and surprise! I find myself liking it. The first volume presents the music Dragon Quest IV… Read More »

In March of 2007, Square Enix released a seven disc box set of music from Final Fantasy XI. The last of those discs was named “Piano Collections Final Fantasy XI.” With the announcement of this new album with the exact same name, most VGM followers assumed it would be a single-disc reissue of disc seven… Read More »

Sega Piano Nocturne: eight tracks of lovely piano arrangements, followed by eight tracks of original counterparts. The first three tracks come from Sega’s big-budget titles during the time of the Sega Dreamcast, followed by some arcade classics, and ending with Nights. For the most part, these arrangements are simple, but still filled with enough decorations… Read More »

This promotional item came to Japanese gamers who took the time to preorder the sequel to the DS hit known in America as “Etrian Odyssey.” Seven tracks of piano-arranged goodness. It was a complete surprise, and it was also surprisingly good. Seriously, I believe this is the first time a work of Yuzo Koshiro’s has… Read More »

The 2008 Nintendo DS game “Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer” released in North America was actually a remake of a Super Famicom title, “Mystery Dungeon 2: Furai no Shiren” (“Furai no Shiren” roughly translating to “Shiren the Wanderer”). This is the soundtrack for that Super Famicom title from over a decade ago. The first thing… Read More »

Note: “Izayoi” in Izayoi Village refers to a phase of the moon that takes place after sixteen days. It can literally be translated “Sixteen-Day-Old Moon.” This three disc set celebrates the 20th anniversary of the company Chunsoft, and in turn, its “Mystery Dungeon” series. Most Mystery Dungeon titles work within the framework of another company’s… Read More »

When they turned the “Sora no Kiseki” series into a trilogy unto its own, I was simultaneously shocked and annoyed. The “Legend of Heroes” series, as it stands, was a spin-off to the “Dragon Slayer” franchise. Then, within the Legend of Heroes series, we had the Gagharv trilogy, which were (thankfully) numbered as III IV… Read More »

Xanadu was released in 1987 in Japan on the MSX console, and is one of Falcom’s oldest games. All Over Xanadu is the one and only album printed for the game. It is an arranged album, and is considered one of the most rare and sought-after treasures in the Falcom discography. It’s so old, the… Read More »

What is “Xanadu Next,” you ask? It’s Falcom’s latest installment in the Xanadu series. A stripped-down version was released for the English-speaking types on the “Nokia N-Gage,” while a fuller and generally better version was released in Japan on the PC. This soundtrack is for the latter of the two versions. And, if you were… Read More »

I’ve gotten a chance to listen to a lot of Phantasy Star music in my time. Aside from playing all four main series games, Online, Universe, and the handheld titles, I’ve heard remixes and arrangements in the form of SEGA Rock and the arranged albums, Phantasy Star Collection Volume I and Volume II, I’ve even… Read More »

A neo-noir graphic adventure, Policenauts was one of Hideo Kojima’s defining projects following the release of the original Metal Gear games, and its high-profile predecessor: Snatcher. To complement the game’s pensive atmosphere, the team behind Policenauts crafted an equally engaging soundtrack, one which enlivens and encapsulates the very spirit of the game and its universe.… Read More »

This is it, folks. The oldest album in the series. The original “Snatcher.” I didn’t know what to expect, and, sadly, I’ve never played the game before. After listening to this album, I realize that I simply must play the game. You see, this album is an homage. We go through a medley of original… Read More »

This little arranged album contains music from Snatcher and its freaky-looking brother “SD Snatcher.” Yes, the cover art tells the whole story. SD = Super Deformed, giant heads, silly anime style. They did a remake of Snatcher with all SD character art. Silly? Yes, most definitely. The majority of this arranged album has music written… Read More »

You want a real Snatcher OST? Nothing but the original, unfiltered, unadulterated audio to your favorite cyberpunk adventure? You’ve finally found it, in this crazy three disc set: the “SCC Memorial Series Snatcher Joint Disk.” Now, the big differences between “Snatcher” and “SD Snatcher” are as follows: SD Snatcher has super-deformed character designs, and regular… Read More »

It’s not common for me to review a “licensed soundtrack” here at RPGFan. That sort of nonsense goes to sports games and Grand Theft Auto. But here, my friends, is one beautiful exception. We’re all excited for Fallout 3, and at the present, the only things we have are pictures on the ‘net, and this… Read More »

It is no secret that I loved the Aveyond games. Independently developed and full of charm, they found a special place in my heart, which is no small feat given my history with RPGs. My favorite aspect of the Aveyond games was the music, composed by Aaron Walz: an up-and-coming composer whose talents I would… Read More »

There were two things that interested me in the Dragon Shadow Spell soundtrack enough to purchase it. First, the game itself was developed by Flight-Plan, and I’ve found myself attracted to the music in their Summon Night series. The other thing was that I heard the opening song “Rainbow” performed by DayLightFever. The song was… Read More »

Elvandia Story, developed by the company Spike, is a PlayStation 2 RPG that had no hope of reaching the US. This is a shame, considering the prized composers who worked on this RPG. Noriyuki Iwadare wrote and arranged the extensive (read: long) opening and ending orchestral themes. The rest was done by a famous Konami… Read More »

Mitsuda’s last few years have not been prolific; with periods of a year (or more) between generally small-scale releases, he seems to have scaled back from his efforts a few years ago. However, despite the scale of the intermittent albums, Mitsuda has displayed remarkable growth as a composer: he has shown a stylistic versatility and… Read More »

Atelier Lise is a handheld installment (Nintendo DS to be specific) and black sheep of Gust’s alchemy-laden series. What makes it the “black sheep?” For starters, the soundtrack isn’t composed by any of the regulars. It isn’t even done by any noteworthy composers at all! Eri Arakawa and Miyoko Takaoka came out of the woodwork… Read More »

This three disc set of Atelier music covers the whole spectrum of handheld/portable Atelier gaming. The first disc was for a rather recent project, Atelier Lise (Nintendo DS). The second disc is for the GBA game Atelier Marie, Elie & Anis. The third disc covers music from Alchemist Marie & Elie for the WSC (WonderSwan… Read More »

The first Dragon Quest soundtrack, as we all should know, only had eight songs: opening, castle, town, field, battle, dungeon, final battle, and ending. These eight themes have been expanded and built upon in every subsequent DQ title, but they are the foundation for Sugiyama’s career. One problem, however, is that the full score only… Read More »

Neverland and Marvelous hit something good when they combined Harvest Moon with fantasy RPG. “Rune Factory” was the first game in the “Shin Bokujou Monogatari” (New Harvest Moon) lineup, and Rune Factory 2 is the game’s direct sequel. Neverland brought back the same sound team, so one might expect a lot of the same music.… Read More »