Archives

This promotional item came to Japanese gamers who decided to preorder Sekaiju no MeiQ (Etrian Odyssey in the US). It contains some unreleased tracks, as well as some older, “demo” versions of songs from the game. Yuzo Koshiro was the king of VGM in his day. PCM and FM were his tools, and he could… Read More »

Concerto Gate is an MMORPG from Square Enix, and a spiritual successor to their previous MMO Cross Gate. The game itself, I know little about. As for the soundtrack, it marks Hiroki Kikuta‘s return, in a sense. Kikuta has been doing VGM projects on and off in the last decade, but this is Kikuta’s first… Read More »

Editor’s note: “Altana no Shinpei” (loosely translated “Crusaders of Altana”) is known as “Wings of the Goddess” in North America and Europe. Final Fantasy XI continues to perform beyond expectation, and as such, a fourth expansion has come to pass. Again, Naoshi Mizuta is the only composer. This expansion takes place in the past, thanks… Read More »

Kabu Trader Shun is a game that won’t avoid comparison to Capcom’s lawyer simulation series, Gyakuten Saiban, or Ace Attorney if you’re not in Japan. It makes sense, since Kabu Trader Shun is a graphic adventure/stock trading sim and involves the main character, Shun, searching for answers about his life and family while he acts… Read More »

Instead or releasing an album on the “Rosenqueen” store, NIS America decided to go back to the tried and true “bonus soundtrack with order” policy. So, this one disc soundtrack went to everyone who bought the game through NIS America (heck, you didn’t even need to get the absurdly-large LE box to get this CD!).… Read More »

This five track CD is a promotional goodie for 12Riven and features five arranged tracks of some of the game’s compositions. These arrangements are all dance club mixes of the songs employing various electronica styles such as techno, Eurobeat, and others. As pieces I’d play at a dance party or rave, they’re great. Some like… Read More »

12Riven -the Ψcliminal of integral- is a video game that almost never was. KID declared bankruptcy in 2006 while still in the middle of creating this installment of their Infinity series and Memories Off #5: Encore. In 2007, CyberFront rescued them from bankruptcy and these two games were back on track. Memories Off #5 released… Read More »

Koei is well-known for their strategy RPGs with traditional historical settings, and for taking these games and making them part of a long-running series. Zill O’ll breaks tradition by being a stand-alone title. Everything about this game is different from the usual Koei, especially the artwork and the music. Let’s talk about that music. Now,… Read More »

I have, personally, reviewed over 500 soundtracks for RPGFan, as of this writing. I might be near 600… I’m not sure. For me, there’s a pretty solid test (beside the obvious “wow this is awesome” sensation I get) to determine which soundtracks are truly the “cream of the crop.” When I try to select which… Read More »

Note: Seiken Densetsu is known as the Mana series in the US. I will be mentioning it by the English name. The US version of Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana is simply known as Heroes of Mana here. Since Seiken Densetsu 3 (which never came here) for the SNES, the Mana series has been getting… Read More »

My husband and I have been slowly studying this album, with all its nuanced details, for the past six months. The only thing we could say from the start was that, without a doubt, this vocal collection beat the pants off of the first Volkslied. This is the superior album between the two. But what… Read More »

Despite being one of the worst-received games in the series, the music for Dragon Quest VII is some of the most refined. Sugiyama continues to use the same melodic themes from previous games, using counterpoint and other variations to keep the classic melodies (Overture, Castle, Town, Flying) sound fresh. Additionally, some new, original themes are… Read More »

You wanna hear something ridiculous? Hunt down this album. This bit of arranged goodness has some incredible, live instrumental, performances on it. And it’s all for some old RPG called “Fortune Quest.” The artwork on the CD case should give you an idea of what you’re in for. Take the silliest tracks from Super Mario… Read More »

What got me into Policenauts? You’d think the answer is found right on the cover. It’s Konami, it’s the Kukeiha Club, and apparently some excellent guitarists. Not to mention, it’s the spiritual successor to Snatcher, another excellent Konami title. With all these reasons to pursue the music, you’d think I would’ve listened to this album… Read More »

Konami’s “MIDI Power Pro” series (a pseudo-sequel to the “MIDI Power” series) features some of the best synth-style arranged music Konami has ever released. And what better OST to work with than Policenauts? Policenauts, a spiritual successor to Hideo Kojima’s “Snatcher,” has some of the coolest jazz-pop fusion the Kukeiha Club has ever put together.… Read More »

Snatcher Battle Perfect Selection is the first soundtrack from the “Battle” series that we review here on RPGFan (since the others are for games that we don’t cover). If you have any familiarity with Konami soundtracks in general, you probably already know about the “Battle” series but if not, let me explain what this series… Read More »

MIDI Power 5 was used by Konami to take a look at Snatcher, in its various incarnations. The musical sources for this soundtrack are the original Snatcher, the PC-Engine version of Snatcher, as well as SD Snatcher. Now, if you like Kukeiha Club as much as I do, you should know that you’re in for… Read More »

The opening and ending themes for the DS title “Tales of Innocence” both come from vocalist “KOKIA.” I’d never heard this particular vocalist before (at least, not to my knowledge); let’s just say that I’m happy to have discovered her. “Follow the Nightingale” is an amazing, four minute long odyssey through a variety of styles.… Read More »

Editor’s Note: “KURAYAMINOKUMO” translates to “The Darkening Cloud.” The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight is the third album from the Black Mages. For those who do not know what the Black Mages are, it is a rock/metal band founded by Nobou Uematsu, famed for his Final Fantasy music. It features four final boss songs,… Read More »

Is it me, or have soundtracks for handheld RPGs been really good lately? I was quite impressed with Kumi Tanioka’s offerings on the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) soundtrack and now I’m reviewing the soundtrack for Wild Arms XF for the PSP. The game itself is very good, offering an epic adventure… Read More »

Square Enix recorded a vocal version of the classic Final Fantasy IV theme song “Theme of Love” using Megumi Ida as the vocalist. The recording was done for the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV. The vocal version of the song is entitled “Moonlight,” or “Tsuki no Akari” in Japanese. This single includes the same… Read More »

Takeharu Ishimoto is a representative of the new Square Enix scene. In particular, Ishimoto is out-and-out a part of that Compilation of FFVII crew. In one way, he’s fortunate to be able to attach his name to such a high-grossing franchise. However, Square Enix also lucked out by finding someone who works so well with… Read More »

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is not the first RPG that comes to mind when it comes to great music. I’ll be honest, in the first Crystal Chronicles game I found Kumi Tanioka’s music nice but somewhat vacant. Tanioka’s compositions for the DS sequel Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates are a vast improvement, and… Read More »

In a series as famous and prolific as Final Fantasy, there are bound to be proverbial red-headed stepchildren within it who get mercilessly beaten upon. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube was one such red-headed stepchild for a variety of reasons. One reason is the music. Kumi Tanioka‘s atmospheric and sometimes new-agey compositions were… Read More »

The latest in a growing number of live orchestral recordings for the Final Fantasy series, Distant Worlds was recorded at the Stockholm, Sweden concert. Arnie Roth selected a handful of pre-arranged tracks from FFVIII Orchestra, 20020220, and More Friends. That is to say, little of what’s offered here is original. In fact, the only new… Read More »