Archives

A word of caution: this ain’t the Wizardry of yester-year. BUSIN‘s soundtrack is totally different from all previous Wizardry scores. Not better, not worse, but certainly different. Okay, well … maybe a little worse. Instead of the usual neo-romantic orchestra pieces we’re used to, this Wizardry title uses sequenced, synthesized instruments and loops to create… Read More »

BUSIN Ø continues in the musical tradition of BUSIN, in that it sounds nothing like the classical works of Ikuro Fujiwara or Kentaro Haneda. It’s a new breed of Wizardry, truly an “Alternative” style. Like BUSIN, BUSIN Ø goes the route of synth. But there is no pretense this time. They’re not even trying to… Read More »

One of the few PlayStation era Wizardry titles to receive a soundtrack was DIMGUIL. Like many a Wizardry title, this game never reached the US. It’s a shame, because the music was decent, regardless of the game’s quality (i.e. – I have no idea if this game was any good). What makes this album good?… Read More »

Perhaps I should begin by saying I’ve never played a Wizardry title in my whole life. I felt slightly daunted by the task of reviewing this disc. Ask me anything about Falcom or Konami and I can tell you; but I know very little about the this series, its creators or anything surrounding it. However,… Read More »

Angel’s Present, third game in the Marl’s Kingdom series was, in many ways, more of the same. More cutesy characters from NIS, and more cheesy, lovable music from Tenpei Sato. But this time around, Sato’s musical style showed a bit of maturity. Now when I say that, I don’t mean that the cutesy-girl vocals are… Read More »

Phantom Brave was NIS America’s first release, once they had established themselves as an entity apart from Atlus. And from the start, they were releasing bonus soundtracks. In this case, the “bonus” is an amalgam the Japanese OST and arranged album. Despite the number of tracks being the same as the Japanese arranged album, the… Read More »

Riglord Saga is one of the Sega Saturn’s earliest RPGs. Released in the US originally as “Blazing Heroes,” then quickly reissued with a new name (Mystaria: The Realms of Lore), the game didn’t exactly make big waves on either side of the Pacific. But there were a few memorable things about the game. For example,… Read More »

Riglord Saga’s lesser-known sequel came one year after the original, on the same console (Sega Saturn). But this time around, the game’s music was put together by a different group of people. And, I hate to say it, but I wish the original composer had stayed around. Like nearly any Saturn game, the sound quality… Read More »

Tea Society of a Witch (Majyo no Otya Kai) is a love adventure by Front Wing that was published for US audiences by Hirameki. The game is very much a guilty pleasure game for me. It’s extremely silly, very fanservicey (often strangely so), super cartoony, and can sometimes get teeth rottingly cute. Normally, a game… Read More »

“abingdon boys school” is a band that seamlessly blends hard rock with pop-punk, and these two songs demonstrate their diversity. The first is the title track for the single, which is featured in the end credits of the game “Folklore” (FolksSoul in Japan). The latter, a simple b-side, is a surprisingly good track that deserves… Read More »

Released in the US simply as “Folklore,” Game Republic’s action/adventure/RPG “FolksSoul ~The Lost Folklore~” was one of the earliest PS3 RPG releases. The game’s creative team was impressive; this includes its sound team. The composers come from a variety of backgrounds. Kawai, who handled much of the soundtrack (including the “main themes”) has written music… Read More »

J-Pop trio “Mi” performed the opening and ending themes for Shining Force EXA. The songs were released, along with some B-sides, on this single. The first track, “World’s Love” … what can I say? I like it; it’s got good energy and a classic rock beat. Some may complain that it’s a little too typical… Read More »

Motoi Sakuraba comes and goes; at least on my playlist. He can send you into beautiful, enigmatic fantasy worlds, or he can just grate your ears with repetitive drum/bass work. It’s been standard for me in the last four years, whenever I write about a Sakuraba album, to warn readers that I have a love/hate… Read More »

Shining Tears is one of the several games in the Shining series that went the action RPG route. Like many of the Action RPG installments, the reception of Shining Tears is mixed. The game did feature some cool characters and an interesting art style on the environments, but it’s a slow and clunky A-RPG in… Read More »

When people who know him hear the name Shiro Sagisu, they probably think Anime Composer, and they’d be right. Shiro Sagisu is responsible for composing the music to some really great anime, including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Kimagure Orange Road, and Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo. His scores are an incorporation of modern orchestral in innovative ways.… Read More »

Following up on the 2D-based Action RPG “Shining Tears,” the 2007 title “Shining Wind” again features music from Kaoru Okada. The soundtrack only features one disc’s worth of music; the good news is that it was a pleasant surprise through and through. The opening song, written by VGM newcomer Noriyasu Agematsu (composer-contributor to recent Wild… Read More »

Ar tonelico II ~absurdly long and difficult to translate subtitle~ (that’s a joke, see our subtitle translation above) has been released in Japan. As a long-time fan and follower of Gust’s publications, particularly in the audio department. Ken Nakagawa, Daisuke Achiwa, and Akira Tsuchiya have been writing excellent music together since Atelier Viorate (though their… Read More »

Following the standards set with the first AT’s concert albums, Hymmnos Side Blue (AO) is a vocal album featuring Akiko Shikata and Yuko Ishibashi. The album is printed by Hats Unlimited, the publisher under which the vocalists have close ties (and probably some contractual obligation). This explains why the album is not printed by Team… Read More »

Side AKA (Red) of the two-part Hymmnos Concert for Ar tonelico 2 is, surprisingly, not the grossly superior album I expected it to be. When comparing the first Ar tonelico’s albums, I felt that Red was easily the better of the two albums. Every song was a hit (in my mind: others have disagreed). This… Read More »

Koichi Sugiyama is the measure of the Dragon Quest series in music. The classical style he uses is inseparable from the games, but as their composer nears the end of his life (Sugiyama is now 76 years old), the series producers must search for someone to carry on his legacy. The soundtrack to series spin-off… Read More »

I’d been awaiting Emil Chronicle‘s next soundtrack since the day it was announced to the faithful few who were even excited about it. I discovered the MMORPG’s soundtrack by way of, well, being obsessed with the market, and I was very impressed by Vol.1. I had high expectations for this second volume, which was delayed… Read More »

“Subarashiki Kono Sekai” (literally “It’s a Wonderful World,” but localized as “The World Ends With You”) is a Nintendo DS game from Square Enix. If you look at the characters on the cover art, you’ll immediately know who was behind character design: our boy Tetsuya Nomura. What you may not have known is that the… Read More »

Note: the main female character is named Ichigo Mizuhara. In Japanese, “Ichigo” means “strawberry.” The earliest in a series of soundtracks published by Team Entertainment for games developed by Vingt-et-un, Kimagure Strawberry Cafe’s soundtrack starts off with some drama tracks, then moves on to the music starting at track 11. We got a dude singing… Read More »

Memories Off #5: Togireta Film (Unfinished Film in English) follows the love adventure of a college student in film school. The plot direction of the series has certainly evolved over time, but two stalwarts remain: the main character’s best friend is still named Shin Inaho and Takeshi Abo is still the series composer. In a… Read More »

Note: “Meshimase Roman Sabou” can be translated “Drink (to the) Romantic Coffee Shop,” as in a toast, or some other honorific context. Vingt-et-un is all about making love adventures for girls (and gay men). Nothing like finding the perfect guy in a dating sim. And apparently, finding the right guy takes place in a coffee… Read More »