Archives

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 »

Videogame music fans have a lot of reasons to buy the new piano arranged album called GAME by Michael “Piano Squall” Gluck. First of all, it’s an American-made arranged videogame album which isn’t all too common in the first place. Furthermore, it’s relatively cheap at only $9.99, and 20% of the profits are donated to… Read More »

I’m going to start this review with a confession: I don’t like Piano Squall. Or rather, I didn’t like him. When I first heard of the guy, I thought, “wow, okay, some nerdy guy cosplays as Squall Leonhart and plays piano and is really sociable … that’s nothing like Squall.” I was also, secretly, jealous… Read More »

After developing three Gyakuten Saiban games following the story of Ryuichi Naruhodo/Phoenix Wright, Capcom decided it was time to pass the torch to another young upstart defense lawyer named Housuke Odoroki, also known as Apollo Justice to English speakers. In doing so, Capcom also decided to give soundtrack duties to another composer to take the… Read More »

I can’t tell you the last time I put so much thought into one album, and the words I might say about it… Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) is a fantastic series of handheld games, and its music is equally fantastic. Each game has featured a different composer, many of them being newcomers to… Read More »

Note: Trusty Bell ~Chopin No Yume~ is known as Eternal Sonata in the domestic version. I will be referring to the game by that name. Eternal Sonata is about the final hours of a famous pianist named Frederic Chopin. Before he dies, he has a dream of being in a magical world where sick people… Read More »

Abarenbou Princess (translated: “Rowdy Princess,” at least according to the soundtrack’s packaging) was released for the PlayStation 2 by Kadokawa Shoten in September of 2001. This lighthearted PS2 title featured a unique style of art, but that was about all anyone ever knew about it, at least here in the US. The game didn’t fare… Read More »

Silly and short. That’s a good way to describe this one. The OST for Abarenbou Princess, the Sound Selection, was 71 minutes of pretty solid early-PS2 VGM. This album, in contrast, is a 25 minute arranged album, and the arrangements are generally only one step above what can be heard on the OST. Yes, it… Read More »

Farland Story Denki: Arc Ou no Ensei (Farland Story Legend: March of King Arc) was the second game in TGL’s all-encompassing underdog RPG series. The only soundtrack released in relation to said game is this one. As the front cover indicates, its subtitle is the “T.Watarai Drive Mix” and it is “Dedicated To All Drivers.”… Read More »

TGL’s Farland series is a lesser-known RPG that has seen some success in Japan and China. Much of the series was released on the PC Engine (PC-98), and this particular title, the seventh in the series, was the last to be released for said system. There was little limitation as to what a composer can… Read More »

Before Atlus developed the Shin Megami Tensei series, there were two lesser known games on the Famicom by Namco called Megami Tensei. Tsukasa Masuko, who later composed the soundtracks to the first two Shin MegaTen games, composed these scores as well. Victor Entertainment supervised this soundtrack compilation, released over a year later than the second… Read More »

As much as I love the Gust Sound Team, there was one thing I’ve feared over the last two years of their work; eventually, people would get tired of it. They’d level the same complaint against Gust that VGM critics (myself included) say about Motoi Sakuraba: “it all sounds the same.” If you made that… Read More »

One of the first questions one may ask about Memories Off Orgel Collection is “what is an orgel?” I believe orgel is the German word for organ; but in the context of Japanese music, it refers to higher pitched percussive instruments such as a music box, or a xylophone. I could not peg the sonic… Read More »

Memories Off Piano Collection Volume 2 is a different flavor than that of the first Memories Off Piano Collection, which is one of my favorite video game soundtracks. The first Piano Collection CD featured complex, dynamic, and soulful piano arrangements of various Memories Off songs. This volume, on the other hand, features straightforward, less dynamic,… Read More »

For those of you who are Atlus fans, you may remember one of their PlayStation strategy RPGs entitled Kartia. Originally called Rebus in Japan, the game featured mediocre gameplay, but it did have excellent artwork by Yoshitaka Amano and a surprisingly good score. I didn’t really get too far into it, myself, but I’ve had… Read More »

Kaori Oda’s single, “Brilliant World,” was released a couple of months ago. The song was used as an opening title in the DS game, Luminous Arc. With the single comes her other song, “Wish on,” and karaoke versions of both of them like in majority of singles. Overall, this has been one of the most… Read More »

While the DS is not known, yet, for having a big library of Traditional Strategy RPGs, Luminous Arc is one of several strategy games for Nintendo’s dual-screened handheld. It was released in Japan during the winter, and months later, a soundtrack was released. Akari Kaida is the primary composer, but a few other composers did… Read More »

Note: Akumajou Dracula Gallery of Labyrinth is known as Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin in North America. I will refer to it by its latter, American name. With Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Konami made a strong start on Nintendo’s latest handheld back in October 2005. The following year, DS gamers got the next of the latest… Read More »

Like the bland, white cover suggests, this album comes with no hint of pretense. It is a simple offering of some of the first battle tunes that put Square’s composers on the map. I do say “Square” and not “Square Enix” because this volume doesn’t contain a single Enix-related tune. Perhaps Vol.2 will do that,… Read More »

“Many Thanks” from Hamauzu-san to his fans. That’s what this album is, really: a thank you album for those that have supported him over the years. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been at the very least exposed to Hamauzu’s works. Whether it be his grassroots compositions (SaGa Frontier II) or something more mainstream (FFX… Read More »

With the advent of Wii’s Virtual Console, we’ve seen the interest in classic, nostalgic titles resurrected. Not just arcade classics, but some of the best and brightest offered to consoles over the past two decades. Some of the best games known to us have also had excellent soundtracks from great composers. Many have learned the… Read More »

Soul Cradle’s soundtrack featured an interesting blend of Asian and Celtic fusion inspired songs. Although that soundtrack was solid and employed a wide array of instrument sounds, it seemed to lack a certain intangible organic “mojo” for lack of a better term. So imagine my joy upon hearing this arrange CD with actual instrumentation and… Read More »

Note: This soundtrack was released as part of a package deal for those who ordered the limited edition version of the Japanese PS2 title. NIS has traditionally done this with many of their games. Soul Cradle: Sekai wo Kurau Mono is a strategy RPG by NIS that is slated for a Fall 2007 release in… Read More »