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Xenosaga Episode III is the series’ conclusion, and therefore the conclusion of a musical legacy reaching from Mitsuda’s Xenogears and Xenosaga scores, to the most recent two, which only had partial soundtrack releases, both by Yuki Kajiura. Three things, then, are brought up: how does this Xenosaga’s music compare to the last one, how is… Read More »

Falcom’s MIDI Collection series was a special little bonus that Japanese fans had the chance to purchase… a long time ago. Not technically for sale in stores, these special albums included both data (MIDI files, images, etc) and arranged CD audio tracks. This review, of course, deals with the latter. The Brandish MIDI Collection is,… Read More »

Alright, pop-quiz time: who here knew there were more Brandish games than Brandish 1? Anybody? Did anyone ever fathom that the series not only had more than one entry, but in fact had FOUR entries? Am I the only one struck somewhat odd by this knowledge? Sorry, just a personal opinion, but I’ve always thought… Read More »

I spent many a year avoiding Brandish music, even in the midst of my Falcom music obsession. Falcom had seen much success with Ys, and series favorites such as Sorcerian and Legend of Heroes also hogged much of the spotlight. Considering the relative obscurity of the Brandish series, I didn’t want my impression of Falcom… Read More »

Running in a similar vein as Final Fantasy X-2 and Tales of Destiny 2, LoH VI “SC” (Second Chapter) continues as a direct sequel to LoH VI. Its vocal theme, “Gin no Ishi Kin no Tsubasa” (Silver Will, Golden Wings) is an arranged vocal version of a popular theme originally written for the First Chapter,… Read More »

It took me awhile to get over how much I didn’t like this promotional album (released with the PC title Xanadu NEXT as a bonus) so that I could write this review. Every time I sat down to write it, I remembered, “oh wait, it sucked.” Oh God, did it suck. The only good songs… Read More »

This lengthy 3-track single was printed for the release of Atelier Iris Grand Fantasm (the third “Iris” title in the series). The first two songs, while not found on the original soundtrack, are meant to complement the main theme for the game. In case you’re lacking in knowledge of German, “Schwarz” is “black” and “Weiss”… Read More »

There’s a lot to love about the Atelier series, and there’s even more to love about the Atelier Iris sub-series. Now the eighth title in the series’ history (Gust calls it “Project A8”), Atelier Iris Grand Fantasm finally makes Iris the star of the game. Nakagawa and Achiwa return to compose the music, and Tsuchiya… Read More »

A few years ago, the Tear Ring Saga soundtrack was released quietly and without fanfare. I picked it up from a fellow reviewer and friend (that would be Ramza) when he sold it one day, and found myself enjoying it immensely. I would agree with his review; perhaps I would praise it even more. While… Read More »

Included in the limited release of the import PS2 title, Berwick Saga Orchestrations is housed in a nice DVD-size case with a classy, marbleized look. Though at first glance, it appears to be perhaps an arranged CD, the unfortunate news is that it is not. Most of the tracks are lifted directly from the OST,… Read More »

Note: the packaging itself lists track 5 with the mispelled “beatiful.” It is most likely that it should read “beautiful,” but we don’t have the nerve to make the correction. Team Entertainment has released a good handful of “The Best” soundtracks. They’ve done three for Idea Factory, this being the third. The first was for… Read More »

Final Fantasy VIII was an experiment in every sense. Fresh off of the massive international success of Final Fantasy VII (the first one in the series to be released in Europe) the best marketing strategy would be to immediately use the formulas and storyline archetypes of VII to make their next game. They didn’t. VII… Read More »

The Treasures of Aht Urhgan is the third expansion for Final Fantasy XI. The release of the soundtrack marks a fifth disc of OST material, tying with Final Fantasy IX for the “most music used in-game” award in the series. Like its two predecessor expansion OSTs, the Aht Urhgan OST is composed solely by Naoshi… Read More »

Big, bombastic, but somewhat lacking in substance, Hitoshi Sakimoto brings a fully (synth) orchestrated score to the table with Final Fantasy XII‘s OST. With only one composition contributed by Uematsu (the vocal theme), this soundtrack marks a completely new era for the Final Fantasy series. I, for one, have a lot of mixed feelings about… Read More »

Nippon Ichi made an interesting decision with Phantom Kingdom (known as Makai Kingdom in the US), their fourth in a line of unique strategy RPGs. Rather than having Tenpei Sato return to compose the soundtrack (as he had done with Disgaea, La Pucelle, and Phantom Brave), they instead chose to bring together a whole mess… Read More »

Here we are, almost 10 years after the original release, and people still love the original Wild Arms. Many fans will agree: no sequel has topped the original Wild Arms, especially in terms of music. Even the “Alter Code: F” remake doesn’t have the same feel as this title. Of course, hardcore fans of Naruke’s… Read More »

A Motoi Sakuraba fan will sooner or later grow accustomed to a certain déja-vu feeling: Certain arrangements, especially the battle themes, sound similar on several of his albums, he uses the same orchestral samples again and again (and again), and especially the fake solo voice samples really start to annoy me by now… On Baten… Read More »

It’s no secret that I loved the game Hourglass of Summer (Natsuiro no Sunadokei). I thought every aspect of the game was par excellence, including the music, which is why I picked up the Natsuiro no Sunadokei sound collection. Yuki Nita’s synthesizer-based compositions are all very good and quite varied, since the game has a… Read More »

This soundtrack was released in the US by NIS America as a bonus soundtrack for the game Makai Kingdom. Released in Japan as the “Phantom Kingdom Arrange Album,” the only difference between this printing and the Japanese printing is the lack of packaging and some slight differences in the track names. If you read our… Read More »

When Square Enix decided to port the original Valkyrie Profile to the PSP, add some cutscenes, and call it Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, Team Entertainment did their part by reprinting all the music from the title, adding new cover art (from the new CG cutscenes), and adding “Lenneth” to the name. It has been said that… Read More »

Chances are, even if you’re a video game music aficionado, you probably haven’t heard of the composer Hirofumi Taniguchi. He doesn’t have the rap sheet of other Japanese big-timers like Uematsu, Mitsuda, or Sakuraba, and he certainly hasn’t ever tackled any big-name games to earn himself the title of “up-and-coming artist.” But Taniguchi’s actually a… Read More »

OK, this CD requires a bit of backstory. See, back in 1997, a former Square staffer named Ken’ichi Nishi started a small RPG developer called Love-de-Lic, and created a very unique game with that company called “Moon.” In addition to unique gameplay and a very unusual story, Moon also featured a very innovative soundtrack, giving… Read More »

And here we have it: Perhaps the rarest CD set I own, and easily one of the best. Back in 1997, a small Japanese game developer called Love-de-Lic, started by former Square staffer Ken’ichi Nishi, created a little-known RPG called “Moon” that completely defied convention. Giving you a behind-the-scenes look at daily life in your… Read More »

Hakase and Toriyama teamed up to create a mini-symphony for Final Fantasy XII. Clocking in at a mere 9 minutes, this five-part piece is packed with some lively studio orchestra performances, as well as a few soft & touching moments. As it is a single, I don’t have too much to say about it, but… Read More »

It’s taken me a long time to convince myself to get this album. First, it took me a year just to work up the nerve to buy it. Then, it took me three weeks after receiving the CD just to listen through the whole thing. Why, you ask? The first song! Oh, sweet mother of… Read More »