Archives

If you wanted to find another soundtrack like Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, you’d have to do some serious looking; it’s one of a kind. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Deluxe Pack Incense Disc is the rarest incarnation of the game and almost impossible to find now. The game came with a five-track exclusive soundtrack,… Read More »

Note: the 2005 reprint was made to remove the controversial “Label Gate” copy protection software that was packaged with the original 2004 release. The Shin Megami Tensei III OST was printed months before this album, back before SME Visual Works was overrun by Aniplex. That OST was not entirely “complete,” especially after the Nocturne Maniacs… Read More »

Every time I listen to Tales of Legendia, I am amazed at how breathtaking it can be. Of all the releases on August 24th, 2005, this is by far the most solid. FFXI~Music from the Other Side of Vana’diel remains my favorite of the “big five,” but Legendia is a timeless album that will always… Read More »

Note: this is not an arranged album for Legend of Heroes II. It is actually the 2nd volume of the Symphonic Poem arrangement for Legend of Heroes I. Both of these “Symphonic Poem” albums were created by Tamiya Terashima, who also went on to make the Legend of Heroes III and IV “electric orchestra” albums,… Read More »

Though they are old, there are a lot of soundtracks out there for the first “Legend of Heroes” title. There are also many soundtracks for Legend of Heroes III, IV, and a few for V and VI. But there is only one for Legend of Heroes II. And this is it. Welcome to Dragon Slayer… Read More »

A few years back, Atlus released (in Japan) a late-era PS1 title called Eithéa. The soundtrack was released soon after, and then faded into the background. No one really seemed interested in it. So I figured I’d pick it up. You’ll note that we have “Atlus Sound Team” for composer information (see updates below). That… Read More »

For those that purchased the Legend of Heroes VI from Falcom, this CD single came as a bonus. Clocking in at just under six minutes, and only containing two tracks (one vocal and one without lead vocal), the album is a rather tiny bonus. The best thing it has going for it is the artwork… Read More »

When Bandai published the ported Legend of Heroes “Gagharv Trilogy” (III, IV, V) for PSP, Lantis produced a new theme song called “Beyond Time” (“Toki no Mukou Gawa” in Japanese). Other than that, compositions for the game’s soundtrack remained Falcom’s responsibility. Of course, why create new music when there’s plenty of Legend of Heroes music… Read More »

Myst: the classic point and click puzzle-solving adventure that essentially defined the genre. The game has been re-released and re-made a number of times, and it deserves all the attention it can get. If you’ve never played Myst, shame on you. Originally, Myst was going to be a game without music: just sound effects. But… Read More »

Robyn Miller returned to compose the music for Myst’s breathtaking and challenging sequel, Riven. Though the soundtrack is six tracks shorter, it is also a good 12 minutes longer. This means that, on this soundtrack, one can expect for each and every song to be longer than the songs on the Myst soundtrack. However, despite… Read More »

One of the most classic action games for Super Famicom, Actraiser, doubled as a “Sim City” style Simulation RPG between levels. As an angel of God, you oversaw the work of men and women as they sought to build towns in a world with corrupted demons. Once the source of some evil was revealed, you… Read More »

For years, RPGFan has hosted a review of the Albert Odyssey Gaiden ~ Legend of Eldean soundtrack. However, I had long known that Sunsoft had previously developed two RPGs simply titled Albert Odyssey and Albert Odyssey 2. Knowing that Naoki Kodaka had composed the music for all three titles, and recognizing the brilliance of the… Read More »

The second of three Albert Odyssey soundtracks (all written by Naoki Kodaka), this one definitely holds its place as the middle child. While it is not quite as impressive as Albert Odyssey Gaiden ~The Legend of Eldean~, it out-performs its predecessor by leaps and bounds. First, on a practical level, this soundtrack is a solid… Read More »

Developed by Gravity and published in Japan by Falcom, Arcturus is a strange title. Its artwork and title are deceiving: the game looks like it’s going to be dark and gothic. This, in my opinion, couldn’t be further from the truth. In-game screenshots reveal its light, cartoony nature, as does this three-disc soundtrack, composed by… Read More »

Though the title of the soundtrack is for Arcus II, the soundtrack spans music for all three Arcus titles, which were released separately on an older console, but then re-released as a compiled set of games on Sega’s Mega CD. These unique action RPGs had a lot going for them, but in my mind, the… Read More »

Few soundtracks are as unique and memorable as Akira Tsuchiya’s Atelier soundtracks, and perhaps none are as beautiful as his first work: Atelier Elie. In 1999, Bandai Music Entertainment published an album that is now nearly extinct: the Atelier Elie Vocal Collection ~ Reiseführer (German for “Travel Guide”). There is a lot that can be… Read More »

It’s not often that I purchase or review drama albums. And, in the Atelier series, there are plenty of drama albums to go around. Marie had at least four, Elie has two other than this one, Judie had three, and Iris has a few out as well. For Japanese fans, these albums are certainly worthwhile,… Read More »

This is it. This is the album you have been waiting for your entire life. You may not know it yet, but I promise you that I’m telling the truth. Now, allow me to enlighten you. For years, in the underground VGM circle, there was a man named Saitama Saishu Heiki (referred to commonly as… Read More »

Released as a bonus item in Japan alongside the game itself, Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~ Soundtrack Book is a 20 page artbook with a CD attached to the back. This CD can be viewed in two parts, much like its sequel (the AI~EM2~ Book). First is a “best of Atelier Iris” section, and then second… Read More »

This ending theme song is found on the Atelier Lilie OST in its original form. In this version, however, Mami Horie jazzes things up with the help of her husband Dennis Bradford. This “jazzy” version of the ending theme song, which in English is translated (by Gust) as “The Way of Eternity,” and in Japanese… Read More »

Miyoko Kobayashi worked with Akira Tsuchiya on Atelier Lilie, the third game in the Atelier series. Hermina and Culus is a side-story to Atelier Lilie, and for this small title, Kobayashi was given the chance to flex her own musical muscles and stand on her own. The result is surprisingly good. Opening with the vocal… Read More »

This already hard-to-find single from J-pop star Mayumi Iizuka features two songs. The first, “Pure” (with that confounded heart symbol after it), is a peppy song written and arranged by Tore Johansson, and has nothing to do with any videogame. It’s just a happy little J-pop tune that runs for three and a half minutes.… Read More »

Arc the Lad Generation (known as Arc the Lad: End of Darkness in the US) is the black sheep of the series for straying from its strategy RPG roots to an action RPG setting. However, its music manages to be just as beautiful as its predecessors, if not more so. This is due almost entirely… Read More »

Final Fantasy XI – Music from the Other Side of Vana’diel, the game’s very first arranged album, has arrived. The Star Onions (a band originally forumlated in order to perform in a concert celebrating the release of Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia, September 2004) are responsible for both the arrangement and performance of the… Read More »

Here’s a neat little promotional album. I don’t know what it took to originally get ahold of it, but cocoEbiz/VGMWorld had it for sale for awhile… if you check, it may still be on sale! Anyway, with the release of Front Mission 4, there was a renewed interest in Front Mission which got re-released and… Read More »