Archives

Ar tonelico: Sekai no Owari de Utai Tsudzukeru Shoujo (translated as The Girl Who Sings at the End of the World) is the most recent title from Gust and Banpresto, makers of the Atelier series and Super Robot Wars series respectively. So recent is this title, actually, that I am writing this review before the… Read More »

Hiroshi Tamawari, one of Konami’s many composers in the late 1990s, put together over fifty songs for the under-the-radar simulation RPG (Other Life) “Azure Dreams.” The game, which is a primitive version of the much more successful PS2 title “Dark Cloud,” featured a unique cast of characters, beautiful environments, and a score that ought not… Read More »

Once upon a time, I asked one of my fellow VGM-loving friends, “what is the worst non-mainstream / obscure soundtrack you’ve ever heard?” His reply was, “Saiyuuki. Without a doubt, Saiyuuki. It sucks.” If the soundtrack were really all that bad, I thought to myself, then perhaps I should pick it up and review it… Read More »

Real quick – Disc 1 and 2 = Great. Disc 3 and 4 = WHOOOOAAA! Digital Devil Saga. Out of nowhere, we get this incredible tale from Atlus. A story of Serph and his friends, it’s unique, touching, haunting and epic on a hundred levels. Part of that can be attributed to a certain Shoji… Read More »

Let’s open this review with a confession: I know next to nothing about the Lunatic Dawn series. I’ve done some research, and I know that Lunatic Dawn Odyssey was a PS1 RPG, and that there was a sequel on PS2 called Lunatic Dawn Tempest. That’s about it. Oh, and I also know a bit about… Read More »

Being a rabid Kouhei Tanaka fan, I hunted down The Mars Story (Kasei Monogatari) OST after reading that it was composed by Kouhei Tanaka. Unfortunately, I had been misled. Tanaka had only composed the vocal theme song; the rest was done by a relatively unknown composer (Hiroki Ootomo). So here I was, stuck with another… Read More »

Released 3 years after the OST (and 4 years after that accursed “mini” album), the Azel -Panzer Dragoon RPG- Memorial Album was basically a reprint of the two disc “Complete” album, but with a bonus track tacked on to the end of each disc. So let’s start this review by talking about those bonus tracks.… Read More »

Now this is a complete Persona soundtrack, unlike the other OST I reviewed. Every track from the game is in this collection, along with a bonus disc with a few preview themes from Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Though the sound quality isn’t quite as good as the first OST, it’s still quite good. The completeness… Read More »

Old school or not, I really enjoyed this soundtrack. I recently went on a Shining adventure and grabbed every soundtrack I could find, and I decided to start with this one. I couldn’t have been more pleased. If you’re accustomed to old school RPG soundtracks, then this will be familiar to you. From the self-titled… Read More »

I have been more than pleased with the work of the publishing company “Sumthing Else.” Not that I have enjoyed all of their releases, but I do appreciate what they’re doing. Many of the Xbox-developed titles are developed in the US, which means the only way they’re getting a soundtrack release is if Americans publish… Read More »

When I first came across this soundtrack, I was hesitant to purchase it, or even spend any time listening to it. Based upon what I had heard in the first Vandal Hearts soundtrack, I expected more subpar Sakimoto-style strategy-RPG themes. You know the type: harps, booming drums and strings, blaring horns, wispy flute parts, that… Read More »

When Falcom ran their very first run of the “Falcom Millennium Series,” one of the many albums they chose to reprint was Falcom Special Box ’89. But, to confuse its fanbase even further, they took the 6 8cm set and put it on two regular sized CDs. This is the first of those two CDs.… Read More »

When Falcom ran their very first run of the “Falcom Millennium Series,” one of the many albums they chose to reprint was Falcom Special Box ’89. But, to confuse its fanbase even further, they took the 6 8cm set and put it on two regular sized CDs. This is the second of those two CDs.… Read More »

In the last few years, we’ve seen Nihon Falcom (a Japanese company) publish a number of Chinese-developed RPGs and Action RPGs in the land of the rising sun. This particular title, Moonlight Destiny (“Tsukikage no Destiny”), was an Action RPG developed by “Season Software.” The soundtrack features a standard and simple vocal introduction piece entitled… Read More »

Released as part of the 4th run of “Falcom Millenium Series” albums, this two disc set was technically a reprint, but split up in a different way. It took the first disc from Perfect Collection Ys and paired it with the first disc from Perfect Collection Ys II: which, not so coincidentally, were arranged entirely… Read More »

Welcome to the less popular half. When Falcom ran their 4th “Millenium Series” reprints, they split up Perfect Collection Ys and Perfect Collection Ys II in a whole new way, so that completionists would have to re-own the albums in a whole new setting. The first discs from the two albums made it to the… Read More »

For a release as big as Ocarina of Time (a.k.a. the only reason to own an N64), it’s no surprise that Nintendo of America published a soundtrack available through special order through “Nintendo Power” magazine. Compared to the Japanese release, this release had some advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage, at the time of its… Read More »

It’s rare that any of our import soundtrack reviews hail from Europe. It is even more disconcerting that this import soundtrack is for a Japanese title: a Zelda game, no less! But here it is: Ocarina of Time Vol. II – The Lost Tracks. Printed by Nintendo of Europe as a promotional item (after releasing… Read More »

Short version: Great soundtrack! Long version: Recently, Magna Carta: Tears of Blood was released here in the USA for the PS2. Though I myself can’t decide whether it’s a wonderful game or a piece of crap, most people generally seem to enjoy the game greatly despite its faults. However, before Tears of Blood (known as… Read More »

Tears of Blood: the newest chapter from Softmax’s Magna Carta series is a separate game rather than a sequel to Phantom of Avalanche. This new game (known is Japan and Korean as Crimson Stigmata) has a new cast, storyline and soundtrack. Thankfully, the soundtrack actually has a full retail release, unlike Phantom of Avalanche. While… Read More »

You know you all love Mario and Zelda music. You know it’s not because they’re impressive or stirring melodies. You know it’s not because they break new ground in the genre (although I guess they did back in the old days). The reason you like these tunes is because they’re fun, they’re catchy, and they’re… Read More »

No preamble to this review, I’m afraid. The Mario Story (Paper Mario) OST is, simply put, one of the most mediocre offerings I’ve ever received from a video game soundtrack. Yuka Tsujiyoko has managed to make a soundtrack that, while it may fit the game itself is, like the characters in it, about as substantial… Read More »

Originally released in 1993, reprinted (with two other Ogre albums) in 2000, All Sounds of Ogre Battle is a double-treatment to the 23 songs that comprise the original soundtrack to the Super Famicom title, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. Much like many future releases from Sakimoto and crew, we are given the… Read More »

“Perhaps the only thing born from one conflict is yet another conflict. Those who are fools will continue to fight.” Welcome to the Ogre Battle Image Album: The Entrance. Like the Final Fantasy III arranged album or the “Symphonic Fantasy White Witch,” this album opens with an English narrator telling the story of Ogre Battle… Read More »

The Nintendo 64 sound chip became obsolete quickly compared to the quality of sound in PlayStation games, because of the limited space in a cartridge. It basically has the sound of a slightly updated MIDI processor. However, despite this, some games on the system were able to either surpass the sound chip’s normal capabilities, or… Read More »