Archives

I can’t say I appreciate the power of the GBA to deliver a stunning aural presentation on par with that of full-blown consoles such as PS2 or GC, but that doesn’t stop me from getting the soundtracks. Take, for instance, Riviera ~The Promised Land~ Full Arrange Soundtrack. I picked up the album before I even… Read More »

Editor’s note: A special thank you goes out to “Maou” who translated this tracklist to English. Previously, a completely incorrect tracklist (fabricated by someone who didn’t even attempt to translate the Japanese tracklist) had been the only English translation on the ‘net for years. Thanks Maou! Quintet! Have you heard of Quintet studios? Back in… Read More »

TearRingSaga (or, if you prefer it, Tear Ring Saga, or TearRing Saga…the spacing changes on different products) is, I’m told, one of the better strategy RPGs for the PS1, rivaling the standard-setting Final Fantasy Tactics. However, the game would be more rightly compared to the Fire Emblem series (the game was originally scheduled to be… Read More »

Tenchi Souzou, also known as Terranigma, was Quintet Studio’s last game for the Super Famicom, and is considered the third in a “trilogy” of action RPGs. The first two games are Soul Blader (or Soul Blazer) and Illusion of Gaia (sometimes called Illusion of Time). These games shared similar gameplay mechanics and graphical style, and… Read More »

Editor’s Note: “Batsu” is the kanji character on the front cover, and can be translated as “Punishment”: this is the Japanese subtitle that got translated and romanized as “Eternal Punishment.” Hence, the “Batsu” here refers to the fact that this is an arranged album for Eternal Punishment, and not Innocent Sin. Electronic music has been… Read More »

Radiata Stories: Arrange Album starts the way a good RPG soundtrack should. The first track, Legendary Sword, is a solo piano, starting off gently and building into a haunting tune. One can start to imagine the visuals that may appear during this opening track as sensational composer Noriyuki Iwadare leads us with this entrancing promise… Read More »

I remember when the announcement came that, for the first time ever, Sakuraba was sitting out on a tri-Ace game. I could hardly believe it. And when I heard the man giving Sakuraba a break was none other than Lunar and Grandia composer Noriyuki Iwadare, I was thrilled. Surely, this game would have one of… Read More »

You’ve heard him a thousand times, but have you heard him live?! That’s right: after releasing a myriad of albums for the Star Ocean series and Valkyrie Profile (note that these releases have kept coming even after this release), Sakuraba decides to show his skills through a live concert. With the help of his band… Read More »

Let’s start with the logistics, and then I’ll get witty. Shall we? “Star Ocean & Valkyrife Profile The Best” is a “best of” album from five different games, four of which are part of the Star Ocean series. These games are STAR OCEAN, Star Ocean The Second Story, Star Ocean Till the End of Time,… Read More »

On the crappy tri-Ace Battle Collection, the two Star Ocean: Blue Sphere battle tracks were its redeeming qualities. In fact, after hearing “Like the River Styx,” I put SO:BS on my “to do” list. Now that I’ve listened to it, I’m a little disappointed. The arranged tracks leave a lot to be desired and the… Read More »

Ah, the Super Famicom. For many VGM fans, this was the golden era. So many wonderful tunes were created during the 16-bit era, and perhaps much of this has to do with the technology of the time. Star Ocean was one of the last games to be released on the Super Famicom. To my knowledge,… Read More »

This promotional CD was given out to the lucky people who reserved the Japanese copy of Radiata Stories. Unfortunately, if you’re expecting this to be the best thing since the tomato, you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re interested in Motoi Sakuraba and Noriyuki Iwadare and want to learn more about them, that’s great, but… Read More »

The Legend of Heroes… Almost completely unknown outside of its native Japan, Falcom’s unique series has been captivating players since its earliest chapter in 1989. Recently, the third, fourth and fifth in the series were remade for the PSP, and Bandai has just announced they are bringing the fourth (named, Eiyuu Densetsu IV: Akai Shizuku… Read More »

I’ve never had the hots for orchestras in VGM, especially real ones, because they aren’t used very creatively and have done nothing but over hype the genre in the last five years. Of course, there are a few notable exceptions, like the ridiculous amount of symphonic arrangements by Sound Team JDK and the Dragon Quest… Read More »

Genso Suikoden. A name, that to many, means a lot of things – emotional storytelling, intense warfare and tales of hard-working people who come together to defeat a common threat. It also signifies a greatness of music, with the first three Suikoden games and the gaidens having largely remarkable soundtracks. Suikoden IV was unveiled not… Read More »

Recently, Nintendo has released a lot of soundtracks heralding the golden age of Famicom, noting its glorious transition from 8-bit to whatever-bit-we’re-now-on. One such soundtrack is this one: “Zelda the Music.” This crazy album is essentially 70 tracks packed into one disc (much like the Ocarina of Time OST), featuring music from Zelda games old… Read More »

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Brave Fencer Musashi soundtrack when it came out, but I had no reason to be skeptical of Musashiden II when I heard that Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano were composing it this time around. Since I love them both, I was counting the days before this soundtrack came… Read More »

I have a confession to make: I am a SaGa freak. Have I played many of the games? Nope. Do they kick my butt and make me harm controllers in frustration? Yep. But by God do I love them and worship the music as if it were unto ecstasy incarnate. That said, my knowledge of… Read More »

Masayoshi Yamazaki’s single for Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song-, “Minuet”, is one of the most eccentric theme songs I’ve heard in awhile. There’s “humorous” eccentric, which we have found in the Hanjuku Hero Vs. 3D theme song…but this one isn’t meant to be humorous. It’s meant to be strangely beautiful. The good news is that Yamazaki… Read More »

Trotting alongside Square’s flagship RPG series Final Fantasy, the SaGa series is always unconventional, oftentimes overlooked, sometimes despised. I, myself, have yet to not fall in love with a SaGa game, regardless of how good or bad the gameplay mechanics may be (note that I have not yet played UNLIMITED:SaGa). For me, the aesthetic appeal… Read More »

The musical compositions of Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, like a fine wine, are intensely savorable. To the listener, each additional taste reveals subtle complexities, intricate emotions, and deepens one’s appreciation of the work. Mr. Sakimoto and Mr. Iwata demonstrate their ability to capture the feeling of the moment, whether it be fragility, solitude, courage,… Read More »

Less than one month after the release of the Tales of Eternia OST (through Marvelous), “Media Factory” released the “Tales of Eternia Remaster Audio”. To this day, I am not quite sure how this happened. What is its purpose? It has the exact same tracks as the OST, but now categorized in a more logical… Read More »

Like many game developers, Namco jumped ship back in the mid-90s, leaving Nintendo and joining Sony. Tales of Phantasia, the first game in the Tales series (originally released on the Super Famicom), enjoyed a re-release on the PlayStation. Three other Tales games followed on Sony’s systems: Destiny, Eternia, and Destiny2. Tales of Symphonia is the… Read More »

I adore the work of Yasunori Mitsuda. I know I am not alone in my adoration. Even those who are not particularly interested in a videogame’s music cannot help but appreciate the work Mr. Mitsuda has put into such games as Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and Xenosaga. He has a more than adequate grasp of different… Read More »

Released one year after the first Ys Piano Collection, this second album features tracks from the the first four Ys titles (which were all that existed at this time). Generally, I found that Fujisawa (the performer/arranger) stepped up from the previous Ys piano arrangements, which were first of all not “true to form” piano solo,… Read More »