Archives

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 »

When Code Age Commanders was first announced, I was one of the few people I know who wasn’t skeptical. Everything about this new world intrigued me: especially the environments and character designs. And, when I heard that Kumi Tanioka would be doing the soundtrack for the game, I couldn’t have been more pleased. I had… Read More »

Fanboys and fangirls rejoice! Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children has finally come after many delays, and behold: it is good. It is very good. There are so many things I could say about the movie, but that’s not my assignment. This is a review for the movie’s soundtrack. So, let’s talk about it. First of… 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 formulated 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 »

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. What the heck? Where did this soundtrack come from, and furthermore, who would ever want it? Allow me to answer your questions. When Hanjuku Hero 4 -The 7 Heroes- was released in Japan, there was a “Limited Edition” release (no surprises there) that came with a two-disc soundtrack and… Read More »

Arc the Lad Soundtrack Complete (or “Sound Track Complete” according to the reprint’s cover) is a complete collection of music from Arc the Lad and Arc the Lad II. Note that this is the only soundtrack to have an original soundtrack for the first Arc the Lad, as the other Original Game Soundtrack is a… Read More »

Gensosangokushi is a title that Falcom published in Japan after reports of initial success in the broader Asian market. Developed by UserJoy, and having a soundtrack done by UserJoy’s Sound Team, I listened to this album having zero previous expectations, as I knew this wasn’t a “Sound Team JDK” album, even though it was published… Read More »

Released through Falcom’s website as a bonus item along with the game, Gensosangokushi Super Arrange Version is an exciting but short work from Falcom’s newest in-house arranger, Yukihiro Jindo. Previously, Jindo had done work on the Legend of Heroes VI Super Arrange Version, and he has gone on to do work on the Ys: Oath… Read More »

Editor’s note: The album’s back cover lists the tracks in a continual order, such that disc 2 track 1 is track 24, and so on. This is becoming more common, as I have seen it on the Ragnarok Online OST and the Nobunaga’s Ambition Online OST. For the sake of organization, we refer to the… Read More »

Megami Ibunroku Persona, known as Revelations: Persona in the US, may have come out almost a decade ago, but it still remains one of the most unique RPGs I’ve ever played. Its dark gritty subject matter, foreboding atmosphere, and modern urban environments set it apart from the crowd. It is only fitting then that the… Read More »

Note: This soundtrack is only available with the boxed Japanese print of the game, and thus is quite the rarity. This is because many gamers took the option of simply downloading the expansion rather than buying the game. Perhaps this soundtrack was the only reason to pick up the game in boxed form. If you… Read More »

Vain Dream II and Die Bahnwelt were titles both released by the company Glodia over a decade ago. It seems that, at this point, Glodia’s older star composer Tenpei Sato had moved on to other projects, and as a result left in-house composer Ikki Nakamura to do the work. Having composed music for Ragnarökkr and… Read More »