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Boldly going where I’ve never gone before, this is my first experience with Mitsuda’s musical style. Having heard numerous times, that Xenogears has the best RPG soundtrack of all time, I felt I had to witness this myself. Does it live up to the claim? Well, yes and no. Considering that I’ve never experienced the… Read More »

Note: Shinko Ogata (from FFVIII Piano Collections) performs the songs arranged by Matsueda and Eguchi. The other arrangers performed their own arrangements, which is a first in FF Piano history. Note also the slight change in title from “Piano Collections” (IV–X all use this title) to “Piano Collection”…Just a little idiosyncrasy. I have listened to… Read More »

One of the most popular Anime series in Japan from 2002 to the present review date, the Fullmetal Alchemist series spawned its own Action RPG, which was published by Square Enix. This is a review of that game’s soundtrack. Before saying anything about this soundtrack, I must admit that, at the time of writing this… Read More »

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was not one of my favorites in the Legend of Zelda series. Though it had interesting gameplay, to me it lacked the epic feel that was in its predecessors, such as Ocarina of Time and Link to the Past. It seems that my feelings for the game extend to… Read More »

As I started to listen to this album, I was a bit wary to say the least. I am a huge fan of the Zelda series, but I am definitely not a huge fan of techno remixes. I was also pretty apprehensive about them messing with my precious Zelda music. But imagine my shock when… Read More »

What you are about to read is an incredibly biased review. I cannot help but do otherwise: Michiko Naruke has captivated my heart, and I cannot manage to get it back. Every melody Naruke writes and releases to the public draws me closer to the vague entity that we know as the Wild ARMs series.… Read More »

Alundra 2: one of the most unrelated sequels to an original game in the history of RPGs. While Alundra was actually about a character named “Alundra,” Alundra 2 is about a kid named Fritz… and the game feels much more silly and less serious than the original. Everything about the sequel changes from the original.… Read More »

This single is the opening/ending theme song single for Alundra 2. If you own the Alundra 2 Original Soundtrack, there isn’t much benefit in owning this single. The Full Size Version of “Carry on Everyday” is about twice as long as the in-game version (on the OST). I’m Home (“Tadaima”) is the same version as… Read More »

Long before Final Fantasy VII took the gaming world by storm, savvy gamers world-wide were already familiar with the previous six games in the series (well, Americans only had access to three, but the well-informed American knew that six existed). “Old-school” gamers are, to this day, nostalgic for a time when FMV sequences didn’t exist,… Read More »

When a person thinks of oft-arranged game music, the top contenders wind up being series such as Ys, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest. However, Konami’s Genso Suikoden series is catching up. Not only that, but the majority of the soundtracks produced are of excellent quality, including the subject of this review; Genso Suikoden Piano Collection… Read More »

Note: The original terminology for this game is Hanjuku Eiyuu which translates to “Half-Boiled Hero.” Somehow the half-translated name Hanjuku Hero stuck, so much so that you can even hear “Hanjuku Hero!” sung in this opening theme. Okay, listen up: ISAO SASAKI! This guy is insane. The vocalist for the Hanjuku Hero Vs 3D theme… Read More »

Okay, at first glance, this little Eternity disc for Final Fantasy X-2 looks like an absolute waste of money. As a “Theme Song Single,” you’re looking at three instrumental tracks, standing on their own. Why spend $10-$15 on this three-track, ten minute disc, when you can spend $15 more and get the whole double-disc OST?… Read More »

Okay, now this Come With Me single is just absolutely weird. its application to Final Fantasy X-2 is indirect, but enough of a worthwhile notation to cover on RPGFan. The first and last tracks are not worth talking about: they are just another Kumi Koda song, being the title track of the CD. The tracks… Read More »

We Americans got a different performer for the X-2 Vocals, one Jade from Sweetbox. The Japanese gamers got to hear the lovely voice of Kumi Koda. I’ve heard a lot of debate about who performs these vocal tracks better: some say Koda, others say Jade. Of course, it’s easy to argue that nothing can beat… Read More »

Sound of the Wind (“Kaze no Ne”) is the opening theme to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. This is the opening theme single from Yae. The third and fourth tracks are from Yae’s second album, entitled “Blue Line.” The first two tracks are the only songs relevant to the game. The first track is the version… Read More »

In 1999, Squaresoft were busy making their 3rd mech strategy RPG title, Front Mission 3. Like when they’ve hired Riow Arai for Front Mission Alternative in 1997, they wanted to take another chance and hire composers outside the company. So the duo of Koji Hayama (Cho Aniki) and Hayato Matsuo (Ogre Battle, Dragon Force II)… Read More »

The Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission Original Soundtrack: what a little hodge-podge of a soundtrack! Because it would be near-impossible to write a sensible review of this thing without going track-by-track, I’m doing the dirty deed and writing a track-by-track review. Don’t kill me, please. Thanks. Well, maybe first an explanation on what… Read More »

Note: This soundtrack, along with the Seiken Densetsu OSV, were reprinted into one disc that is generally available. This disc is entitled Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections. Seiken Densetsu ~ Let Thoughts Ride on Knowledge is an album of epic ambition. Be it the original Final Fantasy Adventure or their latest offering, Sword of Mana, each… Read More »

Note: This soundtrack, along with the arranged disc, Seiken Densetsu ~ Let Thoughts Ride on Knowledge, were reprinted into one disc that is generally available. This disc is entitled Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections. Despite limitations in sound hardware, Kenji Ito’s Seiken Densetsu OSV manages to embrace quality compositions and timeless melodies which will stay engrained… Read More »

For some reason, people like to use the word “gem” to describe a really good, hard-to-find CD. I don’t know how the terminology ever stuck, but it did. And while I usually disagree with people on their usage of the word, I have to say that this soundtrack is truly a gem. Sword of Mana… Read More »

About a year ago, Squaresoft and Enix had the bright idea of teaming up to become one huge company. The benefits were obvious; the strengths of both companies together would make only quality products. Mixing the incredible story and gameplay elements of Enix and the graphical abilities of Squaresoft could only do good things like… Read More »

Drag-on Dragoon Original Soundtrack Vol.2 features the best music of the two volumes. Here Takayuki Aihara and Nobuyoshi Sano still strive to make their own unusual music. The tracks here are far more distorted and twisted (especially those from Sano) and more have choirs in them. Aihara starts off the soundtrack with Drag-on Dragoon‘s secondary… Read More »

In the summer of 2003, Square released three singles through Avex, corresponding to the three main characters of Final Fantasy X-2: Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. The YuRiPa (or YRP in America) trio went “solo” for these three singles: the Japanese voice actors for the characters got a shot at performing two songs. Each song is… Read More »

In the summer of 2003, Square released three singles through Avex, corresponding to the three main characters of Final Fantasy X-2: Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. The YuRiPa (or YRP in America) trio went “solo” for these three singles: the Japanese voice actors for the characters got a shot at performing two songs. Each song is… Read More »

In the summer of 2003, Square released three singles through Avex, corresponding to the three main characters of Final Fantasy X-2: Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. The YuRiPa (or YRP in America) trio went “solo” for these three singles: the Japanese voice actors for the characters got a shot at performing two songs. Each song is… Read More »