Archives

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 »

The first Lunar game on Sega CD pretty much came out of nowhere and blew away almost everybody who played it. People had been waiting for an RPG on Sega CD for a while and although RPG fans would have been satisfied with any “average” RPG on the system, what they got instead was an… Read More »

I’m a big fan of Final Fantasy IV. I consider it to have the most enjoyable music out of all the Final Fantasy games, including VI. It’s my personal preference based on not only nostalgia, but also an evaluation of the composition and emotion included in the pieces. That being said, it shouldn’t come as… Read More »

To my knowledge, here is the history of Final Fantasy Piano Collections: first IV, then V, then V (with reprints of IV and V)—these were all of the “book format” Piano Collections. Then, many years later, came VIII (skipping VII). Then came IX, then CD-only reprints of IV–VI, then X, and THEN VII (and 4… Read More »

I admit I’m pretty partial to the Final Fantasy Piano Collections CDs, as the piano also happens to be my favorite instrument. Naturally, there are some collections that impress more than others. That, of course, depends on the quality of the piano arrangements which in turn determines how recognizable and enjoyable the songs are compared… Read More »

With the Japanese Genso Suikoden IV on the verge of release, Konami has once again given us another Suikoden remix album, Genso Suikoden Asian Collection. The Genso Suikoden series is known not only for an emotionally riveting game play experience, but for a wealth of powerful and fun music as well, so it’s not shocking… Read More »

Oh great, another Sakuraba compilation. Alright, I don’t mean to sound bitter and jaded, but you should know that I am exactly that. I like Sakuraba: I am especially fond of the work he put into The Second Story. The Valkyrie Profile stuff isn’t bad either. It’s just that, well…this album doesn’t have much new… Read More »

Rarely, and I mean RARELY do I enjoy a game album enough to place it in my top five of a genre without even having played the game or heard the original music. I can count about three other examples of this phenomenon, those being Tokimeki Memorial Piano Collection, Heart Session, and Sonic Adventure Remix,… Read More »

Dragon Quest VII ~Warriors of Eden~ on Piano, eh? What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is the best Dragon Quest Piano album to date. That’s not saying much… Many people have sought out the more obscure Dragon Quest Piano CDs, only to find themselves highly disappointed, even annoyed. The more intelligent collector read reviews… Read More »

For fans of the Suikoden series’ music, it seems as if Konami either loves you or hates you. They bring out soundtrack after soundtrack, each time doing something radically different, forcing you to buy yet another take on some of the best game music out there. This gets quite expensive, but for the addict, there… Read More »

Talk about a diamond in the rough. Of all of the weird, ugly, obscure, and otherwise bad RPGs for the early years of Sony PlayStation, The Granstream Saga took the cake…and ate it…and then took another one. Everyone gave the game terrible reviews. The only reason the game got coverage in most magazines was because… Read More »

So what’s up with this trend anyway? Squaresoft releases a game in Japan…then they release it in America and Europe, adding a couple bonuses (maybe). Then it’s re-released in Japan as “International” (or in this case, “Final Mix”) and gets even MORE bonuses than the American/European versions. And to top it all off, America never… Read More »

(Editor’s Note: Nearly 15 years after the release of this book+CD combo, the two unique tracks found on this disc were included in a reprint of the Live A Live Original Soundtrack). It was a semi-common practice for NTT Publishing, in the early-to-mid 1990s, to throw together a little 8cm disc to come along with… Read More »

NOTE: Thanks to Namco USA making the single-most idiotic name-changing decision ever, you may be reading the wrong review. If you want a review for the American release of a game called “Tales of Destiny 2” for PlayStation, you’ll want to head over to the Tales of Eternia review. Tales of Eternia is the name… Read More »

Before reviewing the music, I do feel obliged to clarify all the packaging issues between the special edition and the regular edition. If you get your hands on the special edition, you are blessed with one of those mini-CDs which includes 57 ten-second tracks with sound effects from the game. I’m sure that’s an incredibly… Read More »

Back in 1987, Nobuo Uematsu took part in the game that saved Square from financial crisis: Final Fantasy. His music certainly had an impact of the success of the company as he became the main composer until a few more joined later. Final Fantasy II was released in 1988, and was as much as a… Read More »

Nobuo Uematsu, once the sole composer for any game in the Final Fantasy series, has been handing over the title to different composers. First, Uematsu teamed up with Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano for Final Fantasy X. He teamed up with Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka for Final Fantasy XI. Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi… Read More »

The first Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT) Original Soundtrack (OST) by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata was highly praised for its exceptional composition and its ability to grasp the listener into the games setting. In the second game, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (FFTA), Hitoshi Sakimoto takes over the reins for composing the soundtrack of the game.… Read More »

Editor’s Note: Mewt’s “Acorstic guitar version” is displayed as such on the album’s packaging. As a typographical error, one can assume the album’s creators meant to write “Acoustic guitar.” After playing through the PSX original “Final Fantasy Tactics,” I had hoped greatly for a full-orchestra arranged album. Sadly, this never came. I settled for what… Read More »

When one mentions the name “Front Mission,” many immediately think of Front Mission 3, the last title for PlayStation. Unfortunately, most of the Front Mission series remained in Japan, and only serious importers would get the chance to see what the fuss was about. It’s an amazing series featuring strategic combats involving futuristic mechs. There… Read More »

I love Konami’s Genso Suikoden series, but have never played either of the Suikogaiden games, primarily because I do not read Japanese fluently and would have no clue what is going on in these two text adventures. That being said, I can still enjoy the music from both games, and I do, mostly because the… Read More »

Last year, Konami released the first Genso Suikoden Vocal Collection ~ La passione commuove la storia ~ and it was, frankly, pretty bad. You can take a look at my review to see just what I thought about it, but here’s a brief synopsis: the vocalists were, for the most part, simply awful with one… Read More »

When Love Songs was released as one of the first Playstation 2 dating sims in April 2001, very few people took notice. However, both the game (developed by HuneX and published by 3D Publisher) as well as its soundtrack deserve some attention. The soundtrack comes on one disc containing a total of 28 songs, with… Read More »

This soundtrack slaughtered the expectations I had for it. I once owned the Mitsumete Knight OST, and wasn’t impressed. Most of the melodies were completely forgettable, or so I thought. The game, developed by Red (of Sakura Taisen fame), is a cross between a dating sim and a strategy RPG. In other words, it’s Tokimeki… Read More »

To date, Revelations: Persona and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment are the only two installments of Atlus’ revered Shin Megami Tensei series to have reared their demonic heads on console systems outside of Japan. As many hardcore MegaTen fans are aware, however, Persona 2 was actually a game consisting of two parts, Innocent Sin and Eternal… Read More »