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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 »

To the surprise of no one, when the Star Ocean 3 soundtracks were announced, an arranged album was also planned soon after. Keeping in mind Motoi Sakuraba’s brilliant arrangements found on Star Ocean: Second Story Arranged, Valkyrie Profile Arranged and Star Ocean: Blue Sphere (three of his most recent arranged albums) I preordered the album… Read More »

What an absolutely interesting album this one is! Of all the Dragon Quest music out there, it is rare to find a vocal pop/ballad album to match up with the music! As far as I know, there is a vocal single for Dragon Quest III, and maybe one for IV and V. Other than that,… Read More »

It seems that every time I go to New York (invariably via Mitsuwa) I stop in the Kinokuniya there and wind up coming home with a new Genso Suikoden album. While I have been less than pleased with half of them, the other half have been superb. Genso Suikoden III ~Rustling of the Wind~ is… Read More »

Going into this review, let me say that I am biased. For a long time now I’ve been a huge fan of the Suikoden series and its music. Miki Hagishino, Tappy, Masahiko Kimura, and Keiko Fukami of the legendary Kukeiha Club have successfully brought more joy to my ears than almost any other musical entity.… Read More »

Persona Revelations and Eternal Punishment are so far the only 2 games under the Shin Megami Tensei series that have been released in English (excluding cousin-like Gameboy games such as DemiKids and Revelations: The Demon Slayer). This is also the first time I’ve ever heard of Masaki Kurokawa. But whoever he is, he has done… Read More »

I VERY randomly stumbled onto this soundtrack. While searching on Yahoo Japan for the Langrisser II OST (TYCY-5403), I accidently searched for TYCY-5401 and this appeared. Having recognized the name Startling Odyssey II as one of the more obscure PC-Engine RPGs, I decided I’d get it. So I did, and here’s what I think of… Read More »

Vandal Hearts is a little known SRPG found on the PSX. It tells the story of Ash Lambert, a good hearted soldier who uncovers a diabolical plot to destroy the world. He begins his quest with 2 fellow soldiers, but is eventually joined by others who all follow him for their own reasons. Some are… Read More »

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection really isn’t THAT bad; there are much worse vocal albums out there. However, the problem with this CD lies in it being Final Fantasy. Most hold the series’ music and arrangements to a high standard, and anything subpar usually draws much criticism from the… Read More »

With perhaps the most unique game in Square’s ever so famous Final Fantasy series, comes what might as well be the most unique soundtrack of the same. Final Fantasy X-2, the first ever sequel in the series, is accompanied by the first FF soundtrack with no contributions whatsoever by Square’s key composer, Nobuo Uematsu (FFXI… Read More »

There are a few sure things in this world. The sky is blue. The sun is bright. RPGFan is green. Zelda soundtracks reusing familiar themes. But is that such a bad thing? Not at all. The soundtrack to Nintendo’s latest Zelda game is an interesting combination of old and new. Fans who play The Wind… Read More »

Like Working Designs’ first Lunar release, Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete came with an extensive assortment of packaging. One of the five discs inside the gargantuan box was a soundtrack. Twenty-four tracks from the PlayStation game, with much better sound quality than what is heard on the Playstation, and of course the English vocals created for… Read More »

Consider that the Megami Tensei (Goddess Reincarnation) series has not caught on for US players, publishers or audiences. Not much of an introduction between the game and its music in this review. To sum up, the battle music style differs from other Japanese RPG soundtracks you have listened before, whether it be good or bad.… Read More »

Masashi Hamauzu finally seems to have acquired a long-deserved series association, this being his second score for a SaGa game. You’d never guess though, as he makes no allusions to any of his themes from SaGa Frontier 2 and separates this new score from the former with an entirely different palette of sound. There is… Read More »

As of today, I have owned approximately 175 videogame soundtracks. That’s meager compared to the collection of a few other people; to others, that is a ridiculous amount of money spent. Indeed, it was. Of the 175 I’ve owned, I now have held onto only four (all the others were sold for college, car money,… Read More »

Why hello there! Glad to see you’re interested enough in the music of Dragon Quest VII to actually read the review of the Original Sound Version side. Remember, this is the review for Disc 2 of the DQVII Symphonic Suite, that’s why all the tracks have a “2” in front of them. 😛 Most of… Read More »

I’ll be perfectly honest with you, up until The Black Mages‘ release, I have been totally appalled by the arranged albums Square normally releases for their Final Fantasy games. It seems that we can always count on a piano collection that seems more mandatory than anything else, or something that has little purpose other than… Read More »

Another Suikoden album, you cry incredulously as you shake your fist to the heavens or rebuke hell (depending on whether you enjoy or dislike the series’ music.) That’s right, this series which has only spawned three games and two gaidens already counts its soundtracks in the double digits, even without the name Falcom attached to… Read More »

Like so many of the game soundtracks I review, I’ve never played Grandia. Despite all the praises I’d heard and my own intent to eventually sit down with the game, I never found the chance. And after listening to this CD, I sorely regret not making the time. There is no doubt in my mind… Read More »

I feel somewhat unqualified writing a review for a soundtrack for this series: while I am quite knowledgeable of the composer’s other works, I have absolutely no experience playing any games from the Ogre Battle series. This limits my understanding of and appreciation for the music. However, I wonder if I could like this album… Read More »

Zwei!!’s OST was the first original soundtrack that had come out of Falcom in years. The music itself broke the mold of what the company’s composing team, Sound Team JDK, was known for, and looked to be the beginning of a new era in Falcom’s music. The only thing that could top that would have… Read More »

Yasunori Mitsuda and Hitoshi Sakimoto. Not many can think of a better team of collaborators for a project. Now, throw the acclaimed Breath of Fire series into the mix. Surely it can be said there’s magic at work. Mitsuda, who is renowned for his work on Chrono Cross and Xenogears; Sakimoto, who left unforgettable tracks… Read More »

In my eyes, despite being incomplete, Phantasy Star Online’s OST was a truly a masterpiece. It’s originality and unique sound along with how it complimented the game’s environment and accentuated its atmosphere was masterful. And although I’d spent well over 100 hours playing the game itself, I could still pull out the disc and listen… Read More »

*Note: I suggest anyone reading this review first check out either http://remix.overclocked.org or www.vgmix.com and expose themselves to the wonderful remixes therein. I was not a huge fan of KFSS Studios’ first work, Project Majestic Mix: A Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu. Most of it felt too low quality, as if all the tracks could have… Read More »