Archives

Last year, I had the pleasure of reviewing the WildStar Original Soundtrack Volume 1, and I thought it was pretty darn good. In retrospect, however, I think I may have undersold that soundtrack, because it has only grown on me since then, to the point where I think Jeff Kurtenacker is one of the best… Read More »

Disclaimer: While I did purchase this soundtrack of my own accord, I hold HyperDuck SoundWorks in high regard and am acquainted with Chris Geehan. I will attempt to remain objective in this review, but if the reader detects a hint of bias, this information may explain the source of said bias. Clocking in at exactly… Read More »

So…this may lose me some credibility right off the bat, but the Ni no Kuni II Original Soundtrack was my first real dive into Joe Hisaishi’s work. Before this album, I was only vaguely familiar with his name, and I ironically assumed that he was a relatively new face in the industry. Turns out I… Read More »

Regardless of whether you loved, hated, or avoided Detroit: Become Human altogether, the soundtrack is fantastic and definitely worth a listen. Not only is the music itself good, but Quantic Dream made an interesting and, in my opinion, brilliant decision with regard to how it is structured. Instead of a single artist or a group… Read More »

I wanted Caligula, known in the US as The Caligula Effect, to be a great game. A cavalcade of ex-Atlus staff, many of whom worked on early Shin Megami Tensei and Persona titles, came together to create a new RPG. We all had high hopes. Unfortunately, potential and reality do not always match. I refer… Read More »

One of my absolute favorite albums of 2015 was Corpse Party: songs of the dead. The North America-exclusive two disc audio set from XSEED Games came as a bonus alongside the physical release of Corpse Party: Blood Drive for PSVita. The soundtrack featured music from all three entries in the original Corpse Party trilogy. It… Read More »

Note: The samples on Disc 8’s tracklist lead to their video counterpart on our YouTube channel. Rrha ki ra tie yor ini en nha Wee ki ra parge yor ar ciel Was yea ra chs mea yor en fwal Ma ki ga ks maya yor syec And with those four lines, sung in Ar tonelico’s… Read More »

Prior to the release of the massive “Kurt hymneth” box set of Ar tonelico vocal/hymmnos albums, Gust took it upon themselves to open a poll on their “Ar Portal” website. The poll would determine which singers, and which in-game characters (represented by each singer), would have special songs written exclusively for the Kurt hymneth box.… Read More »

Hey, Ar tonelico fans! You know your Ar tonelico Hymmnos Concerts, right? We always get Side Red and Side Blue, but have you ever heard of Side Mori (translated: “Protection”)? I can forgive you if you didn’t know about it. It’s been over a decade, and I am only now discovering it. I was aware… Read More »

Never in my life have I dug so deep into a game I will likely never play. I suppose a localization could still take place, but given the span of time, I doubt it. Plus, this game is so thoroughly Japanese, it’d be a hard sell. The game in question, of course, is “Idol Death… Read More »

Developer aiueoKompany released the soundtrack CD for “Sound of Drop -fall into poison-” at Comiket 89 in Japan, right at the end of 2015. However, because Sekai Project came alongside aiueo to release this title in the west, we had a rare occurrence where the North American digital release was released a few weeks prior… Read More »

As much as I enjoy the original soundtracks for the Final Fantasy series, I generally get more enjoyment out of their piano collection counterparts. At their best, the arrangements capture and elaborate upon everything integral to the original compositions whilst stripping away all of the “fluff.” In doing so, they somehow reach a new level… Read More »

Filling the gap between the Ar tonelico trilogy and the recently localized Ar nosurge, GUST developed a hybrid simulator/RPG with social networking elements called Ciel nosurge. As content was released over time, three separate vocal albums (the Genometric Concert series) were released in quick succession. This first album is very short: only 20 minutes in… Read More »

Once the Ar tonelico trilogy came to an end, GUST had options as to where they wanted to take the franchise. Their next stop was an interesting online “life sim” game called Ciel nosurge. Over the span of a few years, this Japan-exclusive PS Vita title received various chapter DLC. Eventually, in October 2014, a… Read More »

Well, it’s what I asked for. Heck, it’s what I predicted (see final paragraph). But did Square Enix and the arrangement team put their all into this NieR offering? Or, finally, did they shrug their shoulders and say “phone it in, this is a money train.” If the latter, I’m not sure I could blame… Read More »

Today’s review is a little interesting, as we are not only graced with another entry to Shenmue’s shallow pool of available music, but we also have the opportunity to pick up the piano book for this particular album. I’m a sucker for piano books (and piano albums in general), so chances are I might pick… Read More »

The music was reborn. Now, what happens if the instruments are…retuned? Originally described months before release as being a more jazz-influenced album than the rock influence of the Re:Birth series, but still focused around battle themes in the Romancing SaGa trilogy, it turns out Re:Tune has a sort of eclectic mix of styles. Most of… Read More »

It’s been a long time since I witnessed so much controversy over a remake. And by controversy, I should probably just say “anger.” The HD remake of Secret of Mana garnered a lot more hate than love across the internet. One need not search long before finding someone who claims the game “ruined their childhood… Read More »

Editor’s note regarding translation: despite some entries in the Mana franchise now having officially localized song titles via Square Enix Music, most of them do not, and this CD only came with Japanese titles. As such, we are utilizing the refined translations from VGMdb, particularly from user “dancey,” for this album. For example, Legend of… Read More »

David Peacock and Augustine Mayuga Gonzales must have decided that they had unfinished business with Undertale. Or perhaps, they were not aware of how great their first Piano Collections was until the positive fan response came their way. In any case, Materia Collective, alongside Peacock (arranging) and Gonzales (performing), have provided us with a second… Read More »

Note: Due to the nature of this review, all samples in the tracklist will lead to their video counterpart on our YouTube channel. I’m sure, if you’re reading this, that you know more than a little about the Persona franchise. But have you ever heard of Game Symphony Japan? If not, allow me to give… Read More »

Hey … something feels wrong. I feel excited about a SaGa Orchestra album, but didn’t they just release a two-disc orchestral set for the SaGa series last year? Let me check my shelves … oh, yes. Yes, they did. Now, “Orchestra Concert 2016” was recorded in late 2016 at a live concert in Tokyo, about… Read More »

When I reviewed the 10th anniversary commemorative soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings Online a few months ago, I was very keen to hear Chance Thomas’ work for the new Mordor expansion. However, with such a big release just out the door, I figured it would be a year or two before we received… Read More »

In less than six months, Materia Collective has published two back-to-back NieR “Glory” albums. After publishing the ROZEN+REVEN album “Glory to Mankind” in September 2017, they followed it up with Ferdk’s EP-sized “Glory to Metal” in February 2018. Ferdk, full name Fernando Carabajal, has been arranging and performing VGM since 2011, and made his debut… Read More »

Materia Collective made the bold move of releasing a full arranged album for NieR: Automata months before Square Enix would follow suit. Specifically, the Collective published the work of an ambitious duo: ROZEN+REVEN. ROZEN, real name Daniel Jiménez, handled most of the instrumental arrangement. REVEN, real name Mary Kate Jiménez-Wall (you can do the math… Read More »