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At first glance/listen, this F.F. MIX soundtrack was something I was about to place under the “for collectors only” category. However, after some careful consideration, I have decided that it warrants a purchase for most Final Fantasy fans: as long as the price is low enough. Final Fantasy Mix is a little “collection” disc of… Read More »

If I were to use one word to describe what I think of this soundtrack, it would be: phenomenal. Even then, that doesn’t suit how epic this soundtrack is. Taking a different approach with the release of the musical score of Grandia II, the best songs have been split between the two CDs that make… Read More »

Beyond the Beyond was one of the first RPGs to reach the American PlayStation console. I, and most RPG fans, will agree that this is likely one of the worst RPGs ever created, give or take a few other bad ones out there. So, why bother buying the OGS (Original Game Soundtrack) to such a… Read More »

This is the soundtrack to the Dreamcast game Climax Landers, known in America as Time Stalkers. From what I’m told by friends who have played through the game, there aren’t any tracks missing from this OST, making it essentially complete. I believe that this soundtrack is by all means a good one, and any fan… Read More »

This single, along with the Vocal From Ys and Surround Theater Sorcerian, was recently reprinted in the Falcom Millenium series under the name The Vocal from Ys +. However, the real REVIEW of the single is found here, so you’ve come to the right place. I assume the inspiration for this CD came from the… Read More »

There is quite a lot to say about Falcom Special Box ’89, a special little package of CDs. Before hitting the music, I feel there is a need to clarify all these prints of the Box. This set has three prints. The first print, depicted in the front cover art on this page, is an… Read More »

RPGFan’s policy on reviewing the instrumental FF singles is that we normally do not do it because they are usually obscure, unheard of, and consist of music found on the complete OST that the single is released under. Final Fantasy’s singles as of now include Final Fantasy IV Minimum Album, Final Fantasy V +1, Final… Read More »

If you’ve heard Shimomura’s music, then you probably realize how good it is. This is one of Shimomura’s earlier compositions (she had worked for Capcom prior to Square, but Live A Live is her first soundtrack for the JRPG giant). Live A Live, like most other games Shimomura does the music to, wasn’t as highly… Read More »

This is DEFINITELY the most obscure CD I’ve ever owned and probably will ever own in my entire life. I bought this CD on a complete whim while searching eBay, and I was in for a surprise after receiving it. This music is tons of synth fun! For some history on Maten Densetsu (Legend of… Read More »

Being a big anime fan, I am always on the hunt for anime merchandise. And, as a good big brother, I’m always looking out for things my little sister would like. Well, my little sister is obsessed with Sailor Moon. She discovered ROMs on her own (I’m so proud of her…not that I condone such… Read More »

If you’ve ever really gotten into Sorcerian, you know that it’s an alright game for its time. And, while I feel it did not get the attention it deserved musically, the music does stand out. If you’re hardcore Falcom, you know what I mean. If not, come to a magical Sengoku-ish time-period, or perhaps a… Read More »

Readers of my Valkyrie Profile OST review surely know that I hold its music in the highest possible regard. Motoi Sakuraba’s compositions in Valkyrie Profile are nothing short of pure musical genius, and he does justice to them perfectly in the Valkyrie Profile Arrange Album. Like Sakuraba’s previous work in the Star Ocean: The Second… Read More »

I’ll say this right off: Symphony Ys is the first Falcom CD I bought. I also will say that I have never been too impressed with what I’ve heard of Falcom music…until I heard sample from this CD and a couple other orchestral ones. I love orchestral music. It’s almost all I listened to in… Read More »

Known as just Chocobo’s Dungeon 2 in North America, Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon 2 has quite an array of music on it. While the game suffers in just about every other category, the music holds strong with a multi-composer soundtrack that no VGM enthusiast could disregard. The majority of this soundtrack is definitely light-hearted, with no… Read More »

The U.S. release of a Final Fantasy CD in popular music stores could be enough for any fan, casual or hardcore, to run out and buy it. But with a soundtrack such as this one, buyers beware. This arrangement contains selected tracks from Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy VIII with a… Read More »

As far as I know, Brave Fencer Musashi is Tsuyoshi Sekito‘s first work with Squaresoft. And it’s a good thing, because this is definitely an AMAZING soundtrack. The quality of the scores on this soundtrack is unknown to some; this is a shame. The music can range from cheesy/light-hearted, to dark/dramatic, and everywhere in-between. There… Read More »

The really neat thing about this soundtrack, to me anyway, is that I can really get into it and I have yet to play the game. If Square does have competition within its own releases, this soundtrack would have definitely been a competitor with other late releases like Treasure Hunter G, Rudra no Hihou, and… Read More »

First, let me state that I have never played any of the Romancing SaGa games. As such, I had absolutely no expectations about this CD because I had never heard the music for any of the SaGa games. I’m sure that a lot of you are in the same situation that I was since none… Read More »

Note: track “00” of disc three is a hidden track that can be located by rewinding into the negative space of track 1. SaGa Frontier is one of those games that got bashed by many people. Many people called it “Square’s worst” or “Great as a coaster.” However, the game also has a strong-voiced group… Read More »

After 4 straight SaGa games with Kenji Ito as the composer, Ito takes a chair and relaxes so Hamauzu can put his stuff to the test. How do things work out? Different, but also extremely well-done. This sound works extremely well with the fast-past, high-energy songs that still require relatively light instrumentation. The “techno” tracks… Read More »

Edit (added August 10, 2010): the Square Enix reprint includes separate packaging and a bonus 25th track recorded in Milan during the Piano Collections Final Fantasy XIII recording. It is a different version of track 5. …If your main attraction to SaGa Frontier 2‘s OST was the use of piano, then this soundtrack is for… Read More »

Yoko Shimomura is, in my mind and in the mind of many others, one of Squaresoft’s “three composing giants” (the other two being Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda…And some consider Sakimoto one, but he hasn’t done enough work with Square yet). Anyway, this being Shimomura’s latest work, it is simply amazing. The synth quality, the… Read More »

Anyone who knows anything about Sakimoto knows that he’s good at what he does. Knowing this, everyone expected the Vagrant Story soundtrack to be good well ahead of time. Were expectations met? Yes, yes, and…yes! Sakimoto’s style retains itself from Final Fantasy Tactics, except that since he had to write music for “dungeons” (which didn’t… Read More »

…If you thought the Xenogears OST was good, “you ain’t heard nuthin’ yet”… Xenogears: CREID (Celtic for “Believe”) is my favorite CD that Yasunori Mitsuda has ever released (and I think I’ve heard them all up to this point). CREID is a Celtic-style CD, with a very diverse multitude of instruments. There are vocal and… Read More »

I was pretty excited when I received my copy of Grandia II “Special Package”, a limited edition of the import game on Dreamcast. With a music CD and art book, I was in gaming heaven…or was I? Before even turning on the game, I wanted to sample the music from the CD and look through… Read More »