I love this retro soundtrack. It reminds me of some of the glory days of the 16/32-bit era, especially the Genesis and Saturn.
Rayman: Origins is a beautiful game both in visuals and audio. While I was playing the game, I nearly fell asleep listening to this on the Sea of Serendipity map. I can’t help but to whistle along with this song.
After I had conquered the single-player mode in Sonic 3, I remember spending a lot of time in the competitive/time-trial mode. There was something satisfying about running a miniature sonic around repeating loops over and over again. Part of what kept me sitting there had to be the music. Some of the most intriguing tracks were located in this time-trial mode.
“Chrome Gadget,” as its name implies, featured a nighttime scene of steel pipes and platforms through which Sonic was required to run. It was one of five competitive stages in the game.
From the SQ Chips album, which rearranges classic game songs in the chiptune format, we have a Chrono Trigger character medley. Enjoy!
I chose a few tracks to show off as a sampler of what the soundtrack offers you. Without thinking about it, I selected four different artists, all new to the Final Fantasy series with the exception of Naoshi Mizuta.
He was, however, not present on the first game. This sample of music ends up showcasing what I really enjoy about the soundtrack and what I think sounds out of place.
Paradigm Shift – Naoshi Mizuta
One could easily mistake this for a Hamauzu song because of the violin being used in conjuction with the electronic elements, but this is what I meant in my previous post about the new composers taking cues from the first soundtrack.
I like this. It’s energetic and new. I don’t imagine I would get sick of it after 40 hours.
Historia Crux – ORIGA
A good example of the usage of vocals/chorus. It’s sparse and not overbearing. It’s an appropriate “mission select” theme, and since we don’t go to the mission select menu for hours, the vocals don’t grate.
Invisible Invader – Aimee Blackschleger
Here we are — one of the more puzzling songs. I’m disturbed by the imperative for me to “not be ashamed of [my] race.” The lyrics are just out of place. This would have been really nice without the spoken-word/rap lyrics over top of the music.
Ruined Hometown – Joelle
“Oh caaased fate, etaaanely.” Engrish lyrics aside, this isn’t a bad song. I just know it plays on a game field. If you’re playing for hours on that same field, you’re going to be frustrated. Good idea, questionable usage.
These four songs are basically representative of what you will find on the 79-track set. The typical Hamauzu orchestral and piano pieces appear as well and if you liked him on the first game you’ll like him here.
Whatever the reason, I was walking around whistling this song. It’s never been a preeminent favorite of mine from this OST, but it’s nonetheless a good tune. It conveys the simultaneous joy and hopelessness of the task at hand. From Final Fantasy VI, this is “Searching for Friends.”
The Katamari Soul Trains bring us “Katamari on the Funk,” a charged, dance-inducing track from Me and My Katamari. I’ve never played this game, unfortunately, but it sports a rockin’ soundtrack like its console brothers.
x3
Lyrics:
Na naaaa nanananana na-na,
KATAMARI DAMACY
-on the funk-I’ve got super funky ball,
right on Katamari
Roll it, stick’em, change the world,
you show me what you gotI’ve got super funky soul,
right on Katamari
Talk to me, shout it, shake my soul,
come out and funk it up-pahFunk it up
- x 3 times -I’ve got groovy dance tune,
get down Katamari
Drop the needle, follow my groove,
You show me what you gotI’ve got to show you my dance step,
get down Katamari
Let’s get together, shake the floor,
jump up and funk it upLet’s get together
Katamari on the funk
Let’s funk together
Katamari on the funk
- x4 times -I’ve got a few days’ vacation,
let’s play Katamari
Keep on rolling, the bigger the better,
time is running outI’ve got the Prince on my side,
here we go Katamari
Keep on your toes and keep it real,
don’t you ever give up-pahTake me higher, looking good,
One more time Katamari
Shake it, funk it, are you ready,
sing along everbody!Na na, na na, na-na, naaaa, na,
naa, naa, na-na, naaaa—woooah!
I feel it!
I feel the cosmos!Let’s get together
Katamari on the funk
Let’s funk together
Katamari on the funk
- x8 times -thanks to Booshibonton for the lyrics.
Take a listen to the recently released NiGHTS remix project Lucid Dreaming, an OCRemix project. This is one of my favorite games and original soundtracks. From what I have listened to so far, the remixers have done the game justice. It’s a consistently high-quality project, so I recommend it.
Amidst all the debate about Xenoblade’s North American non-release, I found this beauty of a video. Xenoblade’s title screen is really a work of art, especially with the music provided by Yoko Shimomura.
There are some games from whose main menu you just can’t tear yourself away.
I think all gamers have done it at one point or another — stared at the main menu, unable to start the actual game. If this sounds silly to you, I ask you to go back to Super Mario 64. Its file select theme is the stuff of endless entrancement and its simplicity lends to that quality.
I had the privilege of attending the Distant Worlds concert in Chicago last Sunday. It was truly a treat for anyone considering themselves a fan of the Final Fantasy series. Famed composed Nobuo Uematsu was in attendance. He performed on the keyboard on one track, “Dark World”, from Final Fantasy VI. At the end he joined the chorus during “One-Winged Angel”, from Final Fantasy VII. Both of these things were a fun surprise and very exciting from a fan perspective.
I really wish they’d performed “Twilight Over Thanalan”, but no such luck. However, I’m posting a version of it here from the Returning Home concert in Japan. I really love this new song by Uematsu and the orchestra played a really great arrangement of it.
“Closed Garden” is a delightfully simple theme, and it’s instantly recognizable for those who’ve played Seiken Densetsu 3 as the new game/continue theme. SD3′s soundtrack can be intensely serious and also playful at the same time. This track showcases the latter.
Granny sends Link off on a grand adventure but never forgets to give him a batch of her famous soup. From Wind Waker, this theme plays when you meet Granny in her home. Sweet old Granny never forgets about her grandson, but knows she must allow him to face his destiny.
In the caves of Bhujerba you will find the secret of the Nethicite. Manufacted Nethicite? Deifacted Nethicite? Who knows. Enjoy this dungeon crawling theme from Final Fantasy XII and fan favorite Hitoshi Sakimoto.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Original Soundtrack Impressions
Final Fantasy XIII-2′s release outside of Japan is nearly here, but before it arrives I think it’s a nice custom warm up with the game’s official soundtrack.
Masashi Hamauzu returns to compose along with several other artists in the next iteration of the entrenched RPG series. My first impression is that Hamauzu continues to demonstrate his ability to compose traditional orchestral pieces as well as moody, ethereal synth arrangements. I enjoy both styles. His comrades tend to pick up the slack with the latter style, well-suited to the game’s futuristic, time-travel aesthetic. Ryo Yamazaki, Hamauzu’s traditional arrangement partner, gets writing credit on a few tracks and seems to lend his help on the more electronic pieces. Mitsuto Suzuki and Naoshi Mizuta (of Final Fantasy XI and Crystal Chronicles notoriety) round out the rest of the soundtrack.
XIII-2 has gotten bolder with its inclusion of vocal songs. Having watched some live streams of the game, I can say it was a mistake in some areas. Most of the lyrics don’t make sense, the singers aren’t amazing and sometimes you will be in one area with a vocal background track repeating over and over again. It’s not pleasant (“Invisible Invader”). It’s a shame, too, because some of the music would have been excellent without the lyrics.
The preceding game did some of this, but usually the lyrics melted into the background such that they didn’t become terribly bothersome. These tracks are brave, but not necessarily appropriate for a game.
Battle themes are represented well, and include a variety of bass-heavy techno-pop tunes. I think the standard theme depends on where you’re at in the game, but “Paradigm Shift” and “Last Hunter” seem the most common. The boss battle theme “Worlds Collide” is some kind of rap/hip-hop/techno/j-pop melange that would have been better without the ridiculous lyrics (“paradoxes must break/this is the path I must take”).
If you enjoyed the first soundtrack, I believe you will enjoy this one. Some of you may even prefer the lyrics. Understand that Hamauzu did not lay his golden hand upon each of the songs in the collection, but the composers new to the series are not necessarily new themselves and they have done a serviceable job of following the path that Hamauzu laid out for them in the first game.