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Featured, Game Music

Ragnarok: The Imperial Princess of Light and Dark (Interview)

March 6, 2012 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Ragnarok: The Imperial Princess of Light and Dark (Interview) Share this

I love Ragnarok Online. While the original PC title will always been one of my favorite games, we’ve checked out the Ragnarok DS spin-off here on OSV, and it looks as though GungHo Online is set on redefining the series with a number of spin-offs that have been slated for iOS (Ragnarok Violet), PSP (Ragnarok: The Imperial Princess of Light and Dark), and the PlayStation Vita (Ragnarok Odyssey). The Imperial Princess of Light and Dark is a strategy title for the PSP that was released in Japan on October 2011, but as of yet has no release planned for North America.

Still, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the score for the game, composed in part by composer Hideki Sakamoto who has impressed us with his work on echochrome and other titles. He’s joined by composer team 12sound to create a blend of orchestral fantasy music that is a lot of fun, even if distinctly different from the music soundTeMP wrote for the original PC game.

I was curious as to how Sakamoto was brought on board for this title and the nature of his contributions, so join us after the jump as we inquire! (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Valkyria Chronicles 3 Exclusive Liner Notes From Hitoshi Sakimoto

May 3, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Valkyria Chronicles 3 Exclusive Liner Notes From Hitoshi Sakimoto Share this

It’s that time again. We came up with the fun idea when the first Valkyria Chronicles was released to hybridize our review and interview into an exclusive English liner notes article. We did this again when Valkyria Chronicles 2 was released, and given how much I loved that score, I was excited by the prospects of doing this once again for Valkyria Chronicles 3.

Basiscape Records once again comes to the rescue, publishing the 2-disc soundtrack for the game. We have our impressions along with Hitoshi Sakmoto’s commentary on some of our favorite tracks and the album overall, so don’t miss out!

Hit the jump for our exclusive liner notes article. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Masashi Hamauzu Talks Final Fantasy XIII and MONOMUSIK

September 28, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 10 Comments Share this

It’s old news that Final Fantasy XIII composer Masashi Hamauzu has left Square Enix, but he hasn’t been in any hurry to tell the world about his new studio, MONOMUSIK. We still have no idea what Hamauzu has been up to since his departure aside from the Donkey Kong Country arrangement he created for Symphonic Legends, but we thought we would ask him what he was up to and talk about his amazing work on Final Fantasy XIII at some length. In fact, quite a great length.

While I normally wouldn’t bother going into this kind of detail, I do need to explain something before you read this, as some of the questions will sound very odd if I don’t. We wrote the majority of these questions back in November of 2009 before Hamauzu had left Square Enix. After his departure, we got in touch and added more questions. While he was busily working on our massive list of questions, the PLUS soundtrack and Piano Collections albums were released and announced, respectively, so we had to add even more questions. That’s why we ask him about the music heard in the game’s demo and the limited edition version of the original sound as neither were released at the time!

But enough my rambling! Hit the jump for the interview. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

No More Heroes 2 Interview with Jun Fukuda and Nobuhiko Sagara

May 13, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

We had a blast with No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, and are still awaiting word from Grasshopper Manufacture regarding a soundtrack release. While the game was released months ago in North America, it still hasn’t been released in Japan, and we’ve been fortunate enough to get some of lead sound designer and composer Jun Fukuda and sound coordinator Nobuhiko Sagara’s time to talk about their work on the title.

We dig deep into the many artists that were recorded for the soundtrack, the influence of the game’s theme of revenge, the use of tracks from the No More Heroes Dark Side Remixes album, a No More Heroes 2 soundtrack release, and Fukuda’s and Sagara’s respective backgrounds that led them to their current roles at Grasshopper Manufacture. It’s a good time, so we hope you enjoy reading about what went into all the sound elements in No More Heroes 2!

Hit the jump for our lengthy interview with Jun Fukuda and Nobuhiko Sagara from Grasshopper Manufacture. (more…)
Game Music

Final Fantasy XIII Sound Director Tomohiro Yajima Interview

April 22, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Final Fantasy XIII Sound Director Tomohiro Yajima Interview Share this

Tomohiro Yajima may not be a widely known name among Final Fantasy fans, but he’s been on board with the series since Final Fantasy XI, and also has been credited on both Vagrant Story and Xenogears. As Final Fantasy XIII’s Sound Director, he was responsible for all aspects of audio in the game, including dialogue, sound effects, and implementation of the game’s music, working hand-in-hand with composer Masashi Hamauzu and Director Motomu Toriyama to ensure everything was just.

Yajima joins us now to discuss his role on the project, how he was selected to work on it, his approach to the game’s soundscape, how much of the sound effects he was responsible for recording, and also some background about how he came to work at Square Enix. Sound design is often under appreciated among fans and critics alike, so take some time and find out why Yajima thinks it’s one of the most important elements in the game.

Hit the jump for our exclusive interview! (more…)
Game Music

Sound Director Kenta Nagata Talks New Super Mario Bros. Wii

February 2, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

There was no doubt that New Super Mario Bros. Wii would be hugely successful. The game kind of came out of nowhere, and it has been rocking the sales charts since it was released at the tail end of 2009. We’ve been trying to hunt down the audio team for an interview, and while I admit it took longer than we had hoped, at least we got it done!

Joining us is New Super Mario Bros. Wii Sound Director Kenta Nagata to tell us about how the team approached the game’s music, from why Mario sports a Latin sound despite being Italian, to the role of “rhythm” in a game with so many characters on the screen at once. It’s a nice look back at the game and its music, so please enjoy!

Hit the jump for our interview with Kenta Nagata. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

A Man Named Hirokazu Tanaka: Tanaka Hirokazu no Uta Interview

January 28, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Before you get too excited, this is not Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka we’re talking about. While Hip Tanaka was responsible for the music on the Tanaka Hirokazu no Uta single that we reviewed last month, it turns out that he wasn’t the mastermind behind the project. It was actually another Hirokazu Tanaka who isn’t a musician at all!

Thanks to the folks at HearJapan, we’ve been able to get in touch with this Hirokazu Tanaka to talk about this single, how he came to organize the Hirokazu Tanakas for this project (he even has a website for people named Hirokazu Tanaka), and his thoughts about Hip Tanaka, names, and what’s next for the group. It’s pretty wild, and be sure to pick up the single from HearJapan if you haven’t gotten around to it yet!

Our interview with Hirokazu Tanaka, after the jump! (more…)