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• Game Music, Reviews

  A Disturbing Experiment: The Drag-On Dragoon Dual-Disc Reprint (Review)

  May 9, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this A Disturbing Experiment: The Drag-On Dragoon Dual-Disc Reprint (Review)

  

  I’ll say right out that I never finished Drag-On Dragoon (titled Drakengard in the North America). I played the first few levels, and I didn’t really get drawn in. The music never really struck me as particularly memorable either, but the recent reprinting of the two volume soundtrack in a single package seemed like as a good a time as any to delve in and see what I’ve been missing.

  With music composed by Nobuyoshi Sano and Takayuki Aihara, I can say that this is one of the most experimental and distributing soundtracks I’ve heard in a while. Maybe the disturbing portion comes as a surprise to you, but all will be revealed in our review after the jump! (more…)

• Featured, Game Music, Interviews

  Deep into NieR: Interview With Vocalist and Lyricist Emi Evans

  May 4, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 29 Comments Share this Deep into NieR: Interview With Vocalist and Lyricist Emi Evans

  

  It’s not very often that we get to highlight a vocalist on OSV. We’ve already gushed a lot about the NieR RepliCant & Gestalt Soundtrack that was released in Japan last month, and a big part of what made that soundtrack so great was emotional vocal stylings of Emi Evans. I’ve been obsessing over the made-up languages she created for NieR over the past few weeks, and we’ve finally been given the opportunity to discuss with her at length her work on NieR.

  From her interactions with MoNACA composer Keiichi Okabe, last-minute deadlines, in-depth details on most of the game’s vocal tracks, her favorite tracks on the album, her relationship to Sekaiju no MeiQ 2 Super Arrange Album vocalist Rebecca Evans, and her work with Hiroyuki Muneta as a part of a duo called freescape, Emi Evans tells all. If her touching music hadn’t made a huge fan of me, this interview certainly would have.

  Check out our all-encompassing interview with vocalist and lyricist Emi Evans after the jump! (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  Square Enix at its Best: NieR Gestalt & Replicant Soundtrack (Review)

  April 26, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 15 Comments Share this Square Enix at its Best: NieR Gestalt & Replicant Soundtrack (Review)

  

  While Square Enix’s NieR Gestalt will be out in the United States this week (simply titled NieR), I admit I haven’t been following it until now. The two versions of the game (Gestalt on the Xbox 360 and Replicant on the PlayStation 3) are essentially the same game with a protagonist swap in the Gestalt version to appeal to a Western audience, as it will be the only version to come to the United States.

  This strange release strategy along with the fact that I haven’t been reading much about the game has created somewhat of a shroud of mystery around the game in my mind. This sense of something new and foreign is even further enhanced by the fact that the score was handled by a team of ex-Namco composers headed by Keiichi Okabe under the studio name of MoNACA along with Takafumi Nishimura from Cavia rather than Square Enix’s internal audio team.

  Get ready for something new and completely different from a Square Enix soundtrack. Hit the jump for our review of the NieR Gestalt & Replicant Original Soundtrack, and get ready for something good! (more…)

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