Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

• Featured, Game Music

  Square Enix Composer Series: Shimomura on Kingdom Hearts and Career

  May 10, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 10 Comments Share this Square Enix Composer Series: Shimomura on Kingdom Hearts and Career

  

  This is the last interview in our series of interviews that were conducted with current and former Square Enix composers at Square Enix’s offices in Tokyo. We had a great time talking to Yasunori Mitsuda, Mitsuto Suzuki, and Naoshi Mizuta, but of everyone we talked to, it was curious to note that Yoko Shimomura had the most bubbly personality of all.

  In our interview we discuss her work on The 3rd Birthday as well as the soundtracks contained in the Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep / 358/2 Days combined album. We learn about her interactions with Tetsuya Nomura on the series, and how she comes up with her character themes. Finally we talk about drammatica in relation to the recently released MYTH, and discuss Shimomura’s overly busy schedule.

  Join us for all of this and more in our interview after the jump. (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days: Is it Just Make-Believe? (Review)

  February 23, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days: Is it Just Make-Believe? (Review)

  

  Call me a bad person, but I’ve never been much of a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series or the soundtracks (in fact, you can hear Josh and I badmouth the franchise on episode 5 of our podcast). Sure, I’ve checked out the Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections albums on this very site, and enjoyed them thoroughly, but they were admittedly very short and featured only the best that the series has to offer.  With all of this in the back of my head, I was skeptical about Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days.

  For those who don’t know exactly what this collection is, this 3-disc set contains the soundtracks for the PlayStation Portable title Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (discs 1 and 2) as well as the Nintendo DS titles Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, then finally some bonus tracks from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix, making this quite the compilation.

  Does the Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days Original Soundtrack change my impression of the series and its music by Yoko Shimomura? Hit the jump and read our review to find out. (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  Birth by Sleep and 358/2: Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts: Field & Battle (Review)

  January 27, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this Birth by Sleep and 358/2: Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts: Field & Battle (Review)

  

  Is one Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections album not enough for you? Lucky for you then, Square Enix has released a second album dedicated to piano arrangements from the series, and this time it’s admittedly more diverse in its selections from the series. That’s right, you’ll not only be hearing tracks from Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, and Chain of Memories, all of which were featured on the first album, but also one track each from Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days.

  As usual, all music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, but there is actually a surprising number of performers this time around. There are four pianists covering just 9 tracks, with each performing about two track a piece. Also of note is the fact that the subtitle for this album, “Field & Battle” shows a shift in focus to some of the less iconic themes from the series, which I think is a good thing.

  Find out what’s here in our review of Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts: Field & Battle after the jump! (more…)

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