RPG

Game Music, Reviews

Child of Light OST (Review)

May 9, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 146 Comments Share this Child of Light OST (Review)

A soundtrack for a fantasy game that features the piano as the primary instrument? Alright, this soundtrack definitely has my attention. Child of Light is a new fantasy RPG developed by Ubisoft. The game centers around the young Austrian princess Aurora, who wakes up in a strange fantasy world called Lemuria. A force of darkness controlled by a being known as the Black Queen has caused havoc in the world. It’s up to you, and the allies you meet along the way, to recover the sun, moon, and stars to restore order and light to the world. A good portion of the game has you exploring the world of Lemuria and solving the problems of its inhabitants. The game also features an active time battle system, similar to the ones found in the early Final Fantasy games, and an art style that is inspired by the movies of Studio Ghibli and the artwork of Yoshitaka Amano. The game’s atmosphere is similar to that of a fantasy story book, which is appropriate given the story’s subject matter. While it’s presenting you with a typical RPG fantasy story, Child of Light will likely be appreciated by many fans of the genre.

The music for Child of Light was written by Canadian musician Beatrice Martin, aka Coeur de Pirate. She’s known primarily for her talents as a vocalist and pianist, releasing her first solo album Coeur de Pirate back in 2008. Over the past five years she’s received several nominations and a handful of awards for her music. She’s an interesting choice for a videogame music project, being known mostly for her singer-songwriter style of pop music. The Child of Light OST is Martin’s first step into the world of videogame music. So how does this newcomer to the videogame world tackle creating the music for Child of Light? Read on to find out. (more…)
Game Music

Rainbow Moon Coming This August!

June 11, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Rainbow Moon Coming This August! Share this Rainbow Moon Coming This August!

Composer Rafael Dyll, head of German music studio soniQfactory, has a new release on the horizon. In the past, he’s worked with Hong-Kong based indie game studio eastasiasoft on the Söldner-X series of shmups, and with redspotgames on that nifty game Last Hope, which was released as an official Dreamcast game long after the Dreamcast had stopped having software developed for it (since Last Hope, redspotgames and other developers/publishers have continued to reach out to Sega to make new games for the dated, but much-loved, console).

This year, eastasiasoft is branching into uncharted territory by making their first RPG, Rainbow Moon. They wisely brought Mr. Dyll back to work on the music for the game. The scheduled release date for the soundtrack, last we checked with Rafael Dyll, is August 7, 2012, but this is acknowledged as a tentative date. The game is currently slated as a PS3 exclusive, and the soundtrack will exist both in CD and digital formats (the CD will be available from eastasiasoft and retailers such as Play-Asia). Click here to download a 5 minute demo reel of music written for the game, and check back at OSV in the coming weeks for an interview, a soundtrack review, and possibly some contests / giveaways for soundtrack, which will be entitled Rainbow Moon Melodies.
Game Music, Reviews

The Bible According to SuperSweep: Last Bible III (Review)

March 2, 2012 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on The Bible According to SuperSweep: Last Bible III (Review) Share this

My only familiarity with the Last Bible series is when Patrick got really excited about SuperSweep finally releasing the soundtracks for the first two games in the series. Beyond that, I know it’s an RPG series, I know that Last Bible III was released on the Super Famicom, and I know that composer Hiroyuki Yanada has been on board since the beginning.

So, here I am looking at the Last Bible III soundtrack. Do I fight, flee, or listen?

Find out after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Dragonborn: The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Original Game Soundtrack (Review)

December 9, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 18 Comments Share this

It’s finally arrived. Jeremy Soule’s Skyrim soundtrack has easily been one of my most anticipated soundtracks of the year after seeing and hearing it in action at E3, and while I admit that I’ve been a naughty boy and have yet to play the game (I was trying to jam through Skyward Sword and have just wrapped up Dark Souls), I’ve been enjoying the hell out of the soundtrack.

The Soule brothers gained a lot of attention with their scores for Morrowind and Oblivion, so how does Skyrim stack up? That comparison is hardly even fair, but I won’t spoil too much before the jump.

Check out our review! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Sakimoto’s Grand Absence: Grand Knights History (Review)

November 30, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Another Vanillaware game, another Basiscape soundtrack. This time, however, Hitoshi Sakimoto is out of the picture, leaving composition duties to the rest of his capable team at Basiscape, and I think everyone will be surprised by just how much the team has been able to emulate Sakimoto’s signature style.

While the game and soundtrack were released in September 2011 in Japan, regions abroad are still anticipating the game’s release, so what better time to delve into the soundtrack to see if worth your attention?

Hit the jump for more. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Uematsu+: UnchainBlades ReXX (Review)

November 2, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Uematsu+: UnchainBlades ReXX (Review) Share this Uematsu+: UnchainBlades ReXX (Review)

Alright, so maybe it’s a bit unfair to composer Tsutomu Narita to put Uematsu’s name on this post title, but in actuality, Uematsu does provide the main theme, and Narita’s work does admittedly sound similar in style to Uematsu at times.

Just who is Narita, though, and what is this UnchainBlades ReXX soundtrack from Dog Ear Records? The answer to the first question is a young and upcoming arranger, composer, and performer who has worked with Uematsu and Dog Ear Records a lot (he’s a member of the Earthbound Papas) and is making his composition debut with UnchainBlades ReXX. As far as the game, I knew nothing about it before listening to this soundtrack, but it turns out it has a pretty interesting story, following a powerful protagonist who has lost favor with the Gods for his arrogance and must quest to regain his former glory.

Does Narita’s score capture the essence of the game’s interesting plot? Find out after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Inon Zur’s RIFT Original Soundtrack (Review)

September 6, 2011 | Gideon Dabi | Comments Off on Inon Zur’s RIFT Original Soundtrack (Review) Share this

Like open-world games, scoring an MMORPG is tricky business. The player is often in the same areas for several hours at a time, essentially forcing the composer to neuter his score of being too melodic – as an overly melodic score can grow tiring to the ear after many hours of gameplay. Inon Zur is a composer who is no stranger to fantasy RPG’s tackles RIFT with a slightly different plan of attack than either of his Dragon Age scores. In this score, Zur chooses not just to rely on typical fantasy tropes, but to give it a distinctly modern feel, as well. This is no easy feat within the confines of the already-boxed-in criteria of an MMO score. What is especially refreshing about Zur’s score in that it is all new music whose only similarity to other fantasy scores is some orchestration and voices.

But did it work out as well as advertised? Does the score of RIFT grow tiring? Does it create the proper feeling for the world? Most importantly, does it adequately silence the voices of newbs who are constantly asking where to turn in quests? Read on to find out! (more…)