I still have a giant backlog of Soundtrack of the Month articles I want to do, but it’s about time I got around to one of my favorite Final Fantasy titles and soundtracks of all time. Perhaps the recent release of the Final Fantasy IV The Complete Collection has brought this one to the forefront of my mind, but I think most fans would agree that this soundtrack is deserving of this honor.
Join us as we take a trip back in time and highlight some of the best that Nobuo Uematsu had to offer with Final Fantasy IV. (more…)
That’s right. One of the most interesting exclusive bits of information we got from Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi this year at Comic Con was the fact that there’s another unannounced NieRalbum in the works in addition to the already-announced NieR Tribute Album -echo-. The two noted that they weren’t all that surprised by popularity of the music from the game, but have felt pressure to give the score more attention after the popularity of the 8-bit remix on the More SQ CD.
In terms of what the NieR Tribute Album -echo- is all about, we were told that it will be a multi-artist arrangement album. I asked if it would essentially be “NieR SQ,” to which the two chuckled and said, “Yes, kind of like that.” They would not confirm which artists are involved.
Are you looking forward to the NieR Tribute Album and this unannounced project as well? Isn’t it cool to see the soundtrack on sale on the floor with a placard about it being named soundtrack of the year (from OSV and other sites!)?
With the North American release of El Shaddai right around the corner, Ignition UTV decided to throw a launch party this past weekend at Comic Con 2011 in San Diego. At the lively event that featured music, previews of the game, exclusive swag, and of course lots of alcohol, designer Sawaki Takeyasu was on hand to speak a bit about the game. We had the chance to ask him about some rumblings we’d heard about an arrangement album for the game’s soundtrack, and he confirmed that this was in fact in the works.
When I tried to pry for more details, I was told that the project is still in the works, and that composer Masato Kouda would be heading up the album. Multiple artists will apparently be featured, but I for one am curious as to how they’ll go about arranging an orchestral soundtrack that was so ethereal and atmospheric without a lot of catchy melodies to reinterpret. I’m still excited about it though!
What do you think of the prospect of an El Shaddai arrange album? Are you looking forward to the game early next month?
Hey, so GoldenEye 007: Reloaded was announced today for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. What does that mean? It means you’ll be able to enjoy the previously Wii-exclusive re-imagining of GoldenEye in high-definition on all current-gen consoles. We were naturally curious as to whether the game’s audio would also be ‘Reloaded,’ and Activision had the details for us last night at their Comic Con preview event.
As it turns out, little to nothing will be changed in terms of audio from the Wii version and the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 versions. However, given that we didn’t cover the Wii version, we did get details on exactly who was responsible for the game’s score. As it turns out, Activision went all out for GoldenEye 007, bringing in Bond film composer (at least the last four films) David Arnold along with Kevin Kiner to re-imagine the score. They even sprung for a live orchestra for some of the tracks. The theme song was rewritten to feature vocalist Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls fame.
With the legendary Grant Kirkhope being responsible for the original GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64, what are your thoughts on Arnold and Kiner’s work? Would you pick up the score if it were readily available?
This game is starting to sound a whole lot like DJMAX Technika. It seems everyone is talking about this game, which is surprising given that I thought everyone would hate it. I for one am excited about Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, and our friends at Destructoid and Siliconera have been reporting a number of details regarding the gameplay.
Apparently the game will be split into distinct episodes covering Final Fantasy games all the way from the original through Final Fantasy XIII. There will be three stages per episode, including a field, battle, and event stage. There are also three note types, including red, which you simply tap, green that you slide the stylus along with, and blue notes that you hold down for a defined number of beats. That’s where my DJMAX Technika comparison comes in (which is an awesome arcade game that you should check out if you never have).
The game will apparently feature some kind of story, but I’m not so interested in that aspect. I can’t wait to play through remixes from across the Final Fantasy series on the 3DS, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be announcing the soundtrack soon given that the game is out later this year in Japan. In the meantime, check out the game’s official website to hear the main theme, a remix of the series “Prelude.”
Can’t say I’m a fan of the game’s logo, though. What do you think?
This is honestly the type of game announcement that would have likely pissed me off years ago as a hardcore Squaresoft fan who was sick of the company’s experiments into genres other than the traditional JRPG. Perhaps I’ve gotten older and have lost my fighting spirit, but when it was announced that Square Enix was creating a Final Fantasy rhythm game for the 3DS, I immediately thought it was one of the coolest ideas I’d ever heard.
As it turns out, you’ll be doing lots of RPG-like things in Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy like exploring dungeons and doing battle with enemies, but the game will feature rhythm-based gameplay mechanics, perhaps centered around tapping the screen in time with the music. The game was announced in the latest issue of Shonen Jump without many accompanying details, but the above scan that we stole from Siliconera shows a bit of the action. I think that’s Cloud, Lightning, an Onion Knight, and the Warrior of Light that we’re seeing.
What do you think of this surprise announcement from Square Enix? One of the coolest ideas ever, or another example of Square Enix diluting the Final Fantasy franchise with needless spin-offs?
Have I mentioned that I love what Korean game developers have done with the audio in their games over the years? I admit I didn’t know much about Rusty Hearts prior to checking it out at Anime Expo 2011 this past weekend, but I’m definitely a whole lot more interested after what I saw and heard.
So, what is Rusty Hearts? It’s a free-to-play beat ’em up MMO title developed by Korean-based Stairway Games, and in addition to featuring some impressive anime-inspired visuals, it also sports some pretty amazing music. One of the game’s producers was on-site to show off one of the game’s new characters, the half-vampire Frantz. I explored a dark Gothic-style town that acts as one of the game’s central hubs where I heard some moody acoustic guitar and concert piano work that reminded me of a dark, loungey version of Granado Espada.
Upon entering the wine cellar, one of the game’s opening dungeons, I bashed through enemies with special attacks using both the computer keyboard and an Xbox 360 controller. The producer noted that Rusty Hearts draws on titles like Devil May Cry, Final Fight, and even Castlevania as influences, and I definitely picked up on the Castlevania influence in the music department. While the looping track was short, I was loving the electric guitar work and overall Gothic rock style of the track.
While we only heard two tracks in the demo, I’m looking forward to hearing more and finding out who’s doing the music. Perfect World is opening up a closed beta, so head over to their website and sign up. We’ll have more on this game soon, so check out the above trailer and let us know what you think.
