RPGFan's Rhythm Encounter

Previously on Rhythm Encounter, we have talked about some important first impressions, namely some of our favorite intro themes, and even title screen music. But what happens next is just as important: the opening hours of an RPG can really set the stage for what's to come. When thinking about our favorite games, it's fun to think back to how they began, and how well the mood and world is established through the narrative, characters, and of course, the music. Today we're sharing some of our favorite early game tunes that were instrumental (sorry not sorry) in getting us into some great games.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Michael Sollosi, Patrick Gann, Wes Iliff; Edited by Paul Dennis

Tracklist
0:06:23 - Reminiscence (Miki Higashino) - Suikoden II
0:08:11 - Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World (Yasunori Mitsuda) - Chrono Cross
0:31:30 - City of Bells (Ken Nakagawa) - Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~
0:33:32 - Caravan Crossroad (Kumi Tanioka) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
0:57:24 - Autumn’s Rise (Deniz Akbulut) - CrossCode
1:00:14 - Garland Office (Yoshitaka Hirota) - Shadow Hearts: From the New World
1:16:50 - Unary Game (Shinji Hosoe) - 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
1:19:04 - Pledge of Demon (Hidenori Shoji) - Yakuza 0
1:51:57 - Sollosi's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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Do we at RPGFan like Final Fantasy VII? Off course! That's why we're ready for…a reunion of tracks from across the expansive (and still growing) FFVII universe. The timing here is intentional to celebrate the fantastic music associated with FFVII as we all get ready to enjoy Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Join our panel of savvy veterans and one newcomer SOLDIER: First Class news editor as we celebrate our favorite music from this (sub-)series in all its iterations and, of course, fight against Shinra. We hope these tracks will get you ready to battle on!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Kyle Cantelon; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
0:07:40 - Those Who Fight (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Shiro Hamaguchi) - Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII
0:11:33 - Judgement Funkadelic (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Sean Schafianski) - MATERIA: Final Fantasy VII Remixed
0:31:49 - Crazy Motorcycle (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII
0:35:23 - Dear to the Heart (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII
0:54:29 - Why (Yoshihiko Nishio & Ayaka) - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
0:58:52 - AVALANCHE (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Mega Ran) -  Black Materia
1:24:56 - Bombing Mission - Infiltration (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII Remake OST Plus
1:31:43 - Advent: One-Winged Angel (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
2:04:01 - Mike's Bonus Track!

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It's finally time to celebrate the music of the (last) year! As you know by now, a great deal of incredible games released in 2023, and with them, many notable soundtracks. Our panel today brought some of their favorite songs of 2023, featuring music from some Square Enix heavy hitters to some lovely indie titles and others in between.

As usual for Music of the Year, this episode is longer than usual, as each of us picked one more song than usual, giving us a total of 12, plus two special bonus tracks from Rhythm Encounter's co-founders. It still isn't enough to cover it all, but we packed in as much musical greatness as possible! What are some of your favorite songs and soundtracks from 2023?

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Michael Sollosi, Patrick Gann; Edited by Jono Logan

Pat's Picks
0:05:05 - Toto’haha (Yasunori Nishiki) - Octopath Traveler II
0:08:38 - The Apotheosis (Brandon Boone) - Slay the Princess
0:11:21 - Celestial (Toby Fox Remix) (comp Ed Sheeran, arr Toby Fox) - Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC

Mike Salbato's Picks
0:38:00 - Dedicated to Moonlight (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
0:43:44 - World Map (Reo Uratani) - Meg's Monster
0:45:53 - Colgera Battle (Manaka Kataoka, Maasa Miyoshi, Masato Ohashi, Tsukasa Usui) - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Bonus Track 1: Stephen Meyerink
1:11:33 - Normal Battle I (Yasunori Nishiki) - Octopath Traveler II

Michael Sollosi's Picks
1:17:30 - Preserved Realm (D’Anthoni Wooten) - Dave the Diver
1:20:56 - Ascension (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XVI
1:25:04 - Mr. Top Player (Shigeyuki Kameda) - Street Fighter 6

Hilary's Picks
1:48:14 - The Way I See (Andrew Jeremy) - Coffee Talk Episode 2 - Hibiscus and Butterfly
1:54:46 - Down by the River (Borislav Slavov) - Baldur’s Gate III
1:57:05 - Lux Tizer (Norihiko Yamanuki) - The 7th Saga Soundtrack Composer’s Edition

Bonus Track 2: Derek Heemsbergen
2:33:17 - Main Theme (Tsutomu Narita?) - Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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We're kicking off the new year on Rhythm Encounter with a brand-new kind of episode: Building a soundtrack from pieces of other games. We distilled our imaginary RPG down to eight core musical moments — title, overworld, town, dungeon, battle, emotional, final boss, and ending, to be specific — and pulled a song for each from eight different RPGs. While we were all prepared to justify how eight disparate tracks made sense together, the resulting "soundtrack" was more cohesive than we expected!

We hope you like this musical experiment, because we already have plans for a future sequel. Stay tuned!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Lucas Greene; Edited by Paul Dennis

Tracklist
0:07:45 - Breath of Fire IV ~Opening Animation~ (Taro Iwashiro) - Breath of Fire IV
0:09:13 - Quatera Woods (Yukihiro Jindo) - Falcom Field Zanmai (originally Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim)
0:31:51 - Hateno Village (Yasuaki Iwata) - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
0:37:35 - Pyramid (Yuzo Koshiro) - Actraiser Symphonic Suite
0:58:34 - Battle 1 (Yasunori Shiono) - Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
1:01:32 - The Sandy Beach of Gumbo (Noriyuki Iwadare) - Grandia
1:25:52 - On Blade’s Edge (Masayoshi Soken) - Endwalker: Final Fantasy XIV
1:30:11 - Journey’s End (Rich Douglas ft. Jillian Aversa) - Shadowgate (2014)

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To celebrate the new year, we put together a special episode before we return to our regularly scheduled topics, with a short episode full of music dedications. We were inspired by the idea of radio DJs who take listener calls and offer up dedications on air, so we polled the RPGFan staff, asking them for songs and written dedications to read on the episode. We both offered some of our own as well, so we hope you enjoy everyone's heartfelt messages and musical choices.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Paul Dennis

Links for this episode

• Prelude / Crystal Theme (Final Fantasy) - Harp and Strings cover by Patti Rudisill & Paula Bressman
• My Mind | Final Fantasy VIII Piano cover by Sebastien Skaf
• OverClocked ReMix: The Legend of Zelda "Zelda Heineken"

Tracklist
0:05:31 - Wind Crest ~The Three Trails~ (Takahito Eguchi & Noriko Matsueda) - Piano Collection Final Fantasy X-2
0:10:11 - Boss Battle Theme (Shigeki Sako) - Vay
0:14:56 - Prelude (Nobuo Uematsu, cover by Patti Rudisill & Paula Bressman) - Final Fantasy series
0:23:32 - A Sailor Never Sleeps (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
0:31:20 - My Mind (Nobuo Uematsu, cover by Sebastien Skaf) - Final Fantasy VIII
0:36:17 - New Days (Shoji Meguro) - Persona 4
0:39:59 - Land of Radiant Flowers (Revo) - Bravely Default
0:47:17 - Zelda Heineken (Main Theme) (Koji Kondo, arr. & perf. by Mattias Holmgren) - The Legend of Zelda
0:52:33 - Overworld Theme (Koji Kondo) - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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In farming games, typically the slowest part of the year is winter. So why did we record our farming music episode when it's winter for many of our listeners? Hey, I don't have all the answers... unless it's about work/life balance and the best Stardew Valley partner. But I digress. Today's panel is only three people, but we still have a full slate of music to share from some of our favorite farming and sim games. Some are more RPG than others, but what they have in common are great lineups of music to set a mood for every season. Grab your watering can and your straw hat and let's go visit the farm!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Tin Manuel; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
Winter
0:07:38 - Quiet Winter (Dai Nakajima) - Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
0:10:55 - Winter (Nocturne of Ice) (ConcernedApe, arr. Matthew Bridgham, perf. Augustine Mayuga Gonzales) - Stardew Valley Piano Collections

Spring
0:30:56 - Spring (Town) (Manual of Errors) - Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland
0:33:46 - Bird’s Eye Brae (Day) (Go Shiina) - Harvestella

Summer
1:00:35 - Summer Day 4 (Yugo Pratomo) - Coral Island
1:03:57 - New Life in the Desert (Claude Ruelle) - My Time at Sandrock

Chill
1:23:56 - Starry and Calm (Night) (Bashi Boizu) - Littlewood
1:26:00 - Whale Island Outside (Tomoko Morita) - Rune Factory Frontier
2:00:28 - Tin's Bonus Track!

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It's time for another composer spotlight on Rhythm Encounter, and this time we're celebrating the works of Hiroki Kikuta. Many RPG fans know his work on the Mana series — particularly Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana — but there's much more to Kikuta than many people know.

From a PSone game that never left Japan to his contributions to many indie games today, today's episode digs into the many hats Hiroki Kikuta has worn over the years. We hope you discover new facets to his work as some of us did on this episode!

If you want more composer episodes when you are done, check out episodes 108 and 61, where we spotlighted Hitoshi Sakimoto and Yoko Shimomura, respectively.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Patrick Gann, Greg Delmage; Edited by Paul Dennis

Links for this episode

• Valiant Mirror Website
• Soukaigi - Fire Wire

Tracklist
Fiji Block
0:08:13 - Where Angel Fear to Tread (Hiroki Kikuta, arr. Sachiko Miyano) - Trials of Mana (2020)
0:10:54 - Into the Thick of It (GENTLE LOVE) - Prescription for Sleep: Lullabies of Mana

Indie Darling Block
0:36:59 - Ajna (comp/arr Hiroki Kikuta) - Indivisible
0:39:44 - Land of Blooming Mushrooms (Hiroki Kikuta) - Tangledeep

Cinematic Block
1:04:31 - The Essentia 2000 Arrives (aka Exploring the Wilderness) (Hiroki Kikuta) - YIIK: A Postmodern RPG
1:07:05 - Halls of Karba (Hiroki Kikuta) - Earthlock: Festival of Magic

"I'll do it myself" Block
1:26:07 - Requiem (Hiroki Kikuta) - Koudelka
1:27:29 - Quake (comp/arr Hiroki Kikuta) - Soukaigi
2:02:20 - Mike's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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We're knee-deep in fall leaves in some parts of the world, though much like our spring themes episode earlier this year, what autumn (or fall) means to each of our panelists varies. Some of us chose songs based on cozy evenings with a hot drink, and some of us used our imaginations since not everyone lives in parts of the world with the typical four seasons. So enjoy eight different musical approaches to autumn, and let us know which of these sound like autumn in your part of the world!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Audra Bowling, Gio Castillo, Jimmy Turner; Edited by Paul Dennis

Links for this episode

• Rhythm Encounter 11 - Pumpkin Spice

Tracklist
0:08:35 - 日常 (Everyday) (Ayako Minami, Makoto Asai) - DAEDALUS: The Awakening of Golden Jazz
0:14:10 - Fall (The Smell of Mushroom) (ConcernedApe, arr. by GENTLE LOVE) - Prescription for Sleep: Stardew Valley
0:31:32 - Old Familiar Scent of Iselia (Motoi Sakuraba) - Tales of Symphonia
0:34:18 - Thank You (Jason Chen) - Autumn’s Journey
0:45:30 - Mages In Their Chantry (Inon Zur) - Dragon Age: Origins
0:47:13 - Works and Ways Unseen (Ryan Ike) - Shadows Over Loathing
1:00:11 - Branch-Colored Past (Time) ~First Chapter - One Hundred Years Ago~ (SOLIDTUNE [Seiichi Takamoto]) - Suikoden: The Woven Web of a Century
1:02:55 - National Park (Go Ichinose) - Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver
1:18:02 - Audra's (and Jimmy's) Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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We all know those big moments in RPGs. A place, a scene, or a pivotal battle that really makes the game and solidifies it in your memory. The scoring in those moments isn't always what makes it work, but it often plays a crucial role. In many cases, the music really does make the moment, if not the game. Today we are talking about songs that carry that burden of really defining the RPG they're in, making the whole experience better by just being there.

We've been wanting to do this topic for over four years, and there's certainly more music that fits the bill than we had time for, but we are thrilled to talk about these eight songs. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know some of your game-defining music!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Zach Wilkerson, Wes Iliff, Stephanie Sybydlo; Edited by Paul Dennis

Tracklist
0:05:54 - Transcending Love (HIMEKAMI) - Suikoden III
0:08:59 - Dynamis (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
0:26:56 - Theme of Grandia (Noriyuki Iwadare) - Grandia
0:31:32 - Arc the Lad Theme (Masahiro Andoh) - Arc the Lad
0:48:09 - Star Ocean Forever - Jazz Ver. (Motoi Sakuraba) - Star Ocean: Till The End of Time
0:55:15 - Battle 3 (Yasunori Shiono) - Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
1:14:33 - Weight of the World / The End of YoRHa (Keichii Okabe) - NieR: Automata
1:20:02 - Carrying the Weight of Life (Kenji Hiramatsu & Yasunori Mitsuda) - Xenoblade Chronicles 3
1:49:26 - Wes' bonus track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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From 2001 to 2005, the Game Boy Advance was Nintendo’s golden son. The Game Boy Advance brought gameplay depth and audio quality yet-unseen in a handheld gaming device, and gave us dozens of superb RPGs to enjoy over its run of success. Today, we celebrate the indigo blue machine with nine fabulous songs from a few of the GBA’s finest RPGs.

Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Greg Delmage, Patrick Gann, Peter Triezenberg; Edited by Jono Logan


Tracklist
Part 1 - When something’s going wrong, you must shrink it.
0:15:43 - Awake (Sotaro Tojima) - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon 
0:18:04 - Minish Woods (Mitsuhiko Takano) - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Part 2 - I’m starting with the Mana in the mirror
0:37:37 - Mana Shrine / Mana Sanctuary (Kenji Ito) - Sword of Mana
0:39:45 - Within the Stars (The Elemental Stars) (Motoi Sakuraba, arr. Sam Dillard) - Golden Sun

Part 3 - Get in the tank, loser. We’re getting coffee.
1:01:59 - Boss Battle (Yoko Shimomura) - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
1:03:51 - Jess’s Theme (Yoshito Hirano) - Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Part 4 - And I’ve seen the promised Landorus-Therian.
1:27:11 - Heaven’s Gate of Darkness / Dark Gate (Minako Adachi) - Riviera: The Promised Land
1:29:07 - Elite Four (Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose and Morikazu Aoki) - Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire
1:53:50 - Patrick's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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"All this energy's got us inspired now/We couldn't stop it, just set it free and DANCE!"

That's right! Today we're taking some advice from Persona 4: Dancing All Night and getting our dance on. Spin-off dancing games aside, danceable and electronic beats have permeated RPG soundtracks for a long time, whether that's special arrangement albums or soundtracks incorporating a more modern sound to high praise. We have a good representation of that trend in our setlist today, so join our panel of makeshift DJs as we attempt to bring the house down and spread some of that infectious energy. Maybe we'll even discuss headphone protagonists and their musical powers.

Note: In the episode, we initially mentioned "Obsession" as appearing in .hack//INFECTION, but the song was composed for the .hack//SIGN anime before also appearing in the .hack//Link game.

Featuring: Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Mario Garcia, Steph Sybydlo; Edited by Jono Logan & Mike Salbato

Links for this episode

• Rhythm Encounter Episode 52 - Undertale Turns Five

Tracklist
0:09:14 - ASGORE (Toby Fox arr. Rob Gasser) - Undertale: Straight from the Underground
0:13:04 - A Way of Life (ATLUS Kitajoh Remix) (Atsushi Kitajoh, Shoji Meguro, Ryota Kozuka) - Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
0:32:40 - Satisfy (Takeharu Ishimoto) - The World Ends With You
0:36:35 - Pulse: Thunder Rolls (Masayoshi Soken, remixed by Daiki Ishikawa) - Pulse: Final Fantasy XIV Remix Album
0:59:17 - TIGAR - Otto (Hayato Asano) - Blue Reflection
1:03:26 - Staggered Injection (Ekstrak) - Mass Effect 3
1:25:07 - A New Hope (Masashi Hamauzu) - Musashi Samurai Legend
1:27:43 - Obsession (Yuki Kajiura) - .hack//SIGN
1:56:32 - Hilary's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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In summer of 2014, Rhythm Encounter episode 18 was all about town themes. Today, a coincidentally exact 100 episodes later, we finally revisit the topic with more favorite RPG town theme music. This time around, we have games that span quite a range, from the early 90s to just last month, with four new-to-Rhythm Encounter games making their debut, like opoona and Sea of Stars. These town themes range from chill listens, exciting bops, and many things in between. All of us agreed that we all discovered something new from each other, and we hope the same is true for you! Tell us some of your favorite town themes!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Gio Castillo, Tin Manuel, Audra Bowling; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
0:07:40 - Forgotten Days (Miki Higashino) - Suikoden
0:10:56 - Sultana Dreaming (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
0:33:56 - The Village Without Memories (Noriyuki Kamikura) - opoona
0:37:42 - Village Theme (Khrumble Dun) (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest Builders 2
0:56:38 - Black Mage Village (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy IX
0:58:31 - Mabe Village (Kozue Ishikawa, arr by Dj CUTMAN, Spamtron) - MeowMeow & BowWow: A Tribute to Link's Awakening
1:11:30 - Seiran - The Blue Reflection (Hayata Takeda, Masato Nakamura) - Scarlet Nexus
1:16:05 - Port Town (Day) (Eric W. Brown, Vincent Jones) - Sea of Stars
1:38:32 - Gio's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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When it comes to Final Fantasy music, for every "One-Winged Angel," there are a dozen lesser-known songs in a given game that don't always get their deserved time in the spotlight. Today's panel came loaded with eight songs they feel are overlooked, underrepresented, and, yes, underrated from across the Final Fantasy series. So take a seat, Sephiroth, today we're going to hear from Relm, Jecht, and some good avian friends.

Note: One of us made a mistake when discussing a song in the third block, but please continue listening before writing in, as we figured out the issue during the song break! Apologies for any confusion there, but enjoy the music nonetheless.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Tin Manuel, Lucas Greene, Jimmy Turner; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
0:09:38 - The Selkie Guild (Hidenori Iwasaki & Ryo Yamazaki) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles The Crystal Bearers
0:12:03 - Galdin Quay (Yoko Shimomura) - Final Fantasy XV
0:27:42 - Damcyan Castle (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Yuko Komiyama) - Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster
0:30:17 - Horror of the Abyss (Takeharu Ishimoto) - Final Fantasy Type-0
0:48:26 - Coin Song (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Shiro Sagisu) - Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
0:53:08 - God's Cradle (JP: Kami no Yurikago), Relm’s Theme (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Risa Ohki) - Final Fantasy Vocal Collections II “Love Will Grow”
1:16:54 - On Our Fates Alight (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
1:20:50 - Otherworld (Bill Xtillidiex Muir, Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy X
1:51:51 - Jimmy's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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On Rhythm Encounter, we have celebrated several consoles' RPG music, including the SNES (Episode 89), NES (Episode 73), and Genesis (Episode 92). Isn't it about time the original PlayStation got some love? It's hard to understate the tectonic shift in RPG releases in the West that began during the PSone's lifetime, and there is a treasure trove of wonderful music from RPGs released for Sony's first console. Of course, these eight tracks only scratch the surface, but they're a good start, and we will doubtlessly revisit this topic later. Be sure to let us know some of your favorite PSone songs!

Oh, and if you don't remember the uh... memorable PSone ad campaign that inspired this episode's title, you're probably lucky. But here is a link anyway. (Flashing light and poor video... and poor taste warning.)

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Wes Iliff; Edited by Jono Logan

Links for this episode

• Rhythm Encounter 51: The Yasunori Mitsuda Episode
• Rhythm Encounter 63: Endings and Beginnings

Tracklist
0:06:37 - Opening BGM (Miki Higashino) - Suikoden II OST
0:09:14 - Primal Eyes (Yoko Shimomura) - Parasite Eve OST
0:27:05 - Casually (Akari Kaida) - Breath of Fire III OST
0:29:41 - DISC 1 Opening "Wild Arms 2nd Ignition ~You'll Never Be Alone~” (Michiko Naruke) - Wild ARMs 2 OST
0:45:27 - Anxious Heart (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII OST
0:49:27 - October Mermaid (Yasunori Mitsuda) - Xenogears OST
1:03:51 - The Wind Sings, For the Journey (Yoko Shimomura) - Legend of Mana OST
1:05:50 - All Becomes Twilight (Motoi Sakuraba) - Valkyrie Profile OST
1:31:25 - Mike's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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To the dungeon with you! But don't worry, we'll be there with you. Dungeons are a staple of most RPGs, and good music can elevate the experience of any dungeon, even the dreaded sewers. Why we have never had a dungeon-specific episode before now, we couldn't tell you, so today we make up for it, featuring games dating back as far as 1988 all the way to just last month (and six other songs in between)! So come join us down here, the water's... well, murky and gross, and there's some weird thing floating over there... but the music's fine!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Peter Treizenberg; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
0:09:48 - Ruined Sparkling City (Yoko Shimomura) - Legend of Mana OST
0:13:10 - Rosenthorne OC Remix (Masatomo Miyamoto, Takeshi Santo, arr. The Wingless) - The Guardian Legend
0:31:34 - Steel Fortress (Mitsuo Singa) - The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie OST
0:33:53 - Geo-Front (Saki Momiyama/Falcom Sound Team jdk) - The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero OST
0:47:38 - Secrets: Leave Time for Love (Hiroki Kikuta) - Secret of Mana Genesis Arrange Album
0:50:25 - Stella Nursery (Go Shiina) - HARVESTELLA Original Soundtrack
1:12:14 - Grecliff (Masanori Hikichi, Miyoko Kobayashi, arr. by Martin Denk) - Terranigma Unofficial Soundtrack
1:15:17 - Mortal Instants (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST
1:48:48 - Audra's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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Have you ever wanted an inside look at what it's like to write covers from classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, perform, and run a stream/YouTube channel? Then this episode is for you. It's another special interview episode here on Rhythm Encounter, and we're fortunate to be joined by talented pianist, streamer, and arranger Kara Comparetto! She joined us to discuss her work and performance-driven RPG music in general, from costume-making to learning the subtle differences in playing piano, pipe organ, and harpsichord (including recording yourself doing different parts of the same song to fit them together beautifully). And, of course, we have some of her tracks to listen to and discuss!

Featuring: Hilary Andreff, Patrick Gann, with special guest Kara Comparetto; Edited by Jono Logan

Links for this episode
This episode's links are all about Kara. Find her on:

• KaraComparettomusic.com
• YouTube
• Twitch
• Apple Music
• Spotify
• Instagram

Tracklist
0:08:51 - Dancing Mad (Nobuo Uematsu, arr/perf. Kara Comparetto) - Final Fantasy VI
0:37:52 - Chrono Trigger (Yasunori Mitsuda, arr/perf. Kara Comparetto) - Chrono Trigger
1:06:37 - Kara's Bonus Track: Peaceful Days (Yasunori Mitsuda, arr/per. Kara Comparetto) - Chrono Trigger

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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A podcast appears! Fight? Spell? Parry? Item? JAM.

The music of Dragon Quest, largely composed by the late Koichi Sugiyama, combines a classical sensibility with a flair for the dramatic, with tracks ranging from serene world map tunes to pop-inspired tracks for naming your hero. And let's not forget the timeless fanfare, one of the most recognizable themes in RPGs. Today, four intrepid would-be heroes gathered at Ruida's tavern to discuss the music of Dragon Quest, eager to celebrate the music of the first Japanese RPG series.

Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Audra Bowling, Gio Castillo, Mario Garcia; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
Part 1 - “Angels, Demons, and Dragons, oh my!”
0:10:02 - Light through the Leaves of Love [Symphonic] (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition
0:12:11 - Audra - Protectors of the Starry Sky (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest IX OST

Part 2 - “Do Dragons Dream of Electric Slimes?”
0:31:01 - Happy Humming (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
0:33:47 - Battle for the Glory (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen DS OST

Part 3 - “Dragon Quest III’s Company”
0:49:13 - Adventure (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest III Symphonic Suite (2005 Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra version)
0:52:28 - Town (Night) (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest III

Part 4 - “Dragon Quest: Origins”
1:10:13 - Only Lonely Boy (Koichi Sugiyama) - Suite Dragon Quest II (1987 Tokyo Strings Ensemble version)
1:13:29 - Town of Alefgard (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest (Game Boy Color)
1:34:26 - Gio’s bonus track!

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It's time to get down! In this panel, the Rhythm crew has selected some favorite jazz and funk tracks in RPGs. Not styles of music that first come to mind when thinking of RPGs, and indeed, that's part of their charm and effect! How have game composers and arrangers adopted these styles while arranging or used them to build on the game itself? We consider those questions while listening to some excellent and catchy music. Join us as we add some creativity, improvisation, and fun to our RPG music intake. Even Motoi Sakuraba is getting on this, so we hope you will too and enjoy the range of songs we have for you today!

Featuring: Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Michael Sollosi; Edited by Jono Logan

Links for this episode

• The 8-bit Big Band Official Website
• YouTube: The 8-Bit Big Band's Pollyanna Video
• Retro Encounter 336: Tales of Xillia Part I
• Retro Encounter 337: Tales of Xillia Part II

Tracklist
0:08:39 - Tifa's Theme Jazz Arrangement (Eijiro Nakagawa) - Square Enix Jazz Final Fantasy VII (also Final Fantasy VII Remake)
0:15:14 - Glass in One Hand (Satoshi Okubo) - Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
0:31:27 - HAIA (D.T.Construction) - moon
0:36:27 - Pollyanna (I Believe In You) (Keiichi Suzuki, arr. 8-Bit Big Band) - Mother series
0:57:17 - Rydia (Nobuo Uematsu arr. Sean Schafianski) - Final Fantasy IV Jazz Arrange Version
0:59:35 - A City of Another Civilization (Motoi Sakuraba) - Tales of Xillia OST
1:17:33 - Sophisticated Fight (Wataru Ishibashi, arr. Noriyuki Kamikura) - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC (from Sora no Kiseki Zanmai)
1:21:55 - Last Surprise (Shoji Meguro) - Persona 5 OST
1:25:48 - Be the Star!! (Chihiro Aoki) - Yakuza 5 OST
1:55:34 - Sollosi's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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What defines a musical game? Videogames, and RPGs especially, are known for using a musical score to enhance the experience, so what parameters really define "musical games" and make their use of music especially notable? Today, our Rhythm panel is going on a journey to look at a wide variety of music that we feel fits into this category to tease out some of those important factors that mark a truly musical game. A game probably doesn't have to take place in the mind of an ailing composer from our reality and include many facts about his life to be considered a musical game, but it also doesn't hurt. We also consider musical gameplay elements, games with musician characters, and interactive music in games.

Featuring: Hilary Andreff, Patrick Gann, Wes Iliff, Jono Logan; Edited by Jono Logan

Links for this episode

• YouTube: EXEC_PAJA/.#Orica extracting (Ar tonelico) - English lyrics
• YouTube: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore - Dream☆Catcher music video

Tracklist
0:11:37 - A Pirate I Was Meant to Be (Michael Land) - The Curse of Monkey Island
0:16:08 - The Overture 2 (Pytor Illyich Tchaikovsky) - LOOM: Game Soundtrack
0:39:57 - Difficult Love Puzzle (Tenpei Sato, vocal Kaoru Fujino) - Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
0:44:40 - Dream☆Catcher (KOH) - Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
1:00:32 - Train Train (Lynda Carter, John Jarvis & Kerry Marx) - Fallout 4
1:02:42 - Setting Sail, Coming Home (Darren Korb) - Bastion
1:24:06 - Your truth is my false (Motoi Sakuraba) - Eternal Sonata
1:27:16 - EXEC_PAJA/.#Orica (comp/arr/vocal Akiko Shikata) - Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia
2:00:16 - Pat's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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We interrupt the expected "Musical RPGs" episode with a quick listen to some recent music, just as we did earlier in the year with episode 101. With new Zelda and Final Fantasy XIV music that came our way in May, Mike had to share those. But there's several other notable indie projects to share too, so enjoy what we're listening to, and let us know what's been in your ears lately!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Jono Logan

Links for this episode

• Retro Encounter 183 - Ys: The Oath in Felghana Part I | RPGFan
• Retro Encounter 184 - Ys: The Oath in Felghana Part II | RPGFan
• Zack Parrish on Bandcamp

Tracklist
0:03:10 - Set the Stage on Fire (The Stage Is Set)(Nobuo Uematsu, arr. by Zack Parrish) - Final Fantasy VIII: SeeDs of Pandora
0:07:29 - Stargazing (Andrew Jeremy) - Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly OST
0:26:24 - Water Dungeon (Maybe Toru Minegishi) - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
0:41:08 - Trading Town of Redmont (Ys III: Wanderers from Ys) (Falcom Sound Team jdk, arr. GENTLE LOVE) - Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies Volume III
1:03:55 - Mysterious Place (Deniz Akbulut, arr. by Takahiro Eguchi) - CrossCode ~ The Ultimate Arrange
1:06:55 - Golbez Theme (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. by Masayoshi Soken?) - Final Fantasy XIV Patch 6.4: The Dark Throne

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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