With another quarter come and gone, we reflect on the games and music released in the last three months to showcase some of our favorite discoveries! From new takes on classics, to brand new music IN classics, alongside straight up new games, there have been several notable happenings in RPG music. Check out our six picks, and don't miss the list of links for everything we considered in the show notes, since there are many worthwhile musical releases you won't want to miss.
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Matt Wardell, Patrick Gann; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
0:03:45 - Alexandra’s Shop (Tyler Mire) - Quartet
0:14:43 - Düstersee (comp. Masashi Hamauzu, arr. Junnosuke Usui) - SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered
0:28:05 - Shadow of You (Satoshi Okubo) - Dear me, I was...
0:41:20 - Wind Scene (Chrono Trigger) (comp. Yasunori Mitsuda, arr. & perf. Ohta Mitsuhiro) - Guitar Cover Collection from SQUARE ENIX MUSIC Channel
0:58:37 - Kookai Foundation (comp. Yasunori Mitsuda, arr. Hiroyuki Nakayama, perf. Benyamin Nuss) - Across the Kosmos ~ Xenosaga Piano Collection
1:08:05 - Cradle of the Abyss (Leenzee, 8082Audio) - Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
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Today we highlight a composer and games that don't often appear on the show. Naoshi Mizuta's music credits span 30 years, and much of that time has been with Square Enix leading the charge on Final Fantasy XI's soundtrack. That Final Fantasy XI, which launched in 2002 on PC and the PlayStation 2 (TWO!), is still running today is a feat in itself. But so are Mizuta's continued efforts to create music for it and many other games over that time. Today we feature several different types of FFXI tracks among other great works by this talented composer and arranger.
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Patrick Gann; Edited by Jono Logan
Tracklist
Thirteensies
0:13:11 - Eternal Winds - The Dead Dunes (English Ver.) (comp. Nobuo Uematsu, arr. and lyrics Naoshi Mizuta, perf. Kenneth Pinyopusarerk) - Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII: Original Soundtrack PLUS
0:16:03 - Noel's Theme (Naoshi Mizuta) - Final Fantasy XIII-2
Elevensies
0:40:17 - Ragnarok (Naoshi Mizuta) - Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan (found on Wings of the Goddess OST)
0:43:09 - Xarcabard (Naoshi Mizuta) - Sanctuary: FINAL FANTASY XI Music from the other side of Vana'diel
RPG Staples
1:06:18 - Dragon Riding (Naoshi Mizuta) - Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
1:09:12 - Heavens Tower (Naoshi Mizuta) - Final Fantasy XI
Nanaa Mihgo's Celebration
1:32:24 - Clash of Wills (2023 OST Mix) (Naoshi Mizuta, perf. by Nanaa Mihgo’s) - Final Fantasy Grandmasters
1:36:18 - Goddesspeed (Naoshi Mizuta, perf. Nanaa Mihgo's) - Final Fantasy XI Gifts from Vana'diel: Prime Memories
2:00:52 - Pat's Bonus Track!
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It sure is weird to think that our last dedicated Final Fantasy XIV episode was almost four years ago, with Episode 69: What Moogle Wakes Me? Today, with a 75% different set of panelists, we return to "RPGFan's Favorite MMORPG" with selections from several of FFXIV's expansions, including fan favorites like Endwalker and Shadowbringers, up through 2024's Dawntrail. Join us as we adventure throughout Eorzea, The First, and beyond!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Mario Garcia, Matt Wardell, Wes Iliff; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
Towers and Giants
0:14:25 - A Long Fall (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
0:16:40 - In the Belly of the Beast (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
Serenity
0:33:58 - Skybound Emerald (Daiki Ishikawa) - Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
0:38:22 - Sands of Amber (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
Lord of the Castle
0:58:02 - A Trail Unending (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
1:01:02 - Amatsu Kaze (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood
Peaceful Days
1:21:39 - The Day Will Come (Endwalker) (comp. Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Takafumi Imamura) - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
1:24:51 - Coffee Break (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
1:51:48 - Matt's Bonus Track!
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We last celebrated the beloved Wild Arms series in 2022's episode 93, where we paired its Western stylings with Shadow Hearts, in honor of the then-new Armed Fantasia/Penny Blood Kickstarter. Now, almost exactly three years later, we are talking exclusively about Wild Arms. This series of RPGs from Media.Vision and Sony featured a distinctive Wild West flair, with exciting soundtracks to boot.
While there sadly have been no new games in the series since 2007's Wild Arms XF (unless you count Wild Arms: Million Memories and its less-than-two-year mobile game lifespan, which we aren't!), we still have five main games, a remake, and a tactical spinoff packed with memorable music, almost all of which feature on today's show. Saddle up pal, it's Wild ARrms!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Audra Bowling, Matt Wardell, Wes Iliff; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
The Warmth of a Desert Morning Stirs My Heart
0:13:35 - A Person's Warmth (Michiko Naruke) - Wild Arms 3
0:16:33 - The Shaman Princess' Feelings (Michiko Naruke) - Wild ARMs
The Remnants of Determined Relaxation
0:33:52 - A Town Where the West Wind Blows (Michiko Naruke) - Wild ARMs 2
0:34:55 - Courage (Michiko Naruke) - Wild Arms Alter Code: F
The Whistle of Memory - Blazing Suns
0:56:02 - Migratory Birds-Scoundrels (Michiko Naruke) - Wild Arms 3
0:59:35 - When the Heart Ignites (Noriyasu Agematsu) - Wild Arms 5
A Voice in the Desert Calls to Me
1:21:05 - as time goes by ~We Won't Forget~ (Michiko Naruke, vocals by Franki Love) - Wild Arms 4
1:25:05 - Because You Are Here Looking Up at the Sky (Opening Theme) (Michiko Naruke, vocals by Kaori Aso) - Wild Arms 4
1:44:14 - Wes' Bonus Track!
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It's been almost exactly 11 years to the day since we last welcomed video game arranger, producer, and saxophonist Sean Schafianski onto Rhythm Encounter, so it's long past time we had him on again! With a string of excellent new arrangement albums throughout last year and this year, there's so much to talk about. From his work on Jazz Arrange Version: Chrono Cross to a 3 "disc" full remaster arrangement of Final Fantasy VI and so much more that even two hours only covered so much of it!
But it was a great conversation with music you don't want to miss. Be sure to check below for links on where you can listen to more of Sean's work as well.
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Patrick Gann, Sean Schafianski; Edited by Jono Logan
Links
Tracklist
Clowns, Gods, and Bird Folk
0:12:36 - Dancing Mad (comp. Nobuo Uematsu) - Remastered Soundtrack: Final Fantasy VI, Disc 3
0:16:15 - Island (comp. Yoshino Aoki) - Letters from Wyndia: Music from Breath of Fire III
Time & Space
0:45:13 - Primitive Mountain (comp. Nobuo Uematsu) - Remastered Tracks: Chrono Trigger
0:47:20 - Fields of Time (Home) (comp. Yasunori Mitsuda) - Jazz Arrange Version: Chrono Cross
Storm Clouds
1:09:16 - Matataki Village (comp. Tomohito Nishiura) - Remastered Tracks: Dark Cloud
1:10:58 - Distant Thunder (from Secret of Mana) (comp. Hiroki Kikuta) - Remembrance: A Game Music Tribute
1:48:09 - Sean's Bonus Track!
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Call it spring, some spring and some summer, or the most accurate but boring moniker, "Q2 2025," but the second quarter of this year saw the release of some VERY musically important titles in RPGFan's coverage. While Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 looms over everything in the RPG space for this time period, there were many notable other releases that also deserve your time, from RPGs to adventure games and visual novels.
Oh, and classic RPG fans, just for the record, Mike would have included a song in honor of the overdue release of the Super Mario RPG (Remake + SNES) OST if he hadn't featured that game in our prior episode!
As usual, we also have a longer list below of the many albums and releases we considered for this episode, so don't miss it!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
0:07:51 - The 80s Called (Thomas Regin) - Old Skies
0:13:23 - Encounter Elite! (Narcis Version) (Eric W. Brown) - Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker
0:19:05 - Ever Higher (Toby Fox) - Deltarune Chapters 3+4
0:24:14 - Theme from Capriccio Infernal (John Michael Tatum) - Date Everything
0:32:46 - Éveil (Lorien Testard) - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
0:40:09 - Under the Black Bridge (Trigg & Gusset) - Blue Prince
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The Switch 2 is here! Is what we would have opened with had this episode gone up on time. Still, Nintendo's latest is the newest console on the market and it's doing pretty well, so we gathered up some fans of Nintendo music for this one. To try something new and to celebrate a wider range of Nintendo music history, each panelist was allowed to choose one non-RPG song, which resulted in a great episode of both expected and unexpected musical choices.
Even branching out like this barely scratches the surface of Nintendo's long music history, but we gotta start somewhere! If you're still reading this, we both know there's only one way to kick this off: Let's-a-go!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Gio Castillo, Matt Wardell, Tom Cox; Edited by Mike Salbato
Tracklist
Block of Affection
0:27:38 - Because I Love You (Keiichi Suzuki, arranged by Kenji Kondo) - Mother 1+2
0:31:01 - Caring (Kazuki Komai) - Fire Emblem Engage
Giants and Monsters
0:47:24 - Yellow Giant (2023 Remaster) (Tatsuhiko Asano) - Doshin the Giant
0:49:54 - Ecruteak City (Go Ichinose) - Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver
Butter Galaxy
1:16:46 - Gusty Garden Galaxy (Mahito Yakota) - Super Mario Galaxy
1:19:10 - Butter Building (Tomoya Tomita, Jun Ishikawa, Hirokazu Ando) - Kirby's Epic Yarn
From the Stars
1:38:08 - Title (Kenji Yamamoto) - Metroid Prime
1:40:16 - Fight Against Smithy (Yoko Shimomura) - Super Mario RPG (Remake)
2:09:40 - Tom's Bonus Track!
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Say what you want about your average mobile game, but there are a growing number of great RPGs you can play on your phone. Sure, some have hostile gacha mechanics, and many of the best get shut down eventually, but the care, budget, attention, and talent that goes into some mobile RPG soundtracks is no less than their console or PC brethren. In some cases, it's even tragic (or tragedic...) that we may only have a collection of music to remember some games by. So join us today as we cover a bunch of music for games that rarely, if ever, make their way into typical episodes of Rhythm Encounter!
(Please note this episode was recorded far in advance of publication, so the notes about recent episodes of our other podcasts are outdated, but you should listen to them anyway!)
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Patrick Gann, Audra Bowling, Pete Leavitt; Edited by Jono Logan
Links for this episode
Tracklist
What's in a Name, Anyway?
0:09:54 - Smoke Signals at Sea (Yasunori Nishiki) - Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent OST vol.2
0:13:20 - Tragedic Paramours (Shunsuke Tsuchiya) - Another Eden OST 2
Boisterous Relaxation
0:30:30 - The story so far (Shuhei Naruse, perf. Chisato Akita) - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - Northern War
0:34:44 - Jinzhou (maybe jixwang) - Wuthering Waves
Heartbreak Block
0:51:50 - Smooth White (Takeharu Ishimoto, Devin Kinoshita) - Final Fantasy Record Keeper OST Vol. 5
0:56:08 - Entrance: Celestial Fulcrum (Kenji Ito, arr. Kohei Tanaka, perf. Ayano Nonomura) - Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe
Flow and Deepspace
1:12:47 - Whence the Flow Cometh / Springvale I (Yu-Peng Chen) - Genshin Impact
1:14:12 - Love and Deepspace (Sarah Brightman) - Love and Deepspace
1:39:23 - Pete's Bonus Track!
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It's been nearly nine years since we published our first episode about RPG forest music, so it is high time we revisited the topic! Forest music comes in several varieties, from contemplative to mysterious, upbeat to foreboding, and many more. Today's long-awaited episode covers RPG music with a real range, both in terms of styles but also in that the games span many years, between 1995 and 2022! Give it a listen and let us know what some of your favorite forest music is.
Also, an important note to our listeners: We apologize for the delay in publishing this episode! We have recently been short staffed in the audio editing department. So while we have continued to record Rhythm Encounter episodes during this unplanned hiatus, it has taken longer than planned to edit them. We are hoping to be back on our regular bi-weekly schedule starting here, though! We appreciate your patience, and hey, if you or anyone you know would want to help us with editing our podcasts, let us know! And thank you to Jono Logan for stepping in to edit!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Audra Bowling; Edited by Jono Logan
Links for this episode
Tracklist
Arboreal Aspirations
0:09:04 - In the Deep Woods (ConcernedApe) - Stardew Valley
0:11:08 - As I Feel, You Feel (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends
Bacon & Eggs
0:33:03 - Starting Over (Naoshi Mizuta, perf. by Joelle) - Final Fantasy XIII-2
0:38:20 - Secret of Forest (Yasunori Mitsuda, arr. by Guido - Hiroshi Hata and Kalta Ohtsuki) - Chrono Trigger: The Brink of Time
Great Silence
1:04:50 - Silence of the Forest (Revo) - Bravely Default
1:09:15 - Dungeon1 The Great Forest (Takashi Tsuzuki and Seitaro Tsuzuki) - Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
Devilish Visitors
1:22:26 - A Visitor in the Forest (Marika Suzuki) - Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
1:24:18 - Devil Forest (Hiroyuki Yanada) - Last Bible III
1:45:11 - Audra's Bonus Track!
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RPG title screens bear a heavy burden. They're one of the first things we see in a game, making them one of the best places to leave a strong first impression. And often, a key component of that is the music. Several years ago, we highlighted eight standout title screen tracks in episode 71, and today, with a new panel, we're highlighting eight more! Come in and enjoy the music of several games you may know and some you likely don't. Welcome Matt to his first episode, and learn why there's an Elvis song in our links below, in this jam-packed episode of, well, jams!
As a side note, this episode's publish date was moved back, so some of the info near the end about Random Encounter and Retro Encounter's schedule is accurate, if behind where the shows currently are.
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Gio Castillo, Tin Manuel, Matt Wardell; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
Peaceful Beginnings
0:11:20 - Somnus (Instrumental Version) (Yoko Shimomura) - Final Fantasy XV
0:13:46 - Dearly Beloved -KINGDOM HEARTS III Version- (Yoko Shimomura) - Kingdom Hearts III
Cheerful Beginnings
0:32:30 - Solramimi (Kazuki Yanagawa) - Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout
0:34:27 - Title (Hideki Tobeta) - Community Pom
Emotional Beginnings
0:56:01 - Dragon Age: Origins (Inon Zur) - Dragon Age: Origins
0:58:46 - Off-Seer (Yasunori Mitsuda) - Xenoblade Chronicles 3
There's-no-time-for-backup Beginnings
1:20:49 - Metropolitan Edge (Akira Yamaoka) - The 25th Ward: The Silver Case
1:23:47 - Invitation to the Overworld (Yukihide Takekawa) - Soul Blazer
1:53:10 - Matt's Bonus Track!
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Continuing our new run of quarterly new music updates is our first episode for 2025, and it's a truly notable start. We have a range of new music today, from well composed soundtracks that play homage to earlier console generations to new projects from popular Minecraft composer C418. We also continue to take our definition of music from a certain timeframe liberally and even have music for a game that doesn't exist (anymore). May these episodes help you learn more about new game music releases, and we'll be ready for more next quarter!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
0:04:58 - Batten Down the Hatches (Winifred Phillips) - Flint: Treasure of Oblivion
0:12:08 - Child of the Earth (Lena Raine) - Earthblade ~ Across the Bounds of Fate
0:23:28 - Acoustic: Main Theme of FFVII - Battle Edit (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Takaaki Nakagawa) - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Acoustic Arrangements
0:34:00 - A Different Sun (Amos Roddy) - Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
0:43:22 - Truth (Ada-P) - Urban Myth Dissolution Center
0:52:08 - Main theme (Mili feat. Cassie Wei) - ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist
1:09:02 - Hilary's Bonus Track!
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It's visual novel day at Rhythm Encounter! Following one of the quickest sign-up processes ever for our show, four visual novel fans have come together to share thoughts on the music of eight visual novels, but they discuss so many more in the process. We all quickly learned that this topic will have to make an appearance again because the well of inspiration is so very deep. But for today, listen as our panel digs in to Suikogaiden, Ever 17, YU-NO, and much more!
Featuring: Patrick Gann, Neal Chandran, Audra Bowling, Gio Castillo; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
Don’t Go Away, We’re Just Getting Started!
0:24:17 - went away (Kazuya Takase, perf. KOTOKO) - Hourglass of Summer
0:30:58 - You Can’t Hurry Love (Kazuya Nishioka, perf. The Biscats) - Cupid Parasite
Feelin’ Indie
0:47:32 - Summer Night (Crystal Cola) - A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986
0:50:45 - Bonds (Low) - Fatal Twelve
Names To Remember
1:04:40 - Impatience 1 (Ryu Umemoto, arr. Keishi Yonao) - YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world. Soundtrack [Remake Version]
1:08:19 - Karma (Takeshi Abo) - Ever 17
PSOne VNs
1:28:35 - The Boundless Dream (Ending Theme) (Miki Higashino, perf. Yumiko Takahashi) - Genso Suikogaiden Vol.2: Last Duel at Crystal Valley
1:33:13 - Dreaming Robot (Multi) (Shinya Ishikawa, arr. Yaco) - To Heart (from the arrangement album Melty Kiss)
2:00:48 - Neal's Bonus Track!
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Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is almost here, so what better time to dive into this musically fascinating "side" tale from 2015? Many fans were surprised that the first Xenoblade Chronicles was not followed by a "2" (though that happened later), but by Xenoblade Chronicles X. The name and looks alone made it clear this was a different beast: XCX features some now-familiar Xenoblade components and scale, but the more "worldly" nature of its story outside of the "main" plot thread was almost as divisive as its soundtrack to some players.
When your first game features music by Yoko Shimomura, ACE+, Manami Kiyota, and Yasunori Mitsuda, pivoting soundtrack duties to "Attack on Titan guy," Hiroyuki Sawano, makes people take notice. The whole Xenoblade series is packed with unforgettable music, but there's no denying that none of them sound quite like the sometimes weird, often catchy, and above all, wholly unexpected, Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Wes Iliff, Stephanie Sybydlo, Sean Cabot; Edited by Mike Salbato
Tracklist
Uncontrollable Wes
0:08:25 - Uncontrollable
0:11:05 - Don't worry
Z5 Sean
0:25:55 - Black tar
0:29:55 - Z5 Mira
Wir Stephegen
0:43:03 - Wir fliegen
0:46:25 - Manon
Mike X
1:00:44 - Shiro no Tairiku
1:05:44 - Theme X
1:32:44 - Everyone's Bonus Track
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It's time for more of 2024's best RPG music! In the last episode, we featured nine excellent songs from last year, and today we return with Part II, bringing nine more tracks! Look for some Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Flowstone Saga, a double dose of Stellar Blade, and more! Scarlet Moon's Jayson Napolitano joins us to share some of his picks as well, so don't miss out.
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo, Patrick Gann, Jayson Napolitano; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
Gio's Picks
0:02:16 - Raven (Oliver Good) - Stellar Blade
0:04:56 - Battle -no hypocrisy- (Ryota Kozuka) - Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
0:08:13 - Detective Theme (Takeshi Abo) - Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Mike Salbato's Picks
0:35:29 - The Climb (Andrew Luers) - Flowstone Saga
0:38:40 - A Turn of the Page (Failpositive) - Paper Perjury
0:40:58 - Sword Search (Minako Hamano, arr. The Deku Trio) - Zelda & Jazz II
Jayson's Picks
1:04:23 - Charred Passage (Tsuyoshi Sekito) - Visions of Mana
1:06:23 - Silent Street (Battle) (Hyunmin Cho, seibin, Youngkyoung Choi) - Stellar Blade
1:09:53 - Penny's in a Pinch (Sean Bialo) - Penny's Big Breakaway
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It's time for Music of the Year! 2024 was absolutely stacked with game releases. Some even felt it was one of the all-time best years in gaming. And the side effect of a year filled with excellent games means a year of excellent soundtracks. For this annual special, we let each panelist bring on three songs. Even so, how did we pick just nine today? It wasn't easy.
2024 being such a great year for RPG music meant that one episode could not contain our Music of the Year celebrations, so we have split it into two back-to-back episodes. Enjoy the likes of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Arco, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and much more today. Then come back next week for three more panelists' highlights of the year!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo, Patrick Gann; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Pat's Picks
0:02:58 - The World's Heartbeat (comp. Kenji Ito, arr. Tsutomu Narita) - SaGa Emerald Beyond
0:04:49 - Battle! (Terapagos - The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero) (comp. Toby Fox, Go Ichinose, Rei Murayama, arr. Go Ichinose) - Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
0:08:16 - Lantern&End (Keiichi Okabe) - SINoALICE
Hilary's Picks
0:39:58 - Renoir (Lorien Testard) - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
0:42:55 - Moiety Theme (Robyn Miller) - Riven (2024)
0:45:01 - Nadie Los Podrá Salvar (José Ramón "Bibiki" García) - Arco
Michael Sollosi's Picks
1:17:52 - Impregnable Triangle (Chihiro Aoki) - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
1:20:59 - Coral Crown (Darren Korb, feat. Erin Yvette, Ashley Barret, Judy Alice Lee) - Hades II
1:25:04 - Queen's Blood - Prodigious Pedigree (Mitsuto Suzuki) - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
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Almost exactly a year ago, four panelists came together to build a soundtrack to an imaginary RPG out of 8 fragments of other RPGs. Today, we're doing it again, except our "Hard Mode" rules dictate that we must choose songs from our source games with different use cases. So our Town Theme could be anything except another game's town theme, and so on. What kind of RPG will we assemble this time? Find out with us!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Lucas Greene; Edited by Mike Salbato
Links for this episode
Tracklist
0:16:41 - Title Theme: Hollow Charge (Chris Geehan, Dan-Byrne McCullough) - Cosmic Star Heroine
0:26:30 - Map/Overworld Theme: Vana'diel March #2 (Naoshi Mizuta) - Final Fantasy XI
0:39:33 - Town Theme: Title Screen (Tsuyoshi Tanaka) - Harvest Moon 64
0:47:29 - Battle Theme: communication breakdown (Yuki Kajiura) - Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
0:58:03 - Dungeon Theme: One Small Step (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
1:10:20 - Sad/Emotional Theme: Bloom Outro (Mili) - ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights
1:21:16 - Final Boss Theme: Touch It - FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS Remix (Ariana Grande) - Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
1:36:02 - Ending Theme: Welcome to our Town (Motoaki Takenouchi) - Symphonic Suite Shining Force II ~ Ancient Sealing ~
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Between our recent milestone of 150 episodes and the start of a new year, we will have some fun changes coming to Rhythm Encounter, starting with this episode. New games and music release all the time that don't always fit with our episode themes. Starting today, we will release a "new music" episode every few months to spotlight the latest in RPG music. These episodes will typically be a shorter listen with a smaller panel, featuring 6–8 songs each. Today, Mike and Hilary highlight Metaphor: ReFantazio, Ys X: Nordics, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, and more!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Jonathan Logan
Links for this episode
Tracklist
0:00:47 - Warriors in Arms (Shoji Meguro) - Metaphor: ReFantazio
0:09:35 - Ceruleum Smoke at High Noon (Takafumi Imamura) - Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
0:21:31 - Heroes in Training (Winifred Phillips) - Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Remaster)
0:30:27 - Alefgard (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
0:35:44 - Facing the Distant Horizon (Falcom Sound Team jdk) - Ys X: Nordics
0:41:34 - VS. The Rutile All-Stars (Lena Raine) - Beastieball
0:57:09 - Mike's Bonus Track!
Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan. This post also contains a bonus listing of more recent music that were considered for this episode, so don't miss it!
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WARNING: This episode contains major spoilers for Slay the Princess, so listen at your own risk if you have not yet played the game!
Every now and again at Rhythm Encounter, we have the chance to bring on a special musical guest. For today’s episode, RPGFan Music editor Patrick Gann sits down with Brandon Boone, composer for the indie visual novel hit Slay the Princess. The interview includes Brandon’s insights and reflections on the process of building the game’s score from the ground up, then expanding the soundtrack for its newer form, The Pristine Cut. Brandon also provides some interesting background information on how he got his start in music, his ties to studio Black Tabby Games (Abby Howard & Tony Howard-Arias), and his recent win at the World Soundtrack Awards!
Featuring: Patrick Gann, Brandon Boone, Mike Salbato; Edited by Jonathan Logan
Tracklist
0:24:13 - The Princess (Brandon Boone) - Slay the Princess Original Soundtrack
0:40:44 - The Shifting Mound Movement V (Live) (Brandon Boone) - Slay the Princess Live
1:23:26 - Brandon’s Bonus Track! House of Woodcock (Johnny Greenwood) - Phantom Thread Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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Retro Encounter can't be the only one making quiz show episodes. Rhythm Encounter had to get in on the action to celebrate our 150th episode milestone! Which of course means making our contestants identify songs, composers, and more across five themed rounds. Who will triumph? Feel free to play along too and see how you do! We had enough fun with this one that we don't want to wait another 150 episodes to bring it back. But for now, put your quiz show hats on (those are a thing, right?), make some guesses, and ring in 150 episodes with us!
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Patrick Gann, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo; Edited by Jonathan Logan
Rounds
0:05:31 - Round 1: Better Together
0:16:45 - Round 2: This One's for the Girls
0:35:35 - Round 3: This, That, or the Other: Sakuraba Edition
0:51:50 - Round 4: Final Fantasy Arrangements
1:13:10 - Round 5: Know Your Eras
1:31:06 - Round 6: Final Question
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We all have origin stories about how we got into RPGs (several of us shared them almost six years ago in this feature!), so today our panel discusses music origins — what RPGs attuned us to the RPG music scene or otherwise elevated our senses and made us take notice. For some of us, this dates back to the days of the NES, and sometimes our awakening happened during the days of the GameCube. Whenever these songs hail from, they each hold a special place in our hearts.
Featuring: Mike Salbato, Wes Iliff, Gio Castillo, Rob White; Edited by Paul Dennis
Warm Beginnings
0:05:01 - Diddle's Organ (Yoko Shimomura) - Legend of Mana
0:05:53 - Godot - The Fragrance of Darkness; That is Coffee (Noriyuki Iwadare) - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials & Tribulations
16-Bit Vibes
0:25:35 - Kids Run Through the City (FFPR ver.) (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster
0:28:11 - Frog's Theme (Yasunori Mitsuda) - Chrono Trigger
Round 3: Fight!
0:44:50 - Colosseum Round 3 (Tsukasa Tawada) - Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
0:49:05 - Battlefield Without Light -War Theme 2- (Miki Higashino) - Suikoden II
Iconic Themes
1:11:11 - Tantagel Castle (Koichi Sugiyama) - Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I
1:14:31 - Fear of the Heavens (Hiroki Kikuta) - Secret of Mana
1:46:22 - Gio's Bonus Track!
Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.
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