Googleshng: Moving on to our final topic of the night, everyone knows the names of Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu. Other than them however, people's knowledge of videogame music is sorely lacking. Would anyone care to enlighten the masses?

Alex: Hitoshi Sakimoto! He did the Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story music. Amazing amazing work.

Chris: That FFT guy's pretty good too!

Brian: Ditto, Hitoshi Sakimoto.

Googleshng: I still maintain that I never recall hearing any music in Vagrant Story.

Alex: Really Goog! The music is amazing in that game . . . its so strange though.

David: Not really. I could give or take most video game music.

Marshal: Valkyrie Profile.

Brian: FFTA's music, too.

Chris: Hiroki Kikuta from Seiken Denetsu is also awesome.

Googleshng: Kikuta does wonderful work. I'd still love to track down the Koudelka OST some day.

Brian: Another name people tend to forget even though he's done so much is Motoi Sakuraba. Tales series, Star Ocean series, Valkyrie Profile . . . he's done a lot of good works, yet not many people recognize his name.

Marshal: MDK, Blade Runner, Myst, Rendezvous with Rama, anything by Jeremy Soule. There are some competent American composers, you see.

Zack: I'll be the sad and lonely person who touts the sweet melodies of Yoko Shimomura (SMRPG, Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve) and Tsuyoshi Sekito (FF1 & 2 for the PSX remixing, and BFM).

Alex: I do wish that Jeremy Soule would get his due gratitude.

Zack: Soule is very awesome.

Alex: I think I spend most of my energy focusing on music when I play RPGs.

Chris: What did he do?

Alex: Jeremy Soule is currently best known for his fantasy PC games, but he originally did Secret of Evermore for Squaresoft.

Zack: Practically everything by Black Isle.

Marshal: Neverwinter Nights, Secret of Evermore, Freddi Fish games. . . .

Chris: Baldur's series?

Alex: Yeah, I think so, and Icewind Dale.

Chris: Then I can agree with that.

Alex: But as far as console RPGs, ever since Secret of Evermore he has shied away it seems.

Marshal: www.jeremysoule.com. I'm not getting paid for this.

Alex: or maybe he just hasn't been getting calls

Chris: Whoever did Arcanum is also well liked by me. You just don't hear much string quartet music anymore.

Googleshng: One of my favorite game music composers I've honestly never been able to track down the name of; does anyone know who gets the credit for the original Phantasy Star?

Alex: Phantasy Star, yeah, that's been elusive. . . .

Marshal: There's a string quartet that plays rock albums. Now if only Oneupstudios would take note.

Alex: Koji Kondo, who works on the Zelda series, is another notable name.

Brian: Except his Wind Waker work seems more like background music than real "music." Just something to break the silence, in other words.

Alex: And I wish I knew who was responsible for the soundtrack to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Chris: Also, Matt Uelmen (I think?). He did Diablo's stuff.

Zack: Alex: Michiru Yamane.

Alex: Michiru Yamane for Castlevania?

Zack: Yessir.

Alex: What about the NES versions? That guy needs more than a pat on the back. I still grove to the "Simon's Quest" music.

Zack: Not sure of her other credits, but that's what my OST CD right here says.

Brian: I would have looked at my OST CD . . . however, that CD is being hidden away in a secret vault away from my parent's retribution against anything they don't immediately understand. I won't go farther than that.

Alex: Anyway, I think the music MAKES the RPG.

Googleshng: Alex: That I'd be very inclined to agree with. Xenogears and Chrono Cross are wonderful examples of the fact. The games don't have much else going for them when you really get down to it, but their soundtracks distracted me from their shortcomings for quite a while.

Alex: Exactly.

Marshal: Tactics Ogre had some great tunes. Unfortunately, they couldn't translate the composer's name (at least in the liner notes, that's what they say).

Alex: The soundtrack can really really pull you through those parts of the game that just start dragging.

Brian: Perhaps, except I don't really play games that start dragging except for one part in Xenogears.

Alex: Around the middle of Dragon Warrior VII I started to really get sick of it, and the fact that the soundtrack to DWVII hardly varies made it so much worse.

Brian: However, that part in Shevat was one of the few times when the game had no music playing. 'twas torture.

Marshal: FFIV was the first game whose music really made the game for me.

Chris: But Shevat's theme itself is quite awesome.

Marshal: If FFIV didn't have such a fantastic score, I don't know if I'd have played through it like I did.

Googleshng: For me, that honor goes to Mega Man 2.

Brian: That is one problem in a lot of RPGs: One set main battle theme throughout the entire game with a couple of special boss themes.

Alex: Mega Man 2 and 3 for me too.

Brian: Such repetition really turns me off to level in such RPGs.

Chris: Ah, Mega Man. Such good remixes out there of Mega Man. It makes me want to play them.

Alex: All the Mega Man music is amazing actually.

Googleshng: Oddly enough though, I'm not particularly impressed by the soundtrack of the Battle Network games.

Zack: Bad music can quickly ruin a game, that's for sure. I'd like to draw everyone's attention to a little title I like to call Vagrant Story. It's merely coincidental that virtually every other aspect of VS sucks equally as greatly.

Alex: There you go again! Vagrant Story is great. It was done by the FFT guy!

Brian: I am one of the only members on the RPGamer staff who enjoyed Vagrant Story's gameplay AND music. Fear me.

Marshal: A game with BAD music? That's a topic not so easily covered.

Alex: No.

Zack: You are frightful souls, the lot of you.

Marshal: Ah, FFT's soundtrack also really helped make the game for me. I never got tired of that game's music.

Chris: Oh yes Marshal. It would have been nice if each track was a bit longer before it looped, but still very, very nice.

Googleshng: FFT was wonderful in that it had a wide variety to the music, and tracks that were long enough not to loop 5 times before the fight ends.

Chris: Same problem with Legend of Mana, good music, but not long enough on each track.

Googleshng: Hoshigami on the other hand is a perfect example of how not to score a TRPG.

Alex: Eh, I'm not familiar with Hoshigami. . . .

Brian: Makes me wish I had played Hoshigami . . . but I will one of these days!

Googleshng: We have a single battle theme, and it tends to loop something like 20 times before a given fight ends.

Alex: That's horrible.

Chris: Yes, very painful in all respects that game.

Chris: Legend of Mana was done by someone other than Kikuta if I recall correctly.

Googleshng: Well, Kikuta was busy with Koudelka at the time if I recall.

Chris: I believe Legend may have been done by the FFT guy, but I'm not sure.

Alex: Legend was done by the Kingdom Hearts girl, Yoko Shimomura.

Googleshng: Not that a composer can't score multiple games at once. Take Mitsuda. He was working on something like six at one point. Of course, that six included Hoshigami and Xenosaga, so he did spread himself a bit too thin.

Chris: Ah, okay.

Brian: Regardless, by itself, Legend of Mana's music was a great listen. Entertaining in the game, too, just because there was so much of it, but yes, repetitive.

Zack: I wouldn't know about the soundtrack to Hoshigami unless the only tracks in the game are heard in the first five missions and the game over screen.

Marshal: Threads of Fate had a good soundtrack.

Alex: I think Nobuo Uematsu is running out of steam.

Googleshng: Running out? I think Uematsu is long past his prime myself. Seems he's been running on fumes since as far back as FFVII.

Chris: Well he earned a lot of respect back with me with X Alex, but yes, after FFVI, it's hard to continue on that level.

Alex: in my opinion, Nobuo's tracks are becoming worse with each new game. Some of the FFVIII tracks were still decent.

Marshal: I liked much of FFVIII's music, even if it was too voluminous and lacking focus.

Chris: It still boggles me how Man with the Machine Gun works as both an orchestral and techno piece.

Alex: Chris: indeed.

Googleshng: Yes, and X had one or two good ones too, thanks to the work of some assistants. Uemaetsu however used to be the sort of person who packed a game full of wonderful music.

Alex: I think this happens with all composers though, Goog.

Googleshng: True.

Alex: However, one of the reasons why I think Jeremy Soule is so great is that he's been pumping these soundtracks out for a while.

Marshal: David Bowie once made music for his own game (Omikron: The Nomad Soul). Unfortunately, it was mostly from his current album at the time, and the game wasn't very good.

Alex: I think J. Williams (of Steven Spielberg fame) is also running out.

Chris: I think John Williams ran out a long time ago. . . .

Marshal: John Williams has been running out for a good decade and a half.

Brian: More like decade. Jurrasic Park was really memorable.

Googleshng: Look at people like Danny Elfman, though. He's been at a pretty consistent level for as long as I can recall.

Marshal: I didn't even like that one single from Episode I: The Duel of the Fates.

Alex: Yeah, Danny Elfman is great. Jeremy Soule reminds me a lot of Danny Elfman.

Marshal: His Batman theme is still being used.

Googleshng: Speaking of the decline in music quality over the years though, who else is annoyed with the recent Castlevania games?

Marshal: I am, of course.

Chris: I liked quite a few tracks from Circle of the Moon.

Marshal: I loved SotN, but I think it was the last great Castlevania soundtrack.

Brian: Aria of Sorrow had good music, yet. . . .

Googleshng: Well Circle of the Moon was just fine. I'm referring to the two more recent games.

Alex: Marsh: Agreed.

Zack: In general Castlevania isn't that great. Symphony of the Night is like FFVI, as it goes, in that it will never be topped in its own realm.

Brian: I am one of the ONLY PEOPLE IN EXISTENCE that enjoyed Harmony of Dissonance's music.

Marshal: Compositionally as well as instrumentally, all else since has been forgettable.

Alex: Original NES Castlevania is excellent.

Googleshng: Zack: Symphony of the Night recycles most of the soundtrack from the NES games really.

Chris: Which isn't a bad idea at times, Google, especially since Castlevania music seems to lend itself to remixing really well.

Marshal: I think another great Castlevania soundtrack could be made . . . if they take it off the GBA.

Alex: Google: I don't think SotN recycles anything from the original. . . .

Googleshng: You need to go back and play them again then Alex.

Brian: Also note that when you move to a different platform that has an inferior sound chip to the last system, people of course aren't going to like the music much anymore.

Chris: Good point.

Marshal: Exactly. Which really is what happened, I think.

Zack: Recycling isn't necessarily bad. A good majority of the well-known series themes are used over and over in a thousand different arrangements.

Brian: People were expecting another SotN OST, and they didn't get it. Boo hoo.

Googleshng: Well yes. My main point though is that I'd be perfectly fine with a constant remixing of classic Castlevania music, but instead we get original tunes that really lack the oomph.

Alex: Handhelds should require headphones anyway.

Marshal: The sound possibilities were limited, and if I may be so bold, it's being sold to a different market; much like FFTA.

Brian: Even with headphones, the GBA's music doesn't have a full-bodied sound like most systems do.

David: Brian: Plug in speakers. It helps much.

Marshal: Honestly, my Samsung cell phone ringer has better sound quality than the GBA.

Brian: Dave: Tried it with Advance Wars, didn't help.

Brian: And I mean I hooked it up to 2 1/2 foot high speakers, too.

Zack: Take the Final Fantasy Prelude and the Dragon Warrior Overture for example.

Googleshng: Plus, to this day some of my favorite music comes from 8-bit games, so you can't blame it all on the hardware.

Alex: Google: Agreed.

Chris: Hey, there are even 8-bit remixes of songs, so no arguing there.

Marshal: Right.

Googleshng: Well, we've been on this topic for quite a while now, and I already see a good dozen side tracks I'll have to cut out of the log, so does anyone have any closing thoughts on anything we've discussed tonight?

Chris: Video game music rocks.

Zack: 8 bits is enough, consarn it!

Marshal: I only see things getting better, really.

Alex: Having a great soundtrack on an RPG is the equivalent of having a plain cake filled with strawberries and bananas.

Brian: I'm grooving to Harmony of Dissonance music right now. I pity you all.

Alex: And the soundtrack is the strawberries and bananas, in case you didn't get my horrible analogy.

Googleshng: That's it for tonight. Join us again next week when we discuss three more topics with a new group of panelists. Meanwhile, it's time for me to dust off the old Q&A hat and hop over to write a column.