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Song of The Day: Cid’s Theme

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Song: Cid’s Theme (Click to listen!)

Game/Soundtrack: Final Fantasy VII

Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Yes I know it’s been a while since I did this and at this point it shouldn’t be called song of the day but I’m back from hiatus to update this site and mainly this section.  Anyways, the song I’m writing about today comes from Final Fantasy VII which in my opinion is the most over rated game in the series but enough about that. Now the song is well, the theme song for a guy named Cid. Now it should be noted that EVERY SINGLE FINAL FANTASY GAME contains a guy named Cid but this Cid is rather special as he sets himself apart from all the others as far as personality goes. The Cid in FF7 is a man with a simple yet complicated dream within the context of the FF7 universe, the man just wants to go to outer space and that dream was about to reach fruition until someone screwed it up. Anyways, Cid has to abort his mission and several factors beyon his control deter him from having another chance at least until later in the game but I won’t get into that either. The purpose of writing this is to talk about the song itself, now this song conveys a sense of passion and from the moment you listen to it you will instantly know that this man has a dream. Now in my opinion this is probably the best protagonist theme in the entire series and it’s pretty obvious, there is so much passion in this piece of music. Listening to it reminds you of your own dreams and ambitions and in that instant you instantly identify with Cid as his tragic tale of a dream defered unfolds. Now the thing love about Nobuo Uematsu as a composer is how well he’s able to convey a message, theme, or motif  musically. No matter what walk of life you come from his music will convey they same message to everyone. This simple yet powerful ballad will stick in your head for years to come and when you listen to it, you’ll remember the man who continued to fight the good fight despite having his dreams crushed by and evil faceless organization but then who else hasn’t had their dreams crushed by a person and an evil and faceless organization? No matter the person the song speaks for all the dreams we continue to pursue despite the hardships. Nobuo once again has out done himself and continues to do so today, though the song is over ten years old, the message still remains to be as powerful as it was when it first debuted.

Song of the Day: Heraldic Emblem

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Song: Heraldic Emblem (Click to listen!)

Game/Sountrack: Star Ocean: The Second Story

Composer: Motoi Sakuraba

Welcome to the start of my new “Song of the Day” series where I choose a song whether it be from a video game or from a mainstream/indie artist and give you my breakdown of why I like the song, and what made it good from the perspective of a musician. I will also use this opportunity to open people up to new songs and styles of music and also new games. The song I will be analyzing is called “Heraldic Emblem” as listed above. Star Ocean is a series sci fi games that usually involve its main characters getting transported to distant galaxies and planets due to either cataclysmic events or accidents.  During these games the main character interacts and teams with people of different races and species to stop a great evil that threatens the universe. Now while I’ve had the chance to play all the games in the series, Star Ocean: The Second Story or Star Ocean: Second Evolution (The name of the Re-localization) was the first game I played in that series and it is also my favorite. Now this song is first introduced to you as you traverse a forest in search of missing children kidnapped by a bandit and a very important family keepsake that if in the wrong hands could be detrimental for many. Now as you listen to this track you get this nice creeping feeling that lets you know you’re in a dark and dreary place which is exactly what the environment is. I should also add that this forest doubles as a swamp loaded with monsters at every turn. There’s also the occasional witch using offensive spells on your characters and the many instances of bandits. Scared? you should be, fear is exactly what this song conveys. From the reverb (echo) from the percussion to the slow progression of the strings, you get the feeling that feeling of anxiety. You’re walking into this treacherous swamp, the lack of lighting plus a plethora of dangers creates for some peril. The music box melody on top of the basic beat gives the song that nice eerie touch needed to send shivers down your spine. Yes, a video game can create those feelings of fear and anxiety through dialogue to a degree but in order for players to truly feel those emotions, you need that ambiance and that’s where music comes in. This song does a superb job of getting that message of fear and anxiety across to the player as they traverse this swamp and attempt to stop these bandits. This song is slept on classic that has stuck with me since the day I first heard it. It is also one of my favorites as far as dungeon themes go and has influenced one of my musical pieces (Check out “Alone in the Dark”). For those wanting to play this game it is available on the Sony PSP and for those retro enthusiasts who are willing to play the original, it is also available on the PS One though for those who own a PS3 it is not yet up for download on the Playstation Network Store so you’ll probably have to do some digging around either at retro game enthusiast stores or the internet.

Final Fantasy V Soundtrack Analysis/Review

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Game Soundtrack: Final Fantasy V

Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Release Year: December 7, 1992

Label/Company: Square and NTT Publishing

Recorded at: Sunrise Studio

Original System of release: Super Nintendo

Game Overview:

From the moment you start Final Fantasy you can tell it was designed to be a fun game minus some of the ridiculous boss fights laced out. Anyways, If you wait long enough on the title screen you will be treated to the intro credits screen which plays the game’s main theme “Ahead On Our Way” which spells what is basically a light hearted adventure to save the world from impending doom. Now this isn’t to say that the game is all laughs because it does have it’s serious moment, there is death and despair thrown in but for the most part the game is designed to give you that sense of an innocent adventure from the get go.  The game starts of with a boy by the name of Bartz who is out camping with his Chocobo (Giant ostrich like birds that have graced the Final Fantasy series since the second game). Anyways, your camping session is interrupted when a giant meteor falls from the sky and crashes a about a mile away from camp and like any naive main character in a video game you go to investigate it. Lone behold you find a man near the meteor who in like many games of its type lost his memory, a plot device that would later be abused by this series and several others.  Anyways by random chance you run into the princess who comes to inform you that the crystals that govern the elements are in danger and that they must save them and thus the journey begins. From cross dressing pirates, to some of the cheapest bosses a Final Fantasy game has to offer, this game will send you on a happy go luck thrill right that will take you to the ends of the fictional earth and then some more but the purpose of this review isn’t to speak about the game from the perspective of the story, gameplay or likeable characters. I’m here to talk about the game’s soundtrack and how it drives the overall mood of the game.

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My First V Game Soundtrack Review

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I have just finished my first review of a game soundtrack and it will go live at 5pm on the dot. People should not that this is my first time analyzing a soundtrack so there’s a slight chance it may be sloppy in some places. The reviews will get better with time as I finalize the format of my reviews.

 

Long time no see…

Posted by flem0328 on

Yes people it’s been a while since the loss of my game which has brought me into a slump coupled with the stress of unemployment and several other dramas that I shall not divulge into. Anyways during my absence I tried to make another game which would’ve been an RPG parody game however, the project has since not come into fruition because my mind is all over the place. Instead select tracks that I started on for the fabled project have been put into a new playlist called “For the Hell of It”. This new playlist will consist of music I make, well you get the point. Anyways, I will continue to update this playlist with music I make randomly. I’ve realized there’s no need to deprive faithful followers of music they so desperately want to hear just because I’m in a bit of a slump. Enjoy!

R.I.P Shadow Sphere

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As many of you know, my hard drive died resulting in the loss of my Shadow Sphere project. I’m not too sure yet if the project can be salvaged at this point but even so I’ve already moved on to another project but before I part ways with this project I wanted to give it the proper tribute it deserves to I am offering all the tracks up for download so those who enjoyed the music can listen to the tracks in their own time. To those who have been following this project from the beginning I can’t thank you enough for being so supportive. You support has been my drive to push through with this project over the years. In closing I leave you guys with the remaining tracks from the project plus two unused bonus tracks that date as far back as the youthful beginnings of this project. Compiling this project was pretty painful as I went through two years worth of track I know may not see the light of day in a video game project, particularly Shadow Sphere. Every track has a story and every track tells a story.  In the last two years I’ve composed well over 30 tracks which is pretty substantial com pared to other projects I’ve worked on. I had grand ambitions for this project and now they’re all dead though some ideas and concepts will carry themselves over to a newer project which is in the very early stages of development.  The point is like any artist, composers form a bond with their work as time, energy, heart, and soul go into each individual track. It was a good run, a run I’ll never forget as this soundtrack made me a better composer. It allowed me to push myself to new heights and accomplish new feats. I grew with this soundtrack and I hope people will enjoy these songs just as much as I enjoyed composing them.  The album can be found in the newly created “Downloads” section of the page.

P.S.
Should you feel inspired by one of these tracks and youn feel that one or more of these tracks has a place in your game project feel free to use these tracks on the condition that you credit me for the track(s) that you use. I put my heart and soul into composing this soundtrack and the last thing I want is people stealing this stuff and claiming it as their own.

New video!!!!

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I have uploaded a re-scoring of the escape sequence from Metroid Zero Mission. The video can be found in the “Film Scores/Video Production” section.  I will start the next phase of adding sound effects either later today or tomorrow.