Category Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: “Dream of Albion” (Medieval: Total War II), composed by Jeff van Dyck

by Peter Sahui Posted on May 20, 2013

This week’s song is the haunting, beautiful title theme of the Britannia campaign, from the Kingdoms expansion for Medieval: Total War II. As with “Uncle Samurai” from Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai, this is one case where Jeff van … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Hymn to Red October” (The Hunt for Red October), composed by Basil Poledouris

by Peter Sahui Posted on May 6, 2013

With Wargame: AirLand Battle bringing the Cold War to virtual life, I can think of no better choice for this week than Basil Poledouris’ theme to The Hunt for Red October. It’s a powerful, Russian-language choral piece, well suited to the movie’s … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Reach Out To The Truth” (Persona 4), composed by Shoji Meguro

by Peter Sahui Posted on April 29, 2013

This week’s song is the battle theme from classic (has it really been that long?!) JRPG Persona 4. It works on several levels: (1) it’s an energetic, upbeat, and enjoyable song in its own right; (2) it fits the mood … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Withered Earth” (Suikogaiden II), composed by Miki Higashino

by Peter Sahui Posted on April 15, 2013

This week’s song is probably the most obscure I’ve featured to date. It’s the opening theme to a game I’ve never played — Genso Suikogaiden Vol 2: Duel at Crystal Valley, a visual novel spun off from the cult classic … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Twelve Dreamsongs” (The Twelve Kingdoms), composed by Kunihiko Ryo

by Peter Sahui Posted on April 1, 2013

Happy Easter, everybody! This week’s song is the opening theme, “Twelve Dreamsongs”/”Juuni Genmu Kyoku”. of a classic anime, Asian-themed fantasy epic The Twelve Kingdoms. I’ve linked two versions — the first is simply the show’s opening credits, which pairs lovely … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Adventure” & “Crimson Sky” (Guns of Icarus Online), composed by Zain Effendi & Gimmen Gong

by Peter Sahui Posted on March 25, 2013

Now that Muse Games has announced Adventure Mode, the long-awaited expansion for last year’s airship shooter Guns of Icarus Online, the time seemed ripe to highlight my two favourite tracks from the base game’s soundtrack: 1. The game’s main menu … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Anvil of Crom” and “Theology/Civilization” (Conan the Barbarian), composed by Basil Poledouris

by Peter Sahui Posted on March 18, 2013

For this week’s song, we’re going back to the ’80s – specifically, to Conan the Barbarian, a movie that tried so, so hard to be a dark, serious fantasy epic. It didn’t quite succeed, but Basil Poledouris’ majestic soundtrack brought it … Continue reading →

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The RPG Battle Themes of Motoi Sakuraba

by Peter Sahui Posted on March 4, 2013

This week, I’d like to spotlight the music of Motoi Sakuraba — probably best known nowadays as the composer of the Dark Souls soundtrack, but I’ve been a fan of his for years, ever since I heard his work on … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Spring Buds” and “Shattered Bamboo” (Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI), composed by Yoshihiro Ike

by Peter Sahui Posted on February 18, 2013

This week’s songs are from Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI, KOEI’s epic strategy game set in war-torn Ancient China (and the last of its series to be translated into English). The game’s music is situational, so I want to say the first … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: Satorl, the Shimmering Marsh – Night (Xenoblade Chronicles), composed by Manami Kiyota

by Peter Sahui Posted on February 4, 2013

This week’s theme is a piece of ambient music from the Wii’s flagship RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles. Like the area in which it plays (depicted in the concept art below), it has an otherworldly loveliness that actually made me halt what … Continue reading →

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Musical Wednesday: Big Iron (Fallout: New Vegas), by Marty Robbins

by Peter Sahui Posted on January 30, 2013

And we’re back! This week’s song is Marty Robbins’ 1959 country ballad “Big Iron”, featured in Fallout: New Vegas. Including it in the game was an inspired choice! Not only does the song help establish the game’s pseudo-Western atmosphere, but its lyrics … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Kia Hora Te Marino” (Calling All Dawns), composed by Christopher Tin

by Peter Sahui Posted on December 24, 2012

It’s Christmas Eve! For an uplifting song, I give you something that’s not actually from a soundtrack — “Kia Hora Te Marino” (“May Peace Be Widespread”), from Christopher Tin’s “Calling All Dawns” album (1). The liner notes describe it as … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “I Was Born For This” (Journey), composed by Austin Wintory

by Peter Sahui Posted on December 17, 2012

Following my review of Journey, this week’s song is that game’s closing theme, “I Was Born For This”. (I don’t think the similarity to Ico‘s closing song is a coincidence.) Enjoy!     Full credits for song: “I Was Born … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Into the Light” and “Voyage” (Final Fantasy series), composed by Nobuo Uematsu

by Peter Sahui Posted on December 10, 2012

Long before video game music took off in the West, the Final Fantasy series had a long tradition of beautiful vocal and orchestral music —  all the way back to the NES/SNES era! Developer Squaresoft circumvented the technical limitations of … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Exceeding Love” (Suikoden III), composed by Michiru Yamane et al

by Peter Sahui Posted on December 3, 2012

This week’s song is something I guarantee you’ll find unique: “Exceeding Love”, the opening song of PS2 RPG Suikoden III. I’ve linked two versions below. The first is the actual in-game version, presented as part of the game’s intro movie … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Baba Yetu” (Civilization IV), composed by Christopher Tin

by Peter Sahui Posted on November 26, 2012

This week’s song is another golden oldie: “Baba Yetu”, the opening theme to 2005′s Civilization IV. Soaring, hopeful, filled with joy — this is the perfect celebration of civilisation, of our achievements in science and art and engineering. Sadly, the … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Ryoshima Coast” (Okami), composed by Hiroshi Yamaguchi

by Peter Sahui Posted on November 19, 2012

With Okami HD now out for PS3, this is a great time to showcase another one of my favourite songs from the game. Where the Shinshuu Fields were the hub for the game’s first half, the Ryoshima Coast is the … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Uncle Samurai” (Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai), composed by Jeff van Dyck

by Peter Sahui Posted on November 5, 2012

While I was bitterly disappointed by Creative Assembly’s Fall of the Samurai, the stand-alone expansion to last year’s Total War: Shogun 2, its soundtrack was another matter. Series composer Jeff van Dyck turned in some of his best work to … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Icarus” (Deus Ex: Human Revolution), composed by Michael McCann

by Peter Sahui Posted on October 29, 2012

Sorry for the delays, guys — Musical Monday is back! Since I’ve been talking a lot about XCOM: Enemy Unknown lately, for this week’s song I’ve opted to present one of composer Michael McCann’s previous works: “Icarus”, from Deus Ex: … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Space Beacon” (Digital: A Love Story), composed by radiantx

by Peter Sahui Posted on October 8, 2012

One of the cleverest and most memorable games I’ve played this year was Digital: A Love Story, Christine Love’s 2010 visual novel. Its retro, pseudo-8-bit music is a key part of its conceit, that the player is a teenager discovering … Continue reading →

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Musical Wednesday: “Butterfly Garden”, “On Buddha’s Land”, “Lhasa Groove” and “Yellow Fever” (Sleeping Dogs)

by Peter Sahui Posted on October 3, 2012

Sorry for the delay, folks. This week, I have not one, not two, but FOUR songs for you — all are from Sleeping Dogs, since I just praised its soundtrack in my review. Three sound more traditional to my novice … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Yellow River ~ Yangtze River” (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), composed by Yoko Kanno

by Peter Sahui Posted on September 24, 2012

Yoko Kanno is justly famed for her beautiful anime music (I previously spotlighted one of her compositions, “Inner Universe” from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex). Less well known is the lovely music she previously did for KOEI’s strategy … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Main Title” (Fallout 3), composed by Inon Zur

by Peter Sahui Posted on September 17, 2012

This week’s song is another Bethesda opening title theme, this time from post-apocalyptic extravaganza Fallout 3. I’ve linked both the in-game version (ab0ve), which you can also download from the game’s official site, and the orchestral version from the Greatest … Continue reading →

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Musical Wednesday: “Fight It Out!” (Tactics Ogre), composed by Masaharu Iwata

by Peter Sahui Posted on September 12, 2012

This week’s song is another great battle theme from Tactics Ogre, “Fight It Out!” I love the little discordant clash at the start of the song — it makes me envision everyone pulling steel before (at 0:15) the battle is … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “The Legend of Ashitaka” & “Journey to the West” (Princess Mononoke), composed by Joe Hisaishi

by Peter Sahui Posted on September 3, 2012

This week’s tracks are cousins: both are effectively variations on the main musical refrain of Princess Mononoke, one of my favourite movies (animated or otherwise). “Legend of Ashitaka” is the conventionally heroic version, strong but a bit wistful;  “Journey to … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Main Theme” (Valkyria Chronicles), composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto

by Peter Sahui Posted on August 27, 2012

We’re back into game soundtracks with this week’s song, the “Main Theme” to the PS3 tactical RPG Valkyria Chronicles. It was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, of Tactics Ogre/FFT/FFXII fame, and it lives up to that pedigree. Enjoy!

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Musical Monday: “Opening Titles” (John Adams), composed by Rob Lane

by Peter Sahui Posted on August 20, 2012

This week’s song is the opening theme to John Adams, the very nice 2008 HBO miniseries. Below, I’ve linked both the full-length version and the shortened version that plays over the gorgeous credits sequence. Enjoy!       Details Track: … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Time Circuits” (Chrono Trigger), by Yasunori Mitsuda

by Peter Sahui Posted on August 13, 2012

This week’s song is another SNES-era RPG world map theme: “Time Circuits” (aka “Corridors of Time”), which plays in one of the most wondrous areas of Chrono Trigger. Enjoy!     Details Track: “Time Circuits”/”Corridors of Time”. Source: Chrono Trigger … Continue reading →

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Musical Monday: “Blasphemous Experiment” (Tactics Ogre), composed by Masaharu Iwata

by Peter Sahui Posted on August 6, 2012

In my review of Tactics Ogre last year, I praised its music as a “labour of love”, and now it’s time to highlight it. I had a hard time choosing a track for this week, but I eventually settled on … Continue reading →

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