JRPGs have unique gameplay, brilliant stories and lovable characters. Most of them also have music that brings these experiences to new heights in the form of catchy emotive tunes and pumping battle melodies. Some of the best, most unique pieces of music can be found in JRPGs and luckily there are many games full of them. Here are six of my current favourite JRPG tracks from JRPGs full of great music.
Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star
I love the music in the 'nosurge' games. The interesting mix of melodic and tribal vocal styles against a complimentary mix of orchestra and electronic sounds is like nothing I've ever heard before. One of the best parts of Ar nosurge's soundtrack is that each track is significant to the game's story because the game revolves around the power of Song Magic, making music and singing a big part of Ar nosurge's story.
There are so many tracks I could have put here (special shoutout to the beautiful Russian vocal track 'em-pyei-n vari-fen jang;'), but the soundtrack's standout track has to be CLASS::Exsphere nosurge. It's featured in multiple important parts of the story as powerful song magic and there's enough variation in the tune to notice something different every listen. I love the experimental feel and use of white noise to show the feeling of the song's user and the track's many changes make it sound like an epic, destructive journey. Honestly one of my favourite video game tracks ever.
There are so many tracks I could have put here (special shoutout to the beautiful Russian vocal track 'em-pyei-n vari-fen jang;'), but the soundtrack's standout track has to be CLASS::Exsphere nosurge. It's featured in multiple important parts of the story as powerful song magic and there's enough variation in the tune to notice something different every listen. I love the experimental feel and use of white noise to show the feeling of the song's user and the track's many changes make it sound like an epic, destructive journey. Honestly one of my favourite video game tracks ever.
CLASS::Exsphere nosurge - Composed by Morrigan
Kingdom Hearts
Hikari - Composed by Yoko Shimomura (based off Utada Hikaru's song for the game)
All of the Kingdom Hearts games have brilliant soundtracks, with a perfect a mix of songs from famous Disney franchises and new original songs that capture the magic of Disney while creating the right mood for Kingdom Hearts' story. The soundtrack creates a great feeling of nostalgia mixed with playfulness and also throws in a pumping battle theme.
Out of all of the versions of this song (including Utada Hikaru's original version, the dance remix and the orchestra version above), the orchestra theme to Kingdom Hearts' trailer is my favourite. Whereas the Ar nosurge track perfectly fit it's scene, Hikari is a reflection of Kingdom Hearts' journey - gentle and sweet at times, but strong and powerful, with a hint of magic. This song is brought to life by the incredible orchestra and is one of my favourite video game themes of all time.
Hikari - Composed by Yoko Shimomura (based off Utada Hikaru's song for the game)
Persona 4 Golden
Spanning many genres and moods, Persona 4 Golden expands upon an already great soundtrack for Persona 4. Each track is filled with emotions that reflect the characters feelings, which is fitting for the rich story and characters. Most songs are fun and upbeat, mixing jazz and rock sounds with beautiful melodic themes, and give the game a youthful feeling. With all the fun tracks, it's no wonder the series now has it's own rhythm game.
-Reincarnation- I'll Face Myself features some of the best music from Persona 4 Golden, specifically the battle themes mixed with some of the more emotive themes. The opening melody gave me chills the first time I heard it and the scene it's featured in feels 100% more epic, thanks to the feeling of nostalgia created by using many tracks from the game and the pumping, rock orchestra.
I'll Face Myself (-Battle-) - Composed by Shoji Meguro
Final Fantasy X
Nobuo Uematsu, the mastermind behind most Final Fantasy soundtracks, created a diverse soundtrack for Final Fantasy X. With his unique melodies, the mood of Final Fantasy is set with a mix of ambient, melodic music and heavy rock tracks (such as the awesome 'Otherworld'). The soundtrack's music also plays a big part in the games famous scenes. I hear 'Suteki da ne' in my head everytime I see a photo of the famous Tidus and Yuna scene and the below, slightly gloomy track To Zanarkand is a great opening theme to the game that captures the story's theme of longing.
To Zanarkand - Composed by Nobuo Uematsu
Child of Light
As French singer/songwriter Coeur de Pirate's first video game composition, her piano based tracks and beautiful melodies are a perfect match with the feeling of the magical, unique world of Child of Light. Feeling of loneliness and strength are heightened with each track thanks to the unique melodies.
Boss Battle Theme 2 (great name) is a great example of the strong orchestra pieces in the game. Coeur de Pirate steps outside her signature lighter piano sound and adds a booming orchestra to heighten the tensity of the battle. When I was playing Child of Light and this track came on, I felt like I was concurring the world in the most epic way possible.
Boss Battle Theme 2 (With Chorus) - Composed by Coeur de Pirate
Disgaea 5
LieZe Rock - Tenpei Sato
Spoiler alert - I haven't played Disgaea 5 past the first cutscene in the demo. I put this track here mostly as a reminder to myself. Whenever I'm visiting my family, my brother is playing really cool video game music most of the time and he's a big Disgaea fan. Everytime I hear the epic-to-a-ridiculous-extent music, it reminds me that I want to play the game, if not for it's crazy opera rock, theatrical sounds.
_______________________________________________________
Credit/shoutout to the composers of these tracks and the people who uploaded them to Youtube!
I love finding new music (and games of course), so comment below with some of your favourite music pieces from the JRPGs above or your own favourites!
Thanks for stopping by and make sure to follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter for updates on content and random, shorter musings on JRPG news and games!
Love that Ar nosurge music so much! You mentioned em-pyei-n vari-fen jang, I'm sure you already know, but I always remember when I listen to it that the singer, ORIGA, died of lung cancer in January 2015. So sad, she was only 44.
ReplyDeleteCiel nosurge has some great music too with stuff like Neptlude, ahih rei-yah, zu-fao jen-din, and many more. The Atelier games sometimes get some really nice voiced tracks like Sky of Twilight (Atelier Escha & Logy)
Thanks for the recommendations.
Didn't actually know that, that's so sad! Way too young.
DeleteI will have to check out those tracks, I played a little bit of Ciel no Surge and really liked the music so far, so I'm sure they'll all be amazing :).
Thank you!