BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast

Bonus Episode #79 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan reviews Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, Nihon Falcom's full remake of the beloved Trails in the Sky SC and the direct follow-up to 2025's Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, published in the West by GungHo Online Entertainment America and out now on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. It's a story-driven RPG that picks up seconds after one of the genre's cruelest cliffhangers, as senior Bracer Estelle Bright sets out across the Kingdom of Liberl with nothing but Joshua's harmonica and a stubborn refusal to let him go, only to find the shadowy society of Ouroboros pulling strings in every corner of the country.

Two games, one girl, and a goodbye that refused to stay final. That's the heart of this Musical Review, and Bryan treats 1st and 2nd Chapter as the single giant story they were always meant to be. He follows Estelle's growth from bubbly rookie to the person holding a whole kingdom together, the slow-burn romance two RPGs spent building, and a supporting cast where Scherazard, Agate, Tita, Kloe, Zin, Olivier, and newcomer Kevin all get arcs of their own. He sizes up the Enforcers of Ouroboros, from Loewe to the unsettling little Renne, then gets into the hybrid combat, the new Brave Rush team attacks, those brutal Enforcer Boost boss fights, and a Liberl packed with Bracer requests, fishing, poker, and cooking with your companions. And of course, he spends plenty of time with Falcom Sound Team jdk's reimagined soundtrack and explains why the music is a big part of why this remake hits as hard as it does.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff, & Mike.

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Episode #443 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan wraps up September 2026 with another eclectic mix in Radio Hour, Volume 91!

Buckle up for what might be the longest track title in BGMania history, a Zeta Gundam legend lending her voice to a brand-new retro anime adventure, the Gummi Bears game Disney never made, and a Majora's Mask arrangement sent in by the person who arranged it. Plus a three-track spotlight on Another Eden Begins, the time-traveling RPG from the mind behind Chrono Trigger. We close the night by checking into a very suspicious inn, because spooky season starts tomorrow and I couldn't wait.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff & Mike.

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Bonus Episode #78 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan and Kyle unsheathe their claws and dive into Marvel's Wolverine, Insomniac Games' long-awaited take on one of Marvel's most iconic and vicious heroes, putting Logan front and center in an adventure that trades Spider-Man's acrobatics for adamantium, regeneration, and a whole lot of blood.

Claws aren't the only things coming out as the duo breaks down Wolverine's brutal combat, progression and abilities, memorable environments, massive encounters, and the cast of familiar mutants and villains standing in Logan's way. We'll also dig into what works, what keeps the game from reaching the heights of Insomniac's best, and the surprisingly strong emotional core provided by Logan and Jean Grey, before wrapping things up with their final thoughts and scores. David Fleming's original soundtrack follows the journey through the game, from the defining sounds of Logan, Sabretooth, Omega Red, and the Sentinels to the quieter themes surrounding Jean and Logan's relationship.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff, & Mike.

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Episode #442 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan and Bedroth are answering a request straight from composer Paweł Górniak himself as we settle in with the cozy fantasy world of Flamecraft! With its soundtrack coming in at just eight tracks, we decided to expand the musical journey by pairing it with another of Górniak's wonderfully relaxing scores, 2020's Wingspan, for an episode dedicated to the composer's warm, melodic, and unmistakably inviting sound.

We'll wander through bustling market squares alongside tiny artisan dragons, uncover the secrets of a cozy guild, and join a parade before trading fire and fantasy for wide-open meadows, rustling treetops, and endless blue skies. Along the way, we'll dig into what makes Górniak's music work so beautifully in both worlds, from the playful charm of Flamecraft to the peaceful sense of space and freedom found throughout Wingspan. Find somewhere comfortable, watch the clouds drift by, and don't mind the dragons tending the shop. This week, we're slowing things down and letting the music do the flying.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff & Mike.

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Bonus Episode #77 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan reviews The Blood of Dawnwalker, the debut RPG and the opening chapter of a brand new saga developed by Rebel Wolves and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It's a dark fantasy open-world action RPG set in Vale Sangora, a plague-choked valley tucked into the 14th-century Carpathian Mountains, where you play as Coen, a young man turned into a Dawnwalker, human by day and vampire by night, who has thirty days to pull his captured family back from the grip of the ancient vampire lord Brencis.

Here's the catch with a first game from a studio full of Witcher 3 veterans: everyone walks in already comparing it to the last thing they made. This Musical Review is about where Dawnwalker stops borrowing and starts becoming its own thing. Bryan works through the thirty-day structure that turns time into a resource you spend rather than a clock you race, the day-and-night split that swaps grounded swordplay and blood magic for claws and predatory speed after dark, and the way exploring Vale Sangora and the silver city of Svartrau changes character depending on the hour. He digs into Coen's story and his bond with the family at the center of it, the narrative sandbox where choices close doors you can't reopen, and the big question of whether this feels like its own world after all that shared DNA. And of course, he spends real time with the soundtrack and butchering the composers' names, breaking down how it builds the game's medieval Gothic identity across the human side and the vampire side.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff, & Mike.

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Episode #441 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan and Bedroth grab a fresh set of dice, argue over who gets to be the party's healer, and descend into the sprawling, dungeon-crawling, dragon-hoarding world that started it all: Dungeons & Dragons! From the earliest computer RPGs that ever dared to put a spellbook on a screen to modern MMORPG expansions, we're adventuring through a theme that basically wrote the rulebook for fantasy gaming as we know it.

Roll for initiative, because you're gonna need it. We'll haggle in a castle shop, sneak through a hall built for the senses, ride a dragon into the sunset, get ambushed in the dark more than once, crash a vampire's nightclub, and end things with a knock on the door from a certain god of secrets as spooky season creeps ever closer. So grab your character sheet, sharpen your +1 dagger, and try not to split the party, because this one's a long campaign and we're just getting started.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff & Mike.

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Bonus Episode #76 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan reviews Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the long-awaited franchise revival developed and published by Capcom, out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. As the first mainline entry since Dawn of Dreams in 2006, it drops you into a dark fantasy version of Edo-era Kyoto twisted by a corrupting force called Malice, where a young, hot-headed Miyamoto Musashi is killed, dragged back to life, and saddled with the Oni Gauntlet, a demonic artifact that keeps him breathing only as long as he keeps feeding it souls.

Twenty years is a long time to leave a series on the shelf, and this Musical Review is all about whether the wait was worth it. Bryan gets deep into the razor-sharp swordplay built around parries, deflects, and the signature Issen counter, the soul-fueled progression that shapes Musashi around your own playstyle, and the eerie stretch of temples, mountain paths, and hidden laboratories you cut through along the way. He works through Musashi's story and his gauntlet-bound partnership with Shizuka, the memorable cast of allies and villains reimagined from real history and folklore, and the bigger question of whether this actually feels like Onimusha after two decades away. And of course, he spends plenty of time with the score from Marika Suzuki, Nozomi Ohmoto, Kota Suzuki, and Tomoki Kameyama, breaking down how it fuses traditional Japanese sound with horror and dread.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff, & Mike.

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Episode #440 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan and Bedroth hop into the nearest questionable-looking mine cart, release the brake, and immediately regret every decision that led them here. From haunted ruins and glowing mushroom caves to muddy swamps, abandoned factories, ancient shipyards, and whatever OSHA nightmare Donkey Kong has waiting underground, we're taking a ride through one of gaming's most beloved traditions: the mine cart.

We'll race canaries, dodge Ganados, help Nancy Drew make an escape, survive a few tracks that probably haven't been inspected since 1995, and somehow even bring a tiny dog along for the ride. So keep your hands and feet inside the cart, lean into the turns, and whatever you do, don't look down!

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff & Mike.

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Bonus Episode #75 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan reviews Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, the standalone prequel from Asobo Studio and publisher Focus Entertainment, out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass. Set fifteen years before A Plague Tale: Requiem, you play as Sophia, a young plunderer who flees a Venice heist gone wrong and sails toward Minotaur Island, a place that's been calling to her since childhood. What she finds is a sprawling labyrinth of ancient ruins, deadly soldiers, and a buried curse tangled up in Minoan myth.

Across this Musical Review, Bryan digs into the bold shift from Amicia's fragile stealth toward Sophia's agile, sword-in-hand combat, the light-bending puzzles powered by a stolen Minoan sphere, and the slow descent from sunlit Mediterranean beauty into genuine horror beneath the island. He gets into Sophia's story and her bond with Leni, the way the game reframes what longtime fans thought they understood about the Macula, and whether A Plague Tale still works with its original siblings off the stage. And of course, he spends plenty of time with the returning Olivier Derivière and his haunting Greek and Cypriot choral score, one of Bryan's favorite composers working today, breaking down how the music carries so much of the game's ache and dread.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff, & Mike.

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Episode #439 of BGMania: A Video Game Music Podcast. Today on the show, Bryan and Bedroth have a long overdue one. We're finally highlighting the career of Michiru Yamane, a composer whose name has become inseparable from gothic grandeur even as her catalog stretches far beyond the castle walls she's best known for. After studying composition at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, where she built her thesis around Bach, Yamane joined Konami in 1988 and spent over two decades there, composing for more than forty games. From tiny handheld chips and loud arcade cabinets to the orchestral heights of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, she proved again and again that a classical foundation could bend to almost any hardware, genre, or mood.

We're tracing the full arc of Yamane's journey, from one of her earliest credited jobs in 1990 all the way to the Castlevania theme that launched her legend. Along the way, we stop in on lush RPG worldbuilding, a beat-'em-up that never left Japan, a jazz-soaked fighting game, an indie love letter to the exact genre she helped define, and the freelance era that saw her wandering happily outside her comfort zone. From haunted halls to lounge-jazz curtain calls, this Composer Appreciation episode is dedicated to an artist whose fingerprints are all over the medium, whether you realized it or not.

Email the show at [email protected] with requests for upcoming episodes, questions, feedback, comments, concerns, or any other thoughts you'd like to share! Special thanks to our Executive Producers: Jexak, Xancu, Jeff & Mike.

Feedspot's Top 39 Best Video Game Music Podcasts Discussed on the Show: https://podcast.feedspot.com/video_game_music_podcasts/

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