Music Arcade

This week, the crew braces for their biggest challenge yet: remembering things.

From reminiscing with Chrono Cross to doubting our own memories in MyHouse.wad, we delve through the many ways memories and video game music interact.

You can listen along to the music discussed here via the playlist on our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music Arcade #81⁠⁠

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music credits (in order of discussion):

Chrono Cross - "Reminisce - Enduring Thoughts" by Yasunori Mitsuda

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - "Echoes of the Roman Ruins" by Jesper Kyd

Final Fantasy VIII - "Force Your Way" by Nobuo Uematsu (plus the arrangement by Daiki Ishikawa for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers)

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - "'Neath Dark Waters" by Masayoshi Soken

Suikoden - "Into a World of Illusion" by Miki Higashino

Super Mario Galaxy - "Airship Armada" by Koji Kondo (arr. by Mahito Yokota)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - "Overworld" by Koji Kondo

MyHouse.wad - "memory=entryrrrr/////" by esselfortium (based on Doom II's "Running From Evil" by Bobby Prince)

"Brave New World" by STARSET (as heard in the trailer to Arknights: Endfield)

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander

Today, Sam scrambles the episode's notes and the crew is left to fend for themselves.

It's improv time as the crew tries to find video game music to fit themes that go from "Lyrics That Hit Hard" to... "Philip Glass"?! Whatever happens, we know it's going to be a trip...

You can listen along to the music discussed here via the playlist on our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music Arcade #70⁠⁠⁠⁠

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music credits (in order of discussion):

Super Mario Galaxy - "Luma" by Mahito Yokota

Baldur's Gate 3 - "Raphael's Final Act" by Borislav Slavov

River City Girls - "The Hunt" by Megan McDuffee

Infinity Nikki - "Ghosts at Play" by Xu Wang

Limbus Company - "Intervallo IV-1" (unofficial title) by unconfirmed composers

Terranigma - "Resurrection" (aka "Behind the Door") by Masanori Hikichi, Miyoko Kobayashi, & Yuzo Koshiro

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance - "Battle -Qadištu-" by Ryota Kozuka

Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk - "Close to the Edge" by Yu Shimoda

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail - "A Risky Bet" by Masayoshi Soken (arr. by Shoya Sunakawa & Takafumi Imamura)

Endless Legend - "Time of Change (Vaulters Theme)" by Arnaud Roy

Elden Ring - "Godskin Apostles" by Tai Tomisawa

Radikal Bikers - "Pizza Man" by Joan Sanmarti

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Sam "Zeral"

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander

Additional credits:

Sounds used:

FX_Admiral_Warp01 by PeteBarry

This week, turns out this town IS big enough for exactly two of us to talk about Westerns.

It's time to tackle the most American genre without our resident American around - from the more straight interpretation of it in Gun.Smoke to the more indirect in Bastion. Just make sure to leave your horses outside the arcade.You can listen along to the music discussed here via the playlist on our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music Arcade #79⁠⁠

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music credits (in order of discussion):

Wild Guns Reloaded - "Armored Train" by Hiroyuki Iwatsuki

Age of Empires III - "Meet These French" by Stephen Rippy

Rizing Zan: The Samurai Gunman - "Akugyaku Mudou" by Yoshichika Shimamura

God Hand - "Broncobuster" by Masafumi Takada & Jun Fukuda

Horizon: Zero Dawn - "City on the Mesa" by Joris de Man

Bastion - "In Case Of Trouble" by Darren Korb

GUN - "Colt's Training" by Christopher Lennertz

Colt Canyon - "Bullet Blues (1st Symphony)" by Luigi-Maria Rapisarda

Gun.Smoke - "Hicksville Theme" by Ayako Mori (cover by Justin Woods)

Desperados III - "Desperados III Main Theme" by Filippo Beck Peccoz

Production credits:

Hosts:

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander

The crew is short one member once more, so you know what that means: Musou!

Or, well, it would mean that if it weren't Doppelgänger Day. Have a listen as we explore songs from games that we can't believe are not Musou, such as Gauntlet IV, Fate/Extella Link, or even Sengoku Basara.

You can listen along to the music discussed here via the playlist on our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music Arcade #78⁠⁠

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music credits (in order of discussion):

Gauntlet IV - "March in the Dark" (unconfirmed title) by Masaharu Iwata (aka REZON) and Hitoshi Sakimoto (aka YmoH.S)

Ninety Nine Nights - "Spiral Maze!" by Shingo Yasumoto

Senran Kagura Estival Versus - "Amusement Park of Candy" by Mutsumi Ishimura, and "Red Hot KAZAN" (aka "Scorching Volcano") by Takako Ochiai

Fate/Extella Link - "All-Out Attack" by Keiichi Okabe

Drakengard - "Chapter 3: Ground" by Takayuki Aihara (also featuring TF1 News themes, by Gabriel Yared)

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes - "Kotaro Fuma's Theme" by Yasutaka Hatade

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name - "Rumbling at the Fort" by Yasuyuki Nagata

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Additional sounds used:

shooting_1.ogg from Freesound.org by mchrpt (Creative Commons 0 license)

Sometimes, a single song can outshine an entire soundtrack - today, we try to correct that!From the darkness of Final Fantasy VII to the chaos Suikoden II and also some folk dancing from Assassin's Creed II for good measure, today we fight for the underdogs (and/or with the overdog - you'll have to listen to find out what that means).

You can listen along to the music discussed here via the playlist on our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music Arcade #77⁠⁠

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music credits (in order of discussion):

Final Fantasy VII Remake - "Mako Reactor 1" by Nobuo Uematsu (arr. by Shotaro Shima)

Doom (1993) - "Nobody Told Me About Id" by Bobby Prince

Persona 5 - "Price" by Shoji Meguro

Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP version) - "GOLD" by Masaki Kurokawa (arr. by Toshiki Konishi)

Assassin's Creed II - "Florence Tarantella" by Jesper Kyd

Suikoden II - "Iron Fist of Anger" by Miki Higashino

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - "Insanity" by Masayoshi Soken (arr. by Masayoshi Soken and Ken Ito)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - "LIMB Clinic" by Michael McCann

Yakuza 0 - "Crash Addiction" by Hidenori Shoji

Lost Judgment - "K.O.G" by Saori Yoshida

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Today, the crew shakes off a sleepy start to the new year to talk about the exciting things in the horizon.

Hyper Light Breaker

Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Blade Chimera

Rift of the Necrodancer

Sid Meier's Civilization VII

Avowed

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Monster Hunter: Wilds

Suikoden 1&2 HD Remaster

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Assassin's Creed: Shadows

Atelier Yumia

Atelier Resleriana

The First Berserker: Khazan

Anno 117: Pax Romana

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Death Stranding 2

Doom: The Dark Ages

Elden Ring: Nightreign

Fable (reboot)

Grand Theft Auto VI

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound

Pokemon Legends Z-A

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam

Promise Mascot Agency

Shadow Labirinth

Tears of Metal

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

Today, the crew gets fed up with award shows and starts their own.

From honoring the indies with Cryptmaster to recognizing the AAA greats with Elden Ring, we take a full journey over the many video game releases of 2024 to find the best music that the awards shows clearly weren't paying enough attention to.

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music credits (in order of discussion):

Note: all soundtracks credited to their main composers according to information publicly available as of the time of publishing; games with over 4 total composers have their credits truncated with "et al." ("and others").

Cryptmaster, by Surasshu

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, by Keitarou Hanada, Kazuki Takagi, Chihiro Aoki, et al.

[Second Place]

Metaphor: ReFantazio, by Shoji Meguro, Atsushi Kitajoh, and Toshiki Konishi

Unicorn Overlord, by Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Yoshimi Kudo, Toki Takeda, et al.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, by Ryota Kozuka

[Honorable Mentions]

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, by David Garcia Díaz

Destiny 2: The Final Shape, by Michael Salvatori, Skye Lewin, Josh Mosser, et al.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong, by Bruce Stark and David Kitay

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, by Chikara Aoshima, Rei Kondoh, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, and Masami Ueda

Zenless Zone Zero, by Sān-Z

Arknights, by multiple artists

Everspace 2, by Gero Goerlich

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, by Masayoshi Soken, Takafumi Imamura, Daiki Ishikawa, et al.

[First Place]

Mullet MadJack, by Fernando Pepe, and Mateus Polati

Hades 2, by Darren Korb

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, by Yuka Kitamura, Shoi Miyazawa, Tai Tomisawa, et al.

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander

Today, the crew honors a grand tradition in media coverage: criticizing awards shows.

Starting with the bizarre nominees for best soundtrack at The Game Awards and also exploring the unexplainable nominees for the 2025 Grammys, ending with a note on whatever the hell Nintendo's been doing this time.

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

List of award nominees (in order of discussion):

The Game Awards:

Astro Bot

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Metaphor: ReFantazio

Silent Hill 2 (2024)

Stellar Blade

The Grammys:

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlords

Star Wars Outlaws

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander

In a tribute episode both to the predecessor of Music Arcade, and in many ways one of the reasons it exists at all, Galen "The Soundguy" Firestone, Ranakel, Dezxter and Ryan "RyBred" Hawks gather once again to talk about the end of service of the global version of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

Join us for something different, an episode full of memories of the game, and what happened around it too.

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠[email protected]⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Guest Hosts:

Ryan "RyBred" Hawks

Dezxter

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander

Ranakel

Ready for spooky season, the crew dips once again into that spookiest of realms: anime games!

From the horrors of Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 to the scariness of Arslan: The Warriors of Legend, you bet we... totally aren't talking about spooky games at all - but, in true Musou/Samurai Warriors fashion, they sure have some cool songs!

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're also on Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music credits (in order of discussion):

Fate/Samurai Remnant - "Where Lotuses Bloom" by Daisuke Shinoda

Arslan: The Warriors of Legend:

"Advance" (also known as "Charge") by Masato Koike;

"Mt. Bashur" by Ayako Toyoda;

and featuring "The Arslan" by Taro Iwashiro from the original soundtrack to The Heroic Legend of Arslan

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk - "Tower of Conviction" (unconfirmed title) by Masako Otsuka, Kosuke Mizukami, and Ippo Igarashi

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 - "Onigashima" (unconfirmed title) by Takashi Yoshida, Shinichiro Nakamura, Hiroaki Takahashi, MASA, and Kensuke Inage

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander