RPGFan's Rhythm Encounter

It's been almost exactly 11 years to the day since we last welcomed video game arranger, producer, and saxophonist Sean Schafianski onto Rhythm Encounter, so it's long past time we had him on again! With a string of excellent new arrangement albums throughout last year and this year, there's so much to talk about. From his work on Jazz Arrange Version: Chrono Cross to a 3 "disc" full remaster arrangement of Final Fantasy VI and so much more that even two hours only covered so much of it!

But it was a great conversation with music you don't want to miss. Be sure to check below for links on where you can listen to more of Sean's work as well.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Patrick Gann, Sean Schafianski; Edited by Jono Logan

Links

• Rhythm Encounter 19 - Schmoozin' with Schafianski | RPGFan
• Snarky Puppy - Lingus (We Like It Here)
• Sean's Website
• Sean on Bandcamp

Tracklist
Clowns, Gods, and Bird Folk
0:12:36 - Dancing Mad (comp. Nobuo Uematsu) - Remastered Soundtrack: Final Fantasy VI, Disc 3
0:16:15 - Island (comp. Yoshino Aoki) - Letters from Wyndia: Music from Breath of Fire III

Time & Space
0:45:13 - Primitive Mountain (comp. Nobuo Uematsu) - Remastered Tracks: Chrono Trigger
0:47:20 - Fields of Time (Home) (comp. Yasunori Mitsuda) - Jazz Arrange Version: Chrono Cross

Storm Clouds
1:09:16 - Matataki Village (comp. Tomohito Nishiura) - Remastered Tracks: Dark Cloud
1:10:58 - Distant Thunder (from Secret of Mana) (comp. Hiroki Kikuta) - Remembrance: A Game Music Tribute
1:48:09 - Sean's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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Call it spring, some spring and some summer, or the most accurate but boring moniker, "Q2 2025," but the second quarter of this year saw the release of some VERY musically important titles in RPGFan's coverage. While Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 looms over everything in the RPG space for this time period, there were many notable other releases that also deserve your time, from RPGs to adventure games and visual novels.

Oh, and classic RPG fans, just for the record, Mike would have included a song in honor of the overdue release of the Super Mario RPG (Remake + SNES) OST if he hadn't featured that game in our prior episode!

As usual, we also have a longer list below of the many albums and releases we considered for this episode, so don't miss it!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Mike Salbato

Links for this episode

• Rose Betts' Website
• Medieval Lofi on Bandcamp
• The 8-Bit Big Band - "Orchestrator Emulator" Album (YouTube)

Tracklist
0:07:51 - The 80s Called (Thomas Regin) - Old Skies
0:13:23 - Encounter Elite! (Narcis Version) (Eric W. Brown) - Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker
0:19:05 - Ever Higher (Toby Fox) - Deltarune Chapters 3+4
0:24:14 - Theme from Capriccio Infernal (John Michael Tatum) - Date Everything
0:32:46 - Éveil (Lorien Testard) - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
0:40:09 - Under the Black Bridge (Trigg & Gusset) - Blue Prince

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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The Switch 2 is here! Is what we would have opened with had this episode gone up on time. Still, Nintendo's latest is the newest console on the market and it's doing pretty well, so we gathered up some fans of Nintendo music for this one. To try something new and to celebrate a wider range of Nintendo music history, each panelist was allowed to choose one non-RPG song, which resulted in a great episode of both expected and unexpected musical choices.

Even branching out like this barely scratches the surface of Nintendo's long music history, but we gotta start somewhere! If you're still reading this, we both know there's only one way to kick this off: Let's-a-go!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Gio Castillo, Matt Wardell, Tom Cox; Edited by Mike Salbato

Tracklist
Block of Affection
0:27:38 - ‌Because I Love You (Keiichi Suzuki, arranged by Kenji Kondo) - Mother 1+2
0:31:01 - Caring (Kazuki Komai) - Fire Emblem Engage

Giants and Monsters
0:47:24 - ‌Yellow Giant (2023 Remaster) (Tatsuhiko Asano) - Doshin the Giant
0:49:54 - Ecruteak City (Go Ichinose) - Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver

Butter Galaxy
1:16:46 - ‌Gusty Garden Galaxy (Mahito Yakota) - Super Mario Galaxy
1:19:10 - Butter Building (Tomoya Tomita, Jun Ishikawa, Hirokazu Ando) - Kirby's Epic Yarn

From the Stars
1:38:08 - ‌Title (Kenji Yamamoto) - Metroid Prime
1:40:16 - Fight Against Smithy (Yoko Shimomura) - Super Mario RPG (Remake)
2:09:40 - Tom's Bonus Track! 

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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Say what you want about your average mobile game, but there are a growing number of great RPGs you can play on your phone. Sure, some have hostile gacha mechanics, and many of the best get shut down eventually, but the care, budget, attention, and talent that goes into some mobile RPG soundtracks is no less than their console or PC brethren. In some cases, it's even tragic (or tragedic...) that we may only have a collection of music to remember some games by. So join us today as we cover a bunch of music for games that rarely, if ever, make their way into typical episodes of Rhythm Encounter!

(Please note this episode was recorded far in advance of publication, so the notes about recent episodes of our other podcasts are outdated, but you should listen to them anyway!)

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Patrick Gann, Audra Bowling, Pete Leavitt; Edited by Jono Logan

Links for this episode

• Smoke Signals at Sea transcribed by k l e i a クレイア: YouTube
• Sarah Brightman Interview on Love and Deepspace: YouTube

Tracklist
What's in a Name, Anyway?
0:09:54 - ‌Smoke Signals at Sea (Yasunori Nishiki) - Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent OST vol.2
0:13:20 - Tragedic Paramours (Shunsuke Tsuchiya) - Another Eden OST 2

Boisterous Relaxation
0:30:30 - The story so far (Shuhei Naruse, perf. Chisato Akita) - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - Northern War
0:34:44 - Jinzhou (maybe jixwang) - Wuthering Waves

Heartbreak Block
0:51:50 - Smooth White (Takeharu Ishimoto, Devin Kinoshita) - Final Fantasy Record Keeper OST Vol. 5
0:56:08 - ‌Entrance: Celestial Fulcrum (Kenji Ito, arr. Kohei Tanaka, perf. Ayano Nonomura) - Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe

Flow and Deepspace
1:12:47 - Whence the Flow Cometh / Springvale I (Yu-Peng Chen) - Genshin Impact
1:14:12 - ‌Love and Deepspace (Sarah Brightman) - Love and Deepspace
1:39:23 - Pete's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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It's been nearly nine years since we published our first episode about RPG forest music, so it is high time we revisited the topic! Forest music comes in several varieties, from contemplative to mysterious, upbeat to foreboding, and many more. Today's long-awaited episode covers RPG music with a real range, both in terms of styles but also in that the games span many years, between 1995 and 2022! Give it a listen and let us know what some of your favorite forest music is.

Also, an important note to our listeners: We apologize for the delay in publishing this episode! We have recently been short staffed in the audio editing department. So while we have continued to record Rhythm Encounter episodes during this unplanned hiatus, it has taken longer than planned to edit them. We are hoping to be back on our regular bi-weekly schedule starting here, though! We appreciate your patience, and hey, if you or anyone you know would want to help us with editing our podcasts, let us know! And thank you to Jono Logan for stepping in to edit!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Audra Bowling; Edited by Jono Logan

Links for this episode

• Rhythm Encounter 37 – Foliage Ocean in St. Louis
• Hylics 2 OST on Bandcamp

Tracklist
Arboreal Aspirations
0:09:04 - ‌In the Deep Woods (ConcernedApe) - Stardew Valley
0:11:08 - ‌As I Feel, You Feel (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends

Bacon & Eggs
0:33:03 - ‌Starting Over (Naoshi Mizuta, perf. by Joelle) - Final Fantasy XIII-2
0:38:20 - ‌Secret of Forest (Yasunori Mitsuda, arr. by Guido - Hiroshi Hata and Kalta Ohtsuki) - Chrono Trigger: The Brink of Time

Great Silence
1:04:50 - ‌Silence of the Forest (Revo) - Bravely Default
1:09:15 - Dungeon1 The Great Forest (Takashi Tsuzuki and Seitaro Tsuzuki) - Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

Devilish Visitors
1:22:26 - ‌A Visitor in the Forest (Marika Suzuki) - Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
1:24:18 - ‌Devil Forest (Hiroyuki Yanada) - Last Bible III
1:45:11 - Audra's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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RPG title screens bear a heavy burden. They're one of the first things we see in a game, making them one of the best places to leave a strong first impression. And often, a key component of that is the music. Several years ago, we highlighted eight standout title screen tracks in episode 71, and today, with a new panel, we're highlighting eight more! Come in and enjoy the music of several games you may know and some you likely don't. Welcome Matt to his first episode, and learn why there's an Elvis song in our links below, in this jam-packed episode of, well, jams!

As a side note, this episode's publish date was moved back, so some of the info near the end about Random Encounter and Retro Encounter's schedule is accurate, if behind where the shows currently are.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Gio Castillo, Tin Manuel, Matt Wardell; Edited by Mike Salbato

Links for this episode

• Rhythm Encounter 61 - A Very Yoko Shimomura January
• Rhythm Encounter 71 - Press Start: Title Screen Music
• Square Enix: KINGDOM HEARTS: Memories of Dearly Beloved with Yoko Shimomura
• YouTube: Elvis Presley - Unchained Melody (live)
• YouTube: Community Pom: Ending Theme

Tracklist
Peaceful Beginnings
0:11:20 - ‌Somnus (Instrumental Version) (Yoko Shimomura) - Final Fantasy XV
0:13:46 - Dearly Beloved -KINGDOM HEARTS III Version- (Yoko Shimomura) - Kingdom Hearts III

Cheerful Beginnings
0:32:30 - ‌Solramimi (Kazuki Yanagawa) - Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout
0:34:27 - Title (Hideki Tobeta) - Community Pom

Emotional Beginnings
0:56:01 - Dragon Age: Origins (Inon Zur) - Dragon Age: Origins
0:58:46 - ‌Off-Seer (Yasunori Mitsuda) - Xenoblade Chronicles 3

There's-no-time-for-backup Beginnings
1:20:49 - Metropolitan Edge (Akira Yamaoka) - The 25th Ward: The Silver Case
1:23:47 - Invitation to the Overworld‌ (Yukihide Takekawa) - Soul Blazer
1:53:10 - Matt's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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Continuing our new run of quarterly new music updates is our first episode for 2025, and it's a truly notable start. We have a range of new music today, from well composed soundtracks that play homage to earlier console generations to new projects from popular Minecraft composer C418. We also continue to take our definition of music from a certain timeframe liberally and even have music for a game that doesn't exist (anymore). May these episodes help you learn more about new game music releases, and we'll be ready for more next quarter!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Mike Salbato

Links for this episode

• Extremely OK Games: Final Earthblade Update

Tracklist
0:04:58 - ‌Batten Down the Hatches (Winifred Phillips) - Flint: Treasure of Oblivion
0:12:08 - Child of the Earth (Lena Raine) - Earthblade ~ Across the Bounds of Fate
0:23:28 - ‌Acoustic: Main Theme of FFVII - Battle Edit (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Takaaki Nakagawa) - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Acoustic Arrangements
0:34:00 - A Different Sun (Amos Roddy) - Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
0:43:22 - Truth (Ada-P) - Urban Myth Dissolution Center
0:52:08 - Main theme (Mili feat. Cassie Wei) - ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist
1:09:02 - Hilary's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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It's visual novel day at Rhythm Encounter! Following one of the quickest sign-up processes ever for our show, four visual novel fans have come together to share thoughts on the music of eight visual novels, but they discuss so many more in the process. We all quickly learned that this topic will have to make an appearance again because the well of inspiration is so very deep. But for today, listen as our panel digs in to Suikogaiden, Ever17, YU-NO, and much more!

Featuring: Patrick Gann, Neal Chandran, Audra Bowling, Gio Castillo; Edited by Mike Salbato

Links for this episode

• Audra's Genso Manège Review
• "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Biscats Music Video (YouTube)
• Crystal Cola on Bandcamp
• PRIZM on Bandcamp

Tracklist
Don’t Go Away, We’re Just Getting Started!
0:24:17 - went away (Kazuya Takase, perf. KOTOKO) - Hourglass of Summer
0:30:58 - You Can’t Hurry Love (Kazuya Nishioka, perf. The Biscats) - Cupid Parasite

Feelin’ Indie
0:47:32 - Summer Night (Crystal Cola) - A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986
0:50:45 - Bonds (Low) - Fatal Twelve

Names To Remember
1:04:40 - Impatience 1 (Ryu Umemoto, arr. Keishi Yonao) - YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world. Soundtrack [Remake Version]
1:08:19 - Karma (Takeshi Abo) - Ever17

PSOne VNs
1:28:35 - The Boundless Dream (Ending Theme) (Miki Higashino, perf. Yumiko Takahashi) - Genso Suikogaiden Vol.2: Last Duel at Crystal Valley
1:33:13 - Dreaming Robot (Multi) (Shinya Ishikawa, arr. Yaco) - To Heart (from the arrangement album Melty Kiss)
2:00:48 - Neal's Bonus Track!

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is almost here, so what better time to dive into this musically fascinating "side" tale from 2015? Many fans were surprised that the first Xenoblade Chronicles was not followed by a "2" (though that happened later), but by Xenoblade Chronicles X. The name and looks alone made it clear this was a different beast: XCX features some now-familiar Xenoblade components and scale, but the more "worldly" nature of its story outside of the "main" plot thread was almost as divisive as its soundtrack to some players.

When your first game features music by Yoko Shimomura, ACE+, Manami Kiyota, and Yasunori Mitsuda, pivoting soundtrack duties to "Attack on Titan guy," Hiroyuki Sawano, makes people take notice. The whole Xenoblade series is packed with unforgettable music, but there's no denying that none of them sound quite like the sometimes weird, often catchy, and above all, wholly unexpected, Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Wes Iliff, Stephanie Sybydlo, Sean Cabot; Edited by Mike Salbato

Tracklist
Uncontrollable Wes
0:08:25 - ‌Uncontrollable
0:11:05 - Don't worry

Z5 Sean
0:25:55 - ‌Black tar
0:29:55 - ‌Z5 Mira

Wir Stephegen
0:43:03 - ‌Wir fliegen
0:46:25 - Manon

Mike X
1:00:44 - Shiro no Tairiku
1:05:44 - ‌Theme X
1:32:44 - Everyone's Bonus Track

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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It's time for more of 2024's best RPG music! In the last episode, we featured nine excellent songs from last year, and today we return with Part II, bringing nine more tracks! Look for some Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Flowstone Saga, a double dose of Stellar Blade, and more! Scarlet Moon's Jayson Napolitano joins us to share some of his picks as well, so don't miss out.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo, Patrick Gann, Jayson Napolitano; Edited by Mike Salbato

Links for this episode

• Scarlet Moon Interview: Visions of Mana Music Team
• Scarlet Moon Merch on Bandcamp
• Scarlet Moon Discord

Tracklist
Gio's Picks
‌0:02:16 - Raven (Oliver Good) - Stellar Blade
0:04:56 - ‌Battle -no hypocrisy- (Ryota Kozuka) - Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
0:08:13 - Detective Theme (Takeshi Abo) - Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Mike Salbato's Picks
‌0:35:29 - The Climb (Andrew Luers) - Flowstone Saga
0:38:40‌ - A Turn of the Page (Failpositive) - Paper Perjury
0:40:58 - Sword Search (Minako Hamano, arr. The Deku Trio) - Zelda & Jazz II

Jayson's Picks
1:04:23 - Charred Passage (Tsuyoshi Sekito) - Visions of Mana
1:06:23 - Silent Street (Battle) (Hyunmin Cho, seibin, Youngkyoung Choi) - Stellar Blade
1:09:53 - Penny's in a Pinch (Sean Bialo) - Penny's Big Breakaway

Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.

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