We're kicking off the new year on Rhythm Encounter with a brand-new kind of episode: Building a soundtrack from pieces of other games. We distilled our imaginary RPG down to eight core musical moments — title, overworld, town, dungeon, battle, emotional, final boss, and ending, to be specific — and pulled a song for each from eight different RPGs. While we were all prepared to justify how eight disparate tracks made sense together, the resulting "soundtrack" was more cohesive than we expected!

We hope you like this musical experiment, because we already have plans for a future sequel. Stay tuned!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Lucas Greene; Edited by Paul Dennis

Tracklist
0:07:45 - Title Theme: Breath of Fire IV ~Opening Animation~ (Taro Iwashiro) - Breath of Fire IV
0:09:13 - Map/Overworld Theme: Quatera Woods (Yukihiro Jindo) - Falcom Field Zanmai (originally Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim)
0:31:51 - Town Theme: Hateno Village (Yasuaki Iwata) - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
0:37:35 - Dungeon Theme: Pyramid (Yuzo Koshiro) - Actraiser Symphonic Suite
0:58:34 - Battle Theme: Battle 1 (Yasunori Shiono) - Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
1:01:32 - Sad/Emotional Theme: The Sandy Beach of Gumbo (Noriyuki Iwadare) - Grandia
1:25:52 - Final Boss Theme: On Blade’s Edge (Masayoshi Soken) - Endwalker: Final Fantasy XIV
1:30:11 - Ending Theme: Journey’s End (Rich Douglas ft. Jillian Aversa) - Shadowgate (2014)

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

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To celebrate the new year, we put together a special episode before we return to our regularly scheduled topics, with a short episode full of music dedications. We were inspired by the idea of radio DJs who take listener calls and offer up dedications on air, so we polled the RPGFan staff, asking them for songs and written dedications to read on the episode. We both offered some of our own as well, so we hope you enjoy everyone's heartfelt messages and musical choices.

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

Links for this episode

• Prelude / Crystal Theme (Final Fantasy) - Harp and Strings cover by Patti Rudisill & Paula Bressman
• My Mind | Final Fantasy VIII Piano cover by Sebastien Skaf
• OverClocked ReMix: The Legend of Zelda "Zelda Heineken"

Tracklist
0:05:31 - Wind Crest ~The Three Trails~ (Takahito Eguchi & Noriko Matsueda) - Piano Collection Final Fantasy X-2
0:10:11 - Boss Battle Theme (Shigeki Sako) - Vay
0:14:56 - Prelude (Nobuo Uematsu, cover by Patti Rudisill & Paula Bressman) - Final Fantasy series
0:23:32 - A Sailor Never Sleeps (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
0:31:20 - My Mind (Nobuo Uematsu, cover by Sebastien Skaf) - Final Fantasy VIII
0:36:17 - New Days (Shoji Meguro) - Persona 4
0:39:59 - Land of Radiant Flowers (Revo) - Bravely Default
0:47:17 - Zelda Heineken (Main Theme) (Koji Kondo, arr. & perf. by Mattias Holmgren) - The Legend of Zelda
0:52:33 - Overworld Theme (Koji Kondo) - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

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

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In farming games, typically the slowest part of the year is winter. So why did we record our farming music episode when it's winter for many of our listeners? Hey, I don't have all the answers... unless it's about work/life balance and the best Stardew Valley partner. But I digress. Today's panel is only three people, but we still have a full slate of music to share from some of our favorite farming and sim games. Some are more RPG than others, but what they have in common are great lineups of music to set a mood for every season. Grab your watering can and your straw hat and let's go visit the farm!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Tin Manuel; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
Winter
0:07:38 - Quiet Winter (Dai Nakajima) - Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
0:10:55 - Winter (Nocturne of Ice) (ConcernedApe, arr. Matthew Bridgham, perf. Augustine Mayuga Gonzales) - Stardew Valley Piano Collections

Spring
0:30:56 - Spring (Town) (Manual of Errors) - Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland
0:33:46 - Bird’s Eye Brae (Day) (Go Shiina) - Harvestella

Summer
1:00:35 - Summer Day 4 (Yugo Pratomo) - Coral Island
1:03:57 - New Life in the Desert (Claude Ruelle) - My Time at Sandrock

Chill
1:23:56 - Starry and Calm (Night) (Bashi Boizu) - Littlewood
1:26:00 - Whale Island Outside (Tomoko Morita) - Rune Factory Frontier
2:00:28 - Tin'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 another composer spotlight on Rhythm Encounter, and this time we're celebrating the works of Hiroki Kikuta. Many RPG fans know his work on the Mana series — particularly Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana — but there's much more to Kikuta than many people know.

From a PSone game that never left Japan to his contributions to many indie games today, today's episode digs into the many hats Hiroki Kikuta has worn over the years. We hope you discover new facets to his work as some of us did on this episode!

If you want more composer episodes when you are done, check out episodes 108 and 61, where we spotlighted Hitoshi Sakimoto and Yoko Shimomura, respectively.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Patrick Gann, Greg Delmage; Edited by Paul Dennis

Links for this episode

• Valiant Mirror Website
• Soukaigi - Fire Wire

Tracklist
Fiji Block
0:08:13 - Where Angel Fear to Tread (Hiroki Kikuta, arr. Sachiko Miyano) - Trials of Mana (2020)
0:10:54 - Into the Thick of It (GENTLE LOVE) - Prescription for Sleep: Lullabies of Mana

Indie Darling Block
0:36:59 - Ajna (comp/arr Hiroki Kikuta) - Indivisible
0:39:44 - Land of Blooming Mushrooms (Hiroki Kikuta) - Tangledeep

Cinematic Block
1:04:31 - The Essentia 2000 Arrives (aka Exploring the Wilderness) (Hiroki Kikuta) - YIIK: A Postmodern RPG
1:07:05 - Halls of Karba (Hiroki Kikuta) - Earthlock: Festival of Magic

"I'll do it myself" Block
1:26:07 - Requiem (Hiroki Kikuta) - Koudelka
1:27:29 - Quake (comp/arr Hiroki Kikuta) - Soukaigi
2:02:20 - Mike's Bonus Track!

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

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We're knee-deep in fall leaves in some parts of the world, though much like our spring themes episode earlier this year, what autumn (or fall) means to each of our panelists varies. Some of us chose songs based on cozy evenings with a hot drink, and some of us used our imaginations since not everyone lives in parts of the world with the typical four seasons. So enjoy eight different musical approaches to autumn, and let us know which of these sound like autumn in your part of the world!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Audra Bowling, Gio Castillo, Jimmy Turner; Edited by Paul Dennis

Links for this episode

• Rhythm Encounter 11 - Pumpkin Spice

Tracklist
0:08:35 - 日常 (Everyday) (Ayako Minami, Makoto Asai) - DAEDALUS: The Awakening of Golden Jazz
0:14:10 - Fall (The Smell of Mushroom) (ConcernedApe, arr. by GENTLE LOVE) - Prescription for Sleep: Stardew Valley
0:31:32 - Old Familiar Scent of Iselia (Motoi Sakuraba) - Tales of Symphonia
0:34:18 - Thank You (Jason Chen) - Autumn’s Journey
0:45:30 - Mages In Their Chantry (Inon Zur) - Dragon Age: Origins
0:47:13 - Works and Ways Unseen (Ryan Ike) - Shadows Over Loathing
1:00:11 - Branch-Colored Past (Time) ~First Chapter - One Hundred Years Ago~ (SOLIDTUNE [Seiichi Takamoto]) - Suikoden: The Woven Web of a Century
1:02:55 - National Park (Go Ichinose) - Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver
1:18:02 - Audra's (and Jimmy's) Bonus Track!

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

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We all know those big moments in RPGs. A place, a scene, or a pivotal battle that really makes the game and solidifies it in your memory. The scoring in those moments isn't always what makes it work, but it often plays a crucial role. In many cases, the music really does make the moment, if not the game. Today we are talking about songs that carry that burden of really defining the RPG they're in, making the whole experience better by just being there.

We've been wanting to do this topic for over four years, and there's certainly more music that fits the bill than we had time for, but we are thrilled to talk about these eight songs. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know some of your game-defining music!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Zach Wilkerson, Wes Iliff, Stephanie Sybydlo; Edited by Paul Dennis

Tracklist
0:05:54 - Transcending Love (HIMEKAMI) - Suikoden III
0:08:59 - Dynamis (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
0:26:56 - Theme of Grandia (Noriyuki Iwadare) - Grandia
0:31:32 - Arc the Lad Theme (Masahiro Andoh) - Arc the Lad
0:48:09 - Star Ocean Forever - Jazz Ver. (Motoi Sakuraba) - Star Ocean: Till The End of Time
0:55:15 - Battle 3 (Yasunori Shiono) - Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
1:14:33 - Weight of the World / The End of YoRHa (Keichii Okabe) - NieR: Automata
1:20:02 - Carrying the Weight of Life (Kenji Hiramatsu & Yasunori Mitsuda) - Xenoblade Chronicles 3
1:49:26 - Wes' bonus track!

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

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From 2001 to 2005, the Game Boy Advance was Nintendo’s golden son. The Game Boy Advance brought gameplay depth and audio quality yet-unseen in a handheld gaming device, and gave us dozens of superb RPGs to enjoy over its run of success. Today, we celebrate the indigo blue machine with nine fabulous songs from a few of the GBA’s finest RPGs.

Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Greg Delmage, Patrick Gann, Peter Triezenberg; Edited by Jono Logan


Tracklist
Part 1 - When something’s going wrong, you must shrink it.
0:15:43 - Awake (Sotaro Tojima) - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon 
0:18:04 - Minish Woods (Mitsuhiko Takano) - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Part 2 - I’m starting with the Mana in the mirror
0:37:37 - Mana Shrine / Mana Sanctuary (Kenji Ito) - Sword of Mana
0:39:45 - Within the Stars (The Elemental Stars) (Motoi Sakuraba, arr. Sam Dillard) - Golden Sun

Part 3 - Get in the tank, loser. We’re getting coffee.
1:01:59 - Boss Battle (Yoko Shimomura) - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
1:03:51 - Jess’s Theme (Yoshito Hirano) - Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Part 4 - And I’ve seen the promised Landorus-Therian.
1:27:11 - Heaven’s Gate of Darkness / Dark Gate (Minako Adachi) - Riviera: The Promised Land
1:29:07 - Elite Four (Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose and Morikazu Aoki) - Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire
1:53:50 - Patrick's Bonus Track!

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

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"All this energy's got us inspired now/We couldn't stop it, just set it free and DANCE!"

That's right! Today we're taking some advice from Persona 4: Dancing All Night and getting our dance on. Spin-off dancing games aside, danceable and electronic beats have permeated RPG soundtracks for a long time, whether that's special arrangement albums or soundtracks incorporating a more modern sound to high praise. We have a good representation of that trend in our setlist today, so join our panel of makeshift DJs as we attempt to bring the house down and spread some of that infectious energy. Maybe we'll even discuss headphone protagonists and their musical powers.

Note: In the episode, we initially mentioned "Obsession" as appearing in .hack//INFECTION, but the song was composed for the .hack//SIGN anime before also appearing in the .hack//Link game.

Featuring: Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Mario Garcia, Steph Sybydlo; Edited by Jono Logan & Mike Salbato

Links for this episode

• Rhythm Encounter Episode 52 - Undertale Turns Five

Tracklist
0:09:14 - ASGORE (Toby Fox arr. Rob Gasser) - Undertale: Straight from the Underground
0:13:04 - A Way of Life (ATLUS Kitajoh Remix) (Atsushi Kitajoh, Shoji Meguro, Ryota Kozuka) - Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
0:32:40 - Satisfy (Takeharu Ishimoto) - The World Ends With You
0:36:35 - Pulse: Thunder Rolls (Masayoshi Soken, remixed by Daiki Ishikawa) - Pulse: Final Fantasy XIV Remix Album
0:59:17 - TIGAR - Otto (Hayato Asano) - Blue Reflection
1:03:26 - Staggered Injection (Ekstrak) - Mass Effect 3
1:25:07 - A New Hope (Masashi Hamauzu) - Musashi Samurai Legend
1:27:43 - Obsession (Yuki Kajiura) - .hack//SIGN
1:56:32 - Hilary's Bonus Track!

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

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In summer of 2014, Rhythm Encounter episode 18 was all about town themes. Today, a coincidentally exact 100 episodes later, we finally revisit the topic with more favorite RPG town theme music. This time around, we have games that span quite a range, from the early 90s to just last month, with four new-to-Rhythm Encounter games making their debut, like opoona and Sea of Stars. These town themes range from chill listens, exciting bops, and many things in between. All of us agreed that we all discovered something new from each other, and we hope the same is true for you! Tell us some of your favorite town themes!

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Gio Castillo, Tin Manuel, Audra Bowling; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
0:07:40 - Forgotten Days (Miki Higashino) - Suikoden
0:10:56 - Sultana Dreaming (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
0:33:56 - The Village Without Memories (Noriyuki Kamikura) - opoona
0:37:42 - Village Theme (Khrumble Dun) (Koichi Sugiyama) - Dragon Quest Builders 2
0:56:38 - Black Mage Village (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy IX
0:58:31 - Mabe Village (Kozue Ishikawa, arr by Dj CUTMAN, Spamtron) - MeowMeow & BowWow: A Tribute to Link's Awakening
1:11:30 - Seiran - The Blue Reflection (Hayata Takeda, Masato Nakamura) - Scarlet Nexus
1:16:05 - Port Town (Day) (Eric W. Brown, Vincent Jones) - Sea of Stars
1:38:32 - Gio's Bonus Track!

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

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When it comes to Final Fantasy music, for every "One-Winged Angel," there are a dozen lesser-known songs in a given game that don't always get their deserved time in the spotlight. Today's panel came loaded with eight songs they feel are overlooked, underrepresented, and, yes, underrated from across the Final Fantasy series. So take a seat, Sephiroth, today we're going to hear from Relm, Jecht, and some good avian friends.

Note: One of us made a mistake when discussing a song in the third block, but please continue listening before writing in, as we figured out the issue during the song break! Apologies for any confusion there, but enjoy the music nonetheless.

Featuring: Mike Salbato, Tin Manuel, Lucas Greene, Jimmy Turner; Edited by Jono Logan

Tracklist
0:09:38 - The Selkie Guild (Hidenori Iwasaki & Ryo Yamazaki) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles The Crystal Bearers
0:12:03 - Galdin Quay (Yoko Shimomura) - Final Fantasy XV
0:27:42 - Damcyan Castle (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Yuko Komiyama) - Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster
0:30:17 - Horror of the Abyss (Takeharu Ishimoto) - Final Fantasy Type-0
0:48:26 - Coin Song (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Shiro Sagisu) - Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
0:53:08 - God's Cradle (JP: Kami no Yurikago), Relm’s Theme (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Risa Ohki) - Final Fantasy Vocal Collections II “Love Will Grow”
1:16:54 - On Our Fates Alight (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
1:20:50 - Otherworld (Bill Xtillidiex Muir, Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy X
1:51:51 - Jimmy's Bonus Track!

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

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