Episode 72 – Vanillaware w/ Pragmatik

The story of Vanillaware, an Osaka-based Japanese game developer, is one that could’ve been showcased in failure. The company’s first game almost shut down the company, but they later would regroup and continue working on video games, putting out some of the most original and interesting titles on more recent generations of consoles. Today, we sit down with Pragmatik, a Youtube game reviewer and super-fan of Vanillaware who shares some in depth information on games like Muramasa The Demon Blade, Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown. Musically, there’s a lot to dive into here, so grab your best swords and sorcery gear (and maybe a mech or two) and jump into the music of Basiscape (Vanillaware’s go-to composer crew featuring Hitoshi Sakimoto and more.) Join Mike, Justin and Joey (Pragmatik) as they dive intro the controversy behind the ladies of Dragon’s Crown, Mike’s fury towards Odin Sphere’s inventory system on the PS2 and…Justin audibly spots a shamisen?! SHOCK AND AWE! All on this episode of XVGM Radio!

Big thank you to Joey aka Pragmatik for joining us on this episode! Please check out his channel here.

What was your favorite track of the episode? Did you enjoy hearing from our guest, Joey? Have you played any of these games and if not, are you going to seek them out and their soundtracks? Shoot us an email at [email protected] or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio

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TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Odin Sphere (PS2 – 2007, PS3 – 2011) “The Mysterious Pooka Village” Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Kimihiro Abe, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Manabu Namiki

1 – 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4 – 2020) “ISOLEUCINE” Hitoshi Sakimoto, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Yoshimi Kudo, Rikako Watanabe, Yukinori Kikuchi

2 – Kumatanchi (NDS – 2008) “BGM05” Kimihiro Abe, Mitsuhiro Kaneda

3 – Dragon’s Crown Pro (PS3/Vita – 2013, PS4 – 2018) “A Decision Has To Be Made” Hitoshi Sakimoto

4 – Odin Sphere (PS2 – 2007, PS3 – 2011 , PS4/Vita – 2016) “Battle In The Labyrinth 2” Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Kimihiro Abe, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Manabu Namiki

5 – Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii – 2009, Vita – 2013) “Poor Meal” Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Kimihiro Abe, Noriyuki Kamikura, Azusa Chiba, Yoshimi Kudo

6 – Grand Knight’s History (PSP – 2011) “Tension” Masaharu Iwata (this track),