Tag Archives: Hitoshi Sakimoto

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Battle Champs Original Soundtrack (BSPE-1231)

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Battle Champs is the English title for Cygames’s Little Noah, a new mobile RPG centered around leveling up your champ, building a base, and defeating your opponents. Hitoshi Sakimoto has taken up music duties, providing the iconic high fantasy sound he has become known for, and Basiscape Records has released the soundtrack on digital platforms. What sets Battle Champs apart in the context of Sakimoto’s past works are its playful nature and ethnic flair, which fits nicely with its vibrant visual style. Even the battle themes are upbeat and playful!

Right from the whimsical bells and harp and sweeping strings of “Introducing: Battle Champs,” you know that you’re hearing the music of Hitoshi Sakimoto. Listeners can consider “The Airship” to be a key theme, always contemplative, but growing more mature in its arrangement over the course of “Level 1,” “Level 2,” and “Level 3.” The battle themes also stand out for not being your typical RPG battle theme… instead, they are energetic and fun, sporting exotic instrumentation and percussion as in “Destroy it All!,” and my favorite track, “Now, Everybody!” with its ascending build and high-energy percussion. Your typical RPG trappings do appear with the adventurous rolling march, “Guild Battle,” the uplifting fanfare, “Now That’s What I Call a Victory!,” the epic and tumultuous “Winborne Dragon,” the stirring and emotional “Ooh, I Can’t Believe It!,” the solemn and deliberate, “Let’s Talk Strategy,” and the melancholy and somber “Oof, Ouch… Pull it Together!” The album ends with a series of moodier tracks, touching on everything from lumbering danger and outright terror to a searing desert theme to close things out.

If you want to hear Hitoshi Sakimoto’s latest, check out the Battle Champs Original Soundtrack on iTunes.

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Wizardry Variants Daphne Original Soundtrack (BSPE-1229~30)

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Hitoshi Sakimoto is once again contributing to the biggest RPG franchises across the industry. While not a total stranger to Wizardry, having contributed to Wizardry Gaiden: Prisoners of the Battles and Wizardry Gaiden: Five Ordeals, Wizardry Variants Daphne is his first full Wizardry score. While many fans knowhis signature fantasy orchestral sound, he actually got his start doing electronic music, and this time he is able to blend both sides seamlessly to create some really cool soundscapes, with key themes and stingers weaved throughout to tell the game’s story through sound. The two-disc collection with English and Japanese track titles, Japanese commentary, and images from the game is certainly worth your attention.

As to the music, expect dark and foreboding soundscapes. Sweeping strings, but with guttural electronic bass swells. Live folk instruments, but with crystalline synth pads. It’s a great combination of styles with a number of surprising moments. Key themes include the somber opener, “Distant Memories,” which will have Sakimoto fans feeling right at home, and the pop-infused main theme that features throughout in “Wizardry Variants Daphne.” Electronic elements are highlighted in different ways across tracks such as the otherworldly “Tales of the Abyss,” the growly “Inhuman,” and the distant and menacing “Port of Amnesia.” The orchestral/instrumental side is emphasized with the regal “Royal Capital Luknaia,” the spunky “Adventurer’s Guild,” the inspirational “Battle Cry,” the spectacular organ piece “Beginning Abyss,” the melancholy “Endless Rain,” and the folksy and somber “A Day in a Castle Town.” The two sides come together closely in “A Life for a Life,” an intense hybrid with synth arpeggios and explosive brass, “Great Calamity,” a chaotic and epic final battle theme, and “Final Destination,” a sci-fi theme with glistening synths and fantastic strings. Moods range from desolate, desperate, reflective, and downright terrifying to triumphant and adventurous. It’s really a fun listening experience.

Those who are interested can import the Wizardry Variants Daphne soundtrack from CD Japan or stream it on Apple Music.

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Mist Train Girls ~Kiri no Sekai no Shasou kara~ Original Soundtrack (BSPE-1102)

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Basiscape is back, starting 2022 off with the soundtrack to Mist Train Girls. Titled Mist Train Girls ~Kiri no Sekai no Shasou kara~, this album acts as the soundtrack to the popular JRPG browser game based on the novel/animation by the same name, following “train knights” who are inspired by train stations around the world. The score is directed by Basiscape’s Yoshimi Kudo with music by Kudo, Watanabe, Kaneda and Kikuchi.

Listeners will enjoy the vocal opener, “Mist Song,” with stylish orchestral and electronic elements and moody lyrics presented in both short and long versions. What follows is everything from an industrial waltz and grandiose sweeping orchestra to magical bell-infused rock and tense drum ‘n’ bass. The score is at moments ethereal or exotic, and at others regal or unsettling. The soundtrack crescendos into an epic rock and choir track that must be for the final boss before the soothing and swelling closer ends things on yet another magical note. The team does a great job of capturing the mystery and intrigue of magic throughout, and even if you may never play the game, the score is worth your attention.

You can pick import the soundtrack on CD Japan if you’d like.

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CARAVAN STORIES Original Soundtrack Vol.5 (BSPE-1075)

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Basiscape launches into the second half of their gargantuan CARAVAN STORIES soundtrack with Volume 5, this time focusing on the elves. As you’d expect, there’s a majestic and jovial character to the album, making for some of the best listening so far. It begins with upbeat and jazzy piano that will have you tapping your feet in “Luwiera’s Forest,” dreamy female vocals and running piano, acoustic guitar, and ethereal pads in “Iyarr Ancestral Song,” and harp and pizzicato strings accented by Hamauzu-esque piano and strings in “Luwiera Town.” There’s the dance-y piano lines and female vocal snippets of “The Sword of Aurous,” the beautiful yet dangerous electronic-infused “Lappi Mine,” and the angelic and triumphant “Aleia” with regal strings and harpsichord. This volume’s vocal theme comes as a male vocal ballad with acoustic guitar that has a surprise ending. There’s tense and ominous in the extremely dissonant “Dark Corridor,” mesmerizing repetitive piano runs and strings that slowly build in “Tenement of the Blue Spirit,” and descending harp and hissing percussion in the desolate and dark landscape of “Wolven Cape Rovanier.” The main theme takes us out with a whimsical opening and lovely piano and woodwinds at the end.

Volume 5 may be my favorite yet. You can grab the physical CD on or the digital release on iTunes worldwide.

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CARAVAN STORIES Original Soundtrack Vol.4 (BSPE-1074)

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Basiscape’s epic CARAVAN STORIES continues with Volume 4, this time dedicated to the dwarves. As such, expect lots of warmer sounds and reverberating cavern-esque soundscapes compared to past volumes. It begins with prancing bagpipes and mechanical clicks and whirs in “Baldu Pipe Town,” the soothing and mysterious woodwinds and piano of “Billibino Pumpland -Nightscape-,” and the energetic galloping battle tune with chugging bass and fluttering woodwinds in “Dynamic Ingenuity.” There’s ominous and dank with glitchy xylophone in “Arlosa Mine,” an explosive orchestral battle track with “Duel Battle -PV Version-,” a twangy Western vibe in “Start of Hunting Season,” and folksy fiddle, bass, and hand percussion in “Mad Cow Brewery.” The vocal theme comes as a full on death metal track with chugging guitars, explosive bass drum, and screaming vocals titled “Markings of a Lifetime,” which comes as quite a surprise. The album closes with the adventurous “Ghelbours Foothills” and its spookier nighttime counterpart, and the CARAVAN STORIES main theme with added mischief in the rolling guitars and strailing strings.

CARAVAN STORIES Original Soundtrack Vol.4 is available physically from and digitally worldwide from iTunes.

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CARAVAN STORIES Original Soundtrack Vol.3 (BSPE-1073)

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Basiscape’s massive score to the mobile RPG Caravan Stories continues into Volume 3, which focuses on the orcs. You’ll find lots of tribal percussion, big brass, sweeping strings, and ominous soundscapes throughout, starting with the exotic and swaying “Garhudom Woodland,” and healing and folksy “Western Dogaa,” and the galloping Panzer Dragoon-esque “Muddy Warrior.” There’s the customary vocal pop song, “Oh, A World Nearby?,” the unsettling and buzzing “Fort Dogaa,” the regal “Audience,” and the rolling marimba and flying strings of “Kuaranii Cascades.” The angelic pads and layered shamisen of “Pyramid of the Moon” exude mystery, the droning pads and quirky electronic sounds of “Urdon Fungal Jungle” are ominous and foreign, and the spooky voices and rattling in the distance in “Deep Grief” are unsettling. It all ends with the grandiose Sakimoto-esque main theme with huge strings, brass, and percussion.

A physical CD can be imported from or bought digitally worldwide through iTunes.

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CARAVAN STORIES Original Soundtrack Vol.2 (BSPE-1072)

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Basiscape has reawakened with eight volumes of music from the mobile/PC MMORPG CARVAN STORIES set to release between now and the beginning of 2019. The first volume established a whimsical fantasy atmosphere, and Vol. 2 continues on with music focused on the human areas of the game.

It all begins with a reprise of the lovely main theme with “Caravan Trip -Nightscape-,” a sweet and angelic spin with piano, bells, and woodwinds. There’s the energetic and uplifting battle theme, “The Method of Fighting,” the dreamy guitars, tribal percussion, layered brass, and soothing wildness of “Eastern Part of Denon Hill,” and the epic and grandiose “Mauriana Region” with romantic string work and folksy banjo (there’s also a twinkly sleep version). “The Light for Valmuer Street” comes as a male vocal ballad with a Spanish flair, “Waterling Main Road” sways in a grand and contemplative manner with snapping percussion, and “Scott Battlefield” is both mysterious and determined with pizzicato strings and competing time signatures. Rounding out the album is the bubbly and folksy “Reuben” with acoustic guitar, hand percussion, and Celtic instruments.

Grab CARAVAN STORIES Original Soundtrack Vol. 2 on Amazon to get the latest goodness from Basiscape.

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CARAVAN STORIES Original Soundtrack Vol.1 (BSPE-1071)

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It’s been some time since Hitoshi Sakimoto’s Basiscape Records  released anything, but that drought has just come to an end. The Basiscape team has scored the massive anime MMORPG Caravan Stories for PC and mobile, and will be releasing the soundtrack over eight separate volumes between now and January 2019. The first volume includes over an hour of music and is available in digital and physical formats.

Fans will enjoy the folksy and playful fantasy style of the score, particularly the opening “Iyarr Ancestral Song” with its melancholy woodwinds, acoustic guitar, and female vocals. There’s an energetic battle theme that has a lot of fun with the classic JRPG formula in the equally-fun titled “Outpouring of Armaments,” a trippy and cool fanfare with “Victory in Battle,” and the playful and Sakimoto-esque “Iyarr’s Narrator.” Rounding out the album are the grandiose strings and percussion in typical Sakimoto fashion with “Caravan Stories” and a lovely upbeat pop ballad including vocals with “Longing.”

There’s great music to be had by the Basiscape team with seven more volumes to come. Grab Caravan Stories Original Soundtrack Vol. 1 on iTunes.

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FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE Original Soundtrack [Limited Edition] (SQEX-20035~6)

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Final Fantasy XII didn’t get a fair shake when it was first released. Yes, the development was quite an ordeal and the game took a few hits as a result, but Final Fantasy XII was a pioneer in many ways, including with its grandiose orchestral soundtrack by Hitoshi Sakimoto. With the HD remake, dubbed The Zodiac Age, the entire score was re-recorded with the Video Game Orchestra, bringing all the music to life with live performances in addition to new original tracks just for the re-release, totaling a massive 102 tracks and clocking in at nearly six hours.  Fans of Final Fantasy and especially Final Fantasy XII will want to give it a listen, and those who pick up the limited edition version also get an arrangement album by the team at Basiscape.

Those who’ve never heard the soundtrack before are in for a real treat right out of the gate with Sakimoto’s signature spin on the Final Fantasy theme, followed by the explosive “Boss Battle” theme and the sweeping fan-favorites “The Dalmasca Eastersand” and “Giza Plains.” “On the Riverbank” is adventurous yet sweet, “Eruyt Village” is soothing and full of mystery with its strings and woodwinds. There are other Sakimoto takes on Final Fantasy classicss such as the chocobo and Gilgamesh’s themes, exotic woodwinds in the desert-esque “The Stilshrine of Miriam,” and tribal percussion and beautiful piano and choir in “The Salikawood.” Rounding out some key themes that listeners will want to check out are “The Final Act” with its tense and decisive sound reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics, “Struggle for Freedom,” a new piece that is absolutely terrifying, and “The Zodiac Age,” a lovely cinematic piece. And don’t forget the beautiful harp-laden “Game Over,” which you’ll be hearing a lot!

As mentioned, the limited edition comes with a CD of arrangements, which includes a music box/dance hybrid of “The Zodiac Age” by Sakimoto himself, exotic bagpipes and woodwinds on “The Dalmascan Eastersand,” and an excellent piano solo of “The Barheim Passage.”

The limited edition is still available on CD Japan and belongs in every Final Fantasy fan’s collection.

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Review: Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Composer’s Selection

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Final Fantasy is 30 years old! Square Enix celebrated the year in style with a number of Final Fantasy soundtrack releases, but one of the promotional items they put out was this composer’s selection disc featuring picks from Final Fantasy composers past and present. The greatest thing about this release is that the commentary from each composer is provided in both English and Japanese, which is a nice touch.

Nobuo Uematsu leads the way with his sweeping piano and string ballad from Final Fantasy X, “Zanarkand.” Junya Nakano picks one of my favorite tracks from Final Fantasy X, the lullaby-esque “Yuna’s Decision.” Naoshi Mizuta is a hero among men for picking my favorite Final Fantasy composition, the whimsical “Troian Beauty” from Final Fantasy IV. Kumi Tanioka goes with the adventurous main theme from Final Fantasy IV, and has a nice story about watching her siblings play through the game to go with it. Hitoshi Sakimoto goes for the original “Final Fantasy” theme that started it all, and from the original Final Fantasy, no less. Masashi Hamauzu’s pick is the dreamy and healing “Sulyaa Springs” from Final Fantasy XIII, one of my personal favorites as well. Masayoshi Soken picks the epic “Torn from the Heavens” from Final Fantasy XIV, which incorporates the series prelude in a clever way. Finally, Yoko Shimomura offers up “APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS,” the bombastic orchestral battle theme from Final Fantasy XV.

I love this album solely to get a sense of the musical tastes of each of these composers who I’ve enjoyed so much over the years. The commentary is the star, here, though, so if you can get your hands on one of these discs, go for it!