Welcome, welcome! After hearing that the Chronotorious album by The Bad Dudes was receiving a limited run of 1,000 copies made, I rushed to make a purchase. I had such confidence in the people behind this project that I didn't even bother checking out the samples before I made my purchase. Was that confidence well placed? Is Chronotorious worth it? Read on soldier; I'll tell you all about it.

Before I tell you though, why don't we have a picture fapfest?



Here we have the shiny cover of the Chronotorious album, featuring artwork by the very talented Brianne Drouhard.



Here we have the back of the Chronotorious case. It features the full track listing with the original songs from Chrono Trigger in brackets next to the new mixes.



Is that a Nu? I think it is! Written underneath our lazy friend are the words, "All life begins and ends with Nu." I'm giddy that they managed to sneak in one of my favorite, cryptic quotes.



Wait, there's more? Upon unfolding the insert, we're treated to even more artwork by Ms. Drouhard. This one sees the ensemble dancing Charlie Brown style around a campfire, bringing to mind the famous scene where the group questions the nature of the rift in time. Notice that Magus is scowling. He's always so grumpy!



To the left of the campfire dance party, we have an introduction to the adventure we went on all those years ago.

"It all began aeons ago, when man's ancestors picked up a shard of strange red rock.
It's power, which was beyond human comprehension, cultivated dreams in turn, love and hate were born.
Only time will see how it all ends."




Up next we have the CD itself. It shows off the party in its entirety, each doing a pose befitting their character and storylines. It makes me happy just looking at it!



Not only has everything we've looked at so far been amazing, but there's even more to gaze upon! Here we have the pack in poster, drawn by Steph Laberis. It's a depiction of Zeal, and it's going up on my wall immediately.



Here's a zoomed in shot of Chrono, Marle, Lucca, and the Nu.





Ah, what do we have here? There's more to this poster than meets the eye. Here we have a description of each song by the artist who wrote it, as well as a cute rendition of Gato. As you can see in the zoomed in view of Gato, the girls go wild for him.



Finally, here's a picture of my shaggy head holding Chronotorious up for the camera. Why? Because.

If you'd like to read the descriptions on the poster, check out the gallery for the larger sized versions of all of these pictures and even more tasty shots.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get into the meat of it. Chronotorious features sixteen different tracks by various members of The Bad Dudes, each with his or her own style and flair. If you're a fan of diversity in music, Chronotorious has it in spades. I'm going to list out each of the tracks below, along with my thoughts and impressions on my favorites. It almost feels wrong talking about music this good, as I'm no musician, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

1. CHRONOTORIOUS - The album starts off with this electronic/funk arrange of Chrono Trigger, the original games main theme. It features an eclectic mix of various instruments, including the piano and an electric guitar. It's good stuff.

2. Castle Rock - A remix of the theme that played within Guardia Castle. More than any of the other tracks on this album, this song scream Chrono Trigger. It's a nice song to kickback to.

6. B.A.M.F. - An arrange of the battle theme that plays when you confront Magus, this may be my favorite arrange on the album. Composed by Dhsu and Mustin, the track switches between a more electronic/funk sound and the tones of a piano. My opinion may be biased by my love of Magus a character, but that love tells me they couldn't have captured him any better than this.

14.Forest Steppin' - A remix of the theme that plays in Guardia Forest, this is the other contender for my favorite on the album. I can't quite put to words just why I love it so much, other than to tell you that I do.

Should you purchase Chronotorious? Yes, you most definitely should. For a mere $12 you'll be getting some of the best Chrono Trigger mixes out there, high quality art work, five bonus songs, and you'll be supporting some of the best video game musicians in the business. Without a doubt, this is a must own for any Chrono Trigger fan.

Welcome to The Music Game, my rather uncreatively titled once a week segment on memorable games music. Requests for what games you'd like to see my tackle next are welcome in the comments below, any request will be added to my list. Unfortunately, I know very little about music outside of what I can hear and the feelings I associate with various songs. This will not be a professional analysis of the video game music genre as a whole, more of a look at the various memorable songs that have swung our way over the years.



Final Fantasy X was a landmark game for the series in several ways. It was Square's first foray into sixth-generation consoles, it was the first Final Fantasy to inspire a direct sequel, and it was the last Final Fantasy that Nobou Uematsu would work on before leaving Square and working freelance. Join me as I try very, very hard to forget that Final Fantasy X is mostly loved by thirteen year old girls. *blech*

Final Fantasy X is one of my favorite games in the whole of the series, thanks in no small part to the fantastic soundtrack. Composed in equal parts by Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu, with several tracks composed by Junya Nakano, it's a diverse soundtrack with an organic sound intermixed with the techno-beats Final Fantasy VII popularized.

Uematsu is definitely the most prominent composer on this soundtrack, churning out the battle theme, boss themes, and other standard Final Fantasy fair, as well as the memorable title track "To Zanarkand" and various character themes. As with all of Uematsu's Final Fantasy compositions, it has a very distinct sound that gamers have come to associate with Final Fantasy, while still holding true to the tone of the game.

The first set of songs I'd like to point you towards are the various "Hymn of the Fayth" compositions. Each Aeon has his or her own hymn, while these are accompanied by several event specific hymns. Each hymn gave me the impression of something divine; while the underlying sense of hope in the face of eternal despair of that pervades Spira remains present. After hearing these various themes throughout the course of Final Fantasy X, it was made all the more disconcerting to hear Yunalesca's hymn. The distorted vocals gave it a sinister feel, and made me question the goal I had been striving for through the course of the game.

Hymn of the Fayth


Though the end-game of Final Fantasy X can turn into a grinding nightmare if you allow it, the main battle theme was enough to keep my grinding heart going. The use of what synthesized trumpets alongside the underlying piano relaxed me and helped to soften the overwhelming grind the game had become. The other battle themes present are just as enjoyable, with "Fight With Seymour" standing out as my absolute favorite boss theme in any Final Fantasy. I should point out that Enemy Attack was not composed by Uematsu, it was instead composed by Junya Nakano. Final Battle was also not Uematsu's work, it was instead the composed by Masashi Hamauzu.

Battle Theme


Enemy Attack


Challenge


Fight With Seymour


Final Battle


Moving on, we have the various themes of Final Fantasy X, and standing at the forefront, "To Zanarkand". It is a very simple track featuring only a piano. It does its job of setting a tone for the rest of the game well, showing the player the overwhelming sadness that surrounds the entirety of Final Fantasy X and Spira. Also showcased here are the various character specific themes, of which my favorites are Auron's, Seymour's, and Yuna's.

To Zanarkand


Yuna's Theme


Auron's Theme


Seymour's Theme


I'll finish off with what's left, various environmental themes and event-specific tracks. Each is well suited to its respective area or event, with "Suteki Da Ne'?, "Assault", "The Splendid Performance", and "The Unsent Laugh" stealing the show. It's in these individual moments that the strength of FFX's soundtrack really comes through, banking on its diversity and inherent charm.

Spira Unplugged


The Sending


The Splendid Performance


Peril


Assault


Suteki Da Ne?


The Truth Revealed


The Unsent Laugh



The Final Fantasy X soundtrack resonated with me in several ways, especially after reading this wonderful article local Dtoider Altered Beets wrote on how FFX is a jungian masterpiece. As a player, the soundtrack instilled in me a sense of adventure, mystery, and hope. It's unfortunate that so many gamers write it off as Square milking the Final Fantasy cow dry, and I should hope that if you've been on the fence about playing it, that the music you've heard here will inspire you to give it the fair shot it deserves.

For those of you who have waited so patiently, here's a video to cool your burning eyes.

To Zanarkand + Intro

Fellow users of Destructoid, men, women, children alike, I have discovered the true identity of local community member Scary Womanizing Pig Mask. After much SCIENCE! and REASON! I have deduced that SWPM is the Rick Moranis. All five of you who remember the contest I teased last month will be happy to know that free games and Rick Moranis are related.

Stay tuned for more and remember to send your fan mail to scarywomanizingpigmask@gmail.com.

OH MY GOD! Spelunky is a wonderful, wonderful indie game by Derek Yu. If you haven't played it, go do so right now, here. To those of you who have played it, get excited. It was announced today on Spelunky World that the game is headed to XBLA sometime in 2010. I'm more than willing to pay $15-$20 for this game and you should be too. Not only that, but he plans to improve it:

" Yep, and it's going to be much more than a straight port of the PC game - I'm planning on stuffing it with new graphics, audio, and other features for XBLA users. With all the other great independent games on XBLA or coming to it, I'm hopeful that Spelunky will feel right at home there. I think it's a cool platform and I'm excited about what I'll be able to do to make the game special."

I'm not kidding when I say you need to play this game. It's completely free to download, and as someone who has sunk over 200 hours of his life into it, I can't recommend it more. Just ask Diverse. He knows.

OH MY GOD SO EXCITED.

Three posts in one day? Two of them are about the same game? For shame, Krow, for shame. I know this obviously could have gone in my last blog, but it completely slipped my mind. Normally I'd just wait to do something like this, but it's a Sunday. Fuck all happens on Sundays. Think of it as my way of harkening back to the good old days, when I first posted the Castle Crashers Soundtrack and the Mega Man 9 Soundtrack. Ah, memories. So, without further ado, I present to you the Final Fantasy Dissidia soundtrack, Disc One and Disc Two:





For those who can't figure it out, you click the images to download them. A derp. I've also included the artwork in the gallery, for some reason. The original cover was just the white version, and I'm aware that my darkside version isn't quite on the same level in terms of quality, but eh, it's something different. Feel free to just use the first one, and please, enjoy!

Oh! I also posted the Mega Man 8 - 8-bit remake soundtrack.

Oh, man. Final Fantasy: Dissidia marks the first time that I've fallen in love with a game in years. This is no small feat, I assure you. It's not just the over the top action, the beautiful graphics, or the wonderful soundtrack mind you. The gameplay featured within has a soul. That soul isn't particularly deep in terms of story, something the Final Fantasy series is famous for, instead putting more emphasis on the action. Heart-pumping, on the edge of your seat action.

I first played Final Fantasy: Dissidia back in January of this year. A good friend of mine owned a modded PSP and he used his piratey skills to acquire the Japanese copy of the game so we could enjoy it together on New Years. I caught him in the middle of Squall's Destiny Odyssey, and though I initially lamented having to play as one of my least favorite characters in the series (an opinion that has since changed, within minutes of actually playing, I no longer cared.

When the developers first revealed Final Fantasy: Dissidia, hailing it as gamings answer to fast-paced FMV combat, I scoffed. Sure, you can claim to have battles that look and feel like the epic scenes shown in Advent Children, but claims are very rarely backed up, especially when they're coming from a major studio like Square Enix. I figured the combat would end up being a more in-depth version of Kingdom hearts. Thank to Christ that I was wrong.

In Dissidia, you choose from one of twenty two characters. Each represents a major hero or villain from a numbered Final Fantasy, with two bonus characters included to help round off the cast. No two characters feel alike and your style of play will change completely from one character to the next. Top that off with a complex level-up system, customizable moves, equipment, accessories, and summons, and you've got yourself a package with near limitless replayability.

They weren't kidding around when they said the fighting would resemble Advent Children. Each fight is incredibly fast-paced, only broken up by the occasional game of cat and mouse against a high level opponent. You're given the ability to fly through the stage at the offset, putting you neck and neck with your foe, no matter where they've positioned themselves. Though it initially looks complicated and hard to acclimate to, you'll soon find that most combat scenarios can be boiled down to three things. Timing, priority, and reflexes. It's essentially a 2D fighter disguised as a 3D arena fighter, minus the complexity of the formers combo systems, and including the random element that the summon system adds to the formula.

It's awesome.

Honestly, there isn't much more to say. If you don't want to buy it for the fan service, buy it for the exceptional gameplay. Since the main point of this blog is inform you of the massive undertaking that Dissidia has spurred me into, I'll cut my fap session short and get into it. I am going to play through Final Fantasy I-X, starting with I, in its original incarnation, and obtain every secret while doing so. This will include super bosses, ultimate weapons, and other things. I may have gone insane. Still, I hope that you, the Destructoid community, will support me in my endeavors. I have plans to throw up one blog as I complete each game, detailing my impressions on the experience.

To those of you who are waiting on the next Pokemon Adventure update, it's coming. Soon.