Music is relative. It effects us in such a personal way that we can't possibly hope to describe the extent of that effect to anyone. It's why we are so protective (and sometimes even snobby) about it. Your personal taste in music will always be better to you than anyone else. So it's best to probably just accept that.

Here I will weekly (heh...) choose a piece of game music that I love and share it! Then talk about it. Not too complex, but I hope it's something you'll enjoy!


Sound Test: Genso Suikoden 2- Opening Theme



Man! I've been posting a lot of these lately. I may have to come up with another weekly original feature just to make sure that I'm not posting too many of these. Lately I haven't really been playing anything that's featured a particular stirring theme, mostly because I've been playing Phantasy Star IV a lot and I can't stand most of the music on Genesis games. It sounds like an orchestra of people clanging metallic objects... Stomp? I do like the music in Phantasy Star IV, it's just nothing that I'd listen to outside of the game (so far).

Anyway, Suikoden 2! My experiences with this game are very limited unfortunately... I'm betting that yours are as well. Why is that? Because it's one of the rarest and yet most sought after games for the Playstation. I heard about the Suikoden series when I was in Jr. High and Game Informer had it's 100th issue. In it, they had a 100 Greatest Games of All Time list that was voted upon by their readers. That was the first time I had heard of Suikoden and Suikoden 2. I wanted to play every game on the list, so I went about renting and buying the ones that looked or sounded interesting. I rented the first Suikoden and got stuck within an hour or two into the game... I'm not sure why or how. Either way, I decided that I didn't like the Suikoden so I probably wasn't going to like the second one.

Fast forward to a few months ago. The Suikoden games have strayed rather far from their source material and I was never really interested in RPGs on the PS2 anyway. So the Suikoden series hasn't been on my mind for a while. However, a friend on youtube told me that Suikoden 2 could have rivaled any other RPG on the console. Which is QUITE a statement when you think about the Playstation's RPG lineup. After getting some more opinions, I was so pumped to play it. However, not wanting to go buy a used copy for $70.00-$120.00 I downloaded it.

It was late at night and my roommate was asleep. I sat alone, in the dark with my head phones on and loaded up the game on an emulator... Then the intro video started and I just about shat myself. I got chills all up and down my spine just watching a preview of the intricate story that this game had prepared for me. However, the intro is pretty much just pieces of artwork gliding across the screen, which barely affected me at all. It was the music that pulled me in. The song ranges from happy and peaceful to intense and foreboding. Also, I'm a sucker for anything with an epic choir.

With my general love for Playstation-era RPGs, I obviously am now in love with this game, even if I can't play it at the moment (left it at my parent's house). It's just as good as everyone told me it was and it has exceeded all my expectations, making me an instant fan of the Suikoden series. The story is also one of the best, exploring some very mature and heavy themes. Why did I not play this when I was younger!? If liked Star Ocean, I would have flipped out over this game. Also, playing it has gotten me really pumped for the upcoming Suikoden: Tierkreis for the DS. I only hope the story is as good as this one. If you haven't played Suikoden 2, I would encourage you do go download it asap. You will NOT be disappointed. Please enjoy the music.