Kingdom Hearts

Featured, Game Music

Square Enix Composer Series: Shimomura on Kingdom Hearts and Career

May 10, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 10 Comments Share this

This is the last interview in our series of interviews that were conducted with current and former Square Enix composers at Square Enix’s offices in Tokyo. We had a great time talking to Yasunori Mitsuda, Mitsuto Suzuki, and Naoshi Mizuta, but of everyone we talked to, it was curious to note that Yoko Shimomura had the most bubbly personality of all.

In our interview we discuss her work on The 3rd Birthday as well as the soundtracks contained in the Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep / 358/2 Days combined album. We learn about her interactions with Tetsuya Nomura on the series, and how she comes up with her character themes. Finally we talk about drammatica in relation to the recently released MYTH, and discuss Shimomura’s overly busy schedule.

Join us for all of this and more in our interview after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days: Is it Just Make-Believe? (Review)

February 23, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

Call me a bad person, but I’ve never been much of a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series or the soundtracks (in fact, you can hear Josh and I badmouth the franchise on episode 5 of our podcast). Sure, I’ve checked out the Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections albums on this very site, and enjoyed them thoroughly, but they were admittedly very short and featured only the best that the series has to offer. With all of this in the back of my head, I was skeptical about Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days.

For those who don’t know exactly what this collection is, this 3-disc set contains the soundtracks for the PlayStation Portable title Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (discs 1 and 2) as well as the Nintendo DS titles Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, then finally some bonus tracks from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix, making this quite the compilation.

Does the Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days Original Soundtrack change my impression of the series and its music by Yoko Shimomura? Hit the jump and read our review to find out. (more…)
Game Music

Fantastic Achievements: Symphonic Fantasies Review

September 15, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 11 Comments Share this

Hard to believe it’s been a year already. On September 12th, 2009, I was one of the lucky people who had the chance to attend Symphonic Fantasies, a symphonic tribute to Square Enix. With a set list featuring Kingdom Hearts, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross, and of course Final Fantasy combined with the presence of the original composers, it was sure to be a memorable night for game music fans, and indeed it was as I detailed in my report. Like Symphonic Shades before it, Symphonic Fantasies was finally scheduled to have a CD release, and the pressure was on for producer Thomas Böcker and his staff to achieve the same amazing production qualities as the Symphonic Shades CD offered.

Today, the day has come for fans to finally hear the results of the hard labor of the WDR team. Does the album offer equally amazing sounds and emotions through your stereo system? Click the jump to find out. (more…)
Game Music

Symphonic Fantasies CD Is Just Around The Corner!

July 13, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 10 Comments Share this

This is seriously one of my most anticipated releases of 2010. After watching the live Internet stream of Symphonic Fantasies in my underwear from the comfort of my own home, I’ve been looking forward to a CD release, and it’s coming in September. For those who don’t recall what the show was all about, you can refresh your memory with Audun’s extensive report, but to summarize, it features entire suites of music from Kingdom Hearts, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy.

So, down to the details.

While it’s currently available for pre-order directly from the WDR website for those in Germany and around Europe for 19.95 EUR plus shipping and handling, it will release on September 24, 2010 in those regions with an international release to follow via Amazon. Those who pre-order get a little bonus in that they have the opportunity to win copies signed by Shimomura, Kikuta, Mitsuda, and Uematsu, all of whom were involved with the album by giving their approval of the final mixes. This album is a big deal in that it’s published by Universal Music, and it’s set to feature the Symphonic Fantasies “Fanfare” written by arranger and orchestrator Jonne Valtonen with suites for the titles mentioned above. Unfortunately the boss battle medley that acted as the performance’s encore is not on the album, but it will be available digitally (the disc is 73 minutes long without it). It will also come with a 16-page booklet, and I really love the official cover art pictured above (it certainly beats the bland logo they were using for the performance itself).

What do you think? Are you looking forward to getting your hands on this album?
Featured, Game Music

E3 2010: Nomura Confirms Composer for Kingdom Hearts 3D (Interview)

June 18, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 5 Comments Share this

A few lucky journalists, myself included, had the chance to sit down with Tetsuya Nomura at E3 to discuss the future titles in the Kingdom Hearts and Parasite Eve. Despite severe jetlag and overall fatigue he sat through numerous interview sessions and answered to the best of his ability.

At this year’s E3 we saw 2 new Kingdom Hearts games to be released in the future, Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded and Kingdom Hearts 3D on the 3DS. During our short session together we sat down to talk about the musical side of the Kingdom Hearts series and what to expect in the future.

Check out what Nomura had to say after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Birth by Sleep and 358/2: Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts: Field & Battle (Review)

January 27, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

Is one Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections album not enough for you? Lucky for you then, Square Enix has released a second album dedicated to piano arrangements from the series, and this time it’s admittedly more diverse in its selections from the series. That’s right, you’ll not only be hearing tracks from Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, and Chain of Memories, all of which were featured on the first album, but also one track each from Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days.

As usual, all music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, but there is actually a surprising number of performers this time around. There are four pianists covering just 9 tracks, with each performing about two track a piece. Also of note is the fact that the subtitle for this album, “Field & Battle” shows a shift in focus to some of the less iconic themes from the series, which I think is a good thing.

Find out what’s here in our review of Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts: Field & Battle after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Sample Square Enix’s Upcoming Wares: Square Enix Music Sampler CD Vol. 4 (Review)

October 16, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

We posted the track list for Square Enix’s latest sampler disc from TGS, Square Enix Music Sampler CD Vol . 4 a couple weeks ago. We now have the disc in-hand, and thought we’d tell you our impressions of what Square Enix has to offer for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

There’s a lot of great stuff here, from Four Warriors of Light, to a sample from Love SQ, to music from Final Fantasy XIII. It’s a generous tease, but it still leaves me wanting some of these releases more sooner than later.

Hit the jump to find out which samples have me really excited in our review of the Sampler CD Vol. 4. (more…)