Long ago, the two podcasts of RPGFan lived in harmony. But then, everything changed when the Rhythm Nation attacked. Actually, that's not true. Rhythm Encounter was actually around before Retro Encounter, but Janet Jackson didn't record a song called Retro Nation, did she? (Did she?) Today we are getting elemental. Any RPG fan knows how important the elements often are in our games, whether they're core to the plot like in the Mana series, or important in battle like in the MegaTen games. We hav...
Dec 20, 2021•2 hr 15 min
Marty, we've got to go back! Back to the... past. That didn't work. But on this episode of Rhythm Encounter, we're doing a console-specific episode, for the first time since Episode 1 (which debuted way back in February 2013). The Nintendo Entertainment System wasn't the first game platform, but its impact on the gaming landscape can't be understated. Plus, for many of us of a certain age, it was likely the console that really got us into gaming — if not RPGs specifically — thanks to the debut o...
Dec 06, 2021•1 hr 39 min
Once upon a time, the idea of going to a theater or other venue to see video game music performed live was unheard of. But as gaming grew in popularity, live performances have become more frequent, and fans have had the opportunities to hear the likes of The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy performed in various forms over the years. Add in music cons like MAGFest, and the proliferation of online concerts in the last couple years (such as last fall's Undertale Live ), and there's no shortage of ...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 49 min
Title screens are among the first things we see when we turn on our favourite RPGs, and they're incredibly unique to the medium of video games. So it seems criminal that we haven't had an episode devoted exclusively to them! From setting the tone to weaving a story, a title screen (and its accompanying music) can say a thousand things about the video game it precedes. On today's show, we leave the start button alone to soak in our favourite title screen songs, marrying images, nostalgia, and the...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 50 min
When it comes to instrumentation, it doesn’t get more fundamental than the piano. Not only is it often the first instrument that musicians learn, but its 88-note range and ability to play both melody and accompaniment give it unmatched versatility. Piano albums of RPG soundtracks have been popular for decades, and in today’s episode, our panel is going to take a deep dive into some of our favorite songs! From the soundtracks of indie darlings to the best arrangements that Square Enix has to offe...
Oct 26, 2021•2 hr 3 min
How many Shakespeare references can Yoshi-P's team pack into a Final Fantasy XIV expansion? How many of said references will we reference today? And what angel wakes Mike Salbato? The answer to some of these questions lie within our new dedicated Final Fantasy XIV episode of Rhythm Encounter. Because the show was on hiatus during the releases of Stormblood and Shadowbringers , we have not been able to feature as much from those expansions as we'd like. Today we played catch up. Glorious, literal...
Oct 11, 2021•2 hr 17 min
In this special surprise episode of Rhythm Encounter, we are joined by musician and actor Joe Zieja! RPG fans may know Joe from a multitude of roles, especially for his work in Fire Emblem: Three Houses as Claude, leader of the Golden Deer house. Recently, we posted an article about Joe's musical Kickstarter project , in which he plans to reimagine a portion of the Three Houses soundtrack in saxophone quartet fashion. Oh, and he is playing all four saxophones. We invited Joe on the show to dish ...
Sep 27, 2021•1 hr 3 min
It's hard to deny the power of NieR 's music. Keiichi Okabe (and his company MONACA) created something remarkable in 2010 with the music of NieR Gestalt & Replicant . In 2017, lightning struck again with the soundtrack for NieR: Automata , a masterwork of instrumentation and emotion. There's a reason you can search for "NieR" on VGMdb and get over fifty results worth of albums. Original soundtracks, arrangements, multiple concert performances, and rare albums begin to cover the official rele...
Sep 13, 2021•2 hr 28 min
Hold it! For Ace Attorney fans, it was a long wait since the last mainline game in the series was released in 2016. But now, with the recent release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles in July 2021, Ace Attorney looks to be getting the attention in the West that it deserves! Though the series is known for its chaotic courtroom battles, bizarre witnesses, and unique “Japanifornia” setting, many would argue that it’s the incredible music that ties everything together. With its brilliant character...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr 40 min
Once one of the most popular genres of video games, adventure games have become much more niche in recent years. But thankfully, it’s a niche with some absolutely fantastic music! From the mid-80s to the early 2000s, adventure games were at the forefront of narratives in interactive entertainment. In a time before RPGs embraced cinematic CGI cutscenes and voice acting, LucasArts, Sierra, and other adventure game developers were pioneering multimedia in video games, presenting audiences with expa...
Aug 16, 2021•1 hr 49 min
Bravely Default and Bravely Second are two 3DS throwback RPGs from Square Enix, with a new 2021 entry for the Switch in Bravely Default II . To celebrate the Bravely series and its excellent soundtracks, Rhythm Encounter assembled a panel of three Revo-and-Ryo superfans to discuss this preeminent pair of RPG musical scores, from sea shanties in the sky to live rock opera concerts to sea shanties in the sky to live rock opera concerts to... Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Kaleb Curry, Jonathan Logan;...
Aug 02, 2021•1 hr 26 min
RPGs can offer a surprising variety of stories, which are definitely reflected in their opening and ending sequences and, of course, the memorable music to go along with them! What makes a good overture and why is it good to have high standards about them? How do you reflect the end of a complex and sweeping tale like Xenosaga musically? Our panel this week has framed their own little RPG story segments by each picking an opening and ending theme. Will we be able to handle the epic riffs and ram...
Jul 19, 2021•1 hr 45 min
NieR: Automata has sold over 5 million copies, and we're awaiting the release of the mobile game, NieR Re[in]carnation , and the updated version of NieR Replicant this spring. And today, Hilary and Patrick are talking NieR music and more with a very special guest, the one and only J'Nique Nicole. She joined the NieR team to lend her voice to Automata , and here she talks about that experience, performing NieR music live, all the NieR arrangement albums out there, and importantly, her recent solo...
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min
We're back with a panel of four this time, and how else could we follow up our primer to female game composers than to discuss the inimitable Yoko Shimomura and her many contributions to RPG music? We've got Live A Live , Kingdom Hearts , Mario RPGs , and more...not to mention a large amount of Legend of Mana . Shimomura has been a force helping game music gain recognition as an art form, so join Hilary, Pat, Peter, and Greg as they delve into her legacy, performances, interpretations of her wor...
Jan 27, 2021•2 hr 6 min
Every year we get introduced to new games and new music. The ever-growing bounty of RPG music out there has grown quite a bit, with 2020 alone giving us amazing soundtracks like Final Fantasy VII Remake , Haven , Paradise Killer , 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim , and more. And while we've been enjoying introducing music to people again on Rhythm Encounter since our return, we couldn't ignore the music we weren't able to feature between summer 2017 and fall 2020. Today we start rectifying that, with a s...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 37 min
Today we're getting cozy and seasonally appropriate as the two Mikes and Alana discuss some excellent wintery tracks. It's amazing how various instruments can come together to convey a wide variety of winter atmospheres; that and the abundance of good winter/snow themed music make this a topic worth revisiting. Get your mittens and hats ready, because we're discussing tumultuous wintery tracks as well as some more peaceful favorites! We can all enjoy them with the knowledge that listening to the...
Dec 23, 2020•1 hr 30 min
They sing, they form bands (and companies), and several of them play piano so well it will knock your socks off. And that's just what they do in addition to writing music. In this episode, Alana, Eva, and Hilary delve into the rich and unique world of game compositions from female composers. From the incomparable Yoko Shimomura to Persona guest composer/vocalist Elisha La'Verne, get ready for a wonderful journey! We hope this episode serves as a good starting point that garners them some recogni...
Dec 08, 2020•1 hr 28 min
Final Fantasy IX saw the light of day in North America almost exactly twenty years ago today. It was on November 13, 2000 that the crystals returned, and Final Fantasy took a reprieve from the realism and sci-fi or steampunk overtones to harken back to castles, kingdoms, and big heads. Since FFIX has somehow only lightly featured on Rhythm Encounter in the past, this anniversary was the perfect time to celebrate Nobuo Uematsu's extensive soundtrack(s) for the adventures of Zidane, Garnet, and co...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr 13 min
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We're getting in the spirit this spooky season with a collection of chilling tracks to help make the season memorable. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society... er, RPGFan listeners, we have spooky soundscapes from Final Fantasy haunted libraries to the deeply unsettling worlds of Bloodborne and the Souls series. Give it a listen, if you dare! The bonus track is sure to absolutely terrify you. Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Eva Padilla, Peter Triezenberg; E...
Nov 01, 2020•1 hr 24 min
We're just here to vibe...again. There's so much good relaxing music within our favorite genre that we needed two episodes to cover it. We delve into a nice assortment here (from 16-bit to recent releases) and discuss how these relaxing picks fit into their in-game settings, whether it's a nice underwater atmosphere or around a campfire. Relax and be well, listeners, but also remember that ambiance is important. Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Peter Triezenberg; Edited by Mike Salbato T...
Oct 27, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Chill out with Rhythm Encounter! This is not the first time we've presented a chillout or relaxing topic—though the last time was seven years ago (!) in Episode 6: Summer Chill —but if there's one thing we could all use right about now is some damn fine coffee... er, relaxation, but coffee may also make an appearance. Who can say? Since Rhythm Encounter's return earlier this season, one of the team's most wanted topics was relaxing music. In fact, it was such a popular topic, we are doing two ba...
Oct 20, 2020•1 hr 37 min
RPG music can be very helpful in daily life, and our panel has met today to discuss workout music. Making those gains can certainly be a journey, so Mike Salbato, Mike Sollosi, Greg, and Hilary share some picks for different types of workouts. The episode has four sections: Warm Up, Arm Day/Core Workout, Leg Day/Cardio Workout, and Cool Down. It’s a high concentration of podcast hosts to help motivate and encourage us all to stay healthy and balanced in our workouts and life. Wii Fit Trainer wou...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 33 min
We featured Undertale across all three parts of our Music of the Year 2015 podcast trio (see links below), but the indie darling didn't often make Rhythm Encounter appearances afterwards, so we thought it was time to change that. Because this month marks exactly 5 years since Undertale released in 2015, we knew we had little choice but to make our second comeback episode about Toby Fox's masterful soundscape. Mike, Alana, and Jo bring some of their favorite selections from not only the original ...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 16 min
To kick off what is essentially a new season of Rhythm Encounter, I enlisted proofreader and music aficionado Hilary Andreff along with musician Chris Porter to talk about one of our favorite composers, the baddest and coolest around, Yasunori Mitsuda. The result is an episode with an impressive musical range, fun discussion, and some great surprises. Listen to the episode and check out the time-stamped tracklist and related links for each album below, including links to our reviews and places t...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Note: We had to re-number our episodes several years after publishing. This was originally Episode 33, as reflected in the audio. Don't worry, you're not missing anything! Many years later after a very successful Kickstarter campaign, Enigami brings to life Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom, a magical world of vivid sceneries and wonderful, alluring music. Creator and composer, Hazem Hawash, alongside his dedicated team, pored a great deal of love into Shiness, so it was only right to bring in Haze...
Jul 29, 2017•40 min
Note: We had to re-number our episodes several years after publishing. This was originally Episode 32, as reflected in the audio. Don't worry, you're not missing anything! It's safe to say that EarthBound has a lot of fans, and that includes us at RPG...Fan. Bad jokes aside, where there are fans, there's often a demand for quality arrangements of classic RPG music. Mustin, of Mustin Enterprises (formerly OneUp Studios), and a group of excellent remix producers collectively known as Bad Dudes hav...
Jul 07, 2017•42 min
Note: We had to re-number our episodes several years after publishing. This was originally Episode 31, as reflected in the audio. Don't worry, you're not missing anything! Are you a Pokémon fan? Have you always wanted to hear an orchestral arrangement of the music from Pokémon Gold & Silver? Well, you're in luck, because such an album is currently in the works, courtesy of Materia Collective! Join Marcos as he chats with Braxton Burks, the creative mind behind this exciting new arrangement! ...
Jun 02, 2017•34 min
Our third interlude is all about the music of Persona 5! With the long-awaited RPG just around the corner, we thought it would be a special treat to share some selections from the amazing soundtrack this time around. So grab your masks and get ready to steal some hearts! Also, on a housekeeping note, Rhythm Encounter is going through a period of transition at the moment. As such, we're going to be on hiatus for a bit while we get things sorted. We hope you can bear with us during this time, and ...
Apr 02, 2017•37 min
The final movement of Rhythm Encounter's Music of the Year 2016 extravaganza is upon us. In true MOTY tradition, that means this episode is where we, your hosts, get to share with you some of our favorite music from the past year. We've got music from big names like Final Fantasy and Pokémon to indie titles like VA-11 HALL-A, and we even have some choice arrangements to delight you with as well. So sit back and enjoy one last hurrah as Music of the Year 2016 on Rhythm Encounter comes to a close....
Feb 28, 2017•1 hr 35 min
If you're looking for more Music of the Year goodness, look no further than our second exceptional movement on Rhythm Encounter. On this episode, two longtime friends of the show, Michael Cunningham from RPGamer and Don Kotowski from Video Game Music Online, join us to share their favorite music from 2016. Featuring: Caitlin Argyros, Michael Cunningham, Don Kotowski Links for this episode: Episode tracklist & post on RPGFan RPGamer VGMO Get in Touch: RPGFan.com Email us: music@rpgfan.com Twi...
Feb 27, 2017•1 hr 13 min
