It's been almost exactly 11 years to the day since we last welcomed video game arranger, producer, and saxophonist Sean Schafianski onto Rhythm Encounter, so it's long past time we had him on again! With a string of excellent new arrangement albums throughout last year and this year, there's so much to talk about. From his work on Jazz Arrange Version: Chrono Cross to a 3 "disc" full remaster arrangement of Final Fantasy VI and so much more that even two hours only covered so much of it! But it ...
Aug 18, 2025•1 hr 53 min
Call it spring, some spring and some summer, or the most accurate but boring moniker, "Q2 2025," but the second quarter of this year saw the release of some VERY musically important titles in RPGFan's coverage. While Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 looms over everything in the RPG space for this time period, there were many notable other releases that also deserve your time, from RPGs to adventure games and visual novels. Oh, and classic RPG fans, just for the record, Mike would have included a song...
Aug 04, 2025•59 min
The Switch 2 is here! Is what we would have opened with had this episode gone up on time. Still, Nintendo's latest is the newest console on the market and it's doing pretty well, so we gathered up some fans of Nintendo music for this one. To try something new and to celebrate a wider range of Nintendo music history, each panelist was allowed to choose one non-RPG song, which resulted in a great episode of both expected and unexpected musical choices. Even branching out like this barely scratches...
Jul 20, 2025•2 hr 13 min
Say what you want about your average mobile game, but there are a growing number of great RPGs you can play on your phone. Sure, some have hostile gacha mechanics, and many of the best get shut down eventually, but the care, budget, attention, and talent that goes into some mobile RPG soundtracks is no less than their console or PC brethren. In some cases, it's even tragic (or tragedic...) that we may only have a collection of music to remember some games by. So join us today as we cover a bunch...
Jul 07, 2025•1 hr 44 min
It's been nearly nine years since we published our first episode about RPG forest music , so it is high time we revisited the topic! Forest music comes in several varieties, from contemplative to mysterious, upbeat to foreboding, and many more. Today's long-awaited episode covers RPG music with a real range, both in terms of styles but also in that the games span many years, between 1995 and 2022! Give it a listen and let us know what some of your favorite forest music is. Also, an important not...
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr 47 min
RPG title screens bear a heavy burden. They're one of the first things we see in a game, making them one of the best places to leave a strong first impression. And often, a key component of that is the music. Several years ago, we highlighted eight standout title screen tracks in episode 71 , and today, with a new panel, we're highlighting eight more! Come in and enjoy the music of several games you may know and some you likely don't. Welcome Matt to his first episode, and learn why there's an E...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 56 min
Continuing our new run of quarterly new music updates is our first episode for 2025, and it's a truly notable start. We have a range of new music today, from well composed soundtracks that play homage to earlier console generations to new projects from popular Minecraft composer C418. We also continue to take our definition of music from a certain timeframe liberally and even have music for a game that doesn't exist (anymore). May these episodes help you learn more about new game music releases,...
Mar 31, 2025•1 hr 13 min
It's visual novel day at Rhythm Encounter! Following one of the quickest sign-up processes ever for our show, four visual novel fans have come together to share thoughts on the music of eight visual novels, but they discuss so many more in the process. We all quickly learned that this topic will have to make an appearance again because the well of inspiration is so very deep. But for today, listen as our panel digs in to Suikogaiden , Ever17 , YU-NO , and much more! Featuring: Patrick Gann, Neal...
Mar 18, 2025•2 hr 3 min
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is almost here, so what better time to dive into this musically fascinating "side" tale from 2015? Many fans were surprised that the first Xenoblade Chronicles was not followed by a " 2 " (though that happened later ), but by Xenoblade Chronicles X . The name and looks alone made it clear this was a different beast: XCX features some now-familiar Xenoblade components and scale, but the more "worldly" nature of its story outside of the "main" plot thread...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 35 min
It's time for more of 2024's best RPG music! In the last episode , we featured nine excellent songs from last year, and today we return with Part II, bringing nine more tracks! Look for some Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance , Flowstone Saga , a double dose of Stellar Blade , and more! Scarlet Moon 's Jayson Napolitano joins us to share some of his picks as well, so don't miss out. Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo, Patrick Gann, Jayson Napolitano; Edited by Mi...
Feb 17, 2025•1 hr 49 min
It's time for Music of the Year! 2024 was absolutely stacked with game releases. Some even felt it was one of the all-time best years in gaming. And the side effect of a year filled with excellent games means a year of excellent soundtracks. For this annual special, we let each panelist bring on three songs. Even so, how did we pick just nine today? It wasn't easy. 2024 being such a great year for RPG music meant that one episode could not contain our Music of the Year celebrations, so we have s...
Feb 10, 2025•2 hr 3 min
Almost exactly a year ago, four panelists came together to build a soundtrack to an imaginary RPG out of 8 fragments of other RPGs. Today, we're doing it again, except our "Hard Mode" rules dictate that we must choose songs from our source games with different use cases. So our Town Theme could be anything except another game's town theme, and so on. What kind of RPG will we assemble this time? Find out with us! Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Lucas Greene; Edited by Mike ...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 56 min
Between our recent milestone of 150 episodes and the start of a new year, we will have some fun changes coming to Rhythm Encounter, starting with this episode. New games and music release all the time that don't always fit with our episode themes. Starting today, we will release a "new music" episode every few months to spotlight the latest in RPG music. These episodes will typically be a shorter listen with a smaller panel, featuring 6–8 songs each. Today, Mike and Hilary highlight Metaphor: Re...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 2 min
WARNING: This episode contains major spoilers for Slay the Princess , so listen at your own risk if you have not yet played the game! Every now and again at Rhythm Encounter, we have the chance to bring on a special musical guest. For today’s episode, RPGFan Music editor Patrick Gann sits down with Brandon Boone, composer for the indie visual novel hit Slay the Princess . The interview includes Brandon’s insights and reflections on the process of building the game’s score from the ground up, the...
Dec 30, 2024•1 hr 34 min
Retro Encounter can't be the only one making quiz show episodes . Rhythm Encounter had to get in on the action to celebrate our 150th episode milestone! Which of course means making our contestants identify songs, composers, and more across five themed rounds. Who will triumph? Feel free to play along too and see how you do! We had enough fun with this one that we don't want to wait another 150 episodes to bring it back. But for now, put your quiz show hats on (those are a thing, right?), make s...
Dec 21, 2024•1 hr 49 min
We all have origin stories about how we got into RPGs (several of us shared them almost six years ago in this feature !), so today our panel discusses music origins — what RPGs attuned us to the RPG music scene or otherwise elevated our senses and made us take notice. For some of us, this dates back to the days of the NES, and sometimes our awakening happened during the days of the GameCube. Whenever these songs hail from, they each hold a special place in our hearts. Featuring: Mike Salbato, We...
Dec 02, 2024•1 hr 50 min
We're no strangers to game series-themed episodes on Rhythm Encounter, such as our Mario RPGs or Dragon Quest shows. Now, it's time for the Tales series! Bandai Namco's long-running series turns 30 next year, and the mainline series alone contains 17 games (or 18 depending on which ones you count). That's more than enough material to showcase on an episode, wouldn't you say? Join our panel as we talk about the oldest, newest, and several Tales games in between, and listen to music by the venerab...
Nov 18, 2024•1 hr 55 min
It's been awhile since our last instrument spotlight, so in this episode, we're sharing some favorite RPG songs featuring woodwinds, like flutes, ocarinas, and more! Whether it's the incredibly moving sounds of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 , the adventurous Dark Cloud 2 , or Final Fantasy III 's Maiden of Water, we have a lot to cover, so join us on this lovely journey, won't ya? Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Tin Manuel; Edited by Paul Dennis Links for this episode What is a z...
Nov 04, 2024•1 hr 50 min
Somehow it's been four years since Rhythm Encounter's last Halloween episode, back in 2020's episode 56 . Well, it's time we rectified that. A sequel to that episode and a spiritual successor to our previous episode about the works of Michiru Yamane , our panel dug into our gaming experiences to find music for the most spooky time of year. You'll find one of Pokémon 's most iconic themes, and everything from old PC adventures to SNES, PS4, and more. If you need some tunes while carving pumpkins,...
Oct 21, 2024•1 hr 45 min
We are at the beginning of "spooky season," and while this isn't (yet) our Halloween episode, October is a fine time to shine a spotlight on composer Michiru Yamane, known in our parts for her excellent work on the Castlevania and Suikoden series . That means some games you may expect, but definitely some you wouldn't, from this talented composer. So dim the lights, summon your favorite fairy companion, and get ready. Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Patrick Gann; Edited b...
Oct 07, 2024•1 hr 43 min
There are countless reasons we play and love RPGs, and often those that become our favorites have powerful stories and characters. But pitting your party against often overwhelming odds requires inspirational music for the optimal effect. In this episode we share both music and RPGs that have inspired US in turn, whether it's through bombastic battle music or lively energy. What RPG soundtracks inspire you? Let us know! Featuring: Mike Salbato, Lucas Greene, Tin Manuel, Rob White; Edited by Paul...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 54 min
With fall (or autumn, if you prefer) around the corner for many of us, it feels like a good time for relaxing music. While we did a pair of episodes focused on relaxing RPG music about four years ago (see Episode 54 and Episode 55 ), this time, RPGFan's biggest lo-fi fans got together to listen and chat about lo-fi RPG music. Sometimes these are straight from games, but often they come from the incredible community of independent musicians and arrangers. We have both of these and more covered to...
Sep 09, 2024•2 hr 3 min
So many of our beloved RPG soundtracks are filled with great music, and often have songs named in the same dramatic flair as the games and their narratives. And then sometimes, we find great tracks in our RPGs with names like " No No I don't die Noooo! " or " Rouen 'But-dad-dead-bed' ," and those are the songs we are showcasing in this episode. It's always entertaining coming across these songs when listening to music, so for this episode, our panelists all chose music we love with offbeat, weir...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 43 min
Part two of our handheld RPG music celebration continues — and concludes — today! Last time, we brought you some of our favorite tracks from Nintendo DS RPGs , and this time we talk about the DS' competition, the Sony PSP. The PSP was a haven for RPGs, especially considering its support of playing PSOne/PSN titles. From a surprise track by Nobuo Uematsu, beautiful vocal tracks, to the second and last Mega Man Legends title, we have a great lineup today. Let us know what some of your favorite PSP...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 38 min
It's a handheld celebration! We had so much fun with our Game Boy Advance music episode last fall, we're back for two more handheld episodes, starting with the Nintendo DS! Nintendo's little experimental handheld made waves upon its announcement, and once the dust settled on many gimmicky titles, some great games made their way into our hearts. And as you'll hear today, some great music as well, featuring the likes of Hitoshi Sakimoto, Michiru Yamane, Yasunori Mistuda, and more. Give it a listen...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 53 min
The indie RPG scene is ever expanding, and while indie RPG music makes its way into many a Rhythm Encounter episode, we wanted to make an episode just about celebrating the music from indie devs. We enjoyed it so much, we may even make this a regularly recurring topic! But, for now, come journey through a wide variety of music from some of our favorite indie games, showcasing many types of instruments, vocals, and musical stylings! Featuring: Mike Salbato, Audra Bowling, Lucas Greene, Neal Chand...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 41 min
Almost exactly a year ago, we published a fun episode on jazz and funk RPG music . Today we are back with a spiritual sequel, talking about jazz, funk, but especially city pop. All our tracks in this episode represent one or more of these genres, but all are excellent listens. So sit back and listen to some great tunes from the likes of Shin Megami Tensei NINE , Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth , space casinos, jazz-loving parents, and much more! Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castil...
Jul 02, 2024•1 hr 50 min
Avast, ye scurvy dogs! This here episode of Rhythm Encounter be now the property of RPG Pirates. (Note: episode actually contains only a minimal amount of pirate speak.) Join the crew with Captain Hilary, Audra "Quick Draw" Bowling, "Gemstone" Jim Turner, and Kyle "Feat of Strength" Cantelon as they plunder the very best of RPG pirate themes from across the vast sea of game music within our coverage. There are pirate tunes for every mood, so listen now or prepare to say hello to the briny depths...
Jun 18, 2024•1 hr 15 min
We're trying something new here on Rhythm Encounter. While there is no end to the variety of RPG music out there, sometimes we spot similar song titles on different soundtracks, which gave us an idea. For this episode, each panelist chose a pairing of two (near) identical track names from different games, so we could compare and contrast each version. As we learned, this is a topic that could repeat, as there's no shortage of potential songs that fit this theme. Give it a listen and let us know ...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 22 min
It's-a-us, the Rhythm Encounter crew! With the impending launch of the remaster for the beloved sequel, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door , we decided it was high time to talk about Mario's illustrious RPG career. Starting with 1996's Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and extending through the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario games, the idea of a Mario -based RPG went from an unheard of collaboration between Nintendo and then-Squaresoft to multiple styles of games across several gene...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 38 min
