129 episodes

Join the staff of RPGFan as they discuss the wide world of RPG music both old and new.

RPGFan's Rhythm Encounter RPGFan

    • Leisure
    • 5.0 • 37 Ratings

Join the staff of RPGFan as they discuss the wide world of RPG music both old and new.

    129 - Level One: RPG Beginnings

    129 - Level One: RPG Beginnings

    Previously on Rhythm Encounter, we have talked about some important first impressions, namely some of our favorite intro themes, and even title screen music. But what happens next is just as important: the opening hours of an RPG can really set the stage for what's to come. When thinking about our favorite games, it's fun to think back to how they began, and how well the mood and world is established through the narrative, characters, and of course, the music. Today we're sharing some of our favorite early game tunes that were instrumental (sorry not sorry) in getting us into some great games.
    Featuring: Mike Salbato, Michael Sollosi, Patrick Gann, Wes Iliff; Edited by Paul Dennis
    Tracklist0:06:23 - Reminiscence (Miki Higashino) - Suikoden II0:08:11 - Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World (Yasunori Mitsuda) - Chrono Cross0:31:30 - City of Bells (Ken Nakagawa) - Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~0:33:32 - Caravan Crossroad (Kumi Tanioka) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles0:57:24 - Autumn’s Rise (Deniz Akbulut) - CrossCode1:00:14 - Garland Office (Yoshitaka Hirota) - Shadow Hearts: From the New World1:16:50 - Unary Game (Shinji Hosoe) - 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors1:19:04 - Pledge of Demon (Hidenori Shoji) - Yakuza 01:51:57 - Sollosi's Bonus Track!
    Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.
    Get in Touch:RPGFan.comRPGFan ShopEmail us: music@rpgfan.comTwitter: @rpgfancomInstagram: @rpgfancomThreads: @rpgfancomFacebook: rpgfancomTwitch: rpgfancom

    • 1 hr 55 min
    128 - Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

    128 - Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

    Do we at RPGFan like Final Fantasy VII? Off course! That's why we're ready for…a reunion of tracks from across the expansive (and still growing) FFVII universe. The timing here is intentional to celebrate the fantastic music associated with FFVII as we all get ready to enjoy Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Join our panel of savvy veterans and one newcomer SOLDIER: First Class news editor as we celebrate our favorite music from this (sub-)series in all its iterations and, of course, fight against Shinra. We hope these tracks will get you ready to battle on!
    Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Audra Bowling, Kyle Cantelon; Edited by Jono Logan
    Tracklist0:07:40 - Those Who Fight (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Shiro Hamaguchi) - Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII0:11:33 - Judgement Funkadelic (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Sean Schafianski) - MATERIA: Final Fantasy VII Remixed0:31:49 - Crazy Motorcycle (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII0:35:23 - Dear to the Heart (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII0:54:29 - Why (Yoshihiko Nishio & Ayaka) - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII0:58:52 - AVALANCHE (Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Mega Ran) -  Black Materia 1:24:56 - Bombing Mission - Infiltration (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII Remake OST Plus1:31:43 - Advent: One-Winged Angel (Nobuo Uematsu) - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children2:04:01 - Mike's Bonus Track!
    Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.
    Get in Touch:RPGFan.comRPGFan ShopEmail us: music@rpgfan.comTwitter: @rpgfancomInstagram: @rpgfancomThreads: @rpgfancomFacebook: rpgfancomTwitch: rpgfancom

    • 2 hr 8 min
    127 - Music of the Year 2023

    127 - Music of the Year 2023

    It's finally time to celebrate the music of the (last) year! As you know by now, a great deal of incredible games released in 2023, and with them, many notable soundtracks. Our panel today brought some of their favorite songs of 2023, featuring music from some Square Enix heavy hitters to some lovely indie titles and others in between.
    As usual for Music of the Year, this episode is longer than usual, as each of us picked one more song than usual, giving us a total of 12, plus two special bonus tracks from Rhythm Encounter's co-founders. It still isn't enough to cover it all, but we packed in as much musical greatness as possible! What are some of your favorite songs and soundtracks from 2023?
    Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Michael Sollosi, Patrick Gann; Edited by Jono Logan
    Pat's Picks0:05:05 - Toto’haha (Yasunori Nishiki) - Octopath Traveler II0:08:38 - The Apotheosis (Brandon Boone) - Slay the Princess0:11:21 - Celestial (Toby Fox Remix) (comp Ed Sheeran, arr Toby Fox) - Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC
    Mike Salbato's Picks0:38:00 - Dedicated to Moonlight (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker0:43:44 - World Map (Reo Uratani) - Meg's Monster0:45:53 - Colgera Battle (Manaka Kataoka, Maasa Miyoshi, Masato Ohashi, Tsukasa Usui) - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
    Bonus Track 1: Stephen Meyerink1:11:33 - Normal Battle I (Yasunori Nishiki) - Octopath Traveler II
    Michael Sollosi's Picks1:17:30 - Preserved Realm (D’Anthoni Wooten) - Dave the Diver1:20:56 - Ascension (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XVI1:25:04 - Mr. Top Player (Shigeyuki Kameda) - Street Fighter 6
    Hilary's Picks1:48:14 - The Way I See (Andrew Jeremy) - Coffee Talk Episode 2 - Hibiscus and Butterfly1:54:46 - Down by the River (Borislav Slavov) - Baldur’s Gate III1:57:05 - Lux Tizer (Norihiko Yamanuki) - The 7th Saga Soundtrack Composer’s Edition
    Bonus Track 2: Derek Heemsbergen2:33:17 - Main Theme (Tsutomu Narita?) - Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
    Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.
    Get in Touch:RPGFan.comRPGFan ShopEmail us: music@rpgfan.comTwitter: @rpgfancomInstagram: @rpgfancomThreads: @rpgfancomFacebook: rpgfancomTwitch: rpgfancom

    • 2 hr 38 min
    126 - Build Your Own RPG Soundtrack

    126 - Build Your Own RPG Soundtrack

    We're kicking off the new year on Rhythm Encounter with a brand-new kind of episode: Building a soundtrack from pieces of other games. We distilled our imaginary RPG down to eight core musical moments — title, overworld, town, dungeon, battle, emotional, final boss, and ending, to be specific — and pulled a song for each from eight different RPGs. While we were all prepared to justify how eight disparate tracks made sense together, the resulting "soundtrack" was more cohesive than we expected!
    We hope you like this musical experiment, because we already have plans for a future sequel. Stay tuned!
    Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Gio Castillo, Lucas Greene; Edited by Paul Dennis
    Tracklist0:07:45 - Breath of Fire IV ~Opening Animation~ (Taro Iwashiro) - Breath of Fire IV0:09:13 - Quatera Woods (Yukihiro Jindo) - Falcom Field Zanmai (originally Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim)0:31:51 - Hateno Village (Yasuaki Iwata) - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild0:37:35 - Pyramid (Yuzo Koshiro) - Actraiser Symphonic Suite0:58:34 - Battle 1 (Yasunori Shiono) - Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals1:01:32 - The Sandy Beach of Gumbo (Noriyuki Iwadare) - Grandia1:25:52 - On Blade’s Edge (Masayoshi Soken) - Endwalker: Final Fantasy XIV1:30:11 - Journey’s End (Rich Douglas ft. Jillian Aversa) - Shadowgate (2014)
    Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.
    Get in Touch:RPGFan.comRPGFan ShopEmail us: music@rpgfan.comTwitter: @rpgfancomInstagram: @rpgfancomFacebook: rpgfancomTwitch: rpgfancom

    • 1 hr 59 min
    125 - Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

    125 - Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

    To celebrate the new year, we put together a special episode before we return to our regularly scheduled topics, with a short episode full of music dedications. We were inspired by the idea of radio DJs who take listener calls and offer up dedications on air, so we polled the RPGFan staff, asking them for songs and written dedications to read on the episode. We both offered some of our own as well, so we hope you enjoy everyone's heartfelt messages and musical choices.
    Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff; Edited by Paul Dennis
    Links for this episode
    Prelude / Crystal Theme (Final Fantasy) - Harp and Strings cover by Patti Rudisill & Paula BressmanMy Mind | Final Fantasy VIII Piano cover by Sebastien SkafOverClocked ReMix: The Legend of Zelda "Zelda Heineken"Tracklist0:05:31 - Wind Crest ~The Three Trails~ (Takahito Eguchi & Noriko Matsueda) - Piano Collection Final Fantasy X-20:10:11 - Boss Battle Theme (Shigeki Sako) - Vay0:14:56 - Prelude (Nobuo Uematsu, cover by Patti Rudisill & Paula Bressman) - Final Fantasy series0:23:32 - A Sailor Never Sleeps (Masayoshi Soken) - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn0:31:20 - My Mind (Nobuo Uematsu, cover by Sebastien Skaf) - Final Fantasy VIII0:36:17 - New Days (Shoji Meguro) - Persona 40:39:59 - Land of Radiant Flowers (Revo) - Bravely Default0:47:17 - Zelda Heineken (Main Theme) (Koji Kondo, arr. & perf. by Mattias Holmgren) - The Legend of Zelda0:52:33 - Overworld Theme (Koji Kondo) - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
    Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.
    Get in Touch:RPGFan.comRPGFan ShopEmail us: music@rpgfan.comTwitter: @rpgfancomInstagram: @rpgfancomFacebook: rpgfancomTwitch: rpgfancom

    • 1 hr 4 min
    124 - Hoedown Showdown: Farming RPG Music

    124 - Hoedown Showdown: Farming RPG Music

    In farming games, typically the slowest part of the year is winter. So why did we record our farming music episode when it's winter for many of our listeners? Hey, I don't have all the answers... unless it's about work/life balance and the best Stardew Valley partner. But I digress. Today's panel is only three people, but we still have a full slate of music to share from some of our favorite farming and sim games. Some are more RPG than others, but what they have in common are great lineups of music to set a mood for every season. Grab your watering can and your straw hat and let's go visit the farm!
    Featuring: Mike Salbato, Hilary Andreff, Tin Manuel; Edited by Jono Logan
    TracklistWinter0:07:38 - Quiet Winter (Dai Nakajima) - Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life0:10:55 - Winter (Nocturne of Ice) (ConcernedApe, arr. Matthew Bridgham, perf. Augustine Mayuga Gonzales) - Stardew Valley Piano Collections
    Spring0:30:56 - Spring (Town) (Manual of Errors) - Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland0:33:46 - Bird’s Eye Brae (Day) (Go Shiina) - Harvestella
    Summer1:00:35 - Summer Day 4 (Yugo Pratomo) - Coral Island1:03:57 - New Life in the Desert (Claude Ruelle) - My Time at Sandrock
    Chill1:23:56 - Starry and Calm (Night) (Bashi Boizu) - Littlewood1:26:00 - Whale Island Outside (Tomoko Morita) - Rune Factory Frontier2:00:28 - Tin's Bonus Track!
    Album links for places to buy, stream, and more are available in our post on RPGFan.
    Get in Touch:RPGFan.comRPGFan ShopEmail us: music@rpgfan.comTwitter: @rpgfancomInstagram: @rpgfancomFacebook: rpgfancomTwitch: rpgfancom

    • 2 hr 1 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
37 Ratings

37 Ratings

Alita292000 ,

Up the Irons!

Never apologize for playing metal.

nerdpower91 ,

Great podcast

Music is a big part of RPGs, especially JRPGs. The panel select a great mixture of soundtrack to create an enthralling experience along with an explanation of the setting and background of the selected music. Sometimes the melody even helps me to sleep!(but I always end up listening to the missed part :) ) Great work and keep it up!

Squijid ,

RPGFan Brought Color to the Dull Parts of My Life

i don't usually listen to podcasts, but RPGFan's podcasts are fantastic. Rhythm Encounter and Retro Encounter have made my trips to and from work something to look forward to. Rhythm/Retro Encounter have even pulled me out of my room on my days off to walk over to the neighborhood coffee shop, just so that i can listen to the podcasts on my walks there and back!

RPGFan staff really know what they're talking about-- whether it's stories of artists who worked on Chrono Trigger or it's musical techniques and styles. I'm more a fan of Rhythm and Retro rather than Random because i like structure and themes, and Random seems sort of ... well, random! But Random is fun to listen to as well, because everyone sounds like they're having so much fun.

Please check out RPGFan's podcasts, even if you're not really a podcast person! And thank you, RPGFan, for making me fall in love with video games all over again!

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