Most underrated JRPG score.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

What's the least appreciated OST for you out of the JRPG canon? Is it from a favourite game that is just too often overlooked, or is it from a game that might have been weaker overall but snuck in some great lesser-known music?

For me Mother 3 is underrecognized because it has some pretty unique influences for the genre (salsa, etc), and because it manages to get as much as possible out of the limited GBA sound hardware. It also adds to the rhythm combo mechanic in the random battles - this is one of the few times I've been really engaged in typical turn-based combat, especially because keeping the beat to battle themes with so much variety is pretty fun.

Listening to the later soundtrack versions with higher-quality samples really reveals the depth of work that went into creating this soundtrack, and the live versions in particular of the DCMC songs are really fun to listen to. Shogo Sakai brought a great new approach to the series and didn't try to emulate Earthbound's iconic OST - and as a result we got one of the most underappreciated, but enjoyable soundtracks in the genre.

[Wolf Kanno]

Was having this discussion with Karifean the other week. For me, it would have to be Wild Arms 1 by the underrated Michiko Naruke. Great soundtrack that really doesn't get as much love outside of the opening theme like it should.

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This should make Fynn happy, but Musashi Hamzu's score for Unlimited Saga is often considered the only good thing about the game and while that title is on the back burner for me, I've listened to enough of it to say I agree.

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Finally, I have to give a shout out to Tomoki Miyoshi's score for I am Setsuna

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[Fynn]

Yay Hamauzu! Everything he does is severely underrated. He’s got an incredibly distinct style.

I’m gonna go a bit less hipster here and say FFV. While FF generally has music that’s well-respected, V’s OST often gets glossed over because people are too busy raving about IV’s (which is OK but nothing to really write home about imo) and VI’s (which is admittedly excellent), while in fact V’s OST is nothing short of stellar, with a ton of very well-orchestrated tracks that all have this really unique atmosphere.

[Karifean]

Literally every Falcom OST ever. But especially the Oath in Felghana one which is incredible even for their standards.

[FFNut]

Not a traditional JRPG but Secret of Evermore’s music was awesome.

[Lord Golbez]

I don't know. Breath of Fire games maybe? They're not particularly acclaimed for their music, but it's often pretty good. I don't really have strong feelings on this subject, because I've never heard anyone trashing the music of a JRPG with music I loved, so it really would be more a matter of a game with great music that I don't hear it mentioned enough, which is kind of a harder thing to notice. I think most games with the best music, it's usually known.

[Fynn]

case in point

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Also, the entire soundtrack to IV is just insanely good. That game really deserves a medal in all things art-related, even if you're not a fan of anything else about it

[Lord Golbez]

Excellent example. That's definitely one of my favorite boss themes.

[WarZidane]

This is a very hard question to give one or even few answers to because I love so many JRPG OSTs. For now, though, there's one I want to at least mention in the thread.

See, usually when I think a JRPG OST is underrated, it's just because the game itself isn't well-known. I'll often see it being acknowledged by people who have actually played the game or at least heard the music.

Not so, however, for Fire Emblem Fates, which is a relatively well-known game, plenty of people have played it, it's part of a Nintendo franchise that has increased in popularity. I *never* see people acknowledging Fates' music. I don't know, maybe it's because the 3DS speakers are bad so they don't do the score justice.

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Amusingly I don't like the actual game at all.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

This is a very hard question to give one or even few answers to because I love so many JRPG OSTs. For now, though, there's one I want to at least mention in the thread.

See, usually when I think a JRPG OST is underrated, it's just because the game itself isn't well-known. I'll often see it being acknowledged by people who have actually played the game or at least heard the music.

Not so, however, for Fire Emblem Fates, which is a relatively well-known game, plenty of people have played it, it's part of a Nintendo franchise that has increased in popularity. I *never* see people acknowledging Fates' music. I don't know, maybe it's because the 3DS speakers are bad so they don't do the score justice.

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Amusingly I don't like the actual game at all.

I've got some pretty good headphones I use with handhelds, because yeah the external speakers tend to be crappy. And yeah Fates did have a pretty solid OST.

Has anyone noticed though that a lot of JRPG OST's are getting pretty formulaic at this point? Like you always have at least one song (sometimes many) where there's that typical one long note - few more descending notes - up a bit - then two quick high notes progression (I guess this is due to Uematsu? or was this already used a lot n Japanese composition?)

Some examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFiEi5in8E4&t=0m22s
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFiEi5in8E4&t=0m22s)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wIZJs5SuV8&t=0m52s
ascending note variation
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-uNc8b0MHw&t=1m53s)
then you have the time-honored two-note melody resolution (very prominent in Ys VIII):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvBla5NUlvk&t=2m10s

and now - the "secret Shoji Meguro chord progression"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t_Itshoso8&t=0m34s

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t_Itshoso8&t=0m34s)4-chord variation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k7wETEfz30&t=0m49s)

my favourite (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDSi-bnpZw&t=1m40s)

[Fynn]

I’m personally fan of the signature Meguro final chord, which can be clearly heard in this one, for example:

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[Wolf Kanno]

Another that comes to mind for me is Xenogears' score. Okay, so Yasunori Mitsuda is an excellent composer and old school fans lavish praise onto CT's score, while PlayStation era fans laud CC's score, but very few ever mention the middle child in all of this progression that is Xenogears beautiful score.

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Suikoden's music is also underrated, though I would agree its not quite up to par with some of the other greats.

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As for some of Uematsu's overlooked works, I feel FFIII and frankly most of the NES entries get shortchanged by the fans.

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His work with Mistwalker has also not been bad either...

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[Example]

To name a couple:
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[Fynn]

The problem I have with Xenogears' soundtrack is that it is incredibly hit or miss. It has some of Mitsuda's absolute best tracks, but then some of the tracks are his absolute worst and make my ears bleed. It's a wild ride, to be sure.

(also, never been a fan of Flight. Like, at all)

[WarZidane]

Octopath Traveler's soundtrack is another one. It actually took me a while before I listened to it and appreciated it, too, but now it's one of my favorite soundtracks from the last few years. I look forward to what Yasunori Nishiki composes in the future, since he's practically just starting out.

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I had to limit myself to just 5 examples but really, give the entire OST a listen if you haven't. :p

[Wolf Kanno]

The problem I have with Xenogears' soundtrack is that it is incredibly hit or miss. It has some of Mitsuda's absolute best tracks, but then some of the tracks are his absolute worst and make my ears bleed. It's a wild ride, to be sure.

(also, never been a fan of Flight. Like, at all)

Honestly, it's not like every track in the Chrono Titles are home runs either...

I love Flight, but probably not to the same degree some of the other Xeno fans feel. Then again, I tend to gravitate towards the slower and more emotional tracks than the get my blood pumping ones.

[Fynn]

Well, sure, but I guess I just prefer the overall jazzy vibe CT had. Xenogears has a bit less focus, though there's still a ton of really amazing stuff here

[Lord Golbez]

Shevat though.

[Rocket Edge]

Pokemon Red/Blue had an amazing soundtrack for a GB release.

[Fynn]

Shevat though.

Shevat is overrated

[Lord Golbez]

I wanted to stay in Shevat forever! It has the best music. Better than Zeal.

[Fynn]

now that's just sacrilegious

[Wolf Kanno]

I love Shevat's theme, but not as much as I love Corridors of Time which is like one of the triumvirate of awesome songs on the CT soundtrack along with Battle with Magus and Chrono Trigger.

[Loony BoB]

FFXII by a distance for me. Even at Distant Worlds it's lucky if it gets anything played. Not having Uematsu in charge seemed to put hardcore Uematsu fans (which are most FF fans) off, which is unfair to Sakimoto. The music was awesome and atmospheric the whole way through, and worked perfectly for each locale of which there were many. If I were to listen to any OST without actually looking at or playing the game, it'd probably be FFXII as it holds up nicely as something to just listen to while doing pretty much anything. I've often used it as an alternative soundtrack to games in which I could mute the base music (or the game didn't have base music), for example Minecraft.

[Fynn]

You mean Hitoshi Sakimoto. And yes, XII has a great soundtrack. Honestly, all of the Ivalice music is great - Sakimoto has this movie-like quality to his soundtracks that still sets it apart from most video game music I heard. Though I get that most video game music nowadays is film-inspired, the emphasis on melodies is still evident here.

[Loony BoB]

Oof, that's what I get for lazy Googling instead of looking at my OST playlists. Google just threw that name at me when I typed FFXII composer into the url and I was like "Huh, why don't I remember that" and threw it in. Edited my post. xD

[Rocket Edge]

XII had a great soundtrack indeed. But it was essentially aesthetic background music, and not something immediately catchy like 'Breezy' or whatever. Though the advantage is you can listen to it and find it hard to ever tire from it (much like FFXIV's).