I noticed something when I started listening to some of those Ys songs.
"Composed by Yuzo Koshiro"
Looks like he only worked on the first two games.
Let's talk about Yuzo Koshiro for a moment. He's been composing music for video games since the 80s, there's a good chance that you know the soundtrack of a game he's worked on. I actually haven't played too many games that he's worked on, but there is one series with his name on it that is very close to me.
Etrian Odyssey.
This is a series of dungeon crawlers by Atlus. Inspired by old school dungeon crawlers, Yuzo Koshiro brings chiptunes to the first three games. Once the series made it to the 3DS he switched to an orchestral style, both styles are great in their own way.
EOI - The Withered Forest. The theme of the fourth dungeon, and my favorite dungeon theme in the first game. The remix in
EOU is great too.
EOI - Destruction Begets Decay. The second battle theme, it's pretty catchy.
EOU's take is good too.
EOI - Fifth Dungeon. While the series isn't known for its story, the name of this song has a pretty big spoiler for the first game. Anyways, the song is pretty good, though I think it's a little too upbeat at times for the location. Again,
EOU's take is good.
EMD plays up the upbeat side even more, having not played this game I'm not sure what to think of this take yet.
EOI - Rising Again. Plays during an important mini boss fight.
EOU's is great.
EOI - Blue and White. A really nice song for important scenes.
EOU's is wonderful.
EOI - Ecstasy. Welcome to the post-game, everything wants you dead. This song is appropriately chaotic for the fights in the hellish final dungeon. I like
EOU's take even more.
EOII - Cherry Tree Bridge. The fourth dungeon theme. A beautiful theme, one of the best in the series.
EOU2's take is also beautiful.
EMD's is an interesting take on it.
EOII - Cherry Trees and Wings. This doesn't play often, only during a couple events, but it's pretty good. And here's
EOU2's take.
EOII - Inspecting the Resounding Weapons. The second battle theme. I wasn't too fond of EOII's first battle theme, but this one more than made up for it.
EOU2's, The original was a little short though, so EOU2 adds to it.
EOII - Heaven's Rock Seat. The fifth dungeon. Set's the tone of the final main-game dungeon better than the first game did. I really like this theme.
EOU2 does a wonderful job with its take.
EOII - Azure and Silver. A cover of EOI's Blue and White.
EOU2's.
EOIII - Waterfall Woodlands. Easily my favorite first dungeon theme in the series, it's beautiful.
EMD's take does a great job updating it.
EOIII - The First Campaign. The first battle theme obviously. Very catchy and still one of my favorites.
EOIII - Hoist the Sword with Pride in the Heart. The standard boss theme for EOIII, and also my favorite boss theme in the entire series.
EMD's take is so good too.
EOIII - The End of the Raging Waves. The boss theme for ocean quests, one of my favorite battle themes.
EOIII - Is That Blood Thine or the Enemy's. I haven't posted an FOE theme yet have I? The dungeons in EO games are filled with minibosses called FOEs, you generally don't want to fight one when you first see it, because it will kill you. This theme perfectly captures the feeling that you should not be fighting this thing.
EMD's.
EOIII - Cave of Splendor. Lava cave! A catchy theme that really fits the area.
EOIII - Those That Slay and Fall. The second battle theme. Catchy, but unfortunately EOIII doesn't have a theme for post-game battles and this shows up a little earlier than the second battle themes in other games, so the battle themes are not spaced out as good as they could be, but it's still good.
EOIII - The Blue Sea Temple of Ritual. The fourth dungeon. Really good.
EOIII - Chalky Woods. The fifth dungeon, one of my favorite dungeons in the series and I really love this music. I love
EMD's take on it too.
EOIII - Cold Justice. Instead of remaking Blue and White again, EOIII decided to make its own theme for important scenes, and it's my favorite of the bunch.
EOIII - Their Own Brand of Justice. The final boss theme, and my favorite final boss theme in the series.
EMD's is an interesting take on this theme. I like the original a little more, but this ends up sounding closer to a typical EO boss theme, which is cool too.
EOIII - The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss. Here it is, my favorite theme in the whole series. This is found in the post-game dungeon, which is also my favorite dungeon in the series. A very unsettling theme, perfect for the home of a Lovecraftian horror.
EOIII - Calling That Detestable Name. Speaking of Lovecraftian horrors, the post-game final boss finally has its own theme, and I love it.
EMD's is cool too, though I like the original a little more.
EOIV - Storm. The first battle theme. Catchy, I like it.
EOIV - Misty Ravine. The second dungeon. Beautiful.
EOIV - Library of Puppets. The fourth dungeon. At this point it should be no surprise that the fourth dungeon has great music.
EOIV - Faith is My Pillar. The second battle theme, and my favorite random battle theme in the series.
EMD's take is good, but I like the tone of the original more.
EOIV - The Silent Wind Blows. A short, but nice theme for certain events.
EOIV - City of Radiant Ruin. My favorite fifth dungeon theme. It's a shame the dungeon itself ended up being so short, because I would have loved to hear this theme a lot more in the game.
EOIV - The Legend's Successor. Final boss and post-game final boss theme.
EOIV - The Ancient Oath. Event theme, it's nice.
EOIV - With Eyes Blazing. The post-game battle theme.
EOIV - The End of Raging Winds. A remake of the EOIII theme of a similar name, just as good as it was there.
EMD's take is different than I would have expected, but pretty cool.
Looking at the number of songs posted for it, it should come as no surprise that EOIII has my favorite soundtrack of the series. Still, I love the music in all of the games, and can't wait to see what Yuzo Koshiro brings to EOV.
