Music

Battle Bards Episode 132: Steampunk

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Steam-powered tech, airships, clockwork machines, and automata are the source of inspiration for this week’s episode of Battle Bards! The team scrounged the landscape of MMOs for music from and inspired by steampunk games. It’s a wild grab bag of themes, so fire up your phonographs and give it a listen!

Episode 132 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Operation Gnomeregan” from World of Warcraft, “The Refugee” from City of Steam, and “Main Theme” from Arcanum)
  • “Main Theme” from Black Gold Online
  • “Lands of Igsh” from Allods Online
  • “Through the Epoch” from City of Steam
  • “Login Theme” from Divine Soul
  • “Ganedine” from Neo Steam
  • “Town” from Guns of Icarus
  • “Adventure Awaits” from Deepworld
  • Which one did we like best?
  • Listener mail from Video Game Music Soundtrack OST and Katriana
  • Jukebox picks: “Dark Forest” from Rise of Nations, “Lakrum Beach” from Aion, and “CrossWorlds” from CrossCode
  • Outro (“Menace of the Underdark Character Creation” from Dungeons and Dragons Online)
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Retro Reprise Episode 14: Final Fantasy combat tunes

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It’s been a year-and-a-half since Syl and Syp first dove into Final Fantasy music, but now the duo is back to discuss combat themes from four of the game’s 1990s installments! From One-Winged Angel to The Man with a Machine Gun, it’s all the classics you’ve been listening to — and adoring — for years, packaged with exclusive fan commentary!

Show notes (episode download, episode page)

  • Intro
  • FFV: “Clash on the Big Bridge”
  • FFVII: “Combat”
  • FFVII: “Jenova”
  • FFVII: “One-Winged Angel”
  • FFVIII: “The Man with a Machine Gun”
  • FFVIII: “The Extreme”
  • FFIX: “Combat”
  • Outro

Battle Bards Episode 131: Path of Exile

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It may be a fairly grim MMOARPG, but Path of Exile features a surprisingly, well, grim soundtrack. Guess that wasn’t that much of a surprise! This episode, the Battle Bards wade into the fracas of this rather expansive soundtrack to see what audio treasure has been dropped by the zerg of mobs.

Episode 131 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Main Theme,” “The Overseer’s Tower,” and “The Ascent”)
  • “Fall of Oriath Theme”
  • “Four Guardians”
  • “Solaris Temple”
  • “Hunter or Prey”
  • “The Grand Arena”
  • “Templar Courts”
  • “Elder”
  • Which one did we like best?
  • Listener mail from CJ and Loopy
  • Jukebox picks: “A Distant Journey, Soaring on the Battlefronts” from Granblue Fantasy, “Main Theme” from Spider-Man 2018, and “First Steps” from Celeste
  • Outro (“The Aquaduct”)

Battle Bards Episode 130: Oddballs 2

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While every Battle Bards episode is a cavalcade of strangeness, this week the team is ratcheting it up with the return of “Oddball” MMORPG music tracks. If there’s a piece of music that made one of the hosts tilt their heads to the side and go “whaaat the what is this?” then rest assured, it’s on this show!

Episode 130 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Robo Factory” from The Sims Online, “Little Kitty’s Adventure” from Ragnarok Online, and “The Rube Song” from Glitch)
  • “Chompy Hunt” from RuneScape
  • “Flow Control” from Entropia Universe
  • “Welcome to Doram Town” from Ragnarok Online
  • “Valentine’s Theme” from FFXIV
  • “Venetian Eclipse” from NeoSteam
  • “Papaya” from FFXIV
  • “BEER!” from WildStar
  • Which one did we like best?
  • Jukebox Picks: “Alleycat Blues” from TMNT IV: Turtles in Time, “Crush” from Command and Conquer Red Alert, and “White All Around Us” from Xenoblade Chronicles 2
  • Outro (feat. “Kobold Still Hates You” from Dungeons and Dragons Online)

Battle Bards Episode 129: Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind

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In today’s episode, the Battle Bards crew row their dinghy to the island of Vvardenfell, where there is a rumor of the legend of the return of Morrowind. Yes, it’s a tour through Elder Scrolls Online’s first expansion soundtrack. Will it be enough to reverse a few negative opinions of the base MMO’s score? (spoiler: yes indeedy!)

Episode 129 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Ascadian Idyll,” “Omens Prophecy,” and “Telvanni Towers”)
  • “Shadow of Baar Dau”
  • “A Land of War and Poetry”
  • “Grazelands Dawn”
  • “Currents of the Odai”
  • “Reverie of the Netchimen”
  • “Magnus Smiles on Suran”
  • “Azura’s Coast”
  • Which one did we like best?
  • Listener notes: Deekay_zero
  • Jukebox Picks: “Main Theme” from Crash Bandicoot, “Darkness Rises” from The Banner Saga 3, “Traps” from Turrican II
  • Outro (feat. “Vvardenfell Vista”)

Battle Bards Episode 128: Seaside port

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Why not sail up to our dock and tie your ship to ours for an hour? The Battle Bards return for another great episode examining MMORPG music, with the focus this time around being on harbor and port music. Does the sight of boats sailing out into the open ocean inspire you? Then this music may be the soundtrack to your next great adventure!

Episode 128 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Selbina” from Final Fantasy XI, “New Bellin Port” from Risk Your Life, and “Hermalte Port” from Dragon Nest)
  • “Port BGM” from Lime Odyssey
  • “Lith Harbor” from MapleStory 2
  • “Aria de Coimbra” from Granado Espada
  • “Saltswept” from Final Fantasy XIV
  • “Port Noble” from City of Villains
  • “Epheria Port” from Black Desert
  • “Port Town Ilfalo” from Wizardry Online
  • Which one did we like best?
  • Listener notes: Katriana
  • Jukebox Picks: “Deliverance” from God of War, “Jump Up, Super Star!” from Super Mario Odyssey,” and “New Junk City” from Earthworm Jim
  • Outro (feat. “Port Malaya” from Ragnarok Online)

Battle Bards Episode 127: Champions Online

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When you sit down to make a list of the greatest heroes that humanity has ever known, obviously the Battle Bards will top that list. So who better to comment on the music to the sadly neglected superhero MMO Champions Online than they? The trio wiggle into their ill-fitting tights and see if they can make sense of this off-kilter soundtrack before they have to dash out and save the day, yet again.

Episode 127 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Midtown,” “Apostolic Church,” and “Renaissance Center”)
  • “Main Theme”
  • “Location! Location! Location!”
  • “The Undying Reef”
  • “New Harmon Reeducation Facility”
  • “Sovereign Sunset”
  • “Renegade Run”
  • “Snake Gulch”
  • Which one did we like best?
  • Listener notes: Scott
  • Jukebox Picks: “The Traveler” from Crusader: No Remorse, “Main Theme” from Octopath Traveler, and “Main Theme” from Batman: Arkham Asylum
  • Outro (feat. “7th Anniversary Celebration”)