SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Four JRPGs and A Tense Thriller Walk Into A Bar... Edition

Welcome to a new work week here at SuperPhillip Central, and if you've been a fan and reader of the site for a while, then you know that most every Monday (unless it's a Tuesday, but who's keeping track of that anyway?) SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs adds five more fantastic video game songs to its ever expanding collection of tunes!

This week we're going on a JRPG adventure together. Well, save for a 999 VGM thrown in for good measure. We start things off with a smooth song from Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, before jumping into the world of Grandia II with a killer battle theme. The off the wall goodness of the Wii's eccentric RPG Opoona is then featured, followed by a swift shift in tone with 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. Finally, the Xbox 360 exclusive The Last Remnant carves up a mean battle theme to wrap things up!

Click on each VGM volume name to listen to that given song. And catch up on past VGM volumes with the VGM Database. Now, let's get on to the music!

v1196. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2) - Spider's String the Second Movement

Let's start this edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs with a dungeon song that sounds more like something out of the Metal Gear Solid series than a Shin Megami Tensei game! Spider's String the Second Movement slowly builds suspense throughout its bass line and string accompaniment before rocking out with glorious electric guitar goodness. A great song from a great, if not overlooked, PS2 game.

v1197. Grandia II (DC, PS2) - Battle Theme

Time for battle! This normal battle theme from the Dreamcast and then PlayStation 2 RPG Grandia II sports a nostalgic sound with its synth instruments and electric guitar. Its very late '90s and early '00s, and that makes sense since the game originally came out in 2000 for the Dreamcast before releasing two years later on the PS2.

v1198. Opoona (Wii) - Fonthene

Opoona is a JRPG unlike any other, a perfect fit for the expanded audience of the Wii. The game featured short and stock characters, and the controls were as simple as pie. Opoona used the nunchuk controller part of the Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo exclusively, making for easy-to-learn but tough-to-master combat. Hitoshi Sakimoto of Final Fantasy Tactics and Valkyria Chronicles fame penned the many excellent compositions of this overlooked Wii RPG.

v1199. 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (DS) - Chill and Rigor

Now, we're going to change the tone of this edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs real quick here! The final chapter of the Zero Escape series released on the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita a couple of months ago, gripping players to the very end of its intense and mysterious story. However, all sagas have to start somewhere, and the Nintendo DS's 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors was the beginning of this creepy story-based series. Chill and Rigor is a haunting piano tune, perfect for the mood 999 exudes.

v1200. The Last Remnant (360) - Sword Sparks

Time for battle... again! Sword Sparks is the main battle theme for the Xbox 360 exclusive The Last Remnant. The game by Square Enix launched worldwide on the system on November 20, 2008. This was back when Microsoft had a focus on Japan and desired nothing more than to push its current Xbox console, the 360, into as many Japanese homes as possible by providing an immense lineup of exclusive JRPGs. Sadly, even with a strong repertoire of games to excite Japanese gamers, the Xbox brand is DOA pretty much in the land of the rising sun.