Suikoden II will always remain one of my most beloved video games, a masterpiece of adventure, numerous fun characters, rewarding and yet traditional combat, and most definitely its absolutely captivating soundtrack that I still listen to regularly this day.
Now I’ve seen what is probably the best live performance of its soundtrack to date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euvjo3JbsCo
Featured above, the Japan Game Music Orchestra did a medley of various tracks from the PlayStation RPG, all composed by Miki Higashino and Keiko Fukami. The very same orchestra has done lots of other performances for other games, ranging from the Final Fantasy series to even Touhou.
My only gripe with this outstanding performance is that there was no choir to accompany the tracks that had them in the game. Otherwise, this is the best performance and best recording of the works I’ve seen to date. Hearing the Reminiscence theme still gives me chills to this day, in pretty much any incarnation I’ve heard it.
The various compositions performed by the orchestra include:
- Opening
- Reminiscence
- Those Who Work Must Eat ~ Viktor’s Fortress Theme
- One-Minute Showdown
- The Even More Glorious Beautiful Golden City ~ Gregminster Theme
- Confrontation With Monsters Again
- Gothic Neclord
Suikoden II originally launched for the PlayStation back in 1999, and for a long time was very hard to obtain or play due to its limited production run. Now, it’s available for PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and the PSP as a PSOne Classic. I highly recommend it to both newcomers of the franchise as it can be enjoyed by itself, or as a sequel to the original Suikoden.
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