The Greatest Game Music

Reviews of truly outstanding game music

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories Soundtrack

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories Soundtrack

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, Tenpei Sato, 2006

Nippon Ichi struck gold with Disgaea: Hour of Darkness – quite unexpectedly, given its niche nature as a strategy RPG with strong parody elements and a ton of anime and manga references. What was even more surprising was that Hour of Darkness sold even better in the United States than in Japan! For the sequel Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, Nippon Ichi understandably chose to tweak and polish – rather than significantly alter – Hour of Darkness‘ formula. The result was another hugely in-depth strategy game that reviewers and genre fans welcomed with open arms – some even regarding it as a better title than Hour of Darkness.

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Disgaea: Hour of Darkness Soundtrack

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness Soundtrack

Disgaea: Heart of Darkness Soundtrack, 2003, Tenpei Sato

It’s always fun to cheer on the little game that could and see it not only succeed, but turn into a burgeoning franchise selling millions of copies – without losing its charmingly eccentric character. Before the release of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, developer Nippon Ichi had been releasing one game a year, constantly on the precipice of closure should that game fail. All that was about to change with Hour of Darkness, a zany strategy RPG starring Laharl, son of King Krichevskoy, overlord of the Netherworld – who passed away while Laharl was sleeping for a couple of years. Setting Laharl’s quest to reclaim the throne in a setting like the Demon Netherworld gave the developers liberty to apply an “anything goes” approach, according to producer Sohei Niikawa. The result was a strategy RPG that was as deep as it was irreverent (not many RPGs can claim exploding penguins as their mascots).

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