Alright, finally got my 1-disc "Greatest Hits" Suikoden V car CD together. Here's the final cut...Only tracks I didn't get to use that I really wanted to were the arrangements of "Moonlit Night" and "Into a World of Illusion", plus "Castle of Dawn" (but that was because I had three versions of the fortress theme already).

1. Wind of Phantom
2. The Knights
3. A Power Like the Sun
4. Imperial Capital
5. Battle Start
6. Victory Theme
7. The Sacred Games
8. Arena
9. The Deep Forest, The Lost Forest
10. Town on a River
11. A Mighty Enemy
12. An Attack
13. The Great Arts
14. The Water Capital
15. Overcoming the Grief
16. Clash!
17. Move Out!
18. The People Underground
19. Fallen
20. Crossing the Mountain River
21. The Water, Trees and Sun
22. Traces of the Sindar Civilization
23. The River and the Sun
24. Star Tower
25. Final Defense Battle
26. Fort Town
27. Scenery By the Windmills
28. Harbor Town by the Lighthouse
29. Pirate Extermination
30. We Gather Near the Water
31. Life or Death?
32. Bitterness
33. Determination ~Tragic Battle
34. Assault
35. A Sad Wish
36. Dancing Rhapsody
37. Surrender
38. Battle to Recapture Sol-Falena
39. To the End of the Woven Tale of 108 Stars

The non-looping tracks actually came in handy this time around.

People just hate the music in III because it's repeated so much.  Yes, the filler is worse than usual, but the few really good tracks (such as Searching for the Hero, Complex Thoughts, and Large Cavity) rise above the generic RPG sound the series gravitates to, outside the first game and the arranged albums.

Also, GoldfishX, the lack of "Sealed Room" on that list makes me sad.  It's repetitive and goes nowhere and is (mercifully) short, but beautiful all the same.

I didn't have to worry about the music in Suikoden III repeating itself...It was bad enough to keep me away from playing the game (well, that and a lot of things in the game that seemed to be "change for the sake of change" from the first two...). I just remember 2-3 good tracks on it and the rest...Never left an impression and the ones that did didn't leave positive ones. I'll probably end up listening closer, since I picked up the game a couple weeks ago.

I'm definitely wouldn't lump 2 into the "generic RPG" sound category. I think it is pretty distinct overall...It has the Suikoden-trademark folky town themes and the rhythm-intensive battle themes (not to mention a blatant Castlevania tribute smack in the middle) and is just a melodic standout, period...You can arrange the music any number of ways and it takes effort on the part of the arrangers to make it sound bad (see the vocal collections) I would pay top dollar for a Suikoden Battle CD...The Namba arranged one was good, but I need "Dive into a Corner" and "Into a World of Illusions' done as all-out rock...And a power ballad version of "Theme of Moonlit Night".

I wouldn't go so far as to call 5 "generic", but it does benefit more than 1+2 from being heard ingame. I blame that partly on the non-looping tracks and excessive filler on the OST...I mean, the town themes are one of the best parts, but a casual listener will just see a 1:30 non-looping track sitting on a 4-CD release amidst about 140 other tracks. I thought it a bit understated, but right in line with the best of the series. Still, Higashino coming back for VI would probably be the best thing to happen to a later series entry.

Sealed Room ended up on the cutting room floor, just because it wouldn't have worked well on a driving CD. I always did like that deep pulsing sound it has. I'll probably include it if I make a follow-up CD, since there were numerous tracks I couldn't include.

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