The first successful Kickstarter by new VGM orchestral production company VGM Classics has been sent to backers and is now also available to the world at large. Symphonic Tale: The Rune Of Beginning (Music From Suikoden II) features 74 minutes of all-new orchestral arrangements of the PlayStation RPG classic, arranged and conducted by Kentaro Sato and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.

I had my doubts about the project at first, coming from a new, unproven company and from a game soundtrack I felt was more suited to a world music ensemble than a traditional orchestra. But I have to say they've put out just about the best Suikoden II orchestral album I could imagine. The arrangements stay close to the originals as I remember but flesh them out exactly as they should be for orchestra, it flows like a well-paced orchestral album even with 23 tracks averaging in the 2:30 to 3:30 range (there aren't any medleys), and the production values are in the top notch of VGM orchestral albums.

The album is available on CD from Amazon, as lossless download from Bandcamp, and in either format directly from VGM Classics:
http://www.vgm-classics.org/04-Purchase-e.html
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RY … uage=en_US (STC affiliate link)
https://vgmclassics.bandcamp.com/album/ … ital-album

It's also available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1nTkvC1i … ycjZmY1UcQ
https://music.apple.com/album/1467292734

VGM Classics have said they'll start production on a Suikoden I recording when 3000 copies have been sold. They're also holding a poll for other orchestral arranged game soundtrack requests.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp … w/viewform

Geeeze, $28 for a 72 minute download? Rude.

Just happen to be listening to this now via streaming.....and I have to say I'm so happy I didn't back this and really disagree with your assessment. Beyond the fact the sound quality is very muddy, the whole thing just sounds.....the best way to put it is 'restrained'. The performances just have no life to them, like they are just playing the notes and not putting any emotion into them.

I mean, yes the arrangements are fine....but....yeah, Right from the start I always found the KS campaign just badly run ("Oh, let's make an FFIV album....no wait sorry others can choose....oh sorry we have to restart" on top of some other issues) and while I'm happy to see an end result -- and so quick at that -- yeah. Just.....meh.

I have no comment on the music, source or arranged, but the digital pricing is ludicrous. $28 for a limited edition CD or vinyl? Sure. But for digital files? That's not just rude, it's arrogant.

Hi.  I also backed the kickstarter as I am always looking for good symphonic music.  I had no knowledge of this game or it's music at the time of backing.  For me it was a big risk cause you never no what you are going to get.  I feel the kickstarter was very well conducted and am very happy with the end product.   I know at the beginning there were a number of projects out there and I think that was more to see what would get funded.  I didn't see the FFIV project or I would have backed it too.

TerraEpon, I have no idea why the music sounds muddy.  Could it possibly have something to do with the compressing it for streaming?  I have listened to it on cd and am currently listening to it on my ipod over lunch and am having no sound issues.  As for the price, I don't know what to tell you, but for my money it was worth it.  I should note that I live in Canada and with the exchange rate it is a lot more expensive.

As for future titles I hope that we get Lufia 2. I also Included YS V. VI, VII and my way out their option of Castlevania.  I love the Ys series and would love to have soundtracks that are not YS I & II get the orchestral treatment.  As for Castlevania I would love an orchestral album that pulled from all the games.

As for the cost of the albums, I don't see it as that expensive especially compared to some imports, but again I think it depends on the exchange rate.  As for the digital download I have no idea why it's so high as I prioritize cds over digital.

Cheers,

David

I agree I don't see where that "muddy" sound quality comment comes from. I listened to it twice on Spotify and that thought never occurred to me, and listening now in lossless paying particular attention to sound quality it still doesn't. TerraEpon, do you generally listen to orchestral music on Spotify? I always notice a difference in sound quality there compared to lossless. Could you share some examples of orchestral VGM there with recording quality you consider much better?

As for the digital download price, I agree that's too high to expect people outside of the most die-hard fans and supporters to buy. Perhaps they're thinking to keep the pricing similar to the original Kickstarter or to keep the Japanese and US pricing equal. I doubt there's anything rude or arrogant behind it, more likely they're just trying to recoup costs, as the Kickstarter didn't cover the cost of a full-length orchestral album.

Anyway, I just gave the album a third full listen and I'm still very happy with it. I never played Suikoden II and always liked but never loved its OST (the first was by far my favorite), but I'm feeling nostalgia even for tracks I wouldn't have expected. If the arrangements or recording were below par that certainly wouldn't be happening.

One weird thing I noticed is that the CD kept dropping in price.  It started at around $40 and next time I looked it was $30, and next time I looked it was $25.  Makes me not really want to order things like this right away?

I'll agree that rude/arrogant may be too strong of words for something like this so I'll concede and will say instead that it's baffling and seems like one hell of a stretch to ask that much for something intangible. I could see it if it was an entire discography or something along those lines, but I can't wrap my little brain around spending $30 for 74 minutes of digital music when there's no overhead for manufacturing/processing once it's posted for sale.

Well it could very well be Konami's fault for the price as it sounds like they have to be at the mercy of what the license holders want whether it makes sense or not.

Just like how the original plan to arrange Star Fox and FE fell through because Nintendo forced them to use only arrange the newer games as lazy marketing for them leading the Kickstarters to fail

Anyway the physical CD is available on Amazon now so I plan to pick this up as I forgot to repledge or something

I've posted my ten favorite tracks from this to the Game Music Orchestral and Instrumental Best playlist on Spotify. Should make for a good, quick introduction for anyone who hasn't heard it yet. The playlist is quite large so scroll near the bottom or filter (Ctrl-F) by Suikoden to find it.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27JsP … nWmAkK53GQ