Magpie Gamer

I don't know much about musical theory, nor am I a musically inclined person. However, I do love to listen to video game soundtracks. They can be a powerful listening experiences in their own right, or be as evocative as the scores composed for film. Each of these posts will feature a sampling of music tracks from a single game title, or series/franchise in some rare cases. A complete list of these can be found on the Video Game Music page. Composer: Andrew Arcadi Singer: Deep Dream, Primer, Brea "Bershy" Shay, Release Date: November 2025 Set in an alternate Los Angeles where superheroes and supervillains are commonplace, society has been divided between the "supers" (those born with powers) and "normies" (those born without). Robert Robertson III is a "normie" who achieved superhero status thanks to a mechanical suit passed down through his family. While hunting his father's killer, Robert is lured into a trap and narrowl...

Story: Set in the 2100's, humanity has branched out from Earth to colonize Mars and Jupiter's moons. Over time the relationship between the three degraded as Earth began to see itself as superior to the Martian people and exploited them for labor and resources. "Ender" became a derogatory term for anyone not born on Earth and growing tensions between the two eventually led to Mars forming their own military organization called "BAHRAM" (the ancient Persian name for Mars). Specially made mechanical suits called "Orbital Frames" , piloted by people called "Runners" , allowed Mars to hold their own against Earth's UNSF forces (United Nations Space Force). The cold war between BAHRAM and the UNSF blew up into full on war in the year 2172 when the UNSF took control of BAHRAM's production facility. BAHRAM managed to recapture one of their most powerful Orbital Frames called "Anubis" , but a second frame called "Jehu...

I don't know much about musical theory, nor am I a musically inclined person. However, I do love to listen to video game soundtracks. They can be a powerful listening experiences in their own right, or be as evocative as the scores composed for film. Each of these posts will feature a sampling of music tracks from a single game title, or series/franchise in some rare cases. A complete list of these can be found on the Video Game Music page. Composer: Hiroyuki Sawano Singers: Aimee Blackschleger, Cyua, Mika Kobayashi, mpi, Sayulee, North American Release Date: December 4, 2015 In the year 2054, a galactic war forces humanity to flee Earth aboard spaceships dubbed "arks". After being pursued by extraterrestrials for two years, the "White Whale" ark makes a crash landing on the uncharted planet Mira. Several stasis pods are ejected during the crash, of which the protagonist Cross is one of the only survivors. Rescued by Elma, the leader of BLADE (Bu...

"Special" is a port and minimalist remaster of the original handheld title. Rune Factory 3 was the game to introduce many of the series staple gameplay systems and is when the Rune Factory series "finally got good" according to most fans. That said, the remaster retains some of the rough edges from those early days. The controls are slippery and finicky, causing Micah (protagonist) to hit the wrong field tiles. Other times if you aren't standing in the exact spot the game wants you to be in it will be impossible to collect resources from ore and stumps, even though visually, it looks like you should be able to. Of the three games I have played (RF3, RF4, and RF5), this entry in the series has my favorite player home. The colorful cast of characters are considered to be the most eccentric of any Rune Factory game and I love it. There is just something about Rune Factory's brand of 'quirky character' that suits their world. Sofia and Sherman f...

When selecting a game you can easily look up whatever you want, whenever you want, thanks to that little phone in your pocket: reviews, trailers, online plot summaries. But in the past that wasn't an option. In the store it was the art on the box that would catch your eye, lure you over, and expose you to something you probably didn't know existed. The art, the back of the box, and the manual inside may be the only information you got about the game before deciding to play it. Those boxes could contain imagery so eye-catching that it was an art piece in its own right and something you would be proud to have in your home. But that all changed with the switch to digital. Online marketplaces and streaming services use small thumbnails with a simple portrait; almost background imagery - an afterthought. The logo often takes up half the space. Sometimes the thumbnail is only the logo. Their purpose is to make scrolling more convenient and clean looking, but we lost something along...