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Great stories make great games. But when all is said and done, when you have finished the game, saved the world and beaten down the bad guy, the thing that sticks with you the most is the music. Especially in roleplaying games, a grandiose soundtrack will elevate your game from memorable to unforgettable. There has been a trend in the past decade or so to perform live symphonic versions of famous video game music. These concerts have been incredibly popular around the world, but how would you like to hear the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra whisk you away to a fantasy world? Now, you don’t have to wait for their next concert!

There have been hundreds of video game music concerts performed by orchestras, but perhaps the most popular one features music from Square Enix’s acclaimed Final Fantasy series. These concerts, called Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy, tour around the world and showcases local orchestras performing signature songs and themes from the immensely popular video games. However, Final Fantasy isn’t the only game made by Square Enix that exhibits beautiful music.

Symphonic Fantasies is a concert featuring orchestral arrangements of music from four different Square Enix series. Fans of Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy were treated to original arrangements by Finnish composer Jonne Valtonen in 2009 and 2012. While the original concert performed in Germany was given a CD release in 2010, the 2012 concert performed in Tokyo by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra is being given new life as it finds an audience with a digital release.

music 4Image: iTunes

music 5Image: Wikipedia

If you are wondering whether or not you need this album (trust us, you will need this album), you can give the Kingdom Hearts arrangement a full listen online, right now.

If you are a fan of orchestra music, or a fan of video game music, you should add this album to your music collection today.

Source: Joystiq via iTunes
Top Image: Amazon