INTIR-063~6: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Soundtrack - Limited Collector's Edition

[Brad Evans II]

Thank you for the middle finger Inti, thank you SOOO MUCH.

I feel so damn stupid having bought the collector's edition of the Chronicles package now.

Perhaps I should count my lucky stars that the extra material is arranges and I'm usually not as interested in that as the in-game stuff.

Unless play-asia or CD Japan gets this I'm probably OoL since Inti's site doesn't ship outside of Japan. Given the price point I can't imagine what a scalper on eBay would ask.

Screw it, I don't need a third copy of the same music. Hell, I got screwed buying the Limited Run CDs right before the collector's edition was revealed. I've got to quit compounding the screwing at some point.

Sry, I don't mean to come off as annoying. I guess as long as we get composer credits for Curse 2 I'll live.

[Carl]

The website says it will only be for sale directly from the Inti shop.

[GoldfishX]

11000 yen for four CD's? Not exactly a value proposition. Ouch!

[LuxKiller65]

it's a limited reseller's edition

[ilef]

Well, time to ask my best friend a favour.

[BlazingAbyss]

Originally Posted by Brad Evans II

Thank you for the middle finger Inti, thank you SOOO MUCH.

I feel so damn stupid having bought the collector's edition of the Chronicles package now.

Perhaps I should count my lucky stars that the extra material is arranges and I'm usually not as interested in that as the in-game stuff.

Unless play-asia or CD Japan gets this I'm probably OoL since Inti's site doesn't ship outside of Japan. Given the price point I can't imagine what a scalper on eBay would ask.

I know how you feel, I'm also a bit annoyed about this because now like I feel I wasted my money buying the Limited Run releases for both games which I specifically only purchased for the soundtracks since they were never made commercially available and I already owned the games on Steam.

I might still get it anyway, but I'll probably wait until we have confirmation on whether or not it's just reprints of the Limited Run CDs with some extra arranged tracks. It sounds like it's only being sold through the Inti shop, but perhaps I could still get it through a middle man like Japan Rabbit or something if necessary. It certainly seems a bit overpriced for what it's offering though. The cover art seems a bit lazy to me too, it's just a bunch of enemy sprites haphazardly thrown onto a black background. For the price that they're selling it for you'd think that they could have at least gotten whoever did the cover art for the games to make a new illustration for it or something. I just hope that this release will at least include individual song credits for CotM2 if nothing else.

[ilef]

Order placed.

I understand this release is akin to a "Fuck you!" for those who bought other releases, but for individuals like me… folks who never had the others… it's a good thing, barring the price.

[Judge Ito]

Yeah, anything that bypasses LRG is a plus

[Aifread]

Originally Posted by BlazingAbyss

I know how you feel, I'm also a bit annoyed about this because now like I feel I wasted my money buying the Limited Run releases for both games which I specifically only purchased for the soundtracks since they were never made commercially available and I already owned the games on Steam.

Any money given to LRG is wasted. But hey, you can probably scalp them in a couple months and get more than what you paid back.

[BlazingAbyss]

Originally Posted by Aifread

Any money given to LRG is wasted. But hey, you can probably scalp them in a couple months and get more than what you paid back.

For clarification, do you mean that in a general sense or mainly just in regards to their CD releases? I'm not really too familiar with the company's reputation since the CotM games are the only LRG products I've ever purchased as there was no other way to get the official soundtracks at the time. However, if the quality of their CD releases are bad or something then I'll be sure to avoid them from now on.

[Aifread]

I have heard mixed things about their past CD releases, but they're generally slime for formulating an entire business model around scalpers. There are Japanese publishers who do small print runs of physical games too but the difference with them is you can actually buy them after release day.

[Brad Evans II]

Originally Posted by BlazingAbyss

For clarification, do you mean that in a general sense or mainly just in regards to their CD releases? I'm not really too familiar with the company's reputation since the CotM games are the only LRG products I've ever purchased as there was no other way to get the official soundtracks at the time. However, if the quality of their CD releases are bad or something then I'll be sure to avoid them from now on.

Dude, you must have missed my rant about the Axiom Verge 2 OST in that thread. I haven't had a problem with the CDs/Music, but man, the artwork for the jewel case releases:

https://vgmdb.net/db/covers.php?do=view&cover=581310

Again, it's my fault for trusting them; never thought I see the day when the discs in slipcases would be preferable. I get some might not see it as that bad, but a little more QA wouldn't kill them.

[Aifread]

They don't need QA when their fanbase is pressured to pre-order everything even if they don't know anything about the game and may never play it. Same goes for vinyl publishers.

[GoldfishX]

Originally Posted by Aifread

Any money given to LRG is wasted. But hey, you can probably scalp them in a couple months and get more than what you paid back.

I echo this sentiment. I can understand being worried about being stuck with backstock, but they've made artificial demand an artform in their business model. As someone that greatly prefers physical media, I prefer to just not support them.

[Judge Ito]

Here's an update LRG sent out recently about the Gotta Protectors SE, the first and only game order I'll make with them.
Seems to me you'd want to secure the rights to print a soundtrack BEFORE taking orders and people's money for said soundtrack, but what do I know about operating as the industry's leading griftmonger.

To bring this back on topic, the Bloodstained set is not yet sold out on Inti Direct and CD Japan is offering this through their proxy service.

[Brad Evans II]

Originally Posted by Judge Ito

To bring this back on topic, the Bloodstained set is not yet sold out on Inti Direct and CD Japan is offering this through their proxy service.

Yeah, this is how I ordered it. (Yes, I ordered it; I'm [Garbad the] weak...) There was no problem but I did have to use my sisters address since I have a P.O. and the expedited shipping needs a physical location.

Also, since we have a lot of people here, can I ask something about these soundtracks? I thought the music for Bloodstained 1 was excellent, but I'm a little more iffy on 2. I was on some forums and from what I was seeing, it seems a lot of casuals (e.g. gamers who aren't super into soundtracks) kind of have a problem with Curse 2's music. Do people who consume a lot of VGM feel the same, or is this a BOFIII situation were VGM collector's have a different view of the OST?

[BlazingAbyss]

Originally Posted by Brad Evans II

Also, since we have a lot of people here, can I ask something about these soundtracks? I thought the music for Bloodstained 1 was excellent, but I'm a little more iffy on 2. I was on some forums and from what I was seeing, it seems a lot of casuals (e.g. gamers who aren't super into soundtracks) kind of have a problem with Curse 2's music. Do people who consume a lot of VGM feel the same, or is this a BOFIII situation were VGM collector's have a different view of the OST?

While I didn't hate CotM2's soundtrack, I did think that it felt like an overall downgrade when compared to CotM1's (although that basically applies to how a felt about the game as a whole.) However, I'm not sure if I can really put my finger on a specific reason as to why exactly I felt that way. I suppose I just didn't find the tracks as immediately catchy as the first game's? There's were a few really good tracks, but I didn't find myself remembering much of the soundtrack afterwards. Although in CotM2's defense I didn't play it nearly as much as I did the first game so that may be a contributing factor in why I found it to be less memorable.

[Brad Evans II]

Originally Posted by BlazingAbyss

While I didn't hate CotM2's soundtrack, I did think that it felt like an overall downgrade when compared to CotM1's (although that basically applies to how a felt about the game as a whole.) However, I'm not sure if I can really put my finger on a specific reason as to why exactly I felt that way. I suppose I just didn't find the tracks as immediately catchy as the first game's? There's were a few really good tracks, but I didn't find myself remembering much of the soundtrack afterwards. Although in CotM2's defense I didn't play it nearly as much as I did the first game so that may be a contributing factor in why I found it to be less memorable.

Wow, I didn't expect to receive an answer that lined up with mine so well. Yeah, copy and paste this for me: same.

[Judge Ito]

Artist breakdowns are listed on the case. I'll try to take some nice photos sometime.

Disc A: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Soundtrack
Note that some of the track compositions originally attributed to Michiru Yamane on the CotM 1 LRG disc have been transferred to others.
Track 3, 16, 37, 40 --> Keisuke Ito
Track 28 --> Ryusuke Fujioka

Spoiler:

01. Theme of Bloodstained
Composition: Michiru Yamane
Arrangement: Hiroaki Sano, Ippo Yamada

02. Call of Eternity
C: Michiru Yamane
A: Aoi Takeda, Ippo Yamada

03. Theme of Zangetsu
C: Keisuke Ito
A: Aoi Takeda

04. Moonlit Blade
C/A: Ippo Yamada

05. Billowing Steam
C/A: Ippo Yamada

06. Desperado's Death Parade
C/A: Ippo Yamada

07. R.I.P.
C/A: Takumi Sato

08. Voyage of Promise (Theme of Miriam)
C: Michiru Yamane
A: Ryo Kawakami

09. On to the Next Battle
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

10. Bloody Frontier
C/A: Aoi Takeda

11. Depths of Despair
C/A: Aoi Takeda

12. Frigid Waltz
C/A: Aoi Takeda

13. Theme of Alfred
C: Michiru Yamane
A: Ryo Kawakami

14. Boundless Avarice
C/A: Takumi Sato

15. Grim Dealings
C/A: Takumi Sato

16. Theme of Gebel
C: Keisuke Ito
A: Ryo Yoshinaga

17. Echoes of Sorrow
C/A: Ippo Yamada

18. Grotesque Horror
C/A: Ippo Yamada

19. Voyage of Promise
C: Michiru Yamane
A: Hiroaki Sano

20. Heart of the Storm
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

21. Gruesome Slaughter
C/A: Ippo Yamada

22. Luscious Crimson
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

23. Malicious Intent
C: Aoi Takeda
A: Aoi Takeda, Ippo Yamada

24. Wicked Smirk
C/A: Aoi Takeda

25. Jamais Vu
C/A: Aoi Takeda

26. Lunatic Princess
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

27. Full Moon's Calamity
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

28. Silent Howling
C: Ryusuke Fujioka
A: Hiroaki Sano

29. Beyond the Longest Night
C/A: Ryo Kawakami

30. Curse of the Moon
C/A: Ippo Yamada

31. Soul Art Acquisition
C/A: Ryo Yoshinaga

32. The Horrible Night
C/A: Aoi Takeda

33. New Comrade
C/A: Ryo Yoshinaga

34. Into the Hellscape
C/A: Ippo Yamada

35. Soul of the Damned
C/A: Takumi Sato

36. Dark Emperor
C/A: Takumi Sato

37. Exorschism
C: Keisuke Ito
A: Hiroaki Sano

38. After the Nightmare
C/A: Ryo Kawakami

39, Lucid Dream
C/A: Ryo Kawakami

40. Game Over
C: Keisuke Ito
A: Aoi Takeda

41. After the Nightmare -Normal End Ver.-
C/A: Ryo Kawakami

Disc B: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Arrange

Spoiler:

01. On to the Next Battle
Composition: Hiroaki Sano
Arrangement: Hiroyuki Sato

02. Moonlit Blade
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Ippo Yamada, Hiroyuki Sato

03. Echoes of Sorrow
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Ippo Yamada, Hiroyuki Sato

04. Boundless Avarice
C/A: Takumi Sato

05. Desperado's Death Parade
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Hiroyuki Sato

06. The Horrible Night
C: Aoi Takeda
A: Hiroyuki Sato

07. Malicious Intent
C/A: Aoi Takeda

08. Gruesome Slaughter
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Hiroyuki Sato

09. Soul of the Damned
C/A: Takumi Sato


TAKUYA (INO HEAD PARK): Guitar, bass (ex. 7,9), arrangement
d-hi.: Bass (7,9)
Yuri Tokushima (徳島由莉): Violin, viola (3)
Uzzy: Mix

Disc C: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 Soundtrack

Spoiler:

01. Curse of the Moon -Crescendo-
Composition: Ippo Yamada
Arrangement: Yusuke Sakai, Hiroaki Sano

02. Creeping Presence
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

03. The Dawn Shall Not Break
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

04. Zangetsu Returns
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

05. On to the Next Battle (Short Ver.)
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

06. Moonlit Dance with Death
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Ippo Yamada, Hiroaki Sano

07. Enemy or Ally
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

08. Deepening Bonds
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

09. Briar Labyrinth
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

10. Roaring Cascade
C: Masahiro Aoki
A: Masahiro Aoki, Hiroaki Sano

11. Eternal Silence
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

12. Infernal Crucible
C: Takumi Sato
A: Takumi Sato, Hiroaki Sano

13. Museum of Nightmares
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

14. Laboratory of Souls
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

15. Boundless Pursuers
C/A: TAKUYA, Hiroaki Sano

16. Castle Swallower
C: Masahiro Aoki
A: Masahiro Aoki, Hiroaki Sano

17. A Sneering Eternal Hell
C/A: Takumi Sato

18. Consumer of the Land
C: Takumi Sato
A: Takumi Sato, Hiroaki Sano

19. The Night Continues On
C: Yusuke Sakai
A: Yusuke Sakai, Hiroaki Sano

20. Curse of the Moon 2
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Ippo Yamada, Hiroaki Sano

21. Beat of Determination
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

22. Ready for Questioning
C: Hiroyuki Sato
A: Hiroyuki Sato, Hiroaki Sano

23. A Moment's Respite
C: Yusuke Sakai
A: Yusuke Sakai, Hiroaki Sano

24. Dependable Friends
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

25. Attack the Moon!
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Ippo Yamada, Hiroaki Sano

26. Vigorous Breakthrough
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

27. Accursed Lunar Sanctum
C/A: Hiroaki Sano

28. Hole
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

29. Who Comes from Beyond the Darkness
C: Ryo Yoshinaga
A: Ryo Yoshinaga, Hiroaki Sano

30. We Shall Fight On
C: Yusuke Sakai
A: Yusuke Sakai, Hiroaki Sano

31. Ever-Sharp Blade
C: Takumi Sato
A: Takumi Sato, Hiroaki Sano

Disc D: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 Arrange

Spoiler:

01. The Dawn Shall Not Break
Composition: Takumi Sato
Arrangement: Hiroyuki Sato

02. Zangetsu Returns
C/A: Ryo Yoshinaga

03. Briar Labyrinth
C/A: Ryo Yoshinaga

04. Moonlit Dance with Death
C: Ippo Yamada
A: Ryo Yoshinaga

05. Infernal Crucible
C: Takumi Sato
A: Hiroyuki Sato

06. Boundless Pursuers
C: TAKUYA, Hiroaki Sano
A: Hiroyuki Sato

07. Lord of the High Manor
C: Masahiro Aoki, Takumi Sato
A: Ryo Yoshinaga

08. The Night Continues On
C/A: Yusuke Sakai


Tsutomu Kurihara (栗原務): Guitar, arrangement, mix

[Judge Ito]

Double post because I've got some additional notes and thoughts:
- If you're wondering where Disc D's "Lord of the High Manor" comes from, it's a combined arrangement of CotM 2's "Castle Swallower" and "Consumer of the Land"
- The previous post's information comes from the digipak case, and the following comes from the credits block on the booklet. Yuri Tokushima's viola credit for track B-3 is missing here for some reason.

Spoiler:

CREDIT

III: Sound Create Unit

Ippo Yamada: Computer Programming, Arrangement, 8-bit Conversion
Hiroaki Sano: Computer Programming, Arrangement, 8-bit Conversion
Ryo Kawakami: Computer Programming, Arrangement, 8-bit Conversion
Aoi Takeda: Computer Programming, Arrangement, 8-bit Conversion
Takumi Sato: Computer Programming, Arrangement, 8-bit Conversion
Ryo Yoshinaga: Computer Programming, Arrangement, 8-bit Conversion
Yusuke Sakai: Computer Programming, Arrangement
Hiroyuki Sato: Computer Programming, Arrangement

TAKUYA: Guitar, Bass (DiscB-1-6,8), Computer Programming, Arrangement (DiscB)
d-hi: Bass(DiscB-7,9)
Yuri Tokushima: Violin (DiscB-3)

Tsutomu Kurihara : Guitar, Computer Programming, Arrangement(DiscD)

Staff

Produce, Supervise : Ippo Yamada
Mix: Uzzy (DiscB), Tsutomu Kurihara (DiscD)
Mastering: Ryo Kawakami

Label, Layout Design Works: Sprocket Inc. / Yuu Komiyama

Illustration: Yuji Natsume

Special Thanks: Hiroki Miyazawa (INTI)
Yuta Watanabe (INTI)
Andrew Singleton (INTI)
Ryan Thomson (INTI)
and All Inti Creates Staff
Sales Promote: Go Maeda
Shigeru Nakagawa

Executive Producer: Takuya Aizu

©ArtPlay, Inc. / ©INTI CREATES CO., LTD.

--------------------------

Originally Posted by Brad Evans II

Also, since we have a lot of people here, can I ask something about these soundtracks? I thought the music for Bloodstained 1 was excellent, but I'm a little more iffy on 2. I was on some forums and from what I was seeing, it seems a lot of casuals (e.g. gamers who aren't super into soundtracks) kind of have a problem with Curse 2's music. Do people who consume a lot of VGM feel the same, or is this a BOFIII situation were VGM collector's have a different view of the OST?

Between Blaster Master Zero, the first Curse of the Moon and a lot of other retro-themed games they've been involved with, III demonstrated they can knock out a great, classic Famicom-style score any time they want. CotM 2's soundtrack (and likewise Blaster Master Zero 3's) builds on that classic style with some very interesting rhythms, pitch-bends and tone combinations that make me feel like I'm hearing something brand new in the Famicom sound space besides just layering expansion chips. It's commendable and I appreciate it, but like BlazingAbyss said, it kind of loses some of it's catchiness in the process.

This extends to the arrangements too, because the CotM1 arrangements are 9/10 and up there with the Dracula Perfect Battle and F-Zero X arrange albums imo, while the CotM2 arrangements are merely serviceable. I can't tell if that's because the playful exploration of sound from the OST doesn't quite make the transition to live instruments, or if the polish and execution is just that much better on the CotM1 arrangements. Additional points off for ignoring some of the better tracks, like "Attack the Moon!" and "Ever-Sharp Blade"

[Brad Evans II]

Note that track names for tracks 31 and 33 are still switched here, but it doesn't throw any composition credits into question given they are composed by the same person.

Edit: On the CotM1 in game disc.

[BlazingAbyss]

Considering how discs 1 and 3 are the same length as their limited run counterparts, and how tracks 31 and 33 are apparently still swapped on the CotM1 soundtrack, I'm guessing that it's safe to assume that those discs are identical to their previous releases?

[Judge Ito]

EAC auto-populated Disc A with the LRG disc info, so it's close enough for freedb to say they're the same. Had to manually input data for CotM2/Disc C.

[Brad Evans II]

Question about this set. These are individually numbered aren't they? I'm not concerned about rarity for any future purpose, but does anyone know now many they are meant/going to be?

[Judge Ito]

Yes, they are individually numbered on the top of the box. 4 digits.
I thought I saw a post with the total number of units when it was first announced, but I'm having trouble finding that info again.

[zierts]

On Discogs it says it was 6,000 copies. But no source.

[Brad Evans II]

Originally Posted by zierts

On Discogs it says it was 6,000 copies. But no source.

That's actually the original Limited Run release that was bundled with the game years ago, not this Limited Collector's Edition set by Inti themselves.

Yeah, I doubt they would know the exact number of that previous version given that bundle was released for multiple consoles. All you'll ever probably ever get is an estimate with that one.

I don't see an entry for this new version (or the one from the collector's edition) on Discogs yet.

[Brad Evans II]

I apologize that I couldn't preserve the layout of the booklet with the scans. When the booklet is laid flat both pages put together exceed the height of my scanner's scan surface.