Original Soundchat: Recent Episodes
Joe DeVader & Peter Spezia
Join hosts Joe and Peter every week as they take a deep dive into two video game soundtracks and the artists behind them.
THIS WEEK: Peter descends into a volcano to witness the ultimate showdown between Heihachi and Kazuya Mishima with Rio Hamamoto's work in Tekken 7 and Joe braves the terrifying natural elements to stop a potential nuclear terrorist attack in Disaster: Day of Crisis.
THIS WEEK: Joe puts up his boxing gloves to reboot Nintendo's original fighting franchise on Wii in Punch-Out!! (2009) and Peter perceives lies in the courtroom with a magical bracelet to discover why a famous lawyer got disbarred with Toshihiko Horiyama's work in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.
THIS WEEK: Joe jumps between dimensions to stop a cyborg invasion using roguelike elements with Steve London's work in Star Renegades.
THIS WEEK: Joe retrieves the logs of a derelict spaceship while hearing suspicious stories from two AI companions with Isaac Schankler's work in Analogue: A Hate Story and Peter races into the Blue Falcon to show off power of Mode 7 on Super Nintendo in F-Zero.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter present their combined list of the top 10 best game soundtracks of 2023
THIS WEEK: Peter prepares for the twilight of the gods across each of the nine realms all throughout a continuous camera shot with Hozier's work in God of War Ragnarök.
THIS WEEK: Joe works as a physically augmented UNATCO agent to recover stolen shipments of a vaccine to a pandemic known as the Gray Death with Alexander Brandon's work in Deus Ex.
THIS WEEK: Peter collects S-K-A-T-E letters while pulling off sick skateboard combos with Brian Bright's work in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Joe flexes his inner bodybuilder with the sidescrolling shooter featuring fighting game inputs in Ai Cho Aniki.
THIS WEEK: Peter returns home to Possum Springs to hang out with friends and uncover the town's darkest secret with Scott Benson's work in Night in the Woods.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter take a Thanksgiving break from dissecting game soundtracks and the critical five songs within them, in order to answer some questions that have been asked by listeners
THIS WEEK: Joe faces the forces of the Masked Circle as rumors in Sumaru are coming true with Masaki Kurokawa's work in Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Peter battles the sentient weapons of the Smithy Gang with their takeover of Star Road and the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
THIS WEEK: Joe vanquishes the Vile Four as a knight while watering down the popular JRPG formula to appeal to a new audience with Ryuji Sasai's work in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
THIS WEEK: Joe teams up with three other survivors against a slew of slasher icons with Michel F. April's work in Dead by Daylight and Peter chooses between three narrative paths across the open world of the Paldea region in Pokémon Scarlet/Violet.
THIS WEEK: Peter struggles with accelerated aging from FOXDIE as Liquid Ocelot launches his insurrection in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Joe tries to save his neighbor from certain death while being trapped in his cursed apartment with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's work in Silent Hill 4: The Room.
THIS WEEK: Joe finds himself trapped on an airship with the worst group of children and a faithful dog named Brown with Yutaka Minobe's work in Rule of Rose and Peter takes the 2D platformer to the next level with Nintendo's 16-bit debut on SNES in Super Mario World.
THIS WEEK: Peter watches clips in an interactive movie trilogy to discover the fate of Marissa Marcel with Nainita Desai's work in Immortality and Joe solves the mystery of Jeremy Hartwood's death with the first survival horror adventure with 3D graphics in Alone in the Dark.
THIS WEEK: Joe solves mysteries in Shiokawa that are inspired by Junji Ito to appease an Old God with Qwesta's work in World of Horror and Peter plays both sides of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta as The Eagle Bearer in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
THIS WEEK: Peter needs to get Johnny Silverhand out of his mind while surviving in Night City with P.T. Adamczyk's work in Cyberpunk 2077 and Joe must rescue his father from Monomind as Bright Town deals with the fallout from an event called The Dark in Jack Move.
THIS WEEK: Joe begins his pilgrimage as The Penitent One in a world filled with Spanish religious imagery with Carlos Viola's work in Blasphemous and Peter tests his might in the visceral fighting game defined by its fatalities in Mortal Kombat.
THIS WEEK: Peter channels the magical card powers of Magnus to stop the revival of the evil god Malpercio in Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Joe pits the VTubers of Hololive against each other in a fan-made fighting game with Cameron Gomez's work in Idol Showdown.
THIS WEEK: Joe discovers the secret to time travel and attracts the attention of dangerous individuals who seek it in Steins;Gate and Peter emerges from Vault 111 to avenge his spouse and find his son in The Commonwealth with Inon Zur's work in Fallout 4.
THIS WEEK: Peter dives into 4X strategy to guide a growing empire towards supremacy in Civilization IV and Joe builds a public collection of animals while dealing with all of the elements that go into running that business with J.J. Ipsen's work in Planet Zoo.
THIS WEEK: Joe must collect three giant souls in order to unravel the bureaucratic secrets of the afterlife in Death's Door and Peter only has to move for a roguelike where you become the bullet hell with Daniele Zandara's work in Vampire Survivors.
THIS WEEK: Peter equips Functions into a sword with a consciousness to fight back against The Process in Transistor and Joe reports on the Morolian invasion of Earth while countering with the power of dance with Mariko Nanba's work in Space Channel 5.
THIS WEEK: Joe gets thrown into supernatural circumstances alongside his high school sweetheart as reality doesn't seem to add up with Masdito Bachtiar's work in A Space for the Unbound.
THIS WEEK: Peter gets trapped in a new world as Capcom takes a big risk on a legendary fighting game franchise with 2D sprites during a transitional period in the industry with Hideki Okugawa's work in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
THIS WEEK: Peter must fix a broken Dimensionator to repair space and time through the assistance of the solid state loading speeds of the PlayStation 5 with Wataru Hokoyama's work in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
THIS WEEK: Peter controls small plant-based creatures to collect human trash and eliminate a freight company's debt in Pikmin 2 and Joe finds himself dragged again into the Reaper's Game alongside teammates trying to survive in Shibuya with SAWA's work in NEO: The World Ends With You.
THIS WEEK: Joe must save the universe by collecting eight musical instruments and defeating Prince Zowie of the Gravillian Empire in rhythmic battle with Tomohiro Harada's work in Gitaroo Man.
THIS WEEK: Peter wields a megaphone Hacking Gun to escape the Monokuma robot threat in Towa City in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls and Joe returns to Britannia as the Avatar to oust Lord Blackthorn and the Shadowlords with Kenneth W. Arnold's work in Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny.
THIS WEEK: Joe tends to a farm while getting married and raising a child in Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life and Peter takes the form of the Werehog at night in a globetrotting world adventure with Takahito Eguchi's work in Sonic Unleashed.
THIS WEEK: Joe meets a woman at a graduation party and must help her assassinate the sorceress who is the cause of an empire's aggression with Faye Wong's work in Final Fantasy VIII.
THIS WEEK: Peter activates bullet time through the criminal underbelly of São Paolo to move on from his past with HEALTH's work in Max Payne 3.
THIS WEEK: Peter solves the Half Body serial killings by diving into a suspect's subconscious with Yasushi Asada's work in AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative and Joe maps out the Yggdrasil Labyrinth while also discovering the ruins of Gladsheim in Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl.
THIS WEEK: Joe rolls a sphere around the world in a tribute to the antics of The King of All Cosmos in Katamari Forever and Peter wields a magic paintbrush to bring color back to a monochromatic world with Carlos Eiene's work in Chicory: A Colorful Tale.
THIS WEEK: Peter fires up the Batmobile while dealing with Scarecrow's fear toxin in Gotham City with David Buckley's work in Batman: Arkham Knight and Joe struggles through 12 days in a plague-infested Russian town in Pathologic.
THIS WEEK: Joe purifies the gods with archery and an eagle companion to stop the Godslayer with Susie Seiter's work in The Pathless and Peter catches 'em all with flippers and a Game Boy Rumble Pak in Pokémon Pinball.THIS WEEK: Joe purifies the gods with archery and an eagle companion to stop the Godslayer with Susie Seiter's work in The Pathless and Peter catches 'em all with flippers and a Game Boy Rumble Pak in Pokémon Pinball.
THIS WEEK: Peter picks up a sword and shield to stop the nefarious wizard Agahnim from reviving Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Joe controls time in Labrynna and the weather in Holodrum with Kiyohiro Sada's work in The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons.
THIS WEEK: Joe manages stress during the expeditions of four adventurers into the horrific catacombs beneath a manor with Stuart Chatwood's work in Darkest Dungeon and Peter wields an Ancient Relic Machine on a journey through Filgaia to stop the plans of the Metal Demons in Wild Arms.
THIS WEEK: Peter reconnects with the Force to survive after the purge of Order 66 with Gordy Haab's work in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Joe reclaims a missing limb in a land of Immortals through rhythm gameplay in Everhood.
THIS WEEK: Joe strategizes a tiled battlefield with COs to flip Nintendo's views on Western genre tastes in Advance Wars and Peter enlists in the Neuron Task Force to forge a psychic bond with a Legion with Satoshi Igarashi's work in Astral Chain.
THIS WEEK: Peter leaves Meiji era Japan to learn about the Victorian British legal system and how to become a defense lawyer in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and Joe switches investigative perspectives between a detective and a reporter to catch a serial killer in The Silver Case.
THIS WEEK: Peter concludes the Dark Seeker Saga story arc in the long-running Disney crossover RPG series with Skrillex's work in Kingdom Hearts III.
THIS WEEK: Joe assumes the perspective of more than a dozen protagonists in a sweeping sci-fi world filled with time travel, giant robots, and kaiju with Mitsuhiro Kaneda's work in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
THIS WEEK: Peter escorts a girl who speaks another language through a castle to escape its queen with Koichi Yamazaki's work in Ico.
THIS WEEK: Joe puts on the Deadsuit to help a group of stranded people fix their spaceship and escape a planet with Grant Graham's work in Ghost Song.
THIS WEEK: Joe escapes a haunted village with the Camera Obscura to fend off a murderous ritual with Ayako Toyoda's work in Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly and Peter plays eight games in one with the multiplayer omnibus for the pink puffball in Kirby Super Star.
THIS WEEK: Peter shoots his way through Bungie's definitive action MMO in Destiny 2 and Joe embarks on a solemn journey through a ruined kingdom alongside spirit companions with Mili's work in Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights.
THIS WEEK: Peter recovers pieces of an AI to restore the world's biosphere while learning that he isn't alone in this quest with Oleksa Lozowchuk's work in Horizon Forbidden West.
THIS WEEK: Joe battles Chaos with the four Warriors of Light and their crystals with Ryoue Takagi's work in Final Fantasy.
THIS WEEK: Joe travels with his adoptive daughter to the surface after getting banished from his underground village in Eastward and Peter customizes and extends his upper appendages to become the Grand Prix Champion with Eliana Silva's work in ARMS.
THIS WEEK: Peter cheats death to become a luchador and save El Presidente's daughter with Rom Di Prisco's work in Guacamelee! and Joe boards the USG Ishimura to find some answers while severing the limbs of Necromorphs in Dead Space.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter celebrate the podcast's four-year anniversary by reflecting on top 5 lists of arranged and original music tracks for a game in the series that started their friendship and their love of video game music - Super Smash Bros. Melee.
THIS WEEK: Peter moves to the beat on the Midnight Stage in order to find the missing members of a musical group with Ryota Kozuka's work in Persona 4: Dancing All Night and Joe tours Japan to dive into the Metaverse once again and investigate the stealing of desires in Persona 5 Strikers.
THIS WEEK: Joe makes the strategic choice between his blood family and the family that raised him in Fire Emblem Fates and Peter perpetuates the cycle of violence through Ellie's quest for revenge with Mac Quayle's work in The Last of Us Part II.
THIS WEEK: Peter creates a non-canon ending to the Wano Country arc in the next swashbuckling anime Musou in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 and Joe ricochets off of giant shard-based monsters while recruiting a team of friends with Big Giant Circles' work in Beast Breaker.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter present their combined list of the top 10 best game soundtracks of 2022
THIS WEEK: Peter fuses adventure with puzzles to unravel the secret of St. Mystere in Professor Layton and the Curious Village and Joe uncovers the truth behind a ghost that is haunting a Japanese hotel with Kevin Manthei's work in Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge.
THIS WEEK: Joe paints a piece for an upcoming exhibition while dealing with his colors going missing in Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery and Peter rallies the troops to stop the Runefaust horde and the Dark Dragon with Masahiko Yoshimura's work in Shining Force.
THIS WEEK: Peter shifts to a new motion control scheme while dealing with the effects of Phazon with Masaru Tajima's work in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Joe works his body down the snowy course to pull off secret tricks in 1080º Snowboarding.
THIS WEEK: Joe wants to topple the Demon King by exuding attitude and shooting fire from his fits with M.R. Miller's work in Demon Turf and Peter gets tangled up in an intergalactic battle for Faith Energy on the way to pay a fine in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter present their combined list of the top 10 best game soundtracks of the 2010s, as informed by surveyed fan voting regarding games from 2010-2019
THIS WEEK: Joe reimagines the Generation II heritage of Johto with a best friend following along on Nintendo DS in Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver and Peter steps into the third dimension of Kalos and Generation VI on 3DS with Hideaki Kuroda's work in Pokémon X & Y.
THIS WEEK: Peter raids Saxon cities to build up his Viking establishment of Ravensthorpe in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Joe discovers the history of a magical family heirloom through the exploration of a Norwegian town with Mattis Folkestad's work in Embracelet.
THIS WEEK: Peter mines for materials in a procedurally generated universe that experiences a disastrous debut and a remarkable rebirth with 65daysofstatic's work in No Man's Sky.
THIS WEEK: Peter hits the climax again to find the Gates of Hell amidst chaos to save a dear friend in Bayonetta 2 and Joe finds inspiration from that town as he makes his way through a city full of disgusting monsters with Jasper Byrne's work in Lone Survivor.
THIS WEEK: Joe guides a dog through a survival horror journey while being objectified by the creepy inhabitants of a castle with Seiko Kobuchi's work in Haunting Ground and Peter takes your heart with the addition of a third semester to the Phantom Thieves' definitive experience in Persona 5 Royal.
THIS WEEK: Joe solves the mystery of a murdered high school girl and the possible connection to a rumored ghostly entity that appears at night with Takeshi Abo's work in Famicom Detective Club II: The Girl Who Stands Behind.
THIS WEEK: Joe helps a sad girl buy some dairy from the grocery store with Nikita Kryukov's work in Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk & Milk Outside a Bag of Milk Outside a Bag of Milk and Peter brings heroes together to deliver the payload and open lootboxes in Overwatch.
THIS WEEK: Peter adds dialog trees to revolutionize the point-and-click adventure genre in a pirate adventure through the SCUMM Engine with Michael Land's work in The Secret of Monkey Island.
THIS WEEK: Joe tries to remember his past as a detective while running a range of skill checks and unraveling what's going on in the poverty-ridden district of Martinaise with British Sea Power's work in Disco Elysium.
THIS WEEK: Peter shoots some more ink as a squid during turf wars in a sequel on a much bigger console install base with Splatoon 2 and Joe directs three teens to leave their country so they can be free from an authoritarian government before election day with The Toxic Avenger's work in Road 96.
THIS WEEK: Joe reads a tale about opening doors through time to explore why an idyllic mansion has a terrible curse with Yusuke Tsutsumi's work in The House in Fata Morgana and Peter descends into the underwater city of Rapture to uncover its terrible fate in BioShock.
THIS WEEK: Peter swings out of Harlem with Insomniac's tighter superhero experience at the launch of the PlayStation 5 in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Joe summons his stand to a 3D fighting game featuring characters from a manga franchise across eight parts with Chikayo Fukuda's work in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle.
THIS WEEK: Joe explores the relationship of star-crossed lovers who have fled The Apiary to crash on the uninhabited planet of Source with Danger's work in Haven and Peter delivers packages to connect the apocalyptic United Cities of America to the Chiral Network in Death Stranding.
THIS WEEK: Peter spirals into the annual American football franchise with an installment that was simultaneously its high and low point with Sam Spence's work in Madden NFL 06 and Joe dons a suit of armor in an absurdly difficult lance-throwing arcade platformer in Ghosts 'n Goblins.
THIS WEEK: Joe explores a world powered by salt and designed by hand to fuse Souls-like and Castlevania gameplay with James Silva's work in Salt and Sanctuary.
THIS WEEK: Peter gets blazing with the hard-rock reset for beginners in the original stylish 2D anime fighting game series with Daisuke Ishiwatari's work in Guilty Gear Strive and Joe brings creatures of the night together to have them battle for supremacy and how to name a franchise in Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors.
THIS WEEK: Joe slashes his way through a first-person dungeon crawler that has touch-based controls in combat with Yamantaka // Sonic Titan's work in Severed and Peter follows the story of Drivers and Blades searching for the power of the Aegis in the world of Alrest in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
THIS WEEK: Peter runs through an anti-utopian city through first-person parkour with Solar Fields' work in Mirror's Edge and Joe threads seven narratives together across seven time periods in a previously Japanese-exclusive RPG in Live A Live.
THIS WEEK: Joe creates the cat café of his dreams alongside other animals in a pastel-filled magical girl world with Slide20XX's work in Calico and Peter experiences deviancy as CyberLife androids start to think for themselves and gain civil rights in Detroit: Become Human.
THIS WEEK: Peter sails across open deserts to find his lineage and true connection to the Swarm alien hive with Ramin Djawadi's work in Gears 5 and Joe loads up on dual-wielded weapons to take new perspectives in shooting baddies in Contra III: The Alien Wars.
THIS WEEK: Joe investigates a serial killer case where the victims are missing their left eyes by going into dreams in AI: The Somnium Files and Peter decides whether to ally with or betray teammates in the Nonary Game after solving escape rooms with Ryoma Nakamura's work in Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter strive to make Good Futures in the Rounds on Little Planet, along with the two totally different soundtracks that represent the adventure, with Naofumi Hataya and Spencer Nilsen's work in Sonic CD.
THIS WEEK: Joe attends funerals after battles for the creatures he summoned through metadata on CD-ROM discs in Monster Rancher 2 and Peter takes on the Y Twins in a beat-em-up sequel 26 years in the making with Olivier Deriviere's work in Streets of Rage 4.
THIS WEEK: Peter charges up racquet swings for special shots while avoiding the perils of gimmick courts in Mario Power Tennis and Joe swings for the fences in a tropical-themed baseball kingdom with Ayako Yamaguchi's work in Mario Super Sluggers.
THIS WEEK: Joe takes up the Belmont whip alongside some companions to stop the Count's notoriously fiendish crusade across Europe in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and Peter alters his appearance through morality while getting revenge for the death of his older sister with Danny Elfman's work in Fable II.
THIS WEEK: Joe explores 3D platforming in a land of dots and fruits to reclaim the haunted island of an escaped ghost king with David Logan's work in Pac-Man World 2.
THIS WEEK: Joe grabs his water gun and 3D glasses to save nearby citizens from ghoulish threats in Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Peter escapes prison through boss fights along with a mysterious man in a purple rabbit mask with Carpenter Brut's work in Furi.
THIS WEEK: Peter questions if love can bloom on the battlefield while sneaking through Shadow Moses Island in Metal Gear Solid and Joe creates a video game to get back at his employer and woo the girl of his dreams with Keiichi Sugiyama's work in Dandy Dungeon: Legend of Brave Yamada.
THIS WEEK: Peter drives forklifts and activates quick time events while asking neighbors what they witnessed when Lan Di changed everything with Takenobu Mitsuyoshi's work in Shenmue.
THIS WEEK: Peter breaks out the motion-controlled pack-in title that revolutionized house parties with bowling and other activities in Wii Sports and Joe hunts for a story on Snaktooth Island involving a Grumpus expedition team and the nearby critters with Kero Kero Bonito's work in Bugsnax.
THIS WEEK: Joe shows his new sentient flower friend the perfect day so he can see his grandmother again with TOW's work in Sumire and Peter steps out onto Hyrule Field with a fairy in order to keep the Triforce out of Ganondorf's evil clutches in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
THIS WEEK: Peter concludes the original courtroom-based trilogy with a showdown against a prosecutor that holds a deep love for black coffee with Yoshihiko Ando's work in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations.
THIS WEEK: Joe finds himself in an alternate timeline where he has been dead for ten years in what is explicitly not a sequel to a legendary game with Noriko Mitose's work in Chrono Cross.
THIS WEEK: Peter creates havoc in the streets of Agrabah to foil Jafar's magic lamp ambitions in Disney's Aladdin and Joe returns to Halloween Town to deal with the return of an insect-filled sentient burlap sack with Kengo Hagiwara's work in The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge.
THIS WEEK: Joe copies abilities in the installment that truly defined the pink puffball's characteristics in Kirby's Adventure and Peter uncovers what happened when the townspeople of Yaughton encountered a pattern of light with Jessica Curry's work in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.
THIS WEEK: Peter uses physics to pass some fundamental tests under the watchful eye of a sinister AI with Kelly Bailey's work in Portal and Joe searches for the meaning of home while trying to discover the motives behind the queen of Alexandria in Final Fantasy IX.
THIS WEEK: Joe wakes up in the ruined high-tech world of Sudra to revive the giant mechanical guardians known as the Rusalki with Thomas Happ's work in Axiom Verge and Peter does a barrel roll and rumbles along from Corneria to Venom to stop the evil Andross in Star Fox 64.
THIS WEEK: Peter dons the cowl to make tough choices with Gotham's first season of a point-and-click adventure in Batman: The Telltale Series and Joe mysteriously finds himself in the world of Ivalice and struggles with the idea of returning home with Hitoshi Sakimoto's work in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
THIS WEEK: Joe ventures into Lordran with the influentially bleak and brutal action game that created its own subgenre in Dark Souls and Peter bounces on a cane like a pogo stick to increase his wealth with Hiroshige Tonomura's work in DuckTales.
THIS WEEK: Peter treads the path of the World Warrior in a heavily influential 2D fighting game with Isao Abe's work in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Joe brawls in 3v3 team combat before tag fighting games hit the scene in The King of Fighters '95.
THIS WEEK: Joe loads his mind into Vitalia to interact with spirits in a virtual reality-inspired visual novel with Chase Bethea's work in < /Reality > and Peter gushes over cartridge lock-on technology while uncovering one of game music's most legendary stories with the King of Pop in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter celebrate the podcast's three-year anniversary by reflecting on a top 10 list for a game in the series that started their friendship and their love of video game music - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
THIS WEEK: Joe mashes up everyone's favorite monster collecting franchise with a strategy RPG about historical Japanese warfare in Pokémon Conquest and Peter travels to the Orre region to free creatures with corrupted hearts through double battles and no wild encounters with Tsukasa Tawada's work in Pokémon Colosseum.
THIS WEEK: Peter takes the reins of an iconic first-person shooter franchise to push it into a new generation without its original creators with Neil Davidge's work in Halo 4.
THIS WEEK: Joe starts a rhythmic rock revolution in a city that is taken over by EDM with Andy Tunstall's work in No Straight Roads and Peter discovers the subgenre of character action to fill his dark soul with light in Devil May Cry.
THIS WEEK: Peter becomes a Shardbinder to reimagine Castlevania gameplay through a Kickstarter-backed spiritual successor with Keisuke Ito's work in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and Joe needs to find things to do at home when a downpour ruins the day's plans in Rainy Season.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter present their combined list of the top 10 best game soundtracks of 2021
THIS WEEK: Peter becomes the director of a government agency to find a sibling and root out the Hiss in Control and Joe befriends departed souls to complete their final tasks before saying goodbye with Max LL's work in Spiritfarer.
THIS WEEK: Joe navigates a princess through MC Escher-inspired impossible geometry in Monument Valley and Peter frees Ptolemaic Egypt from the grasp of the Order of the Ancients with Sarah Schachner's work in Assassin's Creed Origins.
THIS WEEK: Peter teaches students at Garreg Mach Monastery as Fódlan is on the brink of war in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Joe flees to Ishgard to clear his name and discover the truth of The Dragonsong War with Susan Calloway's work in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward.
THIS WEEK: Joe leads a little robot on a journey to save a grungy city and his friends inside of it in Machinarium and Peter wields an energy sword on a 16-bit quest to find the cure to an illness with Akash Thakkar's work in Hyper Light Drifter.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter take a Thanksgiving break from dissecting game soundtracks and the critical five songs within them, in order to answer some questions that have been asked by listeners
THIS WEEK: Joe steps into the Galar region to find a controversy that got Dynamaxed out of proportion in Pokémon Sword & Shield and Peter discovers how much water is too much in a remade Hoenn with Hitomi Sato's work in Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire.
THIS WEEK: Peter attempts daring heists with two other protagonists in the exciting city of Los Santos with Edgar Froese's work in Grand Theft Auto V and Joe becomes the Demi-Fiend to appeal to the Vortex World's Kagutsuchi in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.
THIS WEEK: Joe rotates a planet to control happy solid-colored orbs that can split and merge in LocoRoco and Peter remembers "No Russian" and the first-person shooter that took a franchise to stratospheric heights with Hans Zimmer's work in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
THIS WEEK: Joe dives into what remains of humanity at the derelict undersea facility known as PATHOS-II with Mikko Tarmia's work in SOMA.
THIS WEEK: Joe grabs his camera to snag the latest ghoulish scoop at Willamette Parkview Mall in Dead Rising and Peter swerves with a motion-controlled plastic wheel alongside 12 racing bikes with Asuka Ohta's work in Mario Kart Wii.
THIS WEEK: Peter drops into the Rook Islands to become the Rakyat warrior he was apparently always destined to be in Far Cry 3 and Joe spends his first day on the police force dealing with the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City with Shusaku Uchiyama's work in Resident Evil 2 (1998).
THIS WEEK: Joe starts spooky season with a light gun rail shooter aimed at terribly voiced Venetian zombies with Tetsuya Kawauchi's work in The House of the Dead 2 and Peter controls the tilted direction of the floor to move orbed simians to the goal in Super Monkey Ball.
THIS WEEK: Peter picks up the adventurous trail of Marco Polo's journey to Shambhala in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Joe dives back into the career of fulfilling deathbed dreams through memory alteration with Kan Gao and Chris Ryker's work in Finding Paradise.
THIS WEEK: Joe navigates rooms filled with spinning buzzsaws while learning that dying to them can be acceptable with Doseone's work in Disc Room and Peter tackles Cold War nuclear deterrence through portable stealth in 1970s Central America in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
THIS WEEK: Peter uses logic and rebuttals as a prosecutor at crime scenes to unravel an international smuggling ring in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Joe starts a private detective agency in London to work small cases in the shadow of an iconic father with Kana Nishino's work in Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy.
THIS WEEK: Joe runs into nostalgia with twenty years of a classic and modern hedgehog in Sonic Generations and Peter visits an amusement park in space to free enslaved Wisps with Kenichi Tokoi's work in Sonic Colors.
THIS WEEK: Peter is a kid now and then is subsequently a squid now with Nintendo's entry into multiplayer shooters in Splatoon and Joe assumes the role of six medical professionals to stop the deadly Rosalia epidemic with Ben Franklin's work in Trauma Team.
THIS WEEK: Joe falls into a deep sleep and grows wings to find a portal home with Béatrice Martin's work in Child of Light and Peter eliminates Mongol invaders while struggling with the samurai code of ethics in Ghost of Tsushima.
THIS WEEK: Peter gathers fragments of a light spirit while trying to find a lost baby owl friend with Kristin Naigus' work in Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
THIS WEEK: Joe manages his very own theme park while also enjoying the thrill rides with Alistair Lindsay's work in RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.
THIS WEEK: Peter turns into a wolf and teams up with an imp to rid Hyrule of a dark force in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Joe works out with the Ring-con in an exercise-focused RPG with Shinji Ushiroda's work in Ring Fit Adventure.
THIS WEEK: Joe gets really tired as he tries to awaken sleeping Disney worlds with Tsuyoshi Sekito's work in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Peter saves the titular ape with the side-scrolling SNES monkey-platforming sequel in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.
THIS WEEK: Peter jumps on the mascot platformer craze as an armored opossum with a jetpack in Rocket Knight Adventures and Joe plays noir-set minigames with a paranoid scaly child's family members with 2 Mello's work in Later Alligator.
THIS WEEK: Joe crawls through dungeons to the beat of the music alongside a singing shopkeeper in Crypt of the NecroDancer and Peter grinds through the Musou game that crosses over with The Legend of Zelda with Masato Koike's work in Hyrule Warriors.
THIS WEEK: Peter ends the Human-Covenant war at the cultural apex of Microsoft's first-person shooter series in Halo 3 and Joe changes camera perspectives to challenge a third-person shooter roguelike that increases in difficulty over time with Chris Christodoulou's work in Risk of Rain 2.
THIS WEEK: Joe retrieves a family heirloom by throwing evil pig wizards into bags with Harumi Fujita's work in Tomba! and Peter takes the pitch in a post-apocalyptic world of angry Mushroom Kingdom megastrikes in Mario Strikers Charged.
THIS WEEK: Peter plunges into Gensokyo in the bullet hell shooter about eliminating an evil red mist with Jun'ya Ota's work in Touhou Koumakyou: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Joe opens up his own store to pay off a debt while exploring dungeons for supplies to sell in Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale.
THIS WEEK: Joe designs 3D characters and homes through defining the life simulation game genre in The Sims 2 and Peter collects gems as a little dragon that just wants to save his frozen friends with Stewart Copeland's work in Spyro the Dragon.
THIS WEEK: Peter blasts his arsenal and collects bolts in a remake that is a retelling of an animated Hollywood movie in Ratchet & Clank (2016) and Joe becomes an astronaut to explore the secrets of the universe in a 22-minute time loop with Andrew Prahlow's work in Outer Wilds.
THIS WEEK: Joe returns from a three million day exile to discover who committed mass murder in Perfect 25 with Barry Topping's work in Paradise Killer and Peter is trapped inside Hope's Peak Academy with a killing game run by a sadistic bear in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
THIS WEEK: Peter is trapped inside a theater while drawing maps and meeting too many characters on his way out in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth and Joe fires up his Gun-PC while recruiting demons as a member of the Spookies with Toshiko Tasaki's work in Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.
THIS WEEK: Joe dives into the world of Bionicle as the Chronicler in a point-and-click Flash adventure game with Justin Luchter's work in Mata Nui Online Game and Peter uncovers crooked schemes in the Land of the Dead as a travel agent in Grim Fandango.
THIS WEEK: Peter assumes the role of Commander Shepard one more time to unite the galaxy and stop the Reapers in Mass Effect 3 and Joe kicks really hard as the beast in the cave who will topple Mr. Sunshine's capitalism with Calum Bowen's work in Pikuniku.
THIS WEEK: Joe fights the Las Plagas parasite while protecting the president's daughter with Misao Senbongi's work in Resident Evil 4 and Peter teams up bear and bird to collect music notes and puzzle pieces to stop a rhyming witch in Banjo-Kazooie.
THIS WEEK: Peter goes on a road trip with some friends to reclaim his rightful throne from a hostile imperial takeover in Final Fantasy XV and Joe travels to the tropical Alola region to become the area's first ever champion with Minako Adachi's work in Pokémon Sun & Moon.
THIS WEEK: Joe goes on a quest to save his daughter from a dark illness caused by a post-apocalyptic magical spinoff in NieR and Peter discovers a super suit to improve his slithery self in a quest to defeat the evil Queen Slug-For-A-Butt with Tommy Tallarico's work in Earthworm Jim.
THIS WEEK: Peter hops inside a plasma-powered race car to overcome the intense stakes of the Grand Prix at frenetic speeds in F-Zero GX and Joe works it out by racing along and exploring classic Sega platforming levels to vocal pop tunes with Richard Jacques' work in Sonic R.
THIS WEEK: Joe interprets an ancient language while exploring a distant nebula in Heaven's Vault and Peter discovers the Chozo ruins on Tallon IV in a first-person perspective with Kouichi Kyuma's work in Metroid Prime.
THIS WEEK: Peter shifts from a Terminator real-time adventure game to a side-scrolling shooter in Journey to Silius and Joe draws pictures with an NES directional pad while playing mini-games with Tim Follin's work in Pictionary.
THIS WEEK: Joe inherits a farm that requires maintenance while also discovering Heart Events with a lucky gal in Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town and Peter acquires boons from the Greek pantheon to endlessly try and escape the depths of the Underworld with Daisuke Kurosawa's work in Hades.
THIS WEEK: Peter becomes a hole in the ground that only grows as more objects fall inside in Donut County and Joe explores a magical school while discovering dark secrets and powers of his own with Aivi & Surasshu's work in Ikenfell.
THIS WEEK: Joe deals with tremendous loss in an adventure to stop the invading Pigmask Army in Mother 3 and Peter explores the treasure-filled levels inside a golden pyramid to rescue a princess with Ryoji Yoshitomi's work in Wario Land 4.
THIS WEEK: Peter goes four minutes back in time as a spirit to solve Rube Goldberg machines and prevent murders in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and Joe moves to the brutal beat as an indie platforming icon with Matt Harwood's work in Bit.Trip Runner.
THIS WEEK: Joe goes through the rain and feeds on a tree frog with the emotional Cold War stealth thriller in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Peter climbs the ranks of the United Assassins Association while performing odd jobs with Jun Fukuda's work in No More Heroes.
THIS WEEK: Peter connects with an incorporeal entity to lead a supernatural life out of chronological order in Beyond: Two Souls and Joe ends friendships while playing minigames on a variety of board game maps with Hironao Yamamoto's work in Mario Party 2.
THIS WEEK: Joe hides from the creepy creatures of The Maw as a girl in a raincoat in Little Nightmares and Peter uses the Wii's motion controls at launch to first-person shoot and sword fight with Tom Salta's work in Red Steel.
THIS WEEK: Peter becomes a blue blur to traverse nostalgic zones due to the powers of the Phantom Ruby in Sonic Mania and Joe crosses over with the Blue Bomber gaining the abilities of iconic fighting game characters with Luke Esquivel's work in Street Fighter X Mega Man.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter celebrate the podcast's two-year anniversary by reflecting on a top 10 list for a game in the series that started their friendship and their love of video game music - Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS.
THIS WEEK: Peter enters a world of assassination by traveling to luxurious environments to eliminate dangerous criminals in HITMAN (2016) and Joe plays a game show where luck is rolled and the chances of success are low with Chipzel's work in Dicey Dungeons.
THIS WEEK: Joe warps to a medieval world of witch trials where a puzzling professor teams up with a defense attorney in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Peter travels around the world to uncover the secrets of a lost civilization with Miho Fukuhara's work in Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy.
THIS WEEK: Peter grabs a magic paint brush to explore a Disney wasteland with his morality alongside Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Epic Mickey and Joe needs to climb up to the top of a mountain to receive a phone call with Mark Sparling's work in A Short Hike.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter present their combined list of the top 10 best game soundtracks of 2020
THIS WEEK: Joe discovers the roots of the Disney and Final Fantasy light vs. darkness mashup in Kingdom Hearts and Peter becomes the Ghost of Sparta in Kratos' original adventure with Gerard Marino's work in God of War (2005).
THIS WEEK: Peter duels his way around an island with the collectible card game phenomenon of the '90s in Pokémon Trading Card Game and Joe returns to DK Island to chill and clash against some Snowmads with David Wise's work in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
THIS WEEK: Joe follows through the hero's tale in a wordless quest across a desert to climb a mountain in Journey and Peter returns to Aperture Science to use special gels for some more puzzle solving with Mike Morasky's work in Portal 2.
THIS WEEK: Peter throws down in a film-inspired beat-em-up that became the poster-child for digital ownership in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game and Joe rolls up the world on an oddly shaped ball once again with Akitaka Tohyama's work in We ♥ Katamari.
THIS WEEK: Joe and Peter take a Thanksgiving break from dissecting game soundtracks and the critical five songs within them, in order to answer some questions that have been asked by listeners
THIS WEEK: Peter travels across a Nintendo open world that can be explored in any order with several useful skills in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Joe attacks and rolls his way to victory against difficult armored foes with Yuka Kitamura's work in Dark Souls II.
Peter and Joe gush about Devil May Cry 5 in a spoiler-filled fashion, as a supplement to Episode 94 of Original Soundchat
THIS WEEK: Joe guides five characters through dealings in the Japanese criminal underworld in Yakuza 5 and Peter lets out his inner Devil Trigger alongside stylish combos with Kota Suzuki's work in Devil May Cry 5
THIS WEEK: Peter uses many weapon combinations to fight back against the Empire with crazy co-op action in Gunstar Heroes and Joe tries to perform mundane tasks as an octopus while nobody suspects a thing with Seth Parker's work in Octodad: Dadliest Catch.
THIS WEEK: Joe wakes from a nightmare about an amusement park to find himself in a monster-infested mall in Silent Hill 3 and Peter joins DedSec to root out the ctOS 2.0 system that has control over San Francisco with Hudson Mohawke's work in Watch Dogs 2.
THIS WEEK: Peter lies his way through class trials during the ultimate high school killing game in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and Joe returns to his survival horror roots with the Baker family and a first-person perspective with Akiyuki Morimoto's work in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
Peter and Joe gush about Her Story in a spoiler-filled fashion, as a supplement to Episode 90 of Original Soundchat
THIS WEEK: Joe fights through horrific guilt during a period of martial law in 1960s Taiwan in Detention and Peter watches non-linear video clips in a police database to solve a murder with Chris Zabriskie's work in Her Story.
THIS WEEK: Peter travels through Unova to battle with truth and ideals alongside 156 new creatures in Pokémon Black & White and Joe grabs his trusty Belmont whip to take on Dracula with the help of a 12-year-old girl with Tomoko Sano's work in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.
THIS WEEK: Joe points and clicks through a creepy mansion on Super Famicom in order to avoid the Scissorman in Clock Tower and Peter changes careers from a defense attorney to a private detective while solving a serial murder case in Kamurocho with Saori Yoshida's work in Judgment.
THIS WEEK: Peter transcends history and the world with a tale of swords and souls eternally retold in Soulcalibur II and Joe gets hyped to play extreme Pong through the framing of a fighting game with Klaus Veen's work in Lethal League Blaze.
THIS WEEK: Joe takes on the mantle of The Fool to battle the divine arcana alongside pop music with Daniel Olsén's work in Sayonara Wild Hearts and Peter explores planetary platforming physics while changing gravity to grab Power Stars in Super Mario Galaxy.
THIS WEEK: Peter takes the fight against the Aparoids to the ground while his team covers with Arwings in Star Fox: Assault and Joe grabs his camera gear to capture 63 creatures on film throughout the world in Ikuko Mimori's work in Pokémon Snap.
THIS WEEK: Joe makes hot drinks for the fantasy creatures that frequent his Seattle bar in Coffee Talk and Peter learns how to solve Picross puzzles while solving murder mysteries with Masakazu Sugimori and Rod Thomas' work in Murder by Numbers.
THIS WEEK: Peter watches over the world regeneration quest of becoming an angel through real-time combat in Tales of Symphonia and Joe strings together as many Game Boy Advances and link cables as possible through "world music" with Kumi Tanioka's work in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.
THIS WEEK: Joe takes on all challengers in a beat-em-up twist on the damsel-in-distress formula in River City Girls and Peter slows down time to reflect bullets and eliminate all enemies in the room with Bill Kiley's work in Katana Zero.
THIS WEEK: Peter achieves antigravity while inside of a customized vehicle with the best selling game on two Nintendo consoles in Mario Kart 8 and Joe speeds along a hellishly surreal track in pursuit of a giant head with Brian Gibson's work in Thumper.
THIS WEEK: Joe makes a globe-trotting adventure across many kingdoms to reclaim their bridal treasures in Super Mario Odyssey and Peter discovers the secrets of a post-apocalyptic world while clashing with mechanical animals with Joris de Man's work in Horizon Zero Dawn.
THIS WEEK: Peter assembles the largest fighting game roster ever made at the time alongside controversial jazz in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes and Joe battles characters from Persona 3 & 4 in a new genre spinoff for the franchise with Atsushi Kitajoh's work in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.
THIS WEEK: Joe tangles with the criminal underworld with a game that presents itself as an interactive movie in Late Shift and Peter explores platforming in virtual reality alongside a PlayStation 4 tutorial character with Kenneth Young's work in ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission.
THIS WEEK: Peter gains electrical superpowers and must decide to use them for good or evil in inFAMOUS and Joe collects missing pages from a legendary thief book to restore his family's legacy with Ashif Hakik's work in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.
THIS WEEK: Joe solves a murder mystery in what is essentially the video game version of The Room's quirkiness in Deadly Premonition and Peter speeds into the seventh generation of consoles with a development story that slowed down the blue blur with Tomoya Ohtani's work in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
THIS WEEK: Peter lives the swashbuckling life of a Caribbean pirate in the eighteenth century to stop Templar plots in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Joe uses a mystical pocket watch to learn the puzzling fates of sixty crew members with Lucas Pope's work in Return of the Obra Dinn.
THIS WEEK: Joe jumps and shoots through eight robot masters with one of the best NES adventures in Mega Man 2 and Peter learns about classic Japanese anime characters in a Wii fighting crossover with Akihiko Narita's work in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
THIS WEEK: Peter seizes the call for adventure and searches for pirate treasure alongside the brother he thought was dead in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Joe collects Wumpa Fruits in the 3D platformer that gave PlayStation its first big mascot character with Josh Mancell's work in Crash Bandicoot.
THIS WEEK: Joe becomes the Warrior of Light to use Hydaelyn's powers and defend Eorzea from the Primals in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and Peter explores eight stories throughout Orsterra that ultimately converge in a new coat of paint on a classic formula with Yasunori Nishiki's work in Octopath Traveler.
THIS WEEK: Peter discovers the grim fates of cursed family members while exploring a house with playable vignettes in What Remains of Edith Finch and Joe retreats to the woods to find that a simple lookout job has unsettling complications with Chris Remo's work in Firewatch.
THIS WEEK: Joe dances to turn into animals and save genies from turning evil in Shantae: Half-Genie Hero and Peter wields a future-sight sword to continue the war that rages on the backs of two titanic gods with Tomori Kudo's work in Xenoblade Chronicles.
THIS WEEK: Peter jumps into a TV and fights through the fog to solve a murder mystery in Persona 4 and Joe needs to raise his stats and find a date for the big event of the school year with Messer Chups' work in Monster Prom.
THIS WEEK: Joe enters a world of claymation to explore a traditional point-and-click adventure in The Neverhood and Peter tries to impress a flower girl through the basics of rap and rhythm with Masaya Matsuura's work in PaRappa the Rapper.
THIS WEEK: Peter dons the animal mask to take out the Russian mafia with synthwave ultraviolence in Hotline Miami and Joe creates characters to use omnipotence and have them suffer unfortunate fates with Steve Jablonsky's work in The Sims 3.
THIS WEEK: Joe has three days to awaken four giants and save the world from a crashing moon in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Peter jumps off of his bird in the sky to save a friend has fallen to the surface below with Hajime Wakai's work in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
THIS WEEK: Peter uses a legendary sword to unseal eight seeds and change the world in Secret of Mana and Joe performs The Rites through strategic wizard basketball with Ashley Barrett's work in Pyre.
Joe travels across the Great Depression United States as a skeleton to find stories in Where the Water Tastes Like Wine and Peter didn't ask for the cyberpunk ethics of mechanical human augmentation with Michael McCann's work in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
THIS WEEK: Peter climbs large behemoths to bring a girl back to life with Kow Otani's work in Shadow of the Colossus and Joe sets the bar high for Japanese role-playing games by becoming an eco-terrorist in Final Fantasy VII.
THIS WEEK: Joe drives the Eight-Six as fast as he possibly can in Initial D, Peter takes bounties across the solar system for the almighty Woolong in Cowboy Bebop, and Matt battles in the Holy Grail War alongside his Servant with Yuki Kajiura's work in Fate/Zero.
THIS WEEK: Peter becomes a Phantom Thief to change the hearts of corrupt adults in Persona 5 and Joe explores corridors and makes maps with an Etrian Odyssey flair with Toshiki Konishi's work in Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.
THIS WEEK: Joe takes a bus into town to live out his simulated anthropomorphized life in Animal Crossing: City Folk and Peter delivers an Ultra Combo to the Xbox One's launch-exclusive fighting game with Robin Beanland's work in Killer Instinct (2013).
THIS WEEK: Peter becomes a light spirit to use the power of elements to bring the forest back to life in Ori and the Blind Forest and Joe uses his nail sword to dive into Hallownest and deal with its bug denizens with Christopher Larkin's work in Hollow Knight.
THIS WEEK: Joe goes bananas by platforming with 3D models that are compressed into 2D sprites in Donkey Kong Country and Peter comes back from the dead to build a spaceship crew and save humanity with Sam Hulick's work in Mass Effect 2.
THIS WEEK: Peter runs and guns his way to hunt down Mavericks in Mega Man X and Joe explores the planet Zebes to reclaim a baby with Kenji Yamamoto's work in Super Metroid.
THIS WEEK: Joe whips monsters during a difficult quest to defeat Dracula in Castlevania and Peter channels the powers of the Umbra Witch to defeat the angels of Paradiso with Hiroshi Yamaguchi's work in Bayonetta.
Peter sneaks through the flawless gameplay and the incomplete story in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Joe explores the region of Johto and the continuity of capturing monsters with Morikazu Aoki's work in Pokémon Crystal.
Joe obsesses over perfecting the timing of every single button press in Rhythm Heaven Fever and Peter turns over the criminal underbelly of 1940s Los Angeles with Andrew Hale's work in L.A. Noire.
Joe and Peter celebrate the podcast's one-year anniversary by reflecting on a top 10 list for the game that started their friendship and their love of video game music - Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Joe discovers his godly abilities of city simulation and action platforming in ActRaiser and Peter enters a flow state surrounded by falling tetrominoes with Noboru Mutoh's work in Tetris Effect.
Peter discovers the ability to control the direction of how he falls in Gravity Rush and Joe experiments with fulfilling the wishes of those on their deathbed with Kan Gao's work in To the Moon.
Joe gets his start in the Japanese entertainment industry with Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and Peter enters a Skell mech while vocals play to uncover the secrets of the planet Mira with Hiroyuki Sawano's work in Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Joe dies every sixty seconds to discover the secrets behind a cursed sword in Minit and Peter discovers the third dimension to unravel the cube-based mysteries of the world with Rich Vreeland's work in Fez.
Peter awakens crystals while being floored by a soundtrack that is too good for its platform in Bravely Default and Joe navigates East-Asian music through a touch-based rhythm game with The Night Keepers' work in VOEZ.
Joe travels the land of Spira and the explores the mysteries of the Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X and Peter becomes a Spartan with an AI at his side against the Covenant with Martin O'Donnell's work in Halo: Combat Evolved.
Peter becomes a great wolf deity to bring an ink wash painted Nippon back to life in Ōkami and Joe throws ink around a white canvas to solve a painting's mystery with Joel Corelitz's work in The Unfinished Swan.
Joe and Peter take a Thanksgiving break from dissecting game soundtracks and the critical five songs within them, in order to answer some questions that have been asked by listeners
Peter manages the pre-launch hype and rights management that comes with the fate of two worlds in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (and its Ultimate re-release) and Joe goes head-to-head with the Japanese crime series' best villain in the Dragon of Kansai with Norihiko Hibino's work in Yakuza 2 (and its Kiwami remake).
Joe relishes in the game concept of his dreams with a Pocket Monsters fighting game in Pokkén Tournament and Peter explores the worldwide phenomenon of the first video game he owned with Junichi Masuda's work in Pokémon Red & Blue.
Peter dives into the open world of the Western frontier in order to see his family again in Red Dead Redemption and Joe joins stealthy anthropomorphic animal friends to retrieve robotic owl body parts with Peter McConnell's work in Sly 2: Band of Thieves.
Joe explores a spooky mansion while humming during the eradication of ghosts in Luigi's Mansion and Peter participates in the Nonary Game by solving escape rooms with Shinji Hosoe's work in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.
Peter takes a listen through the first-person shooter that refined the genre and changed the industry in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Joe communicates with ghosts by using a radio with Andrew Rohrmann's work in Oxenfree.
Joe wanders through the fog in a town that has something wrong with it in Silent Hill 2 and Peter battles an open world while tracking monsters to find his ward with Marcin Przybyłowicz's work in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Peter takes on the Order of No Quarter with a trusty spade in hand in Shovel Knight and Joe fights monster girls in order to claim a secret power with Vincent Diamante's work in Skullgirls.
Peter travels to a city in the clouds to wipe away the debt in BioShock Infinite and Joe writes poetry in a happy visual novel with cute girls with Dan Salvato's work in Doki Doki Literature Club.
Peter channels spirits into a courtroom through a Divination Séance in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice and Joe inverts gravity to avoid jumping into spikes with Magnus Pålsson's work in VVVVVV.
Joe dives into a world of collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli in Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and Peter wakes up on Koholint Island to free the Wind Fish with Minako Hamano's work in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
Peter revs up the chainsaw in his Lancer rifle to deal with the Locust horde in Gears of War and Joe harnesses his latent psychic abilities to stop the apocalypse with Keiichi Suzuki's work in Earthbound.
Joe becomes the night by gliding over Gotham and dealing with an open villain prison in Batman: Arkham City and Peter uses double hidden blades to stab through Italian treachery with Jesper Kyd's work in Assassin's Creed II.
We talk to video game composer Darren Korb (Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades) and ask about his origin, creative process, and favorite tracks. Also, what does he think of the Critical Five tracks from our Bastion episode?
Peter embraces the positive jumping energy within the last game of its kind in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Joe weaves a web of consequences in a high-school slasher adventure with Jason Graves' work in Until Dawn.
Joe travels through time to present one of the most revered games and soundtracks ever made in Chrono Trigger and Peter mulls over the consequences of the butterfly effect through a high school lens with Jonathan Morali's work in Life Is Strange.
Peter looks into how a TV bounty hunter's adventures inspired the score for a globe-trotting video game hero in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Joe reflects on the synergy between climbing a mountain and overcoming your inner struggles with Lena Raine's work in Celeste.
Joe investigates how game jams and paying it forward changed the indie scene for the better in World of Goo and Peter hypothesizes about the way monochromatic rotoscoping cuts through colored brushstrokes with Satoshi Okubo's work in Hotel Dusk: Room 215.
Peter dissects the struggles of a difficult fighting game launch under tremendous expectations in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and Joe praises the ideal realization of his favorite anime of all time with Toshiyuki Kishi's work in Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Joe highlights the wonderful simplicity of a 30-minute mobile game's emotional score in Florence and Peter uncovers the casually romantic efforts to save a strategy RPG series on the brink with Rei Kondoh's work in Fire Emblem Awakening.
Peter unravels the secrets of the Origami Killer with a tragic film-like score in Heavy Rain and Joe dives into Insomniac's efforts to portray the world's most famous superhero in John Paesano's work in Marvel's Spider-Man.
Joe cherishes Christmas memories with his sister as powers are combined in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Peter explores the leitmotifs involved with sparing monsters in Toby Fox's work in Undertale.
Peter raves about a legendary RPG's opera that is compressed onto a Super Famicom sound chip in Final Fantasy VI and Joe pushes the boundaries of Game Boy launch title music in Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka's work in Super Mario Land.
Joe tells the tale of two upstarts in 1988 Japan who are yearning to become legends in Yakuza 0 and Peter explores big band jazz with cats in Mahito Yokota's work in Super Mario 3D World.
Peter covers the wide variety of musical genres found through environment inversion in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Joe wanders through a cute-as-heck world to collect pieces of time in Pascal Michael Stiefel's work in A Hat in Time.
Joe praises the Smash Bros.-inspired all-star composing team in Kid Icarus Uprising and Peter gets tropical for a hot-pink, blood-splattered battle royale in Masafumi Takada's work in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.
Peter riffs on Sinnoh's snow, jazz, and heavy bass themes from Pokémon Diamond/Pearl and Joe visits the Dark Hour to explore the English rap stylings of Lotus Juice's work in Persona 3.
Joe personally connects with the one-man effort of creating the life and farm simulation of Stardew Valley and Peter mourns the loss of his save file and anthropomorphic animal friends in Manaka Kataoka's work in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
Peter reminisces about the rocking guitar tunes in his favorite game while growing up in Sonic Adventure 2 and Joe pays tribute to the game that brought an industry into the third dimension alongside Koji Kondo's work in Super Mario 64.
Joe presents a funky mix of beats with aged voice sampling in Jet Set Radio & Jet Set Radio Future and Peter analyzes the channeling of corrupted audio energy through a created synth instrument in Mick Gordon's work on DOOM (2016).
Peter presents a game ahead of its time with a Hollywood-inspired score in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Joe reminisces about the anxiety-inducing apes from the first game of his youth in Grant Kirkhope's work on Donkey Kong 64.
In this week’s episode of the show: Joe explores the tensions between instruments and synths in the quadrilateral-filled world of Thomas Was Alone and Peter studies the way of the ninja with the 8- and 16-bit chiptune dance melodies of Eric Brown's work in The Messenger.
In this week’s episode of the show: Peter takes a look at an Academy Award-winning composer applying a cinematic score to The Last of Us and Joe analyzes the many-styled vocal compression of Takeharu Ishimoto's work in The World Ends With You.
In this week’s episode of the show: Joe explores the heavy beats and Arabian stylings in the soundtrack of Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Peter takes a look at the 1930s big band jazz of Kristofer Maddigan's debut work in Cuphead.
In this week’s episode of the show: Peter explores the emotional gut-punches that exist throughout the soundtrack of Professor Layton and the Unwound Future and Joe has no objection to Masakazu Sugimori's courtroom work on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
In this week’s episode of the show: Joe takes a look at the blending of film score writing across different cultures into the sci-fi plot of Beyond Good & Evil and Peter delves into the Victorian chamber orchestra insight of Austin Wintory's work on Assassin's Creed Syndicate.
In this week’s episode of the show: Peter marvels at the infusion of J-pop into the first game from his youth in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Joe discovers the tumultuous development struggles of Yasuaki Fujita's work on Mega Man 3.
In this week’s episode of the show: Joe dives into the world of Yarnham for the horror themes of the Bloodborne soundtrack and Peter learns about the creation of tunes that accompany girls with physical disabilities from Sebastien Skaf’s work on Katawa Shoujo.
In this week’s episode of the show: Peter applies the Rules of Nature to the vocal soundtrack for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Joe customizes his cyberpunk bartending playlist from Michael Kelly’s work on VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action.
In this week’s episode of the show: Joe cranks up the demonic vocal action in the soundtrack for Devil May Cry 3 and Peter picks the polar opposite in Tomoya Tomita’s piano work on Kirby’s Epic Yarn.
In this week’s episode of the show: Peter looks into the music of post-apocalyptic androids in NieR: Automata and Joe highlights Danny Baranowsky's rock-synth work on the soundtrack of Super Meat Boy.
In this week’s episode of the show: Joe teaches us about Laura Shigihara’s passion project of Rakuen and Peter highlights Jack Wall’s contributions to the soundtrack of the original Mass Effect.
In this week’s episode of the show: Peter reminisces about the context of adult themes with Shoji Meguro's tunes in Catherine and Joe recalls how Darren Korb's soundtrack for Bastion made the game an indie darling.
In this week’s episode of the show: Joe covers what he considers the most unique soundtrack in video game history in Yuu Miyake’s Katamari Damacy, while Peter covers the history and adventure of Kenta Nagata’s soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Welcome to Original Soundchat, where video game music is a work of art! In this new weekly show hosts Joe DeVader and Peter Spezia are talking their favorite game soundtracks, both taking a deep dive into the creation and history behind them while highlighting some key tracks along the way. Join them as they shine a light on the often forgotten composers that make our games sound great, and prove that game music has come far beyond the days of the beeps and boops.
In this week’s inaugural episode of the show: Joe celebrates the release of Kingdom Hearts III by talking about Yoko Shimomura and her work on Kingdom Hearts II, and Peter goes on a deep dive into Bear McCreary’s score for 2018’s God of War.