Behold, the Spinal Tap of JRPG music! Ebben Flow is a nonexistent Japanese role playing game that serves to provide a conceptual backdrop for the music of one Michael Chadwick. Here's a synopsis of the game, which I repeat, doesn't actually exist:
Join Olos, Claire, and Senegal as they try to make sense of a world now mostly underwater, save for a few dry patches of land known as The New United Islands which they each call home. Vast cityscapes loom in the murky depths and hidden treasures pocket the sea floor which has now become dangerously low to visitors.
Each of the characters you will meet and control have their own agenda in the land of Ebben Flow. Their paths may cross and diverge at will, leading to exciting new tangents and side stories. Several factions desire to rule their local and remote islands, as well as the depths below, and they're not above treachery or chaos to achieve it.
I don't think that Chadwick intended this to parody JRPG composers, but I think it does a fine job of illustrating how staid and unsurprising the music has become over the years. Furthermore, his character description is clever satire of common JRPG cliches. Consider "Claire":
A quiet feeling of dread permeates her soul, however. Despite the high bounds of her optimism she knows it could all be a lie. Left for dead by parents massacred in a great war two decades ago, Claire has found her moral and ethical compass composed of the world aroud her. Scrappy, yet kind, she's sure opportunity is out there somewhere, as long as she keeps looking for it.
It's just as good as most JRPG soundtracks, and though you can probably tell I don't think much of that whole genre, it's a fun project and worth a listen for giggles. Download a zip file of the entire soundtrack and immerse yourself in the epic marine adventure.
(via Kotaku)
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