Jam of the Day: Theme of Valkyria ~Guitar ver.~ by Yoshimi Kudo (Senjou no Valkyria 3 -Unrecorded Chronicles- Original Soundtrack)

I was very pleasantly surprised when I found out that the soundtrack to the third Valkyria Chronicles features four guitar arrangements of songs from the series. To make things even better, the first of the four is one of my all time favorite tracks from the first game, Theme of Valkyria.

All four of the bonus guitar tracks are by different artists. Theme of Valkyria was handled by Yoshimi Kudo and he really did wonders on Hitoshi Sakimoto’s already stellar track. All four of the bonus tracks impress, but Theme of Valkyria takes the cake.

Jam of the Day: Succeeded Wish (Instrumental Version) by Hitoshi Sakimoto (Valkyria Chronicles Soundtrack)

I’m currently playing through Valkyria Chronicles II, the sequel to the game I loved so much. While I’m enjoying some of the gameplay changes, I’m sad to say the characters are doing nothing for me so far. I dislike all of them at the moment. Inversely, I had a real emotional attachment to the members of Squad 7 in the original game.

This instrumental version of “Succeeded Wish” actually doesn’t appear on the official Senjou no Valkyria -Gallian Chronicles- Original Soundtrack. It’s only used in the opening of the North American and European versions. However, a version with lyrics appears both in those versions and the original Japanese version at a very pivotal scene.

Watching the game’s opening sequence is actually kind of tough after finishing the game. In fact, even just hearing this song now gets me a bit choked up, especially in the last third. While there’s still time for the characters of the sequel to win me over, I doubt I’ll feel the same about them as I do of Squad 7.

Jam of the Day: Main Theme by Hitoshi Sakimoto (Senjou no Valkyria -Gallian Chronicles- Original Soundtrack)

Even though Valkyria Chronicles is less than 2 years old, it left such an impression on me that I feel like I’ve known the game forever. In my mind, it already sits with classics I look back on growing up with, like Chrono Trigger and Front Mission 3.

Hitoshi Sakimoto is a bit hit or miss for me, which is understandable considering the large quantity of music he creates. The main theme of Valkyria Chronicles is definitely one of his hits. Every time I listen to it, memories of the struggles of the citizens of Gallia come flooding back. I only hope that the upcoming sequel can live up to how much I love the original.