The summer is here, and you are no doubt enjoying a much deserved break over the holiday weekend. Fireworks, barbecues, maybe even just relaxing and chilling on your back porch in the blazing hot sun.
Sounds wonderful. I really do miss the United States Fourth of July celebrations sometimes. While relaxing on your porch, you’re no doubt going to need a few tunes to set the mood. Here are some relaxing JRPG town themes that will no doubt help you drift away into whatever fantasy your mind takes you to.
Only one song per game, though…
SaGa Frontier – Sunset Town
And here we have the reason for that rule. SaGa Frontier is loaded with wonderful town music, and that’s just a small piece of its horribly underrated soundtrack. The “Junk” theme, the “Owmi” theme, the “A Blue Town” theme, the “Margmel in Ruin” theme. I could go on.
However, “Sunset Town” has always been a favorite of mine. When I hear it, I think of a nice beach, coconut drinks with little umbrellas, my sandals kicked back sky high in the air, and me just relaxing in the warm embrace of tropical nature. Totally alone with nothing but the blazing red sun going down before my eyes. It’s an easy escape to a happier place, and I always listen to it when I need to break away from my urban prison…
…you know what, I’m just going to drop “A Blue Town” here also because it’s my list, and I want to!
Chrono Trigger – Peaceful Days
Never before has there been such an accurate title for a song on a soundtrack. Chrono Trigger’s “Peaceful Days” theme gives a pure image that nothing is wrong in the world. Everything is as it should be, so why worry?
Of course, you can hear it playing during the only age of Chrono Trigger that hasn’t been torn apart by war or strife. A happy carnival awaits north of the town, everyone is just kicking back and having a good time, the world’s inhabitants flock to the kingdom without worrying about muggers or murderers along the way. Best of all, there is a parade that night, which means lots of fireworks!
If today’s troubled world is really getting to you, just let this theme take you to Crono’s hometown and escape for a pleasant afternoon.
Suikoden II – Carried on Rippling Waves
Another peaceful theme that can put your soul to rest. This one gives the image of a carefree coastal town with the perfect size population of people enjoying their personal paradise. I imagine families playing with a beachball, surfing, and barbecues frying up only the healthiest and most delicious foods.
It’s a different feeling from the isolation in “Sunset Town.”
The fact that it ties the main Suikoden theme into its wistful guitar strummings helps it out a lot. Now I can both relax on the beach and easily place myself in the world of my all-time favorite video game.
Can a relaxing afternoon get any better?
…Oh, what the heck. Suikoden II’s “Peaceful Mountain Village” is just as good, only it is distinctly Japanese in its origins. Japanese mountain village music while I’m sweating my skin off, tucked away in one of its massive urban centers on a hot summer day? Yes please!
Wild ARMs – Town
Wild ARMs is another one of those obscure PlayStation JRPGs that houses a killer soundtrack, lost under the looming shadow of Final Fantasy V. This little gem can take the Pepsi challenge against anything Nobuo Uematsu crammed into Square’s massive hit, and already it has a winner with a track simply titled “Town.”
This one is a bit more adventurous than all of the previous selections. I get a distinct feeling of climbing mountains into the clean air above, running through open green fields, trouncing across badlands or deserts, canoeing down a steady river, and just getting out there. The world is a wide, wide place, something that JRPGs have always taught us, and there is mystery around every corner, even in your own back yard.
Why sit idly by on a summer afternoon when there is a whole world out there to explore?
Ragnarok Online – Theme of Prontera
Wait a minute! This game isn’t from the Super Nintendo or PlayStation! What gives, Ron? Are you broadening your horizons, perhaps, realizing that video games indeed existed beyond the boundaries of the 90s?
No, this isn’t a lame attempt to conceal my age. I fully admit that I have a short affair with Ragnarok Online back in the early days of the MMORPG movement, and for what it’s worth, I totally enjoyed it. And while the game ultimately proved to be forgettable, the soundtrack that came with it was anything but.
This is the best town tune to emerge from the game, and it is carefree in the sense that anything goes. Any instrument can chime in at any moment, and it all falls into place. Relax, you’re always in a place with friends in Ragnarok Online.
I’ll overlook the fact that this is technically a KRPG as it comes from Korea, because whatever. This soundtrack is the best, and it always came free with the client for the game. Be sure to check it all out.
Final Fantasy – Town
We’ll close out with the franchise we all know and love. After all, because of the success this game saw, an entire empire of video games was forged and allowed to become the monster that it is today.
And somewhere tucked away in all that magic is the music. This remastered track of the original Final Fantasy “Town” theme is everything that is right about JRPG town themes. Just listening to it, you feel safe.
The world is in shambles around you, monsters have torn you limb from limb after a recent journey or dungeon dive, and all you want to do is snuggle up with someone and hear the words “Everything is going to be okay.”
And it is. No monsters in here. No random encounters to spoil your fun. Nothing will ever harm you as long as you safely reside here. How utterly relaxing. I think I’ll never leave.
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