Ah, hello there. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? I’m going to be real with you, this is absolutely not going to be a comeback of any kind for ManaJournal. No, this is simply a bored man dumping some video game music in your lap and nothing more. And with that, let us begin a new edition of Sunday Tunes.

Today we’re putting the spotlight on some of my favourite VGM remixes and covers. Normally I’m more of a purist, and I generally dislike most unofficial versions of video game songs, but as with most things there are exceptions. Some of these picks are quite old, but I daresay they are all bangers.

OverClocked ReMix

If you grew up with video game music in the 2000s like me, you may have encountered OC ReMix at some point. They were (and probably still is) one of the biggest VGM communities on the internet, with 70 albums released and over 4000 tracks by 900 contributors. If I’m being honest, a lot of their releases don’t do it for me, but sometimes they churn out some legendary gems that are worth listening to.

Purpleschala

If you haven’t heard of Purpleschala, she is a YouTuber who makes beautiful piano arrangements of classic video game songs. By chance I stumbled upon her version of ’The Price of Freedom’ from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII a few years ago, and immediately became a fan. Her style is classy, emotional and never feels overbearing.

Haconiwa

Here’s a more obscure entry. With just under 3000 subscribers on YouTube, you’d probably not find this channel by yourself unless you’re a weirdo like me in search of unique Final Fantasy XII remixes.

I’m not going to pretend I’ve listened to their entire body of work, but I absolutely love their up-beat, relaxing and nostalgic 2000s era sound. My favourite tracks are all from Final Fantasy, of course.

And that’s it for this week. Maybe we’ll do this again someday soon, or maybe it’ll take another six years. Stay tuned.