One of the most ambitious MMO soundtracks of the mid-2000s, and it still holds up. Granado Espada, known as Sword of the New World in the West, was the brainchild of Ragnarok Online creator Hakkyu Kim, and the music matches the game's baroque European setting with a score that feels closer to a film soundtrack than typical MMO fare.
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"Calmi Cuori Appassionati" is straight chamber music, elegant strings that sound like they belong in a Venetian ballroom. "Violin of the Death" shifts into something darker and more theatrical. "Trancephobia" takes a hard left into electronic territory that shouldn't work alongside classical tracks but somehow does.
"Cite de Reboldoeux" captures that home-city feeling that MMO players carry with them for years. Thirty-six tracks covering exploration, combat, and town life with a consistency of quality that's honestly unusual for an online game.
The acoustic version of the main theme closing things out is a nice touch. SoundTeMP and the various composers involved brought a level of care here that made Granado Espada one of those games people remember more for its music than its gameplay.