FM synth magic from two of Japan's most dedicated PC game composers. GROUNSEED is a PC-98 RPG, and this 2008 rare tracks collection showcases Ryu Umemoto and Ryu Takami working with that era's sound hardware in ways that feel almost unreasonably good.
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"Five Spiritual Guides" has this mystical, layered FM progression that builds into something genuinely grand. "Battle 1" hits with that crisp, punchy PC-98 intensity where every channel is fighting for space and winning.
"Thieves' Hideout" gets slinky and suspicious. The album opens with a literal "PCM Test" track, which is the most Umemoto thing possible. Forty-four tracks covering towns, forests, castles, bosses, the full RPG spread. "Hades" and "Betrayal" go dark in ways the hardware shouldn't be able to pull off.
If you care about FM synthesis and wonder why people worship Umemoto's work, start here and work outward.