Sharp FM synth that cuts through with that unmistakable PC-98 bite. Brandish 3: Spirit of Balcan is Falcom's 1995 dungeon crawler, and the Falcom Sound Team pushed the YM2608 hardware hard on this one. "KINGDOM OF DAWN" opens with sweeping melodic FM lines that set the adventuring tone, "CORRIDOR OF NIGHTMARE" lives up to its name with tense, creeping layers, and "BOILING METAL" drives forward with aggressive percussion and screaming synth leads.
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The range here is wild. "CASINO BE'" drops into something funky and playful, "HANGING AROUND" has a laid-back groove, then "FOLLOW THE EVILSHADOW" snaps you back to darkness. Track names like "ELEGY OF THE CAT PUNCH FELLOW" and "LOOK AT MY BODY!!"
give you that peak 90s Falcom personality. The arranged versions of "LEGEND OF THE LONE WOLVES" and "TANTOLL" at the end show the melodies freed from hardware constraints. If you dig Falcom's golden era and want PC-98 FM synthesis at its most expressive, Brandish 3 delivers.