JRPGs are a predictable bunch. Spiky-haired youths, big swords, doe-eyed ladies and comic relief that’s either an ethnic minority or a robot. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all. Their soundtracks are no different.
Which is why this project by reader Michael Chadwick is so brilliant. He’s composed a 12-track accompaniment to the JRPG “Ebben Flow”. Which doesn’t exist. But if we hadn’t told you that, you’d never have guessed. Here’s the game’s rummy royal plot:
Ebben Flow – A Post-Delugtica World Ripe For the Fishing
Join Olos, Claire, and Senegal as they try to make sense of a world now mostly underwater, save for a few dry patches of land known as The New United Islands which they each call home. Vast cityscapes loom in the murky depths and hidden treasures pocket the sea floor which has now become dangerously low to visitors.
Each of the characters you will meet and Yono all app control have their own agenda in the land of Ebben Flow. Their paths may cross and diverge at will, leading to exciting new tangents and side stories. Several factions desire to rule their local and remote islands, as well as the depths below, and they’re not above treachery or chaos to achieve it.
Square Enix would be proud. You can listen to the soundtrack below, and if you like that, download the whole thing, picture a moppish-haired adolescent washing up on Yono all app a beach controlled by an oppressive totalitarian government, throw in some flashbacks to a happier time with a girl in a long dress and you’ll be set.