The Blog

In 2012, Linked Horizon made its musical debut after its composer, Revo, was chosen to compose for Bravely Default. Alongside the game’s soundtrack, Revo released the single Luxendarc Shou Kikou and the album Luxendarc Dai Kikou. In addition to these releases, the concert, A Travelogue to Luxendarc, was held. In 2022, this concert became available on Amazon Prime in the United States. A Travelogue to Luxendarc is a celebration of Bravely Default’s incredible score, and it features many fantastic vocalists and musicians. However, three performers stood out: Revo himself, Marty Friedman, and Joelle. Their outstanding vocal and instrumental performances worked together to elevate an already phenomenal concert.

Back in the 1990s, guitarist Marty Friedman rose to fame by helping to establish the thrash metal genre with Megadeth’s album, Rust In Peace. After one last show with the band on January 14, 2000, Marty Friedman departed from Megadeth and moved to Japan in 2003. Since moving to Japan, Marty has become a superstar. Not only has he released plenty of amazing solo projects, in 2012 Friedman played on three tracks for the Nintendo 3DS game, Bravely Default. The identifiable elements of Marty’s guitar playing are swiftness, the components of thrash metal, and melody. Once you know Marty’s sound, his work in Bravely Default becomes hard to miss.

Banjo-Kazooie was a game that captured our hearts as children. I remember watching my siblings play the game on the Nintendo 64 back when I was just a kid. Once I was old enough to play video games, I tried the game for myself. I remember beating up baddies, taking on sidequests, and partaking in the trivia game shows before the big head-to-head with Grunty. The whole journey felt like traveling to an endlessly magical place.

It was an age of great fun for Nintendo fans, but Microsoft swooped in and purchased RARE shortly after. Our heroes were whisked away to Xbox, never to be seen on a Nintendo console again… or so we thought. After a pit-stop in Smash Bros., the bear and bird are home once more, taking us back to where it all started.

When I saw that Banjo-Kazooie would be coming to Switch Online, I was overjoyed! I honestly didn’t think Banjo-Kazooie would ever see a release on another Nintendo console. I hadn’t played the original release since middle school, as I never owned an Xbox 360/One. On Friday, January 21st, 2022, I bought the Switch Online Expansion Pack, and it was finally time to relive my childhood.