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Ragnarok Online has been in the Philippines for almost two years and has easily become probably the most popular (and addictive) online game in the country since its beta run. And even if you have to pay to play, it's still patronized by old and new players.

More often than not, background music (or BGM) is the most unnoticed detail in RO. I have to admit, I stopped turning on my stereo whenever I play because I have heard the Prontera Fields BGM a time too many. But when I started playing again recently, I chanced upon listening to this one BGM (specifically in Prontera Field 09) that I really, really liked. It was then that I started to wonder if the sounds are downloaded with the patches or if they're streamed online. Luckily for me, I discovered that I already had all of them in my hard drive!

The BGM came with the first game patch off the installer and sometimes there are new music from special patches that you download through the Patch Client. The music in mp3 format are saved in the folder under Program Files>Gravity>RagnarokOnline>Bgm. Within the folder, the files are stored by number (01, 02, 03 and so on up to 66) but the titles are displayed when you open them in a media player, so don't worry.

What can I say about them? They're absolutely amazing! The collection is a mix of...heck, everything. Eventually, heaven ends and reality bites: you start reading some of the titles. That's when you are reminded that these ARE Korean made. ehehehehe...

A few examples:
Gambler of Highway
Tresure Hunter
Time Up!
Welcome Mr. Hwang
Come on my deer!!



And because I'm in such a friggin' review mood today, and also to give an idea to those who don't play RO, here's the list and a little description of what I think of them:
heaven!! I get to kill lotsa poring!!
I am a super saiyan!! MWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!
a little comic strip I made out of my hobby of taking so many screenshots


File# "Title" what runs through my twisted mind


01 "Title " the music played when logging in. Like an underwater harp theme
02 "Gambler of Highway" rock-ish electric guitar and keyboards
03 "Peaceful Forest" I could see myself walking through Payon's forests now...
04 "I Miss You" the "aww" type of classical, violins and flutes and all...*sigh* (my favorite)
05 "Tread on the Ground" light guitar music (with pop drums)
06 "Risk Your Life" horror movie type of music
07 "Wind of Tragedy" dramatic fantasy game battle music... with 80's keyboards...
08 "Theme of Prontera" uh...right. It sounds like a minus-one version of a cute pop ballad
09 "Great Honor" a flourish-type all-hail-the-king castle/marching band music
10 "Divine Grace" choir/church organ music...reminds me of a Phantom of the Opera scene...
11 "Theme of Morroc" like a Mexican cumbanchero group mixed with bongo drums
12 "Streamside" Prontera Fields BGM. Buitars and flutes...soon with pop drums
13 "Theme of Geffen" pianos and random other sound effects
14 "Theme of Payon" another favorite! A harp or some other string instrument. Feels like watching an old Chinese movie
15 "Theme of Alberta" Birds! Waves! Carribean-y music! ah...*lies back to catch some rays*
16 "Labyrinth" back to horror themes with kettle drums and pianos
17 "Tresure Hunter" nope, not MY typo. Techno mix. enough said.
18 "Time Up!!" not my grammar error either. More rock guitars, with techno effects
19 "Under the Ground" sounds like Starcraft music, the "radio free zerg" thing...techno.
20 "Ancient Groover" at first sounded Indian. The strings are similar to "Theme of Payon", but with a pop beat.
21 "Through the Tower" jungle beat type of dance. OMG. Rave party.
22 "Backattack!!" more techno mixed with violins in a Prince of Persia-esque theme
23 "Travel" pop beat with upbeat, funky guitars
24 "Desert" Definitely Arabian (pop version). Definitely Morroc Desert.
25 "Plateau" feel-good pop song. yep.
26 "Everlasting Wanderers" upbeat keyboards with...with...is that an accordion?
27 "Dreamer's Dream" the dream must be an all-out rave party, then. (a nightmare, if you ask me...)
28 "You're in Ruins" the music doesn't make me feel in ruins, but I think the title is saying that the location you are in is Ruins. oh.
29 "Be Nice 'n Easy" pop beat, guitar, nice early 90's keyboards
30 "One Step Closer" sugary girl group dance pop love song
31 "Brassy Road" forest sound effects, tribal beat
32 (there's no #32...I must've missed that patch...or they haven't released it yet)
33 "Yuna Song" female pop idol song!!! I can see the music video now...lots of sparkles. Cute, though.
34 "Pampas Upas" whatever the title means, it's like a mix of Prontera sounds with guitar plucking and loud late-80's drums
35 "TeMPoison" like Vanessa Mae violins on a slow techno beat...kinda gives either a seductive or scary effect to it.
36 "Nano East" I'll just call it: Asian String Instrument DJ Mix
37 "TeMPorsche" I just type the titles as I see them, okay? Still techno...more of a Two-Mix type of techno.
38 "Hamatan" Bollywood song and dance number!! All I need now is the high-pitched voice of the lead actress.
39 "Theme of Al de Baran" nice guitars, accented by a violin and a piano... (made me smile)
40 "Fear..." sure lives up to its title. I could imagine fire-breathing dragons above me as I watch armies at war.
41 "Rag All Night Long" as expected, it's disco.
42 "Curse'n Pain" horror music again, this time with violins with a suspense thriller theme.
43 "Morning Gloomy" not so gloomy, though. I think the sounds were mixed with "Desert" or some town theme.
44 "TeMP it Up" ah, heavy metal at last! reminded me of the Kachou Ouji anime opening theme.
45 "Don't Piss Me Off" Arabian with a bit of tribal (and Russian dancing...high kicks and all..."tentenententen, HEY!")
46 "An Ant-lion's Pit" a bit horror-suspense buildup music.
47 "Welcome, Mr. Hwang" techno. rave. disco. Mr. Hwang is the king of the dance floor, isn't he?
48 "Help Yourself" rock-ish guitars and morose pianos in a horror theme
49 "Watery Grave" popping bubbles? The subtle backgrounds sound like boiling water.
50 "Out of Curiosity" different effects of a keyboard on a pop beat...as if somebody played with the numbers and buttons of a keyboard and tried them all "out of curiosity"..ooooh...
51 "Believe in Myself" probably a ballad by an ex-boyband member gone solo.
52 "Ready~" action music...I think. Like for arcade fighting games.
53 "White Christmas" yes, it's a piano+orchestra rendition of that Christmas song. Pretty good, actually.
54 "Come on My Deer!!" jazz! yay! Gets you snapping your fingers...then you realize that they're playing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer"!
55 "Welcome, My Lord" this time it's "Joy to the World"...OH I see...they came with the Christmas patch.
56 "Silver Bell" ballad-y pop guitars of "Silver Bells"
57 "Don't Cry, Baby" more pop, this time it's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
58 "Jingle Bell on Ragnarok" I don't have to describe this anymore, do I? This one's cute as well.
59 "Theme of Luite/Snow in my He" ...uh...'Heart'? ummm...yeah. It's a brass wind instrument thing. Trumpets and other things. Still has a Christmas-y ring (literally)
60 "Aeon" quick-shift back to horror with a clock-type beat
61 "Zingaro" lounge music. I think that's what this genre is called. Lots of bass sounds, and violins.
62 "High Roller Coaster" sounds like an early 90's anime image song
63 "Mucho Gusto" taking away all the frills and pop, its a Spanish-Mexican trumpet kinda thing
64 "One Fine Day" more candy pop love song...would be okay if given the right lyrics ^_^
65 "Into the Abyss" African drums...walking through an unexplored cave...limewater dripping on you...and bat guano...err...
66 "Wanna Be Free!!" at first it feels like a liberation pop song, then rock guitars appear and then its a whole "we are the world" group of famous artists singing for world peace....something like that.


That's what I have in my HD so far... they're really fun to listen to especially when you're not playing and you imagine yourself in the different places in Midgard (or in some other world). ^_^ a nice mind exercise. And funny English aside, it truly is a great TRESURE find (teehee).