Yeah, the packaging looks pretty darn good. I can't wait to get an up-close look at Nomura's designs.

Hmm... it seems this pretty good release will lack the english variations... :( Well, it is a Japanese release after all...

*sigh* If that rumored "Complete Final Mix" comes out here (since we didn't get the 1st game's, some internal people are saying that there are talks about releasing all 3 games for the Playstation 2 in a set), I hope that we can get the album in English as a deal.

The official site for this set is up now here.

I'm glad to see that the Chain of Memories section will be Re: Chain of Memories. I'm chomping at the bit for this now.

*sigh of relief* I'm glad that the CoM section is Re: CoM too...hopefully the tracks which are repeated on the KHII OST will be remixed in some innovative ways.

Not to mention the KHI tracks--I'm hoping for some creative bits of remixery. But the tracks that are from niether KHI nor KHII are the really exciting things about that disc.

Hell, I want the entire set so bad it hurts. The first person to post any sort of sound clip from the set gets an Eternal Cookie.

EDIT:
;_; YesAsia wants $134.75 for the set. So much for getting a legitimate copy...

http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.asp...id-1004625506/

Only $134? That's pritty cheap concidering what your geting, I meen that's like £65 in real money and that just about translates to what they're asking for in Nihon-go land if the power of XE.com is anything to go by.

Yeah, i'm kinda waiting to see what of this set.

134.75 USD = 15,811.72 JPY and it includes shipping (since it qualifies for free worldwide shipping). Even minus frequent shopping points I had, my copy from CDJapan still costs me over 17,000yen. But at least I'm sure to get the first press bonus [cd case], which isn't guaranteed on yesasia. Plus, when I preordered my biohazard Sound Complete Box from that website, I waited a month to get it delivered.

Is gamemp3s going to have this CD set on torrent? I mean, this IS the definite KH soundtrack release, new tracks with Re:COM and the KH2 tracks actually LOOPING.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFoFPb7zSZo

Well one thing we can be sure of from that video is the Re:COM intro is practically orchestrated, those strings have to be real.

Well I've listened to most of the box, and it's a mixed bag for me. I'm a bit disappointed with a majority of the tracks from Re: CoM; I feel in many cases Shimomura could've done so much more with arrangement, 'cause some sound oh-so similar to their original versions. The quality is nice, though; I do sense a slight improvement over some originals.

The KHII tracks are even better than before, now :D. It's just a much more enjoyable listen now that they're all looped. The various new tracks hidden among the OST are decent...they didn't blow me away nor did they stick out like a throbbing sore thumb, they blended in nicely with the rest of the music.

As for the new unreleased tracks (from KHII), one word: awesome. They're all great, and there's not a sour one in the bunch. Out of all of them, I'm particularly fond of "Deep Anxiety" and "Happy Holidays!". The latter more-so because of it's extremely infectious melody which always brings a smile on my face, and it paints a cheerful yet rowdy Christmassy scene really well...having said that, it sort of reminds me of "Pirate's Gigue" regarding the structure of the track. I'm glad Shimomura got her head around why she didn't compose this track and "What a Surprise!" for Christmas Town in the first place.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Overall, a really great box set with only a few disappointments. Shimomura matching her best, IMO.

Roxas's boss battle music and the music for the new secret ending rocks.

And it SO nice to hear KH2's Dearly Beloved looped like the way it should.

This was a very pricey set but I don't regret buying it one bit. I'm very satisfied with it. The beefed up KHII OST, Re: CoM arrangements and the Final Mix bonus disc all make me feel better about putting down so much money for it.

I'm preparing a full-length review of the set, but my opinions pretty much gel with what others have said.

KHI is identical to the five-star original, so there's no need to discuss it.

KHII still has significant weaknesses, but looping the tracks has allowed its considerable strengths to shine. The Gummi Ship and Organizaion XII tracks benefit from this the most, as they were the most shortchanged on album. The new tracks aren't anything that special, but are a nice inclusion.

Re:CoM is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the new material is excellent, and it's a joy to finally hear it in decent sound quality. The incidental cutscene tracks and new battle music benefit the most from this. On the other hand, there's an incredible amout of regurgitation--only about 50 mins of material is original or arranged enough to differentiate it from the original tracks. Add to that the fact that many of the best CoM tracks were arranged for KHII, and you get an album with an awful lot of filler.

The bonus Final Mix disc is uniformly terrific. In addition to the great KHI tracks, the new KHII selections are to die for. The Christmas Town music is almost enogh to make me forget the regurgitation of music in Halloween Town, and the new battle music and bonus areas/movies can stand up with the best of Shimomura's dark music for the series.

Nay... I'll pass since it's too expensive!

This set is great, I got it off gamemp3s.net a while ago and disc9 is my favorite. The final mix songs are all excellent, especially the song "Fate of the Unknown" which plays during the secret movie in KH2 FM+.