Song: Heraldic Emblem (Click to listen!)
Game/Sountrack: Star Ocean: The Second Story
Composer: Motoi Sakuraba
Welcome to the start of my new “Song of the Day” series where I choose a song whether it be from a video game or from a mainstream/indie artist and give you my breakdown of why I like the song, and what made it good from the perspective of a musician. I will also use this opportunity to open people up to new songs and styles of music and also new games. The song I will be analyzing is called “Heraldic Emblem” as listed above. Star Ocean is a series sci fi games that usually involve its main characters getting transported to distant galaxies and planets due to either cataclysmic events or accidents. During these games the main character interacts and teams with people of different races and species to stop a great evil that threatens the universe. Now while I’ve had the chance to play all the games in the series, Star Ocean: The Second Story or Star Ocean: Second Evolution (The name of the Re-localization) was the first game I played in that series and it is also my favorite. Now this song is first introduced to you as you traverse a forest in search of missing children kidnapped by a bandit and a very important family keepsake that if in the wrong hands could be detrimental for many. Now as you listen to this track you get this nice creeping feeling that lets you know you’re in a dark and dreary place which is exactly what the environment is. I should also add that this forest doubles as a swamp loaded with monsters at every turn. There’s also the occasional witch using offensive spells on your characters and the many instances of bandits. Scared? you should be, fear is exactly what this song conveys. From the reverb (echo) from the percussion to the slow progression of the strings, you get the feeling that feeling of anxiety. You’re walking into this treacherous swamp, the lack of lighting plus a plethora of dangers creates for some peril. The music box melody on top of the basic beat gives the song that nice eerie touch needed to send shivers down your spine. Yes, a video game can create those feelings of fear and anxiety through dialogue to a degree but in order for players to truly feel those emotions, you need that ambiance and that’s where music comes in. This song does a superb job of getting that message of fear and anxiety across to the player as they traverse this swamp and attempt to stop these bandits. This song is slept on classic that has stuck with me since the day I first heard it. It is also one of my favorites as far as dungeon themes go and has influenced one of my musical pieces (Check out “Alone in the Dark”). For those wanting to play this game it is available on the Sony PSP and for those retro enthusiasts who are willing to play the original, it is also available on the PS One though for those who own a PS3 it is not yet up for download on the Playstation Network Store so you’ll probably have to do some digging around either at retro game enthusiast stores or the internet.
