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.

Game Soundtrack: Final Fantasy V

Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Release Year: December 7, 1992

Label/Company: Square and NTT Publishing

Recorded at: Sunrise Studio

Original System of release: Super Nintendo

Game Overview:

From the moment you start Final Fantasy you can tell it was designed to be a fun game minus some of the ridiculous boss fights laced out. Anyways, If you wait long enough on the title screen you will be treated to the intro credits screen which plays the game’s main theme “Ahead On Our Way” which spells what is basically a light hearted adventure to save the world from impending doom. Now this isn’t to say that the game is all laughs because it does have it’s serious moment, there is death and despair thrown in but for the most part the game is designed to give you that sense of an innocent adventure from the get go.  The game starts of with a boy by the name of Bartz who is out camping with his Chocobo (Giant ostrich like birds that have graced the Final Fantasy series since the second game). Anyways, your camping session is interrupted when a giant meteor falls from the sky and crashes a about a mile away from camp and like any naive main character in a video game you go to investigate it. Lone behold you find a man near the meteor who in like many games of its type lost his memory, a plot device that would later be abused by this series and several others.  Anyways by random chance you run into the princess who comes to inform you that the crystals that govern the elements are in danger and that they must save them and thus the journey begins. From cross dressing pirates, to some of the cheapest bosses a Final Fantasy game has to offer, this game will send you on a happy go luck thrill right that will take you to the ends of the fictional earth and then some more but the purpose of this review isn’t to speak about the game from the perspective of the story, gameplay or likeable characters. I’m here to talk about the game’s soundtrack and how it drives the overall mood of the game.

Tone:

The overall tone of the game is supposed to be a fun innocent adventure that once again has the characters saving the world from impending doom. Nobuo Uematsu does a great job of portraying this through a battery of songs like “Four Valiant Hearts”, your would map theme for most of the game and the battle theme “The Battle” which gives you that thrill and excitement of a battle but with that sense of an innocent adventure. Also the song that plays during sad moments in the game such as character deaths (“Deception”) does a great job of conveying sadness without being overly depressing and still maintains the tone of innocence through its simplicity. Simplicity is the key to maintaining this innocence as none of the tracks in the game are overly complex nor to they have too much going on. Each track uses just about the right amount of instruments to send the message though of course at the time of this game’s release that wasn’t really an option due to the limitations of the game platform but still, if you’re a good composer you’re able to work with what you have and Nobuo did just that. Over the game does a great job of using music to convey its overall adventurous tone, the tracks aren’t overly complex nor are they stupidly simple, for a game of it’s time they pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Soundscape (Voice Acting if any, Sound effects, Immersion factor, and believability):

For a game this old there obviously isn’t any voice acting but this doesn’t detract from the overall experience of the the game. The sound effects are cartoonish, from the swings of weapons to the sound of enemy deaths and monster growls, this game wasn’t attempting to be realistic with the sound effects which is a good thing because any attempt at excessive realism would detract from the game’s overall motif of innocence and adventure. The effects how ever are believe able, an opening chest sound just about how an opening chest would sound as well as the swing of a weapon and the sound of fire, ice, lightning, and other spells. though these sounds are bound by the limitations of the game system they’re emulated by, they are still none the less believable by the standards of that era. Also as far as immersion goes there aren’t many background sounds going on along with the sound track but that is of course due to the limitations of the Super Nintendo back in the day so counting on background noise to draw you in won’t get you anywhere, however the music does an excellent job of making up for what the soundscape wasn’t able to do at the time. When I’m crossing a mountain the music does a great job of giving me that “crossing a mountain feeling” as conveyed by the track “Walking the Snowy Mountain”. Also when I’m underwater in a submarine, I get that sense of mystery and suspense that comes with entering unfamiliar territory as conveyed by “Beyond Deep Blue Seas”. Over this game has a decent soundscape and does what it could for its time.

Variety:

For the most part there is a song for almost everything. World Map, Battles, boss fights, victories, dungeons, castles, towns, and vehicles such as a chocobo, boat, submarine, dragon, and airship. In the case of dungeons and towns however, some of these themes get reused. There is one common song for a town, a cave, and a mountain. Now this isn’t a bad thing as the songs to represent these are enjoyable and for a game of it’s time it’s what you get but the are good enough that you’re not gonna get sick and tired of these songs. There are occasions where the game will switch to reflect the mood or atmosphere  for example, when you enter Ex-Death’s castle you are greeted by “The Castle of Dawn” as well as “Ex-Death’s Castle” as you climb the castle. Also it should be noted that there are events that bring you to an entirely new worlds  for the second half of the game you will be greeted by “Unknown Lands” and “A New World” which instills a sense of mystery while maintaining the adventure motif instilled by the rest of the game’s soundtrack. Another standout song I should point out is “The Ancient Library”, the theme for the kingdom’s archives which is riddled with possessed books and other traps and surprises. This track will stand out for most because it will be the only time time in the game you will ever hear it thus the makes the dungeon just as unique as the song and gives it its own identity amongst the soundtrack as well as “Music Machina” the theme for the sky ruins. Both themes and numerous others help these dungeons stick out giving them the uniqueness needed to create variety in the game’s soundtrack. Overall the variety is solid and you won’t find yourself bored with the soundtrack.

Memorability:

For the most part this track is pretty memorable and there are songs that will stick with you long after you play the game either because you like them that much or because you’re forced too *cough* *cough* Battle Theme or the World Map Theme. However there are some tracks which I many fans of the series found very memorable and catchy. “Clash on the Big Bridge” as the song implies takes place on a giant bridge and plays while you fight your way through hordes of enemies and an incredibly cheap boss. This music instills a sense of excitement and adrenaline as you attempt to make it across the bridge. Though this song doesn’t come until later in the game, it is one of the crown gems of this soundtrack and has been remixed several times. Another highlight includes “The Decisive Battle”, now this one falls in to my favorite boss theme categories. This is the type of song that instills that feeling of fear and give you that “I’m going to get my ass kicked aren’t I feeling”. I love these types of songs because they’re usually revered for those special boss fights that involve that one boss that you WILL lose against several times until you figure out how to beat them. Don’t get me wrong, The regular boss theme does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes but a song like the one mentioned earlier is best revered for the main antagonist of the game and you know you’re gonna have trouble on your hands when and antagonist is so epic he needs his own themes. Even his entrance theme “The Evil Lord Ex-Death” will send shivers down your spine.  The final boss theme “The Last Battle” is as much of a thrill ride as the fight it was designed for. This soundtrack will definitely stick with you for years to come and you will not get tired of the battle theme despite the amount of times you will have to hear it.

Conclusion:

In conclusion this is a pretty solid soundtrack and a standout soundtrack if I may add from the rest of the series though it’s younger brother, Final Fantasy IX takes it to another level but I will get to that in a future review. Overall the soundtrack as well as the game is enjoyable from start to finish and has been well revived thus far. I highly recommend this game and its soundtrack to people of all ages, if you are interested in Role Playing Games and feel like giving this game a shot the by all means go ahead. Though this game was originally made on the Super Nintendo, it has been ported to several other platforms such as the Playstation, Gameboy Advance and has been released in console stores such as the Playstation store in the form of a PS One Classic, and the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console Store.

P.S.
Should you feel inspired by one of these tracks and youn feel that one or more of these tracks has a place in your game project feel free to use these tracks on the condition that you credit me for the track(s) that you use. I put my heart and soul into composing this soundtrack and the last thing I want is people stealing this stuff and claiming it as their own.