[中英双语+下载]巫术外传 ～戦闘の監獄 & 五つの試練～ OST 感想&短评
2007-07-22 10:25 | ovelia
下载地址：http://www.sharebig.com/share.php?id=s12jkujsnmqIz2iRw
ウィザードリィ?外伝 ～戦闘の監獄 & 五つの試練～ Audio Collections
ウィザードリィ?外伝 ～戦闘の監獄～
01.戦闘の監獄 作曲：岩田匡治
02.城塞 作曲：岩田匡治
03.酒場 作曲：金田充弘
04.宿屋 作曲：岩田匡治
05.寺院 作曲：金田充弘
06.商店 作曲：岩田匡治
07.町外れ 作曲：岩田匡治
08.博物館 作曲：金田充弘
09.迷宮 １ 作曲：岩田匡治
10.戦闘 １ 作曲：金田充弘
11.全滅 作曲：岩田匡治
12.訓練場 作曲：金田充弘
13.迷宮 ２ 作曲：岩田匡治
14.戦闘 ２ 作曲：岩田匡治
15.戦闘後の宝箱 作曲：金田充弘
16.休息 作曲：岩田匡治
17.迷宮 ３ 作曲：金田充弘
18.戦闘 ３ 作曲：金田充弘
19.出来事 作曲：金田充弘
20.エンディング 作曲：﨑元 仁
■ウィザードリィ?外伝 ～五つの試練～
21.灼熱の車輪※戦闘の監獄Arrange ver. 作曲：小谷野 謙一
22.街 作曲：﨑元 仁
23.迷宮 作曲：小谷野 謙一
24.戦闘 １ 作曲：小谷野 謙一
25.戦闘 ２ 作曲：小谷野 謙一
中文版：
我对巫术系列并不很了解，只玩过巫术8。在当年的观点来看，那是一个非常不错的RPG，画面不错，音乐也很赞，剧情比较神棍……现在来看，似乎可以说，巫术8就是巫术系列的终结了。尽管这个商标的授权还在继续，但是做出来的游戏似乎都渣化了。
本CD中收录了05-06年间两个巫术外传游戏的所有BGM。这两个所谓的“外传”我玩了下，似乎就是最最简陋的80年代的RPG模样。何必这样折磨自己和玩家呢，现在还拿出毫无画面和音效可言的游戏出来卖，游戏性也毫无改进。所以游戏的亮点，也就只能从音乐里找了。CD里的前20首是戦闘の監獄的BGM，后5首是五つの試練的BGM，前20首是较为正统的管弦乐，而后5首则基本没有管弦乐的成分。虽然曲名毫无创意，但却不能掩盖其音乐的优秀。下面根据作曲者来分别简介下每首曲子。
Masaharu Iwata
岩田匡治是其中作曲最多的，共10首。和以往岩田的典型风格类似的是，这10首曲子中当然也有那种正气凛然的段落，如主题音乐“戦闘の監獄”，有着非常大气的旋律（尽管没有什么歌唱性）和古典音乐般严谨的结构。“城塞”则运用了岩田最近颇为喜爱的乐器羽管键琴，同样是很有男子气概，但听起来略显空洞，音乐的发展比较单调。
本作由于是迷宫打怪游戏，所以岩田的曲目中偏阴暗的音乐占了较大的一部分。而这里面往往思想感情上比较单调，一味的营造黑暗的氛围使得曲子的可听性打了折扣。两首迷宮（1和2）都是基于这样的思想所作的，因而结果可想而知。2相比1要好一些，因为岩田在这里与其用单调的弦乐，不如干脆抛弃了旋律线，完全靠奇特的打击乐和弦乐器的颤音营造紧张氛围，音乐元素相对丰富一些，但对于普通听众而言，这样的走极端并不容易接受。戦闘2则走的是FFT式的战斗音乐路线，效果还是不错的。全滅则在一个悲壮的开头之后迅速走入了沉闷。岩田的真正亮点还是在于城镇音乐，宿屋是一首暖色调的治愈系音乐，当中还插入了一小段魔法般精妙的段落。商店的开头似乎是标准的岩田Shop，不过后面逐渐演变为活泼的民乐风三拍子舞曲。
总的来说，岩田的表现只能算是中等，除了主题音乐和两首城镇音乐外，其余的曲子尽管音乐上是不错的，但都比较单调。
Mitsuhiro Kaneda
金田充弘是Basiscape[1]的第三位成员，参与过的游戏数量并不多，也并不为人所熟知。但是在最近的Grim Grimoire，Odin Sphere和本作中，金田的表现都远超岩田，在我看来，他有着并不亚于崎元仁的实力。
本作中金田负责了9首曲子。酒場和寺院都是特定的乐器唱主角的乐曲，不过可以看出金田对这些乐器有着相当程度的了解。第一首真正意义上金田风特别明显的曲子是博物館，弦乐的拨弦和各种色彩的木管乐器交相辉映，旋律也颇为活泼，这样的配器能使曲子的古风显得更为明显（当然这个似乎是崎元仁常用的手法）。戦闘後の宝箱多了点悬疑味，但这种活泼的氛围并没有改变多少。
剩下的曲子则是偏黑暗氛围的为主。但值得注意的是，金田并不会单纯以单色调的压抑“恐吓”听众，他的音乐尽管偏阴暗，但仍然是色彩鲜明的。迷宮3就是最好的例子。前30秒似乎走的是岩田那样的路线。但是中途萨克斯管和各种色彩的打击乐，尤其是金田喜欢用的类似调制钢琴的音色的加入。使得音乐摆脱了单调。而这一首，也是我个人在本CD里最喜爱的曲子。两首战斗音乐（戦闘1，3）很有气势之余也别出心裁，戦闘1后段的低音就是一个例证。
金田充弘的表现整体要高于岩田，这表现在其乐曲的丰富多彩，配器的圆润，以及更好的乐曲发展上。
Hitoshi Sakimoto
崎元仁在本CD中只负责了两首。第一首是エンディング，开头便巧妙地与岩田所作的主题音乐遥相呼应，但曲子后面的发展略显单调，弦乐似乎不知道向何处发展。
崎元真正的亮点在第二首“街”，这首曲子的Jazz/Fusion风很浓，主旋律由低音区的贝司奏出，旋律的即兴性很强，配上奇怪的打击乐和环境音效之后，就是一首充满了个性的曲子了。这种曲风是崎元在近几年内（Breath of Fire V之后）都没有尝试过的，效果也是很好，看来崎元仁依然是能够写出各种曲风的好作品的，FF12之后，本人有些担心他会被定格为纯管弦乐作曲家，现在看来这种担心大可不必，只要有合适的游戏，崎元仁的能力和多样性仍然能发挥出来。
Kenichi Koyano
小谷野谦一本人并不了解。本作中负责的4首曲子都是摇滚乐，尽管本人不太会欣赏摇滚乐（笑），但可以听出作曲仍然是很用心的，旋律和和声都可圈可点，尤其是两首战斗音乐，只听得人热血沸腾。而灼熱の車輪中引用岩田所作的主题音乐，则是另一种风味。
值得关注的是，这4首曲子都不是真实乐器演奏的，录音混音的过程都在崎元仁的工作室里进行，这实在让人感叹技术的伟大啊，哈哈。
总结
某位好友跟我说过，Basiscape的作曲家是一人有一种完全迥异的风格。尽管大家都披着管弦乐的皮，但这皮下面的肉质可是完全不一样的。本CD主要展现给我们的是岩田匡治和金田充弘两位作曲家的实力，同时也给我们窥探崎元的曲风变化开了一个小小的窗口。尽管这是给一个低成本到不能再低的游戏所写的BGM，但在音乐上这四位作曲家并没有偷工减料，对此我感到非常满意。展望未来，Basiscape今年的任务非常紧张，但从已出的两个游戏来看，他们的实力是不减反增。大家尽管期待后面的Deltora Quest，Opoona，FFTA2和ASH吧！
[1]: Basiscape是崎元仁，岩田匡治等作曲家所组成的以音乐音效制作为主营的公司。其他成员还有金田充弘，阿部公弘（虫姬2），上仓纪行（Romeo x Juliet）等。
评分：8.1/10
Ovelia @ 9:53AM 07-22-2007
英文版：
Wizardry ~Prisoners of the Battles and Five Ordeals~ Audio Collections Review
Overview
Wizardry series is, without doubt, a massive franchise, with 8 main games and endless spin-offs from various game studios. I have only played the 8th installment, which is a better-than-decent western RPG with good graphics, music and a plot combining spaceships with cold arms and magic. From today's point of view, Wizardry 8 marked the end of the series. Although the brand is still being used by other game studios, but games they produced seems to be mostly inferior compared to the main games.
The two gaiden games whose music featured in this CD are no exception, either. I've briefly played both games and they are horrifyingly primitive. They played just like the oldschool RPGs in the 80s without flashy graphics like those in Etrian Odyssey. To be honest, I can come up with no reason why anybody would release games like this to torture players and gamemakers. Thus, the background music became the sole strength of these games.
The first 20 songs are from Prisoners of the Battles, and the last 5 are from Five Ordeals. The former songs are orchestral, distinct from the latter which are mostly rock and jazz/fusion pieces. Unfortunately, all of these songs are devoid of a decent name with a decent character, but names like "Town" or "Shop" cannot conceal the fact that these songs are better than decent. This album is the product of multiple composers, so I am going to analyse it according to different composers. Now let us start from Masaharu Iwata.
Masaharu Iwata's Contributions
Iwata wrote 10 pieces in this album, which is the most from the four composers. They almost all exhibit similar styles from Iwata's past works, so do not expect any new grounds in this album.
One aspect that Iwata specializes in is the majestic quality of music. The main theme "Prisoners of the Battles" is a fine example of this. It featured epic and not-so-lyrical themes with a rigid structure that reminds me of classical music. "Fortress" utilized harpsichord which is a favorite of Iwata when expressing majesty. The masculinity is quite evident in here, yet its sound seems lacking in substance, and the short length of the song prevented it from better development.
Iwata is also famous for his representation of the dark side. "Pervert" in Final Fantasy Tactics showcased that perfectly. Yet in this game, Iwata's contributions in the dark side just lacks variety. When Iwata used eerie passages in his piece, it would be all over without any contrast. As a result, the music becomes monotonous and boring. Labyrinth 1 and 2 are based on this methodology of writing dark music, so the result is exactly what I expected. Between them, Labyrinth 2 is slightly better. It seems that Iwata knew his approach, so he just abandoned all melody and utilized weird percussions and tremolo strings to create tension. This approach is effective, yet the end product is not satisfying enough for most average listeners. "Battle 2" is a quite similar piece to Iwata's battle themes in Tactics and Stella Deus. "Annilation" has a good opening, but soon become a tedium afterwards.
The real highlight of Iwata's music is in the more soothing ones. The opening "Inn" seems like yet another warm "potion" music, but it has its moments when a whimsical passage appears in the middle of all this warmth. "Shop" also looks like a standard Iwata shop music, but it soon transformes into a brilliantly composed mazurka-like folk dance.
In sum, Iwata's contributions are not bad, but aside from one or two songs, they are average at most.
Mitsuhiro Kaneda's Contributions
Kaneda's name is relatively unknown compared to the first three members (Sakimoto, Iwata, Namiki) in Basiscape, and the project experience he had is much less than those big names. However, to many people's surprise, his pieces in the recent Basiscape collaboration projects such as Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire are the best among all collaborators. In my opinion, he has the potential to become the next Sakimoto if opportunity is given to him.
Kaneda has written 9 pieces in this album. "Bar" and "Temple" showcased the individual instruments very well, and we can see that Kaneda has good understanding on the usage of various instruments. But the first piece reeked with Kaneda-ism is "Museum", which has good development, playful melody and the most important of all, brilliant orchestrations. The technique reminds me of Sakimoto, but here Kaneda used a much lighter instrumentation with only pizzicato strings and woodwinds, but what it created is something playful and history-laden at the same time. Chest from After the Battle is in the same realm, but it also has some suspense in the music.
The rest of the Kaneda pieces are mostly dark-oriented. However, the Kaneda dark is much different from the Iwata dark, in the sense that Kaneda would never feature monotonous, grayish darkness in his songs. They are dark and colorful at the same time. "Labyrinth 3" is a fine example of this, with the brilliant use of sax, ethical percussion and harmony. This is also my favorite piece in the whole album. The two battle songs (1 and 3) not only have great power, but also meticulous design like the ferocious cello passage in the latter part of Battle 1.
All in all, Kaneda did a better job overall than Iwata, which comes from colorful orchestrations and better development of songs.
Hitoshi Sakimoto's Contributions
Sakimoto only has two pieces in this album. The first piece, "Ending", if not for the majestic reiteration of the main theme in the opening, is just a standard, if not a little boring, Sakimoto string piece. The strings wanders without direction. The other piece, "Town", is far more interesting, though. It has a good amount of influence from Jazz/Fusion genre. The melody from bass is very improvised, and the accompaniment of strange percussions and ambient sound effects makes the song stand out from the composer's usual styles, although the trademark harmony in all of Sakimoto's music is still evident here.
Although Sakimoto showed his diversity in games like Gradius V and Breath of Fire V, I have been worried that he was typecast into a strict orchestral composer after FFXII. Now it seems that my worries are not necessary at all. Given an appopriate project, his ability to divertise will still be shown.
Kenichi Koyano's Contributions
Koyano is the only non-Basiscape composer that worked on this album. I am not familiar with Koyano's music at all, but judging from the 4 pieces he had composed in this album, he's at the very least a decent composer. Although these four pieces are rock songs which I don't usually enjoy, they are still very delicate melodically and harmonically, especially the two battle songs which makes me very excited. Also the arrangement of Iwata's main them is quite good.
Another point of attention is that, these four pieces are not played by live instruments. They are all sampled and mixed at Sakimoto's studios. What great technology they have (laugh).
Conclusions
A music friend of mine once told me that Basiscape composers are distinctive in the sense that each of them has distinct styles. Although they all wear the mask of orchestral music, the meat behind the mask are totally different. What this CD has showed us is mainly the distinctive styles from two Basiscape composers, Masaharu Iwata and Mitsuhiro Kaneda, as well as a small window of style change from Hitoshi Sakimoto. Although the game in which the music has featured is extremely low-budgeted, the music itself is of high production value, which makes me very satisfied.
Basiscape has a great (and busy at the same time) year of 2007 with over 10 projects, but judging from the two collaboration projects that is already released (Odin Sphere, Grim Grimoire) they are still doing a great job. Let us hope they continue to make fantastic music in the upcoming Deltora Quest, Opoona, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and Archaic Sealed Heat.
Percentage Overall Score: 81%
ウィザードリィ?外伝 ～戦闘の監獄 & 五つの試練～ Audio Collections
ウィザードリィ?外伝 ～戦闘の監獄～
01.戦闘の監獄 作曲：岩田匡治
02.城塞 作曲：岩田匡治
03.酒場 作曲：金田充弘
04.宿屋 作曲：岩田匡治
05.寺院 作曲：金田充弘
06.商店 作曲：岩田匡治
07.町外れ 作曲：岩田匡治
08.博物館 作曲：金田充弘
09.迷宮 １ 作曲：岩田匡治
10.戦闘 １ 作曲：金田充弘
11.全滅 作曲：岩田匡治
12.訓練場 作曲：金田充弘
13.迷宮 ２ 作曲：岩田匡治
14.戦闘 ２ 作曲：岩田匡治
15.戦闘後の宝箱 作曲：金田充弘
16.休息 作曲：岩田匡治
17.迷宮 ３ 作曲：金田充弘
18.戦闘 ３ 作曲：金田充弘
19.出来事 作曲：金田充弘
20.エンディング 作曲：﨑元 仁
■ウィザードリィ?外伝 ～五つの試練～
21.灼熱の車輪※戦闘の監獄Arrange ver. 作曲：小谷野 謙一
22.街 作曲：﨑元 仁
23.迷宮 作曲：小谷野 謙一
24.戦闘 １ 作曲：小谷野 謙一
25.戦闘 ２ 作曲：小谷野 謙一
中文版：
我对巫术系列并不很了解，只玩过巫术8。在当年的观点来看，那是一个非常不错的RPG，画面不错，音乐也很赞，剧情比较神棍……现在来看，似乎可以说，巫术8就是巫术系列的终结了。尽管这个商标的授权还在继续，但是做出来的游戏似乎都渣化了。
本CD中收录了05-06年间两个巫术外传游戏的所有BGM。这两个所谓的“外传”我玩了下，似乎就是最最简陋的80年代的RPG模样。何必这样折磨自己和玩家呢，现在还拿出毫无画面和音效可言的游戏出来卖，游戏性也毫无改进。所以游戏的亮点，也就只能从音乐里找了。CD里的前20首是戦闘の監獄的BGM，后5首是五つの試練的BGM，前20首是较为正统的管弦乐，而后5首则基本没有管弦乐的成分。虽然曲名毫无创意，但却不能掩盖其音乐的优秀。下面根据作曲者来分别简介下每首曲子。
Masaharu Iwata
岩田匡治是其中作曲最多的，共10首。和以往岩田的典型风格类似的是，这10首曲子中当然也有那种正气凛然的段落，如主题音乐“戦闘の監獄”，有着非常大气的旋律（尽管没有什么歌唱性）和古典音乐般严谨的结构。“城塞”则运用了岩田最近颇为喜爱的乐器羽管键琴，同样是很有男子气概，但听起来略显空洞，音乐的发展比较单调。
本作由于是迷宫打怪游戏，所以岩田的曲目中偏阴暗的音乐占了较大的一部分。而这里面往往思想感情上比较单调，一味的营造黑暗的氛围使得曲子的可听性打了折扣。两首迷宮（1和2）都是基于这样的思想所作的，因而结果可想而知。2相比1要好一些，因为岩田在这里与其用单调的弦乐，不如干脆抛弃了旋律线，完全靠奇特的打击乐和弦乐器的颤音营造紧张氛围，音乐元素相对丰富一些，但对于普通听众而言，这样的走极端并不容易接受。戦闘2则走的是FFT式的战斗音乐路线，效果还是不错的。全滅则在一个悲壮的开头之后迅速走入了沉闷。岩田的真正亮点还是在于城镇音乐，宿屋是一首暖色调的治愈系音乐，当中还插入了一小段魔法般精妙的段落。商店的开头似乎是标准的岩田Shop，不过后面逐渐演变为活泼的民乐风三拍子舞曲。
总的来说，岩田的表现只能算是中等，除了主题音乐和两首城镇音乐外，其余的曲子尽管音乐上是不错的，但都比较单调。
Mitsuhiro Kaneda
金田充弘是Basiscape[1]的第三位成员，参与过的游戏数量并不多，也并不为人所熟知。但是在最近的Grim Grimoire，Odin Sphere和本作中，金田的表现都远超岩田，在我看来，他有着并不亚于崎元仁的实力。
本作中金田负责了9首曲子。酒場和寺院都是特定的乐器唱主角的乐曲，不过可以看出金田对这些乐器有着相当程度的了解。第一首真正意义上金田风特别明显的曲子是博物館，弦乐的拨弦和各种色彩的木管乐器交相辉映，旋律也颇为活泼，这样的配器能使曲子的古风显得更为明显（当然这个似乎是崎元仁常用的手法）。戦闘後の宝箱多了点悬疑味，但这种活泼的氛围并没有改变多少。
剩下的曲子则是偏黑暗氛围的为主。但值得注意的是，金田并不会单纯以单色调的压抑“恐吓”听众，他的音乐尽管偏阴暗，但仍然是色彩鲜明的。迷宮3就是最好的例子。前30秒似乎走的是岩田那样的路线。但是中途萨克斯管和各种色彩的打击乐，尤其是金田喜欢用的类似调制钢琴的音色的加入。使得音乐摆脱了单调。而这一首，也是我个人在本CD里最喜爱的曲子。两首战斗音乐（戦闘1，3）很有气势之余也别出心裁，戦闘1后段的低音就是一个例证。
金田充弘的表现整体要高于岩田，这表现在其乐曲的丰富多彩，配器的圆润，以及更好的乐曲发展上。
Hitoshi Sakimoto
崎元仁在本CD中只负责了两首。第一首是エンディング，开头便巧妙地与岩田所作的主题音乐遥相呼应，但曲子后面的发展略显单调，弦乐似乎不知道向何处发展。
崎元真正的亮点在第二首“街”，这首曲子的Jazz/Fusion风很浓，主旋律由低音区的贝司奏出，旋律的即兴性很强，配上奇怪的打击乐和环境音效之后，就是一首充满了个性的曲子了。这种曲风是崎元在近几年内（Breath of Fire V之后）都没有尝试过的，效果也是很好，看来崎元仁依然是能够写出各种曲风的好作品的，FF12之后，本人有些担心他会被定格为纯管弦乐作曲家，现在看来这种担心大可不必，只要有合适的游戏，崎元仁的能力和多样性仍然能发挥出来。
Kenichi Koyano
小谷野谦一本人并不了解。本作中负责的4首曲子都是摇滚乐，尽管本人不太会欣赏摇滚乐（笑），但可以听出作曲仍然是很用心的，旋律和和声都可圈可点，尤其是两首战斗音乐，只听得人热血沸腾。而灼熱の車輪中引用岩田所作的主题音乐，则是另一种风味。
值得关注的是，这4首曲子都不是真实乐器演奏的，录音混音的过程都在崎元仁的工作室里进行，这实在让人感叹技术的伟大啊，哈哈。
总结
某位好友跟我说过，Basiscape的作曲家是一人有一种完全迥异的风格。尽管大家都披着管弦乐的皮，但这皮下面的肉质可是完全不一样的。本CD主要展现给我们的是岩田匡治和金田充弘两位作曲家的实力，同时也给我们窥探崎元的曲风变化开了一个小小的窗口。尽管这是给一个低成本到不能再低的游戏所写的BGM，但在音乐上这四位作曲家并没有偷工减料，对此我感到非常满意。展望未来，Basiscape今年的任务非常紧张，但从已出的两个游戏来看，他们的实力是不减反增。大家尽管期待后面的Deltora Quest，Opoona，FFTA2和ASH吧！
[1]: Basiscape是崎元仁，岩田匡治等作曲家所组成的以音乐音效制作为主营的公司。其他成员还有金田充弘，阿部公弘（虫姬2），上仓纪行（Romeo x Juliet）等。
评分：8.1/10
Ovelia @ 9:53AM 07-22-2007
英文版：
Wizardry ~Prisoners of the Battles and Five Ordeals~ Audio Collections Review
Overview
Wizardry series is, without doubt, a massive franchise, with 8 main games and endless spin-offs from various game studios. I have only played the 8th installment, which is a better-than-decent western RPG with good graphics, music and a plot combining spaceships with cold arms and magic. From today's point of view, Wizardry 8 marked the end of the series. Although the brand is still being used by other game studios, but games they produced seems to be mostly inferior compared to the main games.
The two gaiden games whose music featured in this CD are no exception, either. I've briefly played both games and they are horrifyingly primitive. They played just like the oldschool RPGs in the 80s without flashy graphics like those in Etrian Odyssey. To be honest, I can come up with no reason why anybody would release games like this to torture players and gamemakers. Thus, the background music became the sole strength of these games.
The first 20 songs are from Prisoners of the Battles, and the last 5 are from Five Ordeals. The former songs are orchestral, distinct from the latter which are mostly rock and jazz/fusion pieces. Unfortunately, all of these songs are devoid of a decent name with a decent character, but names like "Town" or "Shop" cannot conceal the fact that these songs are better than decent. This album is the product of multiple composers, so I am going to analyse it according to different composers. Now let us start from Masaharu Iwata.
Masaharu Iwata's Contributions
Iwata wrote 10 pieces in this album, which is the most from the four composers. They almost all exhibit similar styles from Iwata's past works, so do not expect any new grounds in this album.
One aspect that Iwata specializes in is the majestic quality of music. The main theme "Prisoners of the Battles" is a fine example of this. It featured epic and not-so-lyrical themes with a rigid structure that reminds me of classical music. "Fortress" utilized harpsichord which is a favorite of Iwata when expressing majesty. The masculinity is quite evident in here, yet its sound seems lacking in substance, and the short length of the song prevented it from better development.
Iwata is also famous for his representation of the dark side. "Pervert" in Final Fantasy Tactics showcased that perfectly. Yet in this game, Iwata's contributions in the dark side just lacks variety. When Iwata used eerie passages in his piece, it would be all over without any contrast. As a result, the music becomes monotonous and boring. Labyrinth 1 and 2 are based on this methodology of writing dark music, so the result is exactly what I expected. Between them, Labyrinth 2 is slightly better. It seems that Iwata knew his approach, so he just abandoned all melody and utilized weird percussions and tremolo strings to create tension. This approach is effective, yet the end product is not satisfying enough for most average listeners. "Battle 2" is a quite similar piece to Iwata's battle themes in Tactics and Stella Deus. "Annilation" has a good opening, but soon become a tedium afterwards.
The real highlight of Iwata's music is in the more soothing ones. The opening "Inn" seems like yet another warm "potion" music, but it has its moments when a whimsical passage appears in the middle of all this warmth. "Shop" also looks like a standard Iwata shop music, but it soon transformes into a brilliantly composed mazurka-like folk dance.
In sum, Iwata's contributions are not bad, but aside from one or two songs, they are average at most.
Mitsuhiro Kaneda's Contributions
Kaneda's name is relatively unknown compared to the first three members (Sakimoto, Iwata, Namiki) in Basiscape, and the project experience he had is much less than those big names. However, to many people's surprise, his pieces in the recent Basiscape collaboration projects such as Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire are the best among all collaborators. In my opinion, he has the potential to become the next Sakimoto if opportunity is given to him.
Kaneda has written 9 pieces in this album. "Bar" and "Temple" showcased the individual instruments very well, and we can see that Kaneda has good understanding on the usage of various instruments. But the first piece reeked with Kaneda-ism is "Museum", which has good development, playful melody and the most important of all, brilliant orchestrations. The technique reminds me of Sakimoto, but here Kaneda used a much lighter instrumentation with only pizzicato strings and woodwinds, but what it created is something playful and history-laden at the same time. Chest from After the Battle is in the same realm, but it also has some suspense in the music.
The rest of the Kaneda pieces are mostly dark-oriented. However, the Kaneda dark is much different from the Iwata dark, in the sense that Kaneda would never feature monotonous, grayish darkness in his songs. They are dark and colorful at the same time. "Labyrinth 3" is a fine example of this, with the brilliant use of sax, ethical percussion and harmony. This is also my favorite piece in the whole album. The two battle songs (1 and 3) not only have great power, but also meticulous design like the ferocious cello passage in the latter part of Battle 1.
All in all, Kaneda did a better job overall than Iwata, which comes from colorful orchestrations and better development of songs.
Hitoshi Sakimoto's Contributions
Sakimoto only has two pieces in this album. The first piece, "Ending", if not for the majestic reiteration of the main theme in the opening, is just a standard, if not a little boring, Sakimoto string piece. The strings wanders without direction. The other piece, "Town", is far more interesting, though. It has a good amount of influence from Jazz/Fusion genre. The melody from bass is very improvised, and the accompaniment of strange percussions and ambient sound effects makes the song stand out from the composer's usual styles, although the trademark harmony in all of Sakimoto's music is still evident here.
Although Sakimoto showed his diversity in games like Gradius V and Breath of Fire V, I have been worried that he was typecast into a strict orchestral composer after FFXII. Now it seems that my worries are not necessary at all. Given an appopriate project, his ability to divertise will still be shown.
Kenichi Koyano's Contributions
Koyano is the only non-Basiscape composer that worked on this album. I am not familiar with Koyano's music at all, but judging from the 4 pieces he had composed in this album, he's at the very least a decent composer. Although these four pieces are rock songs which I don't usually enjoy, they are still very delicate melodically and harmonically, especially the two battle songs which makes me very excited. Also the arrangement of Iwata's main them is quite good.
Another point of attention is that, these four pieces are not played by live instruments. They are all sampled and mixed at Sakimoto's studios. What great technology they have (laugh).
Conclusions
A music friend of mine once told me that Basiscape composers are distinctive in the sense that each of them has distinct styles. Although they all wear the mask of orchestral music, the meat behind the mask are totally different. What this CD has showed us is mainly the distinctive styles from two Basiscape composers, Masaharu Iwata and Mitsuhiro Kaneda, as well as a small window of style change from Hitoshi Sakimoto. Although the game in which the music has featured is extremely low-budgeted, the music itself is of high production value, which makes me very satisfied.
Basiscape has a great (and busy at the same time) year of 2007 with over 10 projects, but judging from the two collaboration projects that is already released (Odin Sphere, Grim Grimoire) they are still doing a great job. Let us hope they continue to make fantastic music in the upcoming Deltora Quest, Opoona, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and Archaic Sealed Heat.
Percentage Overall Score: 81%