*I played Bravely Default when For the Sequel came out in Japan.
I ignored Bravely Defaults soundtrack last year because I knew I would be playing the game somehow in 2013, and that actually happened. While the game was great and let me down in its second half due to its horrendous pacing, the music was consistently a treat to listen to.
Revo is known in Japan for his fantasy bands: Sound Horizon and Linked Horizon . You will probably know him from the Attack on Titan theme songs, to be honest. Looking up Revos repertoire and what instruments he could play is something else. He isnt any stranger to releasing music on the internet, nor is he any stranger to releasing doujin music, having participated in Comiket. Sound Horizon went from composing themes songs for games like Chaos Wars and Belle Isle to including a bunch of big-name acts like Megadeths Marty Friedman and Hatsune Miku. Now with their new project Linked Horizon, theyve started to compose for video games and themes for anime including Attack on Titans
Guren no Yumiya.
With respect to Bravely Defaults soundtrack, the entire product sounds wonderfully-mastered, with the quality of the instruments being preserved and properly-mixed. I dont get to hear this on soundtracks that often, so its quite a pleasure to hear on the final product that I usually put in a CD player or in my car. The soundtracks sound itself doesnt veer into a completely retro domain, opting not to use chiptune sets or older sounds like FM or anything like that, but it ends up sounding fairly nostalgic because of the pacing of the tracks, and also because of certain sounds that are employed. A few days ago, I spoke to another GAF member and sent them some sound samples and they did note that despite not using retro soundfonts, it sounded so much like a SNES-era soundtrack and Im very happy to see that other people picked that up as well.
I dont particularly think as much of
Prelude Moving Toward Hope, the games title theme (which essentially introduces the games prime motif), but with that said, its very reminiscent of a sound that Sakimoto would have used a while ago. While it begins with slower pacing, it shifts into a bombastic orchestrated affair. Whats nice is that it blends piano passages reminiscent of Sakurabas work (and coincidentally, Motoi Sakuraba plays the piano and organ on this soundtrack) with the orchestrated portions, and its mixed so well and seamlessly. The main theme of Bravely Default is used throughout the entire soundtrack, like the music box theme
Toward That Prayer (supplemented with great sinister riffs, and an amazing violin melody). The games menu theme
Eternitys Moment is a very cute music box theme, fit with chimes to signify a loop and great backing percussion. Its rather unintrusive and it fits its purpose. The main motif is also repurposed in this silly bombastic version of it in
Foolish Event, which sounds like it fit right into a Disney film.
Shrine Maidens Prayer essentially builds upon Toward That Prayers music box introduction.
Land of Beginnings is the first towns theme that has a wonderful sense of duality to it. It may be fairly majestic to begin with, with a lot of brass, but its also fairly humble, which is where the strings and woodwind come in right after its introduction.
Land of Sand and a Large Clock is the theme for the games second town, which is, as you can hear based on sitar/woodwind/percussion use, a desert town. Im fairly fond of its tendency to actually progress into a downbeat segment with the woodwind harmonies leading the charge.
The Fascinating Flower Country, Florems theme, is awfully Mediterranean and European in what instruments it employs. The reliance on strings ends up making the theme sound awfully elegant for obvious reasons. Truly, many of the town themes fit their in-game counterparts.
Sinking Land sounds fairly reminiscent of, and its more than likely its because Im so used to the themes in that game being like this given that it revolved around water, some of Mitsudas guitar work in some themes in Chrono Cross. With that said, the ensemble part is, again, reminiscent of Sakurabas earlier works. I think
Land of Civil War is one of the best town themes on the soundtrack. While it introduces the towns industrial capacity for armour manufacturing in the beginning, it moves into an awesome section with a piano breakdown with frenetic/off-beat percussion, and builds up in a more harmonious, rhythmic, and exciting phase focusing on a heroism touch as opposed to the dour industrial phase. Finally, my favourite town theme is
Land of Immortality, particularly because it has backing percussion. Typically snow themes sound so distant and lacking with little rhythm. This has bass and guitar in spades combined with piano, with a wonderful woodwind portion that still provides meaning to the track.
Sunlight Filtering Through the Trees isnt really a town theme, but it still is an area theme which is incredibly reminiscent of older happier town themes demonstrated by its bass, guitar, percussion progression, and piano progression.
Beneath the Hollow Moon is definitely one of my favourite tracks on the soundtrack. It sounds so Celtic infused, and it doesnt seem overarranged or overcomposed. The woodwind and string harmony is so beautiful and the acoustic backing reminds me so much of Chrono Cross (which is my favourite soundtrack ever) that I cant help but to adore it.
World of Scattering Flowers is most definitely reminiscent of older Suikoden sad themes given its tendency to build upon layers and have various movements.
Strained Time is the sort of theme I would expect to hear in fantasy horror game like Shadow Hearts, but I truly do love how it builds to a frantic head with creepy strings trying to blend into the theme.
Its been a while since Ive had the chance to hear an airship theme, but
Ship Soaring Through the Heavens is truly one of the best airship themes out there. If I can say so, its my favourite airship theme ever. It combines the main motif so seamlessly and heroically, while opening with a wonderful electric guitar intro playing nicely into a piano melody. Its a wonderful and better arrangement of the world map themes,
Horizon of Light and Shadow, use of the main motif. With that said, I truly feel like Horizon of Light and Shadow is a little reminiscent of some Suikoden work and I cant put my finger on exactly why. I suppose its the humility I feel from it.
Ship Racing Across the Ocean is very reminiscent of Koichi Sugiyamas work in Dragon Quest. It essentially seems to use the same sort of instrumentation and pacing that a Dragon Quest ship theme would use in the context of the Symphonic collections that Sugiyama typically works on. The strings blend in incredibly well with the brass.
The dungeon themes on the soundtrack are also top-notch. I havent heard dungeon themes like these in years.
Silence of the Forest, while coincidentally sharing the name with one of his own pieces, sounds very much like a theme Mitsuda would have worked on if he still worked in that vein of sound. It sounds incredibly ethereal and uses the synthesizers in the right way, while letting the piano carry the piece.
Cave of Darkness, used for multiple dungeons, uses strings so elegantly and harmoniously with the piano to create a dour atmosphere that I havent heard in a Square(soft) RPG in a while.
Infiltrating Hostile Territorys magical instruments are its bass and guitar, and it isnt so often that we get to hear those two instruments in a dungeon setting to hear something fairly often unless they are outright trying to crib from a spy film. My favourite bit of that track is honestly the violin bit in combination with the melodic bass. Truly, the best part of playing Bravely Default was with headphones on to hear how all of these instruments worked in-tandem.
The character themes on this album are incredibly solid. This is truly the first time that Ive ever been satisfied with every single character theme on a soundtrack before. All of the character themes are played when you use the characters super attacks/use a Friend Summon.
You Are My Hope is a Celtic character theme for Tiz Arrior, reminiscent of the humble and rustic charm of the first towns theme, yet also being incredibly heroic leading up to the woodwind and bagpipe breakdown.
Winds Direction is a romantic (as in the era) theme for Wind Vestal Agnes Oblige, with a focus on romantic strings, gentle plucking, and wonderful violin work.
Baby Bird is a theme I hear a lot because a lot of my Friend Summons seem to love using Edea Lee. Its a happy pop-rock theme with some jazzy stylings, especially with the soprano saxophone being played by Makoto Hirahara. Finally,
Loves Vagrant is the hottest character theme on the soundtrack (especially when you watch the concert video of Revo rocking out while playing his accordion). Tetsuya Kuwayama plays the accordion on the soundtrack version of the theme, accompanied by flamenco guitar, electric guitar, castanets, bass and piano. Its the best character theme Ive heard in years.
On to the battle themes. I would put these battle and boss themes up there with the best of Falcoms. It has been a terribly long time since I have been able to say that I like every single battle theme on a soundtrack in a genuine fashion.
Conflicts Chime does a lot of neat things, but superficially, it combines the new-age rock guitar with the old/retro brass. Its essentially progressive rock in combination with brass. What its very reminiscent of is Grandia/Lunar work
which in turn means that it reminds me quite a bit of Idawares work. The breakdown before the loop makes the entire theme worth it to me.
Signs of the Enemy Invasion is also fairly reminiscent of Kenji Itos work in Romancing SaGa with updated instrumentation.
That Persons Name Is, the Asterisk boss theme[/url] is one of the best RPG battle themes Ive heard all year, particularly because it sounds a lot like a Falcom theme, bearing the guitar and violin trademark blend and proper mixing/alternating. The second phase of the theme is so delightful to hear with beat drops, frenetic pacing, and a great way to end the loop.
Fighting to the End, the Crystal Boss battle theme, features Marty Friedman on guitar and Motoi Sakuraba on the electronic organ
which should truly come as no surprise given that it absolutely positively sounds like an arranged Sakuraba prog rock. I especially love the small bridge bit where most of the rhythm drops out and then builds back up again, because it features the best shredding in the theme overall. It even has a neat organ solo.
Finally, the last few themes on the soundtrack are undecidedly Revo-like. While Ive been drawing comparisons to other composers work, Revo takes it home with his own take on things.
Wicked Thing is a fairly special boss theme clearly featuring Atsushi Hasegawa on bass, Marty Friedman on guitar, and Motoi Sakuraba on the keyboard. Its truly one of the best themes on the soundtrack with guitar, bass, and keyboard mini-solos. This themes motif carries on into the final battle themes of the game.
Wicked Battle incorporates Wicked Things motif into the theme but focuses heavily on guitar and synth melodies, and continuously builds upon its base with more instrumentation and keeps progressing throughout the themes duration. Truly give this one a listen.
Wicked Flight opens with a great lead synth melody with rock influence, but predominately focuses on orchestrated melodies. The second portion is truly awesome, launching into a more heroic passage using the games main motif with great harmonies.
The best track is the final boss theme
Serpent Devouring the Horizon which obviously pulls everything out, including a live choir, heavier guitar riffing, harder percussion, and brass. As with the previous two tracks, this track doesnt loop. It keeps going. A piano version of the main motif and building it into the main themes instrumentation is seamlessly introduced, and then transitions back into the sinister atmosphere that the theme originally had, with more organ, synth, and a carnivalesque electric guitar before finally blending all of the character themes. Its so wonderful to hear this in action live as the theme is going in-game. It truly ties all of the games music together and truly does make the characters themselves feel like a true-blue team. Its certainly one of the best final battle themes Ive heard in the last five years, if not
the best.
Ballad Moving Toward Hope is a theme that has been featured on Revos Linked Horizon project before. Joelles voice (and weve encountered Joelle before on the Final Fantasy XIII-2 original soundtrack) blends so incredibly well with Revos, creating a melancholy and beautiful harmony. It isnt often that we hear vocal themes for video games like this, so I will certainly take it.
I suppose what I appreciate the most about the Bravely Default soundtracks is that while it uses some complicated design and instruments, the whole product ends up sounding incredibly simple. Nothing seems overarranged or glaringly outstanding (in a bad way). Furthermore, every single theme on this soundtrack finds a way to progress and have more than one section as opposed to staying in one position and then looping that one segment. You can easily feel like the theme progresses. Instead of sounding like a showpiece for an anime come to life with some retro RPG touches like a certain other games soundtrack did, Revo gives Bravely Default his own touch from Sound Horizons general sound while still staying true to the games theoretical design era. It feels like a complete journey through all of the music that Japanese-developed RPGs exhibited, but with Revos take on it. This is the way it should be done, folks. Id love to see Revo compose for more video games.