Front Mission 2 Original Soundtrack

	Album Title: Front Mission 2 Original Soundtrack
	Record Label: NTT Publishing
	Catalog No.: SSCX-10011
	Release Date: September 21, 1997
	Purchase: Buy Used Copy

Overview

One of Square’s most underrated and often overlooked composers Noriko Matsueda started her career in 1995 composing for the Square/G-Craft strategy-RPG Front Mission, along with the highly talented Yoko Shimomura. A couple of years later, she was asked to score the game’s sequel for the PlayStation entirely alone. Not only does she succeed flawlessly in making an excellent soundtrack, but she also manages to keep the feel of the prequel.

Body

The score to Front Mission 2 is still quite different from its prequel, in which Matsueda incorporates an atmospheric, airy sound to most of her tracks, while retaining the epic feel of the first, mostly in the event and battle themes. You can hear this in “Silence,” a gripping ambient theme. “Shock” will most likely surprise many, as it is a wonderfully updated version of Front Mission‘s “Terrible Density,” in which it conveys the epic feel of battle perfectly. “Sorrow” starts off eerily, but then a quiet but saddening melody takes place, something Matsueda really exceeds in getting through.

An interesting note I want to mention is that Yoshitaka Hirota (yes, the same Hirota whom is mostly responsible for the Shadow Hearts scores) is accredited as sound effect creator in the liner notes. This is one of the few soundtracks in which he contributed some of his works directly into the music; the only other soundtrack that he played a part in to my knowledge was Final Fantasy VII. You can hear Hirota’s stuff in “Enemy Battle (Swift Attack),” which mostly sounds like a voice effect (at one point you hear a yell in the music). I find that quite amusing, although it does make that one track stand out from the rest.

Of course, the battle themes remain serious and epic. “Arena” begins with some organ and percussions and carries that airy feel in the music, which I find very enjoyable. Another of the updated Front Mission tracks found here is the jazzy “Counter Bar,” which stays true to “Shop” of the prequel. “World Map” is another of the atmospheric tracks; you can easily imagine the wind blowing into your face as the Wanzers travel through Huffman’s Island while listening to the music. One track I insist on mentioning is “Hatred.” It is mostly an ambient piece with some eerie but painful sounding effects. This track is probably the successor to Front Mission‘s “Destructive Logic.” While Shimomura got the eerie bit going with the organ in the prequel, the screams used here inspire the same feelings.

Summary

All in all, I think Matsueda has done very well here. She develops excellently on the sound of the original Front Mission while exploiting the opportunities of the PlayStation. That said, it’s very rare now and still hasn’t been reprinted, so good luck finding it.

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