7th Dragon 2020-II Original Soundtrack
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Album Title: 7th Dragon 2020-II Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: 5pb. Records |
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| Catalog No.: FVCG-1252 |
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| Release Date: July 24, 2013 |
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| Purchase: Buy at Amazon Japan |
Overview
The 7th Dragon 2020-II Original Soundtrack accompanies the sequel to the Playstation Portable game, 7th Dragon 2020, and builds on the original soundtrack by adding new areas, a new class, and most importantly, keeps the musical themes of the prequel intact. How does this effort by Yuzo Koshiro compare to the music for the first game?
Body
As with the first game, the music in this game is comprised primarily of dungeon themes, battle themes, and event themes. The area themes are pretty varied in approach, although not always successful. “Marunouchi – erial Area” has a nice electronic/industrial, albeit a bit ominous, vibe and features some great layering and buildup thanks to its rock elements. “Roppongi – Fused City” is more of a rock/electronic theme with an adventurous tone with some eerie moments in terms of the synth melody; however, I feel it is one of the weaker area themes. “Dawn on the Diet Building” has a very urban vibe. I feel that the intro would work perfectly in a modern Persona game, and considering this game takes place in Tokyo, it’s not too farfetched. Besides the intro, the melody is quite beautiful and synth led and the layering is top notch. It’s one of my favorite (presumed) dungeon themes. “Subway – Huge Ruins” is an upbeat tune, with a hint of industrial flavor, and it packs a ton of mystery. It’s a dungeon theme that is more atmospheric in nature, but works wonderfully, especially when it intensifies. “Shutoko – Spiral Maze” is another exquisite dungeon theme with various buildups, layering, and crystalline synth. It’s a tune that has a great drive and one that also exudes atmosphere. The final dungeon theme, “Decisive Battle – Tokyo Sky Tower,” is a driving rock and electronic theme with a nice sense of a journey’s end and some great layering and melodic sections.
The battle themes are all quite intense in nature and are quite successful overall. The normal battle theme, “Battlefield – Rushing Life” is a drum n’ bass tune with some great synth and rock hooks that gives off some fantastic energy. Two of the battle themes are related to the dragons. “Battlefield – Wings Strike Back” is an ominous electronic tune that features some dubstep influence. “Battlefield – Threat of the 7” is an arrangement of the boss theme from the first game. It’s an electronic theme that gives off an orchestral vibe, thanks to the way that the synth is manipulated. The rhythm of the track and the rock elements give it a nice complexity. “Curse God Fomalhaut” is one of the final boss tunes. It throws the whole kitchen sink at you in terms of elements since it features electronic, rock, orchestral, and choir tones. It’s super fun, energetic, and chaotic, although a bit cliched. The other final battle related tune, “HeavenZ-ArmZ (Climax Ver.),” is an arrangement of sasakure.UK’s Miku Hatsune theme tune for the game. It’s bubbly and heroic, but I feel that it’s a bit weak for a battle theme, even with this vocaloid-less interpretation. The other battle-related tune is “Our World, Your Future” plays when the new class for the game, idol, uses special abilities. As such, it is a very J-pop inspired tune with its fun and bubbly nature.
The rest of the music is more or less event related. “Lights Out” is a strings/piano piece with a melancholy tune that might possibly be the game over theme, although I’m not certain. It is extremely beautiful though. “Brilliance of the Will” is another strings/piano led piece that is slightly mysterious in nature. “The Story of a Man and a Dragon (2021 Ver.)” is an orchestral arrangement of the first game’s version. It is shorter in nature, but has a more regal sound. “The Genealogy of the Stars” is a piano, woodwinds, and synth led ending theme with a nice pop flavor. This theme appears again as “The Story is Told” and has more of a storybook style version with lots of mallet percussion, giving it a bit more of a fairytale vibe. Lastly, “The World is Over” is dark and ambient in nature. The piano and synth use helps build the atmosphere even more and the accompaniment is quite satisfying as well with its slightly jazzy sound.
Summary
In the end, the 7th Dragon 2020-II Original Soundtrack is on par with its predecessor in sound. The battle themes are much more intense in nature and are quite successful on the whole. Although the area themes are of a mixed variety, they come off mostly strong. For fans of Koshiro’s more electronic works, or of the prequel, this soundtrack is definitely worth taking a listen.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on January 28, 2015 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on January 18, 2016.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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Eh, it was… Passable, at times. Underwhelming? You betcha. >.< In disbelief this is Koshiro nowadays. Elegance dissolved. =[ Such a freefall.