Mimana Iyar Chronicle Bonus Soundtrack
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Album Title: Mimana Iyar Chronicle Bonus Soundtrack |
| Record Label: Aksys Games |
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| Catalog No.: N/A |
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| Release Date: March 30, 2010 |
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| Purchase: Buy at eBay |
Overview
This promotional album was bundled with the US release of Mimana Iyar Chronicles for the PSP. Featuring music by Hiroto Saitoh, it’s a short album consisting of a selection of songs and voice collections. Is it worthwhile bonus?
Body
The album opens, unsurprisingly, with the “Opening Theme”. This theme opens up with somber choral work combined with some Celtic influence, particularly in the woodwinds, before adopting a more worldly sound. It features a fantastic atmosphere and an engaging melody. I’m a huge fan of the violin lead combined with the ethereal choral work heard in the background. The next theme, “Tarim Forest,” continues with the worldly sound. Featuring exotic percussion work, flamenco guitar, and Spanish inspired strings, it manages to throw in a bit of a spicy atmosphere to the soundtrack. There is a stunning B section featuring some melodious strings work that really helps add to the overall atmosphere of the piece.
“Battle” is an orchestral theme that is pretty standard in terms of execution. There isn’t really anything gripping about the track, but I do enjoy the melody quite a bit. I just find the track to be a bit generic, but I do like the heroic atmosphere that it conveys as well. “New Horizons” is an ominous theme that I presume is either a dungeon theme or a boss theme. It features some fantastic choral work that really helps bring a sense of tension to the overall theme. Combined with the electronic accompaniment, exotic percussion, and orchestral work, it manages to create an engaging listen, even if it doesn’t really develop much.
The longest theme on the soundtrack is “Dark Knight”. Rather than the evil atmosphere I was expecting, the composition is quite peaceful, with some somber accents thrown into the mix as well. It features a stunning woodwind melody that is accompanied by wonderful strings harmony, acoustic guitar, and drumpads. Out of all the compositions on this bonus theme, this is easily the best one as it feels to me that a lot of thought was put into it. The last composition to be featured before the voice collection samples is “Spirit Protector.” It’s a beautiful strings, woodwind, piano, and harp theme with a stunning melody. Of all the themes, this is probably my second favorite.
The rest of the album features voice collections. I do find it hilarious that all the vocal samples are recorded as answering machine messages. But there’s all so brief that they’re unlikely to be of major interest, even for those who played the game.
Summary
In the end, this is a pretty weak bonus album. Featuring roughly 14 minutes of actual music and two minutes of voice collections, I think it could have been much better, like some of the bonus CDs from Atlus. The music featured isn’t bad, but it isn’t Saitoh’s best work either. I would hold off on this album if you didn’t get it with the game.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on August 1, 2012 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on August 1, 2012.
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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