 | Album Title: Egglia ~Legend of the Redcap~ Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: Harmonics Music | |
| Catalog No.: HIMJ-0014 | |
| Release Date: December 13, 2017 | |
| Purchase: Buy at Amazon |
Overview
The Egglia ~Legend of the Redcap ~ Original Soundtrack (or Soundtruck, as it is printed multiple times on the physical release) is the soundtrack that accompanies a mobile game that is heavily inspired, both artistically and mechanistically, by Legend of Mana. Like with Legend of Mana, Yoko Shimomura contributes much of the music to the game. However, she is also joined by Yoshitaka Hirota, known for his work on the Shadow Hearts series. How does the music sound and is it reminiscent of Legend of Mana in any way?
Body
One thing to be said for the soundtrack is that, overall, it is very bright, making for a generally happy tone throughout. Yoko Shimomura’s contributions consist mostly of those tracks. “Legend of the Redcap” features a beautiful melody and a sound that invokes nostalgia for Legend of Mana with its combination of strings, woodwinds, and bells. “Dawn” focuses on a bright and peaceful sound with harpsichord and woodwinds and reminds me more of her Kingdom Hearts work. “My Town” mainly consists of woodwinds and strings and features a cheerful, warm atmosphere, perfectly reminiscent of a town. Similarly, “Green Days” is more violin-focused with its melody and helps carry a bright and cheerful sound as well. Other tunes like “Happy Humming,” with its woodwind focus, and “Opportunity,” with its upbeat, adventurous tone, help to contribute more to this atmosphere. Lastly, “I’m home” is relaxing with its acoustic guitar, woodwinds, and block percussion, giving off a calm atmosphere, but it doesn’t particularly stand out either. On the flip side, tunes like “Mysterious mana” and “Only your tears” provide melancholic tones with the former’s harp and violin focus and the latter’s emotional violin focus. In fact, the latter has a few notes that immediately conjure up the nostalgic “Ruined Sparkling City” from Legend of Mana.
As for Yoshitaka Hirota’s contributions, his are more varied in approach. “Sunbeams leaves” is a peaceful, presumably forest theme focusing on strings and piano and provides a beautiful, relaxing melody, while “Welcome, spirit!” is an organ-based theme with piano/harpsichord that provides an inviting, yet playful sound, particularly in the accompaniment. “To the dark abyss” is an ominous, tense tune with piano and strings that provides a haunting atmosphere but also a fairly forgettable melody. “Burning burning desert” is typical RPG fare with its cliched instrumentation and melody, while “Cloud whistle” features an airy strings/harps melody, has an inspirational sound, but doesn’t really develop as it progresses. Lastly, “Punish the dragon” is an orchestral theme with organ that is clearly an action-oriented piece and features a heroic sound and a pretty good melody to boot.
Yoko Shimomura also wrote a few of the character themes for the game. The main character’s theme, “Chabo’s Theme,” is a playful one, focusing on plucked strings and woodwind, helping to create a whimsical atmosphere. “Shamo’s Theme” is darker in tone, focusing on piano and strings, but is largely forgettable. “Robin’s Theme” focuses on piano and helps provide a beautiful and reflective sound in its melody. Lastly, “Brownie’s Theme” is another playful woodwind tune with a serviceable melody, but not much else going for it. The other character themes were handled by Yoshitaka Hirota. “Craftsman’s Theme” is rustic and playful, but doesn’t particularly stand out either. “Gremlin’s Theme,” on the other hand, is more accordion-based and gives off a bit of a gypsy/folk sound. It’s one of the more enticing offerings on the soundtrack. Similarly, a standout is “Faerie’s Theme,” with its upbeat and playful Celtic-inspired sound.
Summary
Overall, the Egglia ~Legend of the Redcap~ Original Soundtrack is a serviceable one. There are certainly some low points to the album, but the relaxing and bright sound overall helps to round it out. Aside from the more cliched or forgettable themes, the soundtrack itself does have a somewhat nostalgic air, but definitely doesn’t live up to the same standards as the work the game was clearly inspired by. Cautiously recommended for fans of Shimomura and Hirota.
