 | Album Title: Final Fantasy Tactics A2 -Grimoire of the Rift- Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: Square Enix | |
| Catalog No.: SQEX-10102/3 | |
| Release Date: November 28, 2007 | |
| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
I’d like to say that I still remain somewhat enthusiastic about the whole Ivalice Alliance idea, despite the fact that it may well be just another hastily-realized effort by Square-Enix to feed on their budget hole of the Final Fantasy XIII franchise. At least the two original games that came out (Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings and Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift) are still quite enjoyable; however, with Matsuno gone, I doubt whether Square-Enix is really serious about his legacy of Ivalice, and we may never see another masterpiece like Vagrant Story or Final Fantasy Tactics out of the franchise.
However, when we are talking about music, it’s an entirely different matter altogether. Kawazu and co. were clever enough to call Hitoshi Sakimoto (and his now very profitable company Basiscape) to continue the music production for these games, in spite of the relatively low public opinion of the soundtrack of Final Fantasy XII (at least, “cannot compare to Uematsu’s best output” is frequently heard when FF fans are talking about the music). I was very excited myself upon hearing this news, but then a practical worry arose: with numerous output over these two years, spanning some ten game projects, can Sakimoto really focus on the franchise that made him popular back in the ’90s?
Looking back, the answer would be yes and no, because they had different approaches regarding the two projects. In the case of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, it is basically a catastrophe in my opinion. As this is virtually a sequel to the Final Fantasy XII, the development team chose to downgrade the music from the original game, trying to fit those complex pieces of music into the DS hardware. The fact is, even the PlayStation 2 has to use downgraded sound sources to deal with the music. In addition, the sound engineering is quite poor, so the result is hardly surprising.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is different, though. It’s the sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and the feature of the world they explore is quite similar, yet they feature different characters and plots, so new themes and motifs are necessary. As a result, a large body of original composition is composed, accompanying arrangements from other Ivalice Alliance games by the Basiscape team. What made this title so special among Basiscape’s 2007 efforts is that, in contrast to other projects, original pieces are mostly composed by Sakimoto himself, with Kaneda contributing only one piece. Now let us see whether Sakimoto can still retain his whimsical flavor of the original Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and whether the arrangements are satisfactory or not.
Body
The first original composition, “Putting Words Together”, is a short but sweet piano solo rendition of the main theme. In my personal opinion, this may as well be the best theme Sakimoto has written in a long time. It is not only more fully developed compared to his recent offerings, but also full of young adventurers’ spirit. As usual, this main theme is also featured in many variations throughout the game. For example, in “Unfold the Map”, it’s carried by an Eastern-sounding exotic woodwind instrument accompanied by bagpipes. This weird combination may not be the cup of tea of a lot of listeners, but it still works given the exotic, multi-race context of the game. Sakimoto’s (and Iwata’s) map-theme efforts are mostly lacking in other games, but he did this one right. “Premonition of Origin” sounds grandiose but still has an almost Disney-like childish humor. “Summer Vacation” offers little, in that it is nearly identical to “Premonition of Origin” minus the brass and percussion that makes the latter sound much more interesting.
“Green Wind” did a good job in showing how Sakimoto-istic battle themes evolved in the last few years, yet it turns out to be a mixed bag for me. What’s interesting to me in this piece is that it bears some resemblance to one of Sakimoto’s earlier compositions, “A Chapel” in Final Fantasy Tactics, with its syncopated pizzicato strings and percussion patterns. Yet in this piece Sakimoto added even more texture into this already dense work. However, at the same time, it suffers quite a bit in its development, as the melody sounds forced. This has become a problem in many recent Sakimoto pieces; it’s not surprising anymore. There are other examples in the same game, such as “Mad Dash!”, which is even worse (the variation of Cid’s theme here did not help either), and “Looming Crisis,” which reuses chord progressions from Stella Deus and A.S.H. The worst examples should be the last two battle themes, “Conclusion” and “The Unfolding Darkness.” They sound trite and artificial, lack development, and are just way too loud. Strangely, with that being said, I still love listening to them. I just hope that this approach to scoring will be less emphasized in the future.
If I were to choose one, I think “Knowledge of the Adventurer” would be the best battle theme in the game. In the first part, the melody is in a higher key than the background accompaniment, giving an air of peculiarity. The second part is, as usual, Sakimoto’s “building blocks” game, with instrument parts added to the loop one after another. It is still too short, though. Another great battle theme is “Being Unprepared is One’s Greatest Foe” with its almost classical-sounding section starting from 0:33. Another good thing about this piece is that it also retains the playfulness that many other battle themes lack. It’s not immediately obvious, but I think battle music in this game is not as playful as the original Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. They sound too serious. Perhaps not as serious as Final Fantasy XII, but still too serious. This over-seriousness problem appears in non-battle music as well. “A Hurried Guess” is a quirky little piece that is quite fun, actually, but when I hear its beginning bars I feel uneasy. It’s not only too loud, it also doesn’t meld into the piece very well.
Character themes are generally great. Luso’s theme, as shown in “Luso”, is surprisingly simple but still fun. Like the main theme, it also appears in other pieces, especially towards the end of the album. The best rendition goes to “A Hymn for the Journey”, as the theme feels quite natural on the banjo-like instrument. Cid and Adel’s themes are fun as well. Listening to them makes me wonder why those battle themes need to be that serious, though. It’s sad. Adel’s theme also makes me wonder why Sakimoto doesn’t use it anywhere else. Quieter tracks usually do not immediately grab my attention, so during multiple listening sessions I usually skip them, but there are still some outstanding selections on this album. “Signpost” sounds almost like music for dance and is quite heartwarming. “Comparison of Wisdom” is quite similar to “The World Starting to Move” in FFTA with its wicked playfulness. They are equally great, although I like the latter’s instrumentation better. Also, it’s one of the rare occasions Sakimoto uses Uematsu’s favorite keyboard instrument — the harpsichord — but Sakimoto’s use is more human-like and less artificial here.
Kaneda’s sole contribution to the album, “Front and Back”, is also in authentic Kaneda style. It’s emphasized through woodwinds, crystal-clear string sections, and unusual percussion use. The ending piece is of great importance in any Sakimoto soundtrack, and this one is no exception. “Words Put Together” puts the two main themes together and becomes a great work. Sakimoto expands Luso’s original theme into something bigger than everything else after the 2:35 mark. After that, the music becomes even bigger with the main theme making its reappearance at 3:45 in a nearly unrecognizable form. It just sounds so exciting! When the music calms down, the main theme appears again, with a quite poetic ending. Despite the ranting that I had above, I still think Sakimoto’s original composition in this game is better than his other efforts in 2007. There are far fewer filler tracks, and the tracks are longer and have more substance, so I am still quite pleased.
Nearly half of the tracks featured in the game are arrangements of other Ivalice Alliance games. Given the nature of the arrangements this time, I will spend less time talking about the individual tracks and focus on the approach the Basiscape team uses. In fact, most of the arrangements cannot be called an arrangement at all, as the instrument parts are mostly the same. The differences are mainly dynamic variance between instrument parts and the occasional addition or deletion of parts. Some of the less obvious changes include “Companions That Surpassed Their Tribe,” with a snare-drum line resembling Kimihiro Abe’s recent work, and the string countermelody in “At the Bar” that sounds like Kaneda’s doing. However, in the case of “Into the Fantasy,” the arranger changed the instrumentation but didn’t change much about the atmosphere associated with the piece. This is an occasion when the arrangement does things right. However, in some other cases it fails, such as “Beating Heart,” in which the arranger completely ignored the intricate harmonies and the soul of the original piece.
All in all, I would say that the arrangements are no better than the originals most of the time. However, it may as well be just that I got used to the originals, which provide more reverb, and I have always liked Sakimoto’s instrument samples. I would just listen to the originals instead, but completeness is never bad for a game soundtrack, so it’s still OK with me.
Summary
In sum, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 -Grimoire of the Rift- Original Soundtrack gave us few surprises. If you’ve played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance or listened to its soundtrack before, you know what to expect: the mature yet still playful side of Sakimoto’s music. Over the past two to three years, Sakimoto’s approach to orchestral music, especially instrumentation, hasn’t evolved much and I am quite worried about this. I just hope that Sakimoto does not become like Mitsuda or Uematsu, who have run out of original ideas. I also have similar (and mixed) reactions with regard to his newest solo work — Valkyria Chronicles — but after seeing several episodes of The Tower of Druaga, I have regained some faith in him. I also have high hopes for the two newer members of the Basiscape team — Kaneda and Abe — who have written some of the most fantastic video game music in 2007. Hopefully we will see more refreshing compositions coming out of Sakimoto and his studio.
