 | Album Title: Tales of Hearts Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: BMG Japan | |
| Catalog No.: BVCR-14044/5 | |
| Release Date: December 10, 2008 | |
| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
Tales of Hearts was released on December 18, 2008 exclusively for Nintendo DS in Japan and marked the eleventh title in the prominent RPG series. With its release, Namco produced two different versions: one with traditional anime cutscenes by the famed animation studio Production I.G. (Tales, Professor Layton, and Ghost in the Shell, to name a few), while the other contained high-quality rendered CG cutscenes à la Square Enix, produced by Shirogumi — the first time the series used CG cutscenes. The music was composed by series veteran Motoi Sakuraba together with Tales of Vesperia co-composer Hibiki Aoyama and newcomer Hiroshi Tamura (no, not Shinji Tamura, and — mysteriously — no sign yet of the former Tales composer). For musical details, let’s check out my review of the latest score for the series.
Body
For the theme song, the famous Japanese three-man group DEEN returned after their contribution to the second instalment, Tales of Destiny, 11 years earlier. They contribute the brand new “Eternal Tomorrow”, a charismatic and emotional rock ballad in a similar style to “Like a Dream”. The game uses a shortened but polished-up version instead of the original extended version from the single. I prefer this version because, while shorter, it features the grand core of the track without being too repetitive or long-winded. Also, the arrangement is much clearer here. It’s one of the tracks that should inspire some nostalgia for fans of the series, especially those who played Tales of Destiny. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the music, but I can’t — at least not in a positive way…
Motoi Sakuraba is a busy and restless man; he proved that in the last couple of years in particular, with many scores for one project after another. It’s clear that, over time, his color has worn and his glamor withered — the Tales series is a good example. While Tales of Hearts still has the same characteristic whimsical, adventurous, and epic style, the music isn’t anything new here and Motoi Sakuraba didn’t even try to bring up fresh ideas; he saves those for other series like Star Ocean or Valkyrie Profile. The similarities to earlier instalments are overwhelming, but that’s a problem almost all of the composer’s soundtracks have suffered from in the last couple of years. I won’t criticize too much here; just listen for yourself and decide if it’s a good thing or not. To be honest, the game itself isn’t much better either, so things fit together to some extent. But let’s take a closer look at this.
There are only a few tracks which really stand out and I will focus my review on these, because in some way the others aren’t really worth mentioning. “Town -Lives of People-” was actually the first track I heard as the official website opened its gates and I immediately thought, “This is a typical Tales of game with its usual soundscape.” The same goes for “Warmly Hometown” and “Present World” — the first a more-than-typical village theme and the second a world map theme. A favorite of mine is “Bonded Wings, Lienheit”. It may sound like a typical flying theme from earlier soundtracks, but its mystical and pulsing aura is something special compared to the remaining tracks. Maybe it’s because of the instrumentation, but it’s a nice track. “Crystal World -Quartia-” is also one of the more experimental gems, with its minimalistic soundscape of whistle and bells. “-Whitening City-” is similar, but less interesting.
Of course, there is quite a lot of diversity across the soundtrack. There are also silly and happy-go-lucky themes like “Enjoy Life” or “Let’s Challenge!”, mysterious setting themes like “Fear of the Unknown”, sad themes like “World Filled with Sorrow”, or simply military and brassy tracks exemplified by “The Global Imperial Capital, Estrega”. They’re all standard stuff and absolutely nothing new is offered. “Everyday is a Carnival” opens the second disc nicely with its typical port-city atmosphere. However, the melody can get repetitive after a while even if it has potential. “Strayless Runaway” and “Erosion of the Imperial Castle” use slightly different rhythms, but are not very interesting at all. And if that isn’t bad enough, Sakuraba reuses the “Reda” theme from Tales of the Tempest in “Found! Mysterious Town”. That was one of the less enjoyable pieces from that score and, besides, its recreation is a clear sign of a lack of imagination if you ask me. Tales of Rebirth and co. are calling…
The same goes for the more prominent part of the series, the battle themes. For the main battle theme “Mysterious Arms Soma”, Sakuraba went back to his roots and created a soaring upbeat number with the usual synth instrumentation, similar to his work in Golden Sun. The melody has catchy parts and better development than the first DS contribution, “Encounter”, from Tales of the Tempest. However, it is still missing the impact Sakuraba can create when composing a battle theme and sounds too colorless and dry. “Activate, Soma Link!!” and “Restless Spiria” were written in similar styles, with slightly better development. Further uninspired and disappointing themes include the boss themes “Zerom Appears”, “Who Are You Fighting For?”, and “Unbroken Sword”. Even the two final boss themes aren’t much better, sadly. Just as I thought my hopes were lost, I detected a glimmer. With “Fly! Anti-Air” Sakuraba finally breathes a little life into his action tracks. The secret dungeon battle theme “Exceed the Limit” and its boss theme counterpart “VS Proto Zerom” are absolutely delicious too and display just the right spirit. “Approaching Sorceress” is another of the little gems from the battle music; a catchy, energetic, and delightful old-school arrangement; whoever contributed it did a good job!
There are also plenty of themes for cutscenes on this score. Motoi Sakuraba has greatly enhanced his skills in orchestral composition over the years and Tales of Hearts also displays his maturity. The special thing about this is that both versions of the game sometimes feature different music for the same scene. For example, “Thundering Hegira” is only used during the opening sequence in the Anime Edition as two people flee through the forest, while “Flee -Escaping the Forest-” is used in the CG Edition for the same event a little later. The music for the cutscene “Link Out” is used in both editions, while the second part, “Spirune, Like a Flower…”, is only used in the Anime Version. All these tracks are effectively composed, as usual, and fit their purpose excellently. Several deserve special mention. “Fearsome Pursuer” is a scary and cinematic track full of suspense. “Incarose The Sorcerer” features the same synth motif, only this time played on a harp. “Hearts to Hearts” also features one of the epic moments from the score and prepares the listener for the showdown in a fantastic way. “It Appears! -The Thorny Forest-” and “Spiria of the Stars” are excellent, too. Even in a dry and colorless soundtrack like this, these tracks really shine through and show Motoi Sakuraba’s true strength.
The use of different arrangements of the same melody is also present here, following the successful leitmotif usage in Abyss, Rebirth, and Symphonia. “Spirmaze” is reused three times, for instance, each with a different atmosphere and instrumentation. The melody reuse is done a bit better here as, in addition to reinstrumentation, the structure of the melody is sometimes modified. The trend of using the theme song as a motif for the ending theme is present here too. “Richea’s Lullaby” and “Sleeping Princess of -The Thorny Forest-” are delicious compositions with lyrical melodies suited for the context of the game. While the first is more mellow and serene, the latter features a charming arrangement with piano and strings. They are refreshing and different compared to the overblown dramatic stuff the composer usually delivers. “Eternal Tomorrow (Ending Version)” goes the same way in a less epic fashion. Definitely a wise decision, even if the act of rearranging the theme song into an instrumental ending theme seems to be becoming the fashion for Sakuraba these days…
Summary
At the end of 2008, Motoi Sakuraba and his sound team delivered a solid but usual soundtrack for Tales of Hearts. Its typicality is exactly the problem I have with it. Usual techniques, arrangements, instrumentations, and even melody lines are reused from previous Tales soundtracks. Sakuraba in particular suffers from a lack of imagination and lacks the ability to color the game with an interesting and multifarious score. Instead of handing the project to co-composers Hibiki Aoyama, who contributed marvelously to Tales of Vesperia, or even Masaru Shiina, Takuya Yasuda, and Kazuhiro Nakamura, Sakuraba still doesn’t give up the series and refuses to retire from it. It’s good to see in one way, but if he can’t bring up fresh ideas, the soundtracks will only get worse and become lifeless.
The orchestral cutscene themes are one of the best things among the ordinary stuff in my opinion, and Sakuraba doesn’t hold back from showing the abilities he has gained over the years, even if most of the tracks are too short. If I were to recommend picking up three particularly enjoyable pieces, these would be “Eternal Tomorrow (Tales of Hearts Version)”, “Approaching Sorceress”, and “Bonded Wings, Lienheit”. There are other well-composed tracks, but you’ll have to wait a little until they grow on you, especially if you have listened to previous works from Sakuraba. Should you pick this one up or not? Well, to be honest, it’s not one of the strongest albums these days, neither from the series nor from the composer, but if you’re a fan then grab it while it’s in print. If you have the game, you can easily enjoy the music without this; there is nothing special about it, such as bonus or arranged tracks. Let’s hope that the composers, particularly Motoi Sakuraba, will create a more refreshing soundtrack for the next Tales title.
