[Album] Seiken Densetsu 4 Original Soundtrack (SQEX-10083~6)

Catalog Number SQEX-10083~6
Release Date Jan 24, 2007
Release Type Official Release
Release Price Japanese Yen (JPY)
Media Type CD (4 discs)
Classification Original Soundtrack
Published by Square-Enix
Composed by Kenji Ito, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Masayoshi Soken, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Hiroki Kikuta, Yoko Shimomura
Arranged by Tsuyoshi Sekito, Junya Nakano, Masayoshi Soken, Hirosato Noda
Performed by Masatsugu Shinozaki Group, Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus (orchestrated tracks)
From the Game Seiken Densetsu 4
Platform(s) Sony PlayStation 2

Gamingforce Audio link with full tracklist and times.

Seiken Densetsu 4 has been a long time coming; despite a variety of other games in Square-Enix's "Mana" series, none have come close to the popular and critical acclaim that Seiken Densetsu 1-3 recieved in the 1990's. While reactions to the new game have been mixed, there has been considerable interest in the new game's score among VGM enthusiasts. After all, the list of composers attached to the project in one way or another is extremely impressive, and the OST clocks in at an impressive four discs, longer than any of the previous series OSTs.

Chief among the exciting factors in Seiken Densetsu 4 was the involvement of noted concert and film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who provided the game's introductory theme. Sakamoto's four-minute track is fairly subdued, piano-driven, and mostly effective. It introduces a few melodic fragments that are taken up later by the game's main composers, but does stick out a bit, as the only piano track on the album and one performed in a far more classical style than the rest.

Kenji Ito, who has been the most prolific composer in the Mana series, returns for Seiken Densetsu 4. Ito's work has never inflamed the VGM comunity the way Hiroki Kikuta and Yoko Shimomura's series contributions have, but his music has been consistently pleasant and professional. Ito dusts off his old theme for Seiken Densetsu 1, and offers performances of it in "Rising Sun" and again near the end of the album. Ito's tracks are generally soft and pleasant, but many are unremarkable as well, with few strong melodies and even fewer consistent melodic ideas shared between tracks. It's also very curious that the older Ito material on Disc 4 isn't arranged by Ito himself, since he clearly was involved with the project and rearranging his existing themes to an extent.

In many ways, Tsuyoshi Sekito was the most exciting name attached to SD4. Sekito's arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's work for the recent "Final Fantasy" remakes has met with fan approval, and a high-profile series entry seemed the next logical step. It's unfortunate, then, that Sekito's work is the weakest on the OST, and generally subpar in every way. The composer leand heavily on a sound that's dominated by synthesized beats and ambiance; while this produces a few good tracks like "Emerald Shine" and "The Beast God's Labyrinth," they are by and large dull and meandering, and don't share any themes or instrumentation with Ito's portion. The rock tracks that Sekito brings to the table again produce a few positive results (such as "Burning Spirits") but are most often extremely limp and uninteresting, especially when compared with the rock arrangements on disc 4. It's telling that Sekito's best tracks are actually rearrangements of Hiroki Kikuta's work ("Guardian Holy Beast Flammie").

While early indications were that Junya Nakano, Masayoshi Soken, and Hirosato Noda would be functioning as co-composers in their own right, they are essentially arrangers in the OST as presented. Nakano and Noda don't have any original compositions, while Soken has a handful of generally pleasant original tunes at the tail end of the set. Their real work, though, was to arrange work from earlier in the Seiken Densetsu series. The rearrangements are generally strong and very involving, especially the music by Kikuta. "Don't Hunt the Fairy," "Weird Counterpoint," and "Splash Hop" from SD3 and "Meridian Child" and "Child of the Sprite Tribe" from SD2 get not one but two arrangements apiece, one that's close in instrumentation to the original and another sped-up rock version.

Kikuta's music is far more involving and interesting than the majority of Ito's and Sekito's, and the rock arrangements of Kikuta's themes easily outshine the original rock pieces on the preceeding discs. Shimomura's original music isn't as well represented, with only two tracks, but Ito's music for SD1 gets a splendid treatment. Comparing Ito's rearranged tracks to his original SD4 compositions is almost an embarrasment.

One wonders why Kikuta or Shimomura weren't hired outright, since their music so easily dominates the new material; from the limited material available, it seems as if Nakano or Soken could also have provided superior musical accompaniment. As a result, SD4 is, despite the big names and bloated length, a disappointment, with largely mundane new material alongside fine rearrangements of older songs. Though the SD4 OST is to be commended for respecting the series' musical roots in the rearrangements, none of the new material comes close in tone, instrumentation, melody, or memorability to Kikuta and Shimomura's seminal work in the series.

Rating (out of *****)
Kenji Ito (new material): ***
Tsuyoshi Sekito (new material): *
Masayoshi Soken (new material): ****
Rearrangements: ****

Overall: ***

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