An Emotional Rollercoaster By Ashton Lazarus (GameNET)
In the past, Yasunori Mitsuda has been renowned for his excellent work on Chrono Trigger. Many hailed it as the greatest soundtrack of all time, due to its broad range of instruments, great melody and upbeat feel. Years later, Mitsuda is back with the single most powerful and moving soundtrack my ears have ever had the pleasure of encountering. From the second I feverishley popped the CD into my disc player and put my headphones on, I was hooked. Almost all of the music is synth, but it's the best I've heard and during some songs I could have sworn the instruments were real. As demonstrated in the first track, "Twilight from the Netherworlds," the use of instruments is vast. Pounding beats, constant rumbling bass (like that out of a horror movie) and electronic sounds are combined with haunting chants to create a sort of mantra which will leave one stunned in awe. This song, which is also the intro music in the game, does an incredible job at conveying the emotions it was meant to - death and despair. The rest of the first CD is much more lighthearted and uplifting than the intro. Many of the songs are nice to relax to, such as "The Treasure Which Cannot Be Stolen," while others, like "Ave, the Ancient Dance", make you want to stand up and start dancing a little jig.