Sunday 25 August 2013

28 - RAL 9b - Soundtrack Review

Hello brothers and welcome to our collective review of:

Drum roll

Cymbal crashes

Audience drawing breath in anticipation

A sound track that I’m sure will surprise no-one

A soundtrack so long it comes across five discs

This is:

Buh-da-da-dah

2006’s

‘Okami’


Yes, I’m sure it’s a shock to everyone reading that the soundtrack that we eventually decided to review is the very same one that we’ve been reviewing in bits for the last month and a half. But it’s a soundtrack that is worth it.

Not letting our collective rabid fanboyism for beautiful adventure games cloud our objective reasoning, this is an outstanding soundtrack.

As ‘Okami’ is a Japanese game set in feudal Japan, the orchestration and instrumentation is exactly what you might think. Lots of strings, and flutes and those Japanese style voices that go (heuah… sort of.) There’s not much brass instruments involved except in battle music. It gives the soundtrack and light and energetic feeling just like the game as you roam the landscapes.

The themes in the soundtrack are almost all great, Issun’s Theme perfectly fits his character, the Shinshuu Plains music is rousing and adventurous, the themes for the different maps and areas blend so perfectly with the areas that they gain a kind of equilibrium and the tow are inseparable. I’ll listen to the particular music and I instantly know where it’s from.

My favorites are the Shinshuu Plains theme, Tamaya’s Theme, Hansaki Valley, Ushiwaka’s Theme (which I whistle frequently) and More Digging Here Bow-Wow.

Overall, a fantastic soundtrack, very long, but endlessly enjoyable and an outstanding component of the game.


R. A. Lyons.

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