"House of Cards" from Baten Kaitos (2-03)
"Expiration" from Star Ocean 3 (1-03)
In general, I'm just not a fan of Sakuraba. However, the two mentioned above are not only my favorite tracks by Sakuraba, but some of my favorite video game tracks ever. I love the fresh, polyrhytmic feel of "Expiration", whose skillful melody sounds so unlike most of the composer's other work (mostly his melodies follow closely and predictably to a series of spastic modulations). The composition has a special energy to it, and it's exciting to listen to. I love the low-key, grooving, smoky 70s prog-rock feel of "House of Cards", where Sakuraba strikes gold with experimental guitar textures and moody harmonies backed by a totally laidback and expertly arranged rhythm. I especially love the bass part.
But based on my knowledge of Sakuraba, these tracks are complete anomalies. I want to find more like them, but it's been a miserable search so far. These are the Sakuraba soundtracks I am most familiar with:
Star Ocean 2 and 3, Baten Kaitos, Mario Golf, Valkyrie Profile, Golden Sun, End of Eternity/Resonance of Fate, Tales of Phantasia, Symphonia, Dawn of the New World, Vesperia, and several of his small contributions to omnibus-composer game soundtracks. I
will eventually be familiar with BK Origins and Shining Force III, as both games are on my backlog. I'm also considering playing SO4, despite its lukewarm reception, though I've already listened to a lot of its music and it sounds like more of the same.
I'm currently playing Tales of Graces f, but I literally turned the music off because I don't think I can stomach any more Tales music, ever. Aside from the somewhat above-average Phantasia, I find Tales music to be indescribably boring.
So, please give me some recommendations! I really like those two tracks I listed above, which proves that Sakuraba is capable of great things outside of his comfort zone. But where are they? Share with me your knowledge.
