Soundtrack to Quest 64

[ebduhamel]

Quest 64 wasn't a very notable RPG title, and had a rather standard sounding score. Despite this, I still enjoyed the game and like listening to the music from time to time. I wonder if anyone else here enjoyed the music (or even the game.)

I notice the composer (Masamichi Amano?) has worked on some other less-obscure titles, so I'd also like to know people's opinions on his other work.

[Blitz Lunar]

i always wanted to play that game back when it was set for release, saw it in magazines several times and thought it looked good. never did play it though. but i've heard the music. there's a few bits on the soundtrack that i enjoy (the track "Highland" stands out to me) but i think the music is weak overall. i think a lot of it has to do with the implementation (not the best samples...) but also the arrangement is sparse and could use some more layers. it's not terrible though, just rough and lacks punch.

i haven't heard any other music by Amano.

[Jormungand]

Don't feel bad about never playing it, Lunar.

As for the music... I think it's one of the only RPGs I've ever played where I honestly can't remember even a little of the music. Maybe I'll do some youtubing...

[Mac_Tear]

The really liked the music for the game, even if the sound quality in terms of sound samples and arrangements were very poor for a 64-bit title. Neverless, most of the pieces were really catchy and fit well into the gameplay.

The normal battle theme is really cool and most of the dungeon and town themes are very atmospheric in nature (Normoon, Blue Cave, Highland, for example).

By the way, does anyone know a bit more of Masamichi Amano and his works? Quest 64 is the only one I know from him so far.

[Medina]

He has a page here, he seems to be credited for some Phantasy Star work, but I haven't heard any of his other albums.

I like the music to Quest 64 (aka Holy Magic Century right?), I remember liking Melrode's music a lot, and my favorite is the last battle. It was a fun game too, mostly because it was short, so even though it was repetitive it remained fun until beating it. Unfortunately there's no official soundtrack release, so we'll just have to be happy with the USF files.

[Jormungand]

I just listened to "Highland", a great composition. After listening to "Melrode" I actually remember that blasted tower and the village...

[Blitz Lunar]

so we'll just have to be happy with the USF files.

nowt wrong with that

[Mac_Tear]

But Quest 64's Masamichi Amano is a different person than the one we have in the database, right? Or is he the same one?

http://vgmdb.net/artist/260

[Medina]

There are two different Masamichi Amano that both happen to be composing VGM? That would be pretty crazy. Not saying that's not the case though because I don't know.

Originally Posted by Blitz Lunar

nowt wrong with that

No, the USF files are good. I just wonder if all the pops in the sound are native to the recording, or just because it was somehow compressed to be sampled easily on the N64's sound card (I'm going with compression). If there was a soundtrack release, maybe it would have better sound.

[Jedi QuestMaster]

Originally Posted by Medina

There are two different Masamichi Amano that both happen to be composing VGM? That would be pretty crazy. Not saying that's not the case though because I don't know.

Kind of like how there's David Wise the music composer & David Wise the animation writer, who happened to work on the Battletoads cartoon.

[Mac_Tear]

Originally Posted by Medina

There are two different Masamichi Amano that both happen to be composing VGM? That would be pretty crazy. Not saying that's not the case though because I don't know.

Ok, I guess you're right about this

[Raizen1984]

Originally Posted by Mac_Tear

Ok, I guess you're right about this

How is he right? It's not impossible that they may be two different people. There are two different people named Kenji Yamamoto working on games as well. It's a big industry, so you'll see stuff like this from time to time.

[Medina]

Well, I didn't say anything about whether or not I thought it was the case. I just said it would be kind of crazy, but I said I don't know (and I really don't). Besides, soon after I posted that there was a thread posted about another Yuka Watanabe working in the game industry, so it's definitely possible. But I think even the Yuka Watanabe thing is pretty crazy (I mean, the odds don't seem that good).

[mikurotoro]

i own this game and i thought the soundtrack really sucked, no offense to anyone who liked it

[ebduhamel]

I'm glad to see some other fans of the game/music. I decided to give it a new listen since everyone was talking about it. There sure are a lot of clicks and pops at the beginning of many of the samples. Ignoring that, though, the instruments themselves just don't sound right. I've heard MIDIs and of course SPCs which sound better than this. Despite these drawbacks, the music doesn't disappoint.

I'm most impressed with the overworld themes "Melrode" and "Holy Plains." I like the town themes "Dondoran," "Larapool," "Normoon," and the "Shop" theme is pretty fun too. The "Battle" theme is great, and for some reason I like the track title of "Left House in the Forest."

[Ezrajab]

Originally Posted by ebduhamel

Quest 64 wasn't a very notable RPG title, and had a rather standard sounding score. Despite this, I still enjoyed the game and like listening to the music from time to time. I wonder if anyone else here enjoyed the music (or even the game.)

I notice the composer (Masamichi Amano?) has worked on some other less-obscure titles, so I'd also like to know people's opinions on his other work.

I sure did!

[Hellacia]

Oh wow, Quest 64. A game that pulverized me during my later elementary school years. Didn't get my revenge until over a decade later.

This game's music is somehow enjoyable, but I still wonder if it's because I played the game. If I had just listened to the music out of nowhere, I wonder how many fewer songs I'd like? I'd like to think that I'd still like them all the same... though I know that nostalgia factor has to play some role in how we like VGM.

Like a couple people in here, I like Melrode's music a lot. Actually, I find that beginning-game music is almost always more enjoyable than end-game music to me. End-game music tends to get really serious and falls flat a lot, while beginning-game music is just enjoyable stuff (and also possibly at the beginning of a composer's ideas for the game's themes and the freshest pieces). On multi-disc soundtracks, the amount of music I like on disc 1 compared to on disc 4 is often three times more.

[mushgloom]

I'd have to agree with you on that Hellacia. Although there are a few exceptions, the early songs on soundtracks get more repeat plays for me than mid or late game pieces.(And the first disc always has more scratches... T__T )

[Mac_Tear]

I really wish someone could arrange the soundtrack with high quality samples... some kind of doujin album maybe. This would be cool I would do it myself but sadly I haven't the ability to do this