SQEX-10206~9: Tactics Ogre: Unmei no Wa Original Soundtrack

[Cedille]

What's the source on the arranger credits?

[Zanasea]

It was announced Sakimoto and Iwata would arrange their original compositions, as far as I remember, although I suspect all of Basiscape will be involved.


Edit:
It's one of the bullet points in the US press release: "Re-arranged soundtrack from the original composers including 15 new compositions"

[Cedille]

Oh, thanks. Seems like I overlooked that announcement (I was just wondering if this soundtrack would be produced like FFT A2, Revenant Wings, Crystal Defenders, or FFT PSP, all of which was arranged/remanipulated by others).

[Chris]

Any reason why Hayato Matsuo is listed? He was involved in Ogre Battle SNES (small role) and Ogre Battle 64 (large role), but not Tactics Ogre SNES to my knowledge. Are there Ogre Battle arrangements too?

[Zanasea]

They have just added a tracklist for the first 3 discs on the official website and yes, there is "Krypton" and "Accretion Disk" from Ogre Battle.

By the way, "Overture" has changed from previous samples. It really sounds orchestrated now. (Maybe it is?)

[Chris]

Thanks for the tip. Seems like this is a commemoration of both SNES games. The sample quality is pretty good, although I don't think the overture sounds like a true orchestral performance.

[Jormungand]

No, Overture is not performed live. But the samples are decidedly an improvement over the usual Basiscape fare, at least to my ears.

[Don]

OSV put up a scan of the tracklist complete with arrangers. Seems like most of Basiscape is involved in the arranging process.

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/...-quite-lovely/

[Mac_Tear]

Why isn't Hayato Matsuo credited for his compositions? Anyone knows that? That's strange...

[razakin]

Since when has Matsuo composed for Tactics Ogre? Didn't he compose stuff for Ogre Battle.

Edit: Oh, forgot all about Accretion Disk.

[Zanasea]

You should read the whole thread before asking questions

In any case, Basiscape's involvement doesn't come as a surprise. I'm still wondering about the orchestral credits added a while ago, though...

[Arcubalis]

There's a plastic tray over the credits, so really difficult to get a clear scan.

[strugglepoo]

Nice. I really love what the Basiscape team did with Sakimoto's compositions for FFTA2, so I hope we'll hear something like that here.

[CHz]

Nicole Brady was previously credited for arrangement, but she doesn't appear on the back cover. Does anyone know more about that? Maybe she was an orchestrator for that orchestra that apparently performed the music (but is also not credited on the back)?

[Cedille]

I think that edit was from Nicole Brady herself.

[Revoc]

Originally Posted by CHz

Nicole Brady was previously credited for arrangement, but she doesn't appear on the back cover. Does anyone know more about that? Maybe she was an orchestrator for that orchestra that apparently performed the music (but is also not credited on the back)?

Actually, Nicole Brady and orchestra are credited here.

[CHz]

Nice. We didn't have those scans before, just the front and back. Thanks for the clarification, roxas and Revoc.

[Sirusjr]

I should note that anyone who is thinking about importing this should wait for the US release because all major soundtracks for square enix games recently have been eventually released for much cheaper (FFXIII was $30 as opposed to $50 to import).

[Andan]

Unmei no Wa means "the Wheel of Fortune", which I think will be the official English subtitle for this PSP remake of TO:LuCT.

Expect a lot of inside joke with that title, with the fact that it shared name with an American game show. But it really is just a reference to a Tarot Card, which is one of the game's main aspect.

[Cedille]

Originally Posted by Andan

Unmei no Wa means "the Wheel of Fortune", which I think will be the official English subtitle for this PSP remake of TO:LuCT.

All I heard is the title will remain Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together outside of Japan, but has there been any conflicting announcement? (the subtitle is on the US official too).

I actually did a brief research on "Wheel of Fortune" when I added this entry months ago, and concluded that subtitle was just a fan-translation. I remember the very first leaking thread in NeoGAF had used it, and maybe that's where it has prevailed?

[Zanasea]

Yes, the game is subtitled Let Us Cling Together in America and Europe. There is no "official" English translation of the Japanese title.

[Andan]

Ah, you're right. I've just got the information. So we'll just call it Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together for PSP then.

I gave this a listen -- very sweet remake, great orchestration.

[Chris]

Contrary to Cedille's depressing appraisal, I think Basiscape did a good job of remaking this score. It retains the essence of the originals throughout while taking the production values to the new generation AND reflecting the individuality and subtleties of each arranger involved. After past atrocities of Sakimoto's arranged portable scores (e.g. Revenant Wings), I'm glad this one put things right and got a soundtrack release.

[Cedille]

While the original was among my old favorites, most arrangements here are either identical or just worse with totally redundant extended parts (e.g. "Notice of Death", "VENDETTA!", "Avilla Hanya" (wasn't this "Henya" in the old soundtrack?), "Warren Report", etc.). It comes off as yet another FFT A2, even if a 2.0 might be a bit to harsh. I think Basiscape's later members normally demonstrate their talents and individuality in a more pop/rock/ensemble project like Cave soundtracks, Ketsui/DDP DOJ or Etrian Odyssey III Super Arrange Version, all of which I enjoyed lots.

Nonetheless, I appreciate that many people are liking this soundtrack as well as that the game is getting a very good reception (some even say this is SQEX's first good game in this year). Tactics Ogre was one of my favorite games of all time, so I hope I will eventually pick the remake up and revalue the score again.

[Cedille]

The back cover and the in-game sound test list different names as arrangers for three tracks on the first disc.

Scan

01 Overture: Arranged by Hitoshi Sakimoto
02 Chaotic Island: Arranged by Hitoshi Sakimoto
04 Catastrophe: Arranged by Hitoshi Sakimoto

Sound Test

01 Overture: Arranged by Yoshimi Kudo
02 Chaotic Island: Arranged by Kimihiro Abe
04 Catastrophe: Arranged by Yoshimi Kudo

I have to believe it's the latter which is right, because the sound test has track-by-track commentaries from each artist, and both Kudo and Abe's comments clearly indicate the actual arrangers were them (here is the transcription). SQUARE ENIX (or Basiscape) did a similar thing in the past, so no surprise if the person responsible for the soundtrack credit just copy-pasted the same arranger as the original SNES versions.

Maybe I'd add another breakdown (in a vertical direction) to the Note.

[Don]

I'll ask Sakimoto if he can confirm which one is correct.

[Don]

Sakimoto responded:

hello Don,

i'm sorry, i'm not sure about the credit.
i think that OST includes live-orchestra version,
the game inclueds synth ver of those pieces.

the pieces of game ver are extended by Kudo and Abe,
so the credits on the game point it out.

saki

[Cedille]

Thanks for contacting him, so the issue in question is who's the arranger(s) of the orchestral versions (I know we have Nicole Brady as an orchestrator, but was her role limited to the orchestration and was Sakimoto the arranger?).

[Zanasea]

If my ears are to be trusted, in the sound test, "Overture" and "Chaotic Island" are the same than in the soundtrack album. In the sound test, Abe even says Iwata arranged the chorus in "Chaotic Island" while he was in charge of orchestrating the track.

I think we should follow what the in-game credits indicate.

[Mieu]

I would also assume that game developers take more care about the in-game text accuracies than some notations in a CD booklet in which they may not even have been involved (it is not a Basiscape release).

On a related note, does anybody know exactly how many tracks are performed live? The recordings are mixed with synth (much like the Japan session in FFXIII) so it is a bit difficult to ascertain.