In what has become tradition from NIS America, the preorder bonus of a special soundtrack happened once again with Atelier Iris 2. The moment I saw the tracklist, I immediately recognized it as a track-for-track reprint of the Japanese bonus Soundtrack Book for Atelier Iris 2. That made things easier for me to review the soundtrack.
The first 13 songs are a “best of” Atelier Iris 2. The songs picked aren’t my all-time favorites, but there are definitely some good ones on here, including the opening song, the standard battle theme, and some of the better environment tunes. However, that’s not the real treat. Listen to this…
Tracks 14 through 22 are all from the first Atelier Iris, and to make things even better, they are all exclusive arranged tracks! Track 14 is even done by SSH, which was the precursor to the DECEITFUL WINGS arranged album.
I’m a big fan of these new arranged tracks. They aren’t too different from the original versions found on the old OST, but there’s enough of a difference to make the songs fun and exciting for Atelier fans. Having two vocal tracks at the end is a nice touch too.
If you missed out on this preorder bonus, your only hope is eBay and similar trading/selling forums. If you’re not an importer, but you like the Atelier music, this might be the best soundtrack you can get.
