Editor’s Note: This soundtrack’s retail release is digital-only, but still presented as two “discs” in the liner notes. A physical CD version was offered as a limited edition bonus for higher tier pledges during the game’s Kickstarter campaign.
Alright friends, I’m going to keep this one short and sweet. Fatal Twelve is the second major outing from developer aiueoKompany. Like their first title, Sound of Drop, aiueoKompany’s Fatal Twelve is a Visual Novel with a very small core team behind it. And again, like their previous title, the dev team had every last second of Fatal Twelve’s OST composed and arranged by Shota “Low” Matsumoto.
With this in mind, I cannot help but compare the Fatal Twelve soundtrack to the Sound of Drop soundtrack. And in this comparison, it is safe to say that Low maintains very similar styles, while growing both in terms of subtlety within known genres (piano solo, ambient EDM) and in terms of growth into other genres (world/ethno-music, guitar-led folk and rock). And Fatal Twelve was the perfect backdrop for Low to test himself and bring about that growth.
First, though, vocal themes. There are some great vocal themes in this game. As was the case with Sound of Drop, the vocals here are performed by one Kuyuri. The opening “Unveil” is a fantastic, fast-paced opener. “Glass Thread” serves as the game’s “true ending” theme; it’s good, but not as good as the other vocal track here. Simply titled “The Girl’s Song,” this beautiful choral piece may be one of the most interesting things Low has written to date. The performance could have been a touch better, perhaps with some additional vocalists. In any case, these vocals are great.
But, speaking of vocals, if you want to hear one way Low expanded his own sound palette, check out “The Sacred Large Hall” (used in-game as the Court of Fate BGM). I am reminded of the synth vocals Motoi Sakuraba would use on Star Ocean 2’s “Sacred Song” or Exist Archive’s “Sanctuary.” Listen to that sample … so good. Just, so good.
As for the rest of the BGM? It’s just so solid, at every point, from start to finish. It’s every bit as good as Sound of Drop, but with less filler and more memorable tracks. Almost every track on here is memorable, especially if you play the game first. Even outside the context of the game, though, I find this music amazing.
Enjoy the audio samples, and know that these are only a small taste of the goodness to this soundtrack. Keep in mind that, as of the time this review was written, the digital format of the soundtrack is only made available as DLC to the base game on Steam, so you need to own the game if you wish to purchase the soundtrack.
This review is based on a free digital review copy provided to RPGFan by the publisher. This relationship in no way influenced the reviewer’s opinion of the album.
