Suikoden Tierkreis was a game that was blessed with an excellent soundtrack that offered music that combined the traditional songs of the series with new melodies to reflect the unique setting of the game. It made for a refreshing soundtrack, as one song would pull you in and remind listeners that this is much like the original much-loved Suikoden games while maintaining its own identity as a new entry to the series’ lore.
The same can be said of the Suikoden Tierkreis Extra Soundtrack, which remixes a good deal of the music in the original soundtrack. Some of it came out better for it; others didn’t go through the process unscathed. This is a common occurrence for remixes – sometimes remixes can bring out the strengths of a song, but other times the remixes can focus on the wrong things. Often, remixed soundtracks end up being a mixed bag, and this can be said of the Tierkreis Extra Soundtrack as well.
The rest of the soundtrack is made up of tracks that were not present in the original soundtrack, such as Shopping, the music for stores. Most of these are forgettable, but some are well worth a listen due to the overall composition quality. Suikoden Tierkreis has an outstanding soundtrack and even these ‘secondary’ tracks are quite well done.
Perhaps most puzzling about the Extra Soundtrack is the omission of several incredible tracks present in the original soundtrack. Outstanding tracks possessing massive potential such as The Sky and The Earth were passed over for less flattering pieces such as Frontier Hamlet, which is an incredibly confusing decision. On one hand, it allows tracks more often overlooked to receive much more attention, but on the other hand, some of the strongest tracks in the game were ignored for pieces that may not have improved much if at all.
That’s not necessarily a strike against the Extra Soundtrack though; it begins with an incredible starting track, Tierkreis – Door of Hope, an excellent remix of an already incredible song. The addition of vocals in the song that accentuates its strengths gives it freshness such that it almost overshadows the rest of the soundtrack. In fact, a large amount of the tracks featured are remixed excellently, with the best of them previewable here. As can be expected from every soundtrack though, some tracks are less than stellar, whether due to focus on the wrong aspects of the songs, or due to the compositions themselves being lackluster originally.
While not the best soundtrack to ever come out of the Suikoden series, it’s also not the worst. With many video game soundtracks featuring same-y music from iteration to iteration, Suikoden still remains unique in maintaining a specific sound and theme for each of its games and soundtracks. Despite the ups and downs in quality, this soundtrack still remains a worthy purchase and an excellent listen.
