Man, 1996. That’s just crazy.
Popolocrois Story was one of the first RPGs for the Sony PlayStation. It was a light-hearted, pastel-colored romp that demonstrated some of the rudimentary advantages of 32-bit. The sequenced audio, too, showed a noticeable boost from 16- to 32-bit. Your average RPG soundtrack simply wouldn’t be able to sound this sophisticated on previous consoles.
The Popolocrois Story OST fits the game extremely well. It is a fancy-free sort of sound half the time, and even when things do get gloomy, there’s something whimsical about the whole affair, so you can always breathe easy. Take, as an example, “The World of Darkness.” Eerie, yes, but even then, it’s still playful.
I think that, for most people (at least most people that would read this review), the soundtrack wouldn’t hold attention. We didn’t even get to play this game: we got a bastardized mix of the first two games in one PSP title, and that had some different music. Nonetheless, I am pleased with the style and quality of the audio in the original Popolocrois. The 1996 print of the CD, from NEC Avenue, is long out of print. Luckily, the 2000 reprint is still available in some online shops.
