Suikoden II is one of my favourite games of all time and was the first game in the series I played. When the remaster of I and II was announced, I was thrilled. Not only would I get the chance to play through II again after a long time, but I could finally experience the first game too. I spent year after year eagerly anticipating this release and started questioning whether the project had been quietly scrapped by Konami due to seemingly endless radio silence since the initial announcement. Thankfully, that was not the case. Both games were released early this year, and I loved every minute of my time with them.
As if the game was not enough, Konami announced preorders last summer for a special seven-disc box set of the full soundtrack to both Suikoden I & II, along with a special disc of arrangements and music box versions. Needless to say, I preordered this faster than you can say “Schtolteheim Reinbach III,” excited to have some of Miki Higashino‘s frankly iconic music from these games on CD. My box set arrived just last week (at the time of writing), so I’m here to guide you through the full set.
Suikoden I
The music from Suikoden I makes up the first two CDs, totalling a solid 58 tracks. First and foremost, these are the original recordings—Konami apparently upgraded them very slightly to be more “HD,” but other than that, it’s the music you know and love. This is both a positive and negative. I like that I’m getting classic, nostalgic tunes that I recognise, but it was a missed opportunity not to re-record some new versions for the games themselves. As they are, most of the tracks here are very short—a sign of their age and the fact they’re looped in-game.
I have a much lesser personal connection with the first game, having played it for the first time only recently, but there are still some very memorable pieces here. Some stand proud on their own, and others are memorable because their motifs are also used in the sequel. “Into a World of Illusion” is the fantastic, inspirational theme that fans of these games will instantly recognise. Even subtler tracks like “The First Step” hold their own and evoke that 90s RPG feel — “Black Forest” even sounds like it could be a track from Final Fantasy VI. “Blue Seas Blue Skies” is my favourite of the two field themes; it has a great motivational-sounding motif that builds into clashes between drums and synths that almost sound a bit over-the-top. Almost. “A Gathering of Warriors” is bursting with joy and merriment, and conjures up images of a band of warriors meeting up at an inn, laughing and drinking before setting out on a journey. Tracks like this really bring the sense of epic adventure that you need in a game like Suikoden.
With such short tracks, it’s hard to find any to be particularly critical of. They’re over fairly swiftly and generally hold your attention for their duration. “A Profound Message” is a little meandering and doesn’t add much of interest to the OST. “Joy Joy Time” manages to get quite irritating though it only runs for a minute and a half, but at least it sounds unique here. “Just a Little Bit Strange” employs a wobbly-sounding synth that sounds like a buzzing fly—an unusual choice.
One aspect of the music in both Suikoden I & II that I’ve always admired is the use of traditional folk instrumentation inspired by various regions around the world (our world that is, not the in-game world). This helps to give each area its own identity and create the impression that you are exploring a real, lived-in world. “Main theme—Guitar Arrangement” is a gorgeous guitar solo track that sounds very Mediterranean. “Distant Mountain” features pipes and a tribal drum beat that fits perfectly with its title, and “Eternal Flow” is quintessentially Japanese. “The Narcissists” and “Gorgeous Scarleticia” are both riffs on the same very French-sounding, accordion-heavy theme, and then we have the lush “An Old Irish Song.” Need I say more?
In contrast, several tracks lean much more heavily into electronics and atmospherics, like “Penpe,” a dungeon theme containing elements of industrial influences and sparser instrumentation. There’s also some interesting experimentation going on here. Suikoden I’s longest track, “Antei,” is one of my highlights. It moves through some distinct sections and tries out a range of unusual sounds, vocals, and rhythm changes, making it an intriguing listen. I also enjoy “Echoes of Impermanence,” which blends the sound of strong winds with a distant, echoing mix of Gregminster’s original theme to create something quite haunting. I’ll end with a special shout-out to “Tropical Bath – Furo Mix,” a perfect blend of relaxing and joyous that has effects piled on to make it sound like it is playing in a big, echoing onsen in the wilderness — I love it and I’ve made it my mission to have a bath somewhere tropical with this playing.
Suikoden II
The tracks from Suikoden II take up most of this box set collection, spanning across discs 3-6. In terms of what we’re getting, sonically these tracks follow a very similar blueprint to those from the first game — particularly with that traditional folk instrument blend with synths. I would say that the peaks on Suikoden II’s OST are higher, with some absolutely fantastic tracks that stand out as personal highlights among all of video game music.
Due to the shared soundscape between the two games, I won’t go into too much detail about what we hear as a whole. Instead, I’ll pick out some of my favourite and least favourite tracks—an essential collection, if you will.
Disc three opens with the brilliant “Opening BGM” track, which is suitably epic and emotional—probably one of the main changes between the two games’ collections. Suikoden II definitely brings more of that big, epic sound than its predecessor. An early favourite on disc three is the main battle theme, which sounds quintessentially PS1-era JRPG with its propulsive beat and a sense of both peril and adventure. The “Viktor’s Fortress” track group (unfortunately) features a motif that I find slightly grating —not only does it sound overused with the tracks put together, but the sound used to create it doesn’t help. “Street Performance” is great, with a strong European folk music vibe to it, and “Journey of Adventure” might be one of the best world map themes ever.
Disc four follows the end of disc three by introducing more of the complex, darker themes as the story kicks into gear and the war begins playing a bigger part in our characters’ lives. “Bygone Days” is beautifully nostalgic with its acoustic guitar strumming and gentle wash of synths and strings. “Quiet Room” is a rare example of this OST using simplicity and repetition, but pushing that touch too far. “Listen Carefully,” a town theme, is wonderfully serene and peaceful, but with a tint of sadness possibly reflecting the fact that Coronet (the town in which it plays) is occupied by invading forces and inaccessible for a large chunk of the game. “Nahara Yan Kun” straddles that line between annoying and amazing in such a fascinating way: by including a strange array of sounds, including a hand-clap beat and a Middle Eastern-influenced motif that ultimately makes it quite a jam.
Disc five holds many of the game’s shorter tracks—menu and minigame background music, alongside the next selection of location and event tracks. “Bustling Town” is one you will have spent many hours listening to while exploring your castle. It’s a fun, lively piece with distinct sections that add nice variety. “On a Clear Day” sounds very video game-y in the best way—synth-heavy and glitchy; common traits among all of the minigame tracks, which feels very appropriate and adds a layer of separation between them and the main game tracks. “Captive Town” is another one of my favourites. This soundtrack to Greenhill City before its liberation takes inspiration from medieval and Celtic music, and I prefer this version over the post-liberation track “Freedom Again.”
Disc six closes the Suikoden II OST with heavy-hitting tracks from the endgame. “The Golden City Shines Once More” will sound familiar to anyone coming from Suikoden I—a revamped and fleshed out Gregminster theme. The three Luca Blight battle/death pieces perfectly capture the mood of those moments—frenzy, desperation, chaos, and uncertainty. As the disc begins to draw to a close, probably my absolute favourite track makes its appearance (and one I spoke about on Rhythm Encounter), “Battlefield Without Light.” I am in love with the layering here between the cacophonous vocals and dense strings and the relentless pace this piece sets from start to finish.
Bonus Disc – Arrangements and Music Box Versions
This final disc is full of stunningly beautiful and unexpected arrangements of a handful of tracks from Suikoden I & II. These tracks are gems that deserve to be discovered on their own, and they use a fantastic range of instruments and vocals to breathe a new life and energy into the music. The music box versions take things in the opposite direction to provide stripped-back versions of seven pieces that are gentle and very pretty but less essential than the arranged versions.
Final Thoughts
I love that in both OSTs you could be listening to a real world full of music. The various traditional sounds come together to create a vibrant, lived-in place with histories and peoples. One thing both soundtracks excel at is capturing the exact mood and tone of game moments where they feature — which you’d think should be standard for any video game, but is exceedingly well done here. Tracks that perfectly distill a sense of frantic danger and excitement when escaping from an occupied city, or the complex mix of sad and happy emotions when reunited with a friend you thought you’d never see again. This music is a masterclass in showing nuance through sound and does so by taking unexpected turns with its instrumentation to make these OSTs memorable.
