When RPG fans think of developer Gust, thoughts initially go to their alchemy-themed 2D RPGs such as Atelier Iris, Ar tonelico, or Mana Khemia. What if I were to tell you that Gust released a 3D adventure game years ago for the Playstation One? As hard as that may be to believe, Gust certainly released one of those and it is called The Adventures of Robin Lloyd. The game is a departure from Gust’s norm and the soundtrack is one as well.
For Robin Lloyd, Gust takes inspiration from jazz music, which is a style not often heard in the games mentioned above. The tracks I liked best in the game were the more uptempo jazz pieces with big horns, funky keyboards, and slap bass. The first track is a representation of this soundtrack’s best elements with jazz, funk, and some experimental elements, such as English voice clips one would hear on an American radio station of a bygone era. This was my favorite song on the soundtrack. Some tracks utilize sounds and arrangements more familiar to avid video game music listeners with a smattering of jazz. Track 8, for example, is a slower, dreamier piece that has jazzy piano along with more atmospheric sonic textures seen later in games such as Ar tonelico. Other tracks, such as track 17, play with industrial sound effects as percussion.
Unfortunately these shining moments of jazz and experimentation are few and far between. Most of the arrangements and melodies presented in this soundtrack sound like generic JRPG music that I’ve heard countless times in plenty of JRPGs. One trait I expect from Gust is music that’s memorable, and Robin Lloyd’s soundtrack was not. Even the vocal theme that caps off the soundtrack was rather forgettable. The jazz pieces showed promise, but there just wasn’t enough of it for me.
I was disappointed by this soundtrack. The first track showed tons of potential that was sadly unrealized in the rest of the album. Perhaps I am biased since I have high expectations for Gust music, particularly lead composer Akira Tsuchiya. The music presented here isn’t bad, but it’s below average for Gust. The final verdict is that Robin Lloyd contains a mediocre soundtrack. It does not do anything inherently wrong, but it does not do anything special either.
