This promotional album (a preorder bonus for a 1994 remake of Legend of Heroes III) contains unused tracks from both Legend of Heroes III and Brandish 3. The Brandish 3 tracks contain familiar melodies, but the songs themselves are unused “versions” of the songs. Different synths, different tempo, different track length…just little changes. But what matters is that on this tiny promo disc is a full set of Falcom music you won’t find anywhere else.
The first five tracks are from Brandish 3…and they’re the tracks you’ll want to pay attention to. Superior sound quality makes them so much more enjoyable than the LoH3 tracks (which use a far inferior synth). In contrast, the Brandish 3 tracks feel like arranged versions (though this is just the high quality of Brandish 3’s OST in general).
The Legend of Heroes tracks are interesting, in that they are new/original melodies that could have been a part of the game. It’s a shame that they weren’t used, because that game could stand for some lengthening (and some more music, too). However, the synth quality is from that awkward early-90s PC-9801 phase where they didn’t quite know where they were going. It’s a transition synth in terms of history…I’d much rather have pure FM synth, or else something truly refined like the Super Famicom chiptunes. Instead, we get something that fails to be either and sounds rather annoying.
Being a promo album, it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway): collector’s item only. I’d recommend it most to people who are interested in Brandish, actually, even though the CD was released primarily for LoH3.
