The Legend of Heroes VI ~ Sora no Kiseki was a huge success for Falcom, not in terms of sales, but in terms of quality music. I loved the soundtrack for it, and it’s awesome to hear the same quality music from the recent Ys titles found on Falcom’s other staple RPG series.
“SC” (Second Chapter) takes the path of Final Fantasy X-2 as an intentionally direct sequel. I was concerned that the music on this album wouldn’t come out as well as the Sora no Kiseki’s First Chapter (known these days as “FC”). After many listens, my complete comparative analysis leaves me with the conclusion that, indeed, the First Chapter had a better soundtrack. Fortunately, this doesn’t diminish the value of “SC” in any way.
The OST was released as a two disc set. Disc One is pretty good. There are some wonderful techno-ish themes that remind me of Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim’s music (such as “The Depth Napishtim”). Some examples of this fast-paced fun music include “Heartless Surprise Attack” and “The Fate of the Fairies.” Other tracks, such as 13 and 17, have a more majestic and imperial sound, but without boring the listener.
Disc Two is plain awesome. The first five tracks are all enormously good: good enough to be considered high-quality arranges on their own. Then, on track six, we actually do get an arranged track. The Super Arrange Version of Silver Will (Gin no Ishi) was lifted right off of LoH VI Super Arrange Version and put on this OST. The song is straight beauty mixed with smooth pop drum loops; I’m not sure, but I may prefer it over the opening vocal version of the song.
The next track, “For the Favor of the Goddess,” has loads of choral goodness reminiscent of the choir found on Symphonic Fantasy White Witch.
I could literally continue this track-by-track review to the end of disc two: every song is wildly impressive. My favorites on this disc were all sampled, and again, I loved the techno-ish sounds of songs like “Aiming for That Future,” hearkening back to some of the cooler tracks from disc one.
I don’t know why it took me so long to realize how much I liked this album. It grew on me stronger than any other Falcom OST I’ve ever listened to, and as such I strongly, strongly recommend it to you Falcom fans (even the jaded ones who gave up on the company after Ys IV). I only hope Falcom can keep up the good work.
