I’d never heard of Kazuhiko Sawaguchi before encountering this album, and I’m pretty sure the VGM community also hasn’t heard of him since the release of Weltorv Estleia, a PlayStation RPG that stayed in Japan. Sawaguchi’s compositional style is somewhere between Hitoshi Sakimoto, Hayato Matsuo, and Koichi Sugiyama. Unfortunately, Sawaguchi seems unable to match any of those three composers’ level of skill. Instead, Sawaguchi-san remains a “jack of all trades.” And by all, I really mean some. There’s no jazz on here, so it’s not like Sawaguchi is the next Yoko Kanno or anything like that either.
The score to Weltorv Estleia is memorable thanks to a few select pieces that stand out far beyond the others. Most of this OST is subpar, but some tracks are simply beautiful. There are some piano and string performances that would serve well in nearly any context, but do especially well for RPGs.
If you’re looking for quality in spite of quantity, you may find it here. Many pieces suffer from the early PSOne sound capabilities, but a few manage to thrive, and that might just be enough to make this album a worthwhile addition to your collection. However, since Sawaguchi-san isn’t exactly an active VGM contributor (he’s more of an anime guy), the impetus for purchasing this album will probably come from familiarity with the game itself, not the composer. In terms of music alone, this album does not stand out, but the few high-quality pieces I’d mentioned before in this review may make it worth adding to a large VGM collection.
