Apollon printed many of the earlier Wizardry albums (such as this one), but later Nippon Columbia and Toshiba EMI started to print soundtracks for Sir-Tech’s beloved series. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Wizardry “CD Drama” series ended prematurely: that is, with only one chapter. The album is labeled “CD Drama I” (and you can actually hear the main character say “CD drama one” in announcing the title at the end of the disc)…yet no part two exists anywhere.
But even though we ignorant Gaijin may not be prone to enjoying drama albums, it’s a shame that the Wizardry Drama album never had a sequel. Let me tell you why it is I think this.
I’ve listened to at least 30 drama (or mostly-drama) albums in my young life, and most of them are pure cheese. And not the good cheese, either! I’m talking about cutesy high-pitched female Seiyuu blabbering about hot guys and hair color (in Japanese) for 30 minutes; it’s not a good time. To me, the best drama albums are one that attempt to tell a story of something similar to what would happen in the videogame, complete with music and sound effects. To this end, I have found a few albums that suit my taste: the Dragon Quest CD Theater albums, Surround Theater Sorcerian, and now, this Wizardry album.
The music exists only to support the dialogue and the events of the drama, but I was well pleased with the music regardless. Well, most of the music…the ending vocal (Engrish, female, “Try on your dreams”) was a bit embarrassing and difficult to listen to. The rest is all a mix of tight-beat rock, happy melodic themes, and scary ominous music.
This disc was later reprinted as part of the six disc “Apollon Game Sound Legend” box set, so you would probably have better chances of finding it there. Japanese collectors still struggle to obtain this original album, and those who closely follow Yahoo! Japan auctions will see this CD sell for over $40 on a regular basis.
