One of the few PlayStation era Wizardry titles to receive a soundtrack was DIMGUIL. Like many a Wizardry title, this game never reached the US. It’s a shame, because the music was decent, regardless of the game’s quality (i.e. – I have no idea if this game was any good).
What makes this album good? The first half, of course. Performed by the Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra, the quality of the performance would make up for any weakness in composition. Luckily, the compositions stand strong on their own, so … all the better, I suppose! The recording quality has this oldschool “chamber” sound, similar to older Dragon Quest recordings, or the Seiken Densetsu arranged album. This section is pure goodness, and easily the best thing I’ve yet heard from Fujiwara in his many Wizardry scores.
The vocal theme for the game, “Smile of the Moon,” is performed by Akina Nakamori. She brings a lot of elegance to this piece, and I enjoyed both the “guitar” and “orchestra” versions of the song. Surprisingly, I liked the stripped-down “guitar” version more. I could imagine hearing it at a cozy cafe on a street corner, or (in the game’s context) at a nice Inn.
The OST section, despite taking up the majority of the tracklist, is actually just the second half of the disc in terms of track time (each section is about 35 minutes). After hearing such an incredible orchestral selection, the OST simply cannot hold water. The synth used is that awkward, 32-bit era sound where synth manipulators were attempting to move on to something greater, but would have been much better just using, say, the Super Famicom sound chip instead. If the OST were all this disc contained, I would not recommend it in the least.
But, the arranged section on its own warrants the purchase of this album, even for higher asking prices. The album is long out of print, but should you find it, I tell you now that the quality of the orchestral arrangements and performances rival that of the earliest Wizardry albums, as well as the many Dragon Quest Symphonic Suites that exist.
