Overview

Deep Labyrinth was an RPG released in March 2006 in Japan for the Nintendo DS. While Masato Kato was the key contributor in terms of story, Mitsuda was the composer for this game. Those who ordered the game could receive a six track bonus soundtrack, released in one of two variations depending on the retailer. While mainly Celtic in nature, this album does offer hints of ethereality and some orchestration.

Body

"Prologue ~ Guided People" starts out with some fairly strong orchestration, but soon shifts tone into a more ethereal once. While the melody in this track is fairly good, the track as a whole is too short to garner any real development and, in the end, suffers from being a bit too stale.

Thankfully, "Shou and Alf's Theme" is a much better piece. It contains a nice rhythmic percussion section and the melody offered blends a bit of orchestration with some Celtic influence. This is probably one of the stronger tracks on the album, yet still suffers from an overall lack of development. "Maiden of the Crystal" meanwhile starts out quite mysteriously. The use of the bass guitar and woodwinds creates an extremely airy atmosphere while the chimes in the background help to maintain the mystery inherent within this track. The melody produced in this track is also captivating.

"To the Labyrinth," a track by Takayuki Mitsuhara, is unfortunately very weak. It's extremely repetitive in nature, and while the instrumentation is gripping, I find the lack of development to be an extreme put off. Back to Mitsuda, "Sword of a Lost Legend" is definitely an interesting track. The instrumentation used here, in both terms of melody and accompaniment, are put together extremely well. I also think the Celtic feel implemented, in addition to the mysteriousness, help to convey the track name quite well.

The promotion CD ends with the "Deep Labyrinth ~ Main Theme", It is a very mysterious piece in nature, and unlike his last attempt, this track is extremely pleasant. The woodwind and piano combination really do wonders for the track and is a nice way to close the album. Note that, in the Amazon edition of the soundtrack, this track is replaced with a beautiful ending theme. It's a pity that no official soundtrack was released, as both tracks are lovely, though the main theme is probably more worthy of your money.

Summary

While this is only a promotional release, it is disappointing on the whole. The tracks seemed very underdeveloped, save for a few, and the lack of tracks really prevents me from enjoying the full soundtrack. While I don't suggest this album for purchase, due to its short track listing, I do suggest this for only the hardcore Mitsuda fans. Despite myself being one, I didn't really find either variation of the bonus soundtrack particularly worthy, though.