Overview

Ah, another Dept. Heaven game that's made it to the PSP. In the end, this could basically be described as an arranged album for the original Game Boy Advance game. And that's what it really is in the end given the PSP sound source is hardly as restrictive as the Game Boy Advance's. Thanks to Atlus' corporate strategy, Yggdra Union -We'll Never Fight Alone- The Soundtrack was actually a bonus with the American release of the game. In contrast, the Game Boy Advance's Yggdra Union Perfect Audio Collection Plus was exclusive to Japanese customers. Did overseas gamers finally get the upperhand?

Body

I was still pleasantly surprised to hear the majestic intro track, "Yggrda Union". It hadn't changed much, but benefited from an improved sound source. The arrangement differences were much more apparent on the second track "We Never Fight Alone". Comparing the two tracks makes the older arranged version seem like a Game Boy track in itself! "We Never Fight Alone" starts out so grainy in the original arrange and it starts off as smooth as could be in the PSP version.

The actual arrangements of these tracks are basically the same musically. It's that sound quality that helps separate it and makes it a worthy album. It's a shame there wasn't much more done to it than that. It depends on what kind of person you are. Both albums have a realistic sound, but if you are one of those people that needs that high definition, then this is definitely worth it. You can hear many of these instruments super clearly whether they are MIDI or not. The horns sound like horns, and the electric guitars sound like electric guitars this time.

This realistic sound is especially helpful to the upbeat electric sounds as I mentioned that the older tracks could end up sounding like very generic old-school action game themes. It's funny how the quality helped separate them so easily, for example ""Imperial Army Sortie" and "Yggdra Sortie". It's not a drastic quality change, but enough to make a difference. The album not orchestrated or anything like that, but tracks like the opening to "We Will Never Fight Alone" are still very worthwhile. Also note there are some new tracks towards the end of the soundtrack written for the new scenarios. They're nothing special, but a nice bonus nevertheless.

Summary

This sort of quality is very much expected in 2008. However, fans that wanted a super crisp version of the Yggdra Union Perfect Audio Collection Plus second disc will finally be satisfied. It's sad that the soundtracks was rehashed in a mostly, but chances are that PSP players were not all as familiar to the Dept. Heaven series given they were originally Game Boy Advance games. So if you want to hear the most upbeat Dept. Heaven soundtrack in high quality, then I suggest this either second hand or with the game. Otherwise you will get a lot more for your efforts to find the commercially available import release Yggdra Union Perfect Audio Collection Plus.