Overview

After achieving a renaissance with the Sora no Kiseki trilogy, Falcom's ever-changing sound team have produced a number of relative disappointments in recent years. Their latest effort, dedicated to the PSP's The Legends of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki (The Legends of Heroes: Blue of the Sky), thankfully puts the team back on track with their most musically creative and lavishly produced soundtrack in recent memory. The two disc soundtrack release is jam-packed with highlights — some familiar to series' followers, others completely unexpected from Falcom. Among them, mesmerising organic setting themes, diverse battle anthems, theme song arrangements, and even a few of nods to the past...

Body

Right from the opening pieces, the soundtrack for The Legend of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki proves a richer experience than the disappointing Zero no Kiseki. "Quest of D" reflects the score's experimental tendencies right away with its moody and abstract opening, but eventually shifts into a lush organic piece more typical of the series' soundtracks. The violin melody here, while not as outwardly catchy as Sora no Kiseki's main themes, manages to penetrate listener's hearts with its rich yet ambiguous progressions. "Sunlight Filtering Through the Silent Forest" also captures the magical feel of the series' best organic themes — with beautiful melodies, soothing timbres, and, once again, an abstract undertone. Other scenic highlights range from the easygoing folksy improvisations of "Mishuram Wonderland" to the imaginative electro-acoustic renderings of "Thrusted Reality". These tracks feel like fully-fledged explorations rather than one-dimensional depictions this time round. It's just a pity that, due to the soundtrack's heavy action focus, setting themes are relatively few on this soundtrack compared to predecessors.

In complete contrast, the action themes of Ao no Kiseki prove that, if there were any doubt, Falcom still know how to rock. "Conflicting Passions" is a shining example of their highly accessible rock sound. It recites the same ideas Falcom has explored since Ys II — which is either a good or bad thing depending on who's listening — but it does so in an excellent way. The melody here is powerful, the interludes are meaningful, and the implementation captures all the excitement of a rock band. Among other battle anthems, "Seize The Truth!" builds up so much anticipation with its punchy opening progressions and pulsating electronic beats, while the cutting-edge "Unexpected Emergency" keeps the volume high and the tempo fast from start to finish. Tracks like "Concentrate All Firepower!" and "Destruction Impulse" are much harder-edged and the latter, especially, has a heavy metal influence. But both still retain the fun spirit of the series and are never oppressive to listen to — if anything giving a modern mainstream appeal to a typically niche series.

There are also a number of event tracks. The lesser of these range from the light jazz flavours of "Exhilarating Ride" to the imposing regal fanfares in "Every Justice", from the authentic classical pastiche of "A Meager Dinner" to the mystical ambient tones of "All-Knowing One". These tracks all absolutely suit their in-game purposes and show considerable maturity in their composition and implementation. Yet the majority are too brief and atmospheric to be worth stand-alone listening. Nevertheless, there are few more emotional pieces such as the piano trios on "A Barrier to Surmount" and "A Victim's Past Wish" — a clichéd but effective technique to tug at the heartstrings, particularly effective when true performers are used — as well as the intimate small ensemble piece "Aoki Shizuku". Furthermore, some darker pieces tend to bring a lot to the experience. Some like "Strange Feel" and "Unrest" are so understated that they have to be appreciated in context. But others such as "Demon's Yell" and "Descent of God" feature such abstract soundscapes and fascinating progressions that they genuinely move listeners and bring a lot to the soundtrack.

Plenty of action themes round off the release. The Falcom Sound Team J.D.K. reserve their most intense orchestrations to landmark action sequences in the game, notably "Mythic Roar" and "Steel Roar"; the latter receives two versions, both of which feature spectacular brass leads and brooding organic interludes. "Fight!" is a refreshing shift from the series' other battle themes with its elating synthesizer melodies and bubbly electronic backing. It was definitely written in the spirit of old-school game music, yet has so many twists and elaborations that it also has a character of its own. Much grittier electronic beats are fused into "Ellie's Shout Coaster" and "Energetic Beasts", both of which grip listeners despite their reduced melodic emphasis. But perhaps the most incredible fusion of all is "Delusion of a Thousand Years" — which mixes the soundtrack's impacting rock sound with dark but gorgeous gothic melodies for violin and harpsichord. The similarly gothic "Dark Throne" is a wonderful lead-in and adds a cinematic quality to an important confrontation.

The Falcom sound team reserves the most beautiful pieces to the end of the soundtrack with "Pass Through the Paradise of Lies" and "Trees at the Farthest Ends". The former especially deserves to go down in the history books as one of Falcom's all-time greatest pieces. The sound team revisit the beautiful yet untangible electro-acoustic soundscapes featured elsewhere on the soundtrack, but take a far more expressive approach — the elaborate piano passages particularly radiate with humanity. The final battle theme "The Azure Arbitrator" is also one of Falcom's best — evolving from its epic choral introduction into a hard rock theme featuring plenty of development during its eight minute playtime. The soundtrack release is rounded off with the ethereal opening and rocking closing versions of the vocal theme "Aoi Kiseki"; while the melodies here aren't quite as memorable as those of the Sora no Kiseki, the abstract stylings and lush performances ensure it is still a fitting highlight. Among other Easter eggs are a handful of arrangements, most notably an exciting chiptune remix of Sora no Kiseki SC's "Fateful Confrontation" and a snazzy lounge jazz performance based on Ys' "Tower of the Shadow of Death".

Summary

Overall, The Legend of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki is a fantastic return to form for the series. Its action-packed focus ensures listeners are given a wide variety of battle themes, including Falcom's trademark rock anthems. But the biggest revelations here are the ethereal electro-acoustic fusions used throughout the setting themes and vocal track. After several years in limbo, it seems that the Falcom Sound Team J.D.K. are beginning to evolve their sound once more with abstract hybrids. They haven't quite recaptured the same melodiousness that made earlier Legend of Heroes scores so delightful — although there are plenty of fine melodies to be found — but the richer stylings and polished implementation makes up for it. There should be enough familiar here to appeal to fans of typical RPG soundtracks, especially followers of Falcom, but the novel elements and sheer diversity of the soundtrack also give the soundtrack a wider draw.