Overview

Dragon Slayer is a line of Falcom titles spanning the Xanadu, Sorcerian, and Romancia series, among others. The Legend of Dragon Slayers attempts to commemorate all the early titles in the line with mostly synthetic arrangements by Naoki Kimura. The final result is by no means a definitive tribute to the franchise, but it still offers some very enjoyable moments.

Body

The album opens with a narration by an American voice actor against new age synth sounds. Like most other narrations in game music albums, this one is very cheesy and cringe-worthy, but might still appeal to the fans since it helps to tie together the Dragon Slayer line. Thankfully, the track soon explodes into a wave of 'feel good' synth musi. It's a little different in style to the usual arrangements one would expect from Falcom, but it still creates the same ecstatic emotions. Following an abrupt transition, the seven minute journey ends on a reflective note.

The suites on the album are often very expansive. The items dedicated to Xanadu and Romancia are even over ten minutes long and pack together all the important themes. Unsurprisingly, "Distant Utopia" maintains the gothic sound of the original Xanadu soundtrack with its use of synthetic strings and harpsichord continuo, progressing from its haunting opening based on "La Valse Pour Xanadu" to a triumphant conclusion dedicated to the endnig theme. It's quite well done, but would have benefited from high quality productions like that of All Over Xanadu. The Romancia selection is much lighter, which is appropriate given the nature of the original music, but it's not completely superficial. The jazzy and poppy touches running throughout this suite add to the diversity of the musical experience.

There is a fair bit of diversity on the shorter additions to the album too. "Family Ties", for instance, channels the more serious and militaristic tone of Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family into a breathtaking synthetic orchestration. "A Sunset of Adventure" is a complete change in style and more akin to the power rock most would expect from Falcom's Perfect Collections. Who would have thought Sorcerian's additional music could sound so good? The album ends on a sentimental note with the soft synthy sounds of Sorcerian's "Ending I". However, this is one of the few additions to the album that tends to labour the original material.

Summary

The Legend of Dragon Slayers is one of the more obscure additions to Falcom's discography. However, it's also the only item to really together the first five instalments to the Dragon Slayer line. This album packs quite a lot of favourites into one disc, though only the Xanadu and Romancia tracks are particularly comprehensive, so it doesn't really compensate for owning the original scores. It makes up for this with plenty of stylistic diversity and charming melodies. It's not one of the best produced or memorable Falcom albums, but it's still a worthy tribute to a legendary franchise.