07.26.05 - 3:36 PM
Recognizing both the moderate success Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~'s stateside release and my own personal love for the series and its music, RPGFan Soundtracks now brings you six reviews from the series' extended soundtrack library. Note that the six reviews we bring to you are still less than half of the total soundtracks produced for the series, and that number does not even count the many drama CDs made for each game in the series.
Starting with the second game in the series, we have a review of Atelier Elie "Unknown Origin", a best-of/high-quality soundtrack for the game released just over one year ago. Totaling 90 minutes of music spread across two discs, this soundtrack is one of the best "remake" OSTs you can find (it certainly outdid some of the remake soundtracks Square has put out in recent years).
The third game in the series, Atelier Lilie, had a two-disc soundtrack releases from Scitron along with the game's release back in the late 90s. This is one of the harder soundtracks to find, and until a reprint is made (if ever), you may never hear more than what few samples we have provided. Enjoy what you have. Count your blessings. Et cetera.
Next up is a soundtrack that, until recently, had fallen under the radar of many VGM fans. I am referring to the OST for Atelier Judie, the fourth game from Gust's acclaimed series. This soundtrack is a personal favorite of mine.
Japanese fans that preordered Atelier Viorate were treated to a "best of" album called Atelier Best. Though it doesn't quite live up to its name of "best", as it would need to be more than one disc to really capture all the diversity and wonder of the series, it is a neat promotional trinket.
Those four albums were all reviewed by yours truly, proving my obsession toward the series.
Next, Mike Wilson reconsiders his love of Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~ by taking one step back from the sixth game to the fifth. Atelier Viorate, a game that features the same three composers as Iris, apparently has music that is even more well-developed than Iris. Those are Mike's thoughts anyway. Be sure to read all his thoughts about this soundtrack.
Finally, reader Jesse Jones gets his hands on another promotional item: the Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana 2~ Soundtrack Book. This rare item features thirteen OST tracks from the game, as well as nine newly-arranged tracks from the previous Eternal Mana title. One of these tracks is arranged by "SSH", a Japanese fan ("doujin) arranger who has received some praise for all the great music he releases on the internet. Gust is the first company I know of to publish his work as part of an official company release.
There you have it: six Atelier soundtracks, and there are plenty more to come in the near future. Before that time comes, however, we also hope to bring you more and more Falcom, as well as reviews for some of the new soundtracks released in the past few months (Suikoden IV, Radiata Stories, Drag-on Dragoon 2, and a few others).
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| Patrick Gann |