“Underwater” from Breath of Fire, by Yasuaki Fujita, Mari Yamaguchi, Minae Fuji, and Yoko Shimomura and released in 1993.
There are times where I think to myself “you know, this would be a great game, if only it were better.” I know that seems ambiguous, but think about other forms of media that you’ve tackled in your life: Books you really wanted to like, TV shows with great characters and a terrible plot (or vice versa) or games with great mechanics that had a really boring story line.
This is how I feel about Breath of Fire. I remember loving it as a kid. I must have rented it twenty times and hashed it out for hours and hours, then I replayed it as an adult and I just wasn’t impressed. There was too many random battles, fetch quests, and the stakes just weren’t high enough for me to warrant continuing on.
But, one piece does hold a bit of fabulous nostalgia and, as an independent piece in the canon of VGM, I really love it. It’s the underwater theme in all its freedom and adventurous spirit.
But hey, look at this line up composer partnership: Yasuaki Fujita (of Mega Man 3) and Yoko Shimamura (Kingdom Hearts and a bunch of other ones) on the same score? YES!
Granted, the score isn’t too wild, but “Lands Beyond the Ocean” and the “Overworld” theme really resonate with me. They definitely make me want to go for whale cakes… or is that Breath of Fire 2?
Anyway, enjoy 🙂
Kenley