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By Angela (May 31, 2009) (#1)
Until the two-disc official release hits on June 24th, Court Record's Bolt Storm has been giving us an extended taste of the soundtrack for the just-released/upcoming Gyakuten Kenji/Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth with his own recordings. Check 'em out here:
http://forums.court-records.net/prosecu … 15436.html
Iwadare's back for composing duties since Gyakuten Saiban 3, and I'm really digging what I'm hearing. Catchy, upbeat compositions ride on a jazz sensibility, with a heavy emphasis on the use of piano, likely to portray the elegance of main protagonist Miles Edgeworth. There are several instances where he culls from Akemi Kimura's "Great Revival" from GS2, the theme long since designated for Edgeworth's theme. You can hear this in the new versions of the Confrontation theme (the game's new version of the Examination themes from the first four games), both Moderate and Allegro variations. On the other hand, his Final Examination and new Pressing Pursuit ~ Cornered themes sounds right at home as a Grandia battle theme, and they ROCK.
Big points for the incredibly slick new arrangement of Detective Gumshoe's theme, and new character Kay Faraday borders dangerously close to the same fun, addictive charm of the original Steel Samurai theme.
By Angela (Jun 05, 2009) (#2)
Bolt Storm's treated us to a select few more recordings, including a fabulous new arrangement of the Blue Badger theme:
http://forums.court-records.net/prosecu … 15436.html
Iwadare really knows how to handle character themes in this series. Lots of fun stuff here akin to the likes of GS3's Furio Tigre and Jean Armstrong's Trés Bien.
By Angela (Jul 15, 2009) (#3)
So, anyone picked up the Official Soundtrack yet? Iwadare is joined by one Yasuko Yamada, who's a relative unknown to me. (Upon glancing at her discography featured on VGMdb, the only work I think I've ever heard from her is Bubble Symphony.) The CD booklet doesn't appear to credit tracks individually, so it's impossible to tell who did exactly which songs. The two have managed to create a cohesive sounding score, though, clearly grounded in the Gyakuten soundscape, while giving Kenji its own identity with its underlying jazz sensibilities.
As a whole, this set appears to be an excellent representation of the game's music. I've yet to play the game (January 2010 for the localized version is an eternity from now), but spanning two discs, I'm assuming this is about as complete a score as one could hope. It's well mastered, and loops appropriately too, points always worth mentioning. And it's a really enjoyable score, too. Excellent takes on the game's own set of staple themes, like Examination (again now dubbed Confrontation), Tell The Truth, Investigation, Pursuit, and Tricks/Logic. Character themes are plentiful, colorful, and melodic, while reprisals of older themes are handled with finesse, especially the Blue Badger's and Gumshoe's.
Kenji has easily become my favorite soundtrack in the series, second only to Gyakuten Saiban 3.
By Carl (Jul 16, 2009) (#4)
I've bought it, but need to give it a more complete listen, as I only tried the first disc so far.
As for who did which songs, I'm using the approach of anything that "kinda sounds like Taito music" as a guess for the Yamada tracks. It was certainly a shock to see a former Zuntata member on this series though.
Last edited by Carl (Jul 16, 2009)
By Adol (Jul 16, 2009) (#5)
I love your enthusiasm Angela. My favourite is Gyakuten 1 though, seconded by the 3 indeed..
By Idolores (Jul 16, 2009) (#6)
Adol wrote:
I love your enthusiasm Angela. My favourite is Gyakuten 1 though, seconded by the 3 indeed..
My favorites, too.
By Ramza (Jul 16, 2009) (#7)
I'm thoroughly disappointed with this OST, sadly. The types of synths use just irritate me. I've loved every other OST in the Gyakuten series, but this one just isn't doing it for me.
Review forthcoming on RPGFan soon-ish.
By Angela (Aug 02, 2009) (#8)
Ramza wrote:
Review forthcoming on RPGFan soon-ish.
Too much negativity. We need an antithesis, stat!
http://www.squareenixmusic.com/reviews/ … enji.shtml
By Herrkotowski (Aug 02, 2009) (#9)
Very nice review Angela! It was a joy to read. Maybe I should check it out at some point.
By Boco (Aug 02, 2009) (#10)
I finally got a chance to listen to this soundtrack while I was on vacation. It didn't seem as immediately memorable as some of the other Gyakuten soundtracks, but I suspect that's because I haven't played the game yet. Despite that, I was very pleased overall! I knew Iwadare could handle it since he's already written for the series and he didn't disappoint. I thought the music did a good job maintaining the traditional Gyakuten sound while also establishing a new, smoother feel for Edgeworth. I really look forward to hearing the music in action in the game.
I was also happy to see the use of previous themes from the series where appropriate. One of my biggest complaints with the music in series (game or otherwise) is that there's always that one composer who relies to heavily on old material or who simply ignores it all together. I can't stand it and I'm glad that Iwadare managed to find a good balance. Perhaps not my favorite Gyakuten soundtrack to date, but definitely a solid success. 
By Angela (Aug 19, 2009) (#11)
Seeing as it's become quite rare, I just wanted to give this a share with you guys. With very special thanks to Croik at Court Records, this one was the promotional album that was included with the Limited Edition packaging of the game. Some very excellent orchestrated arrangements from the Tokyo Philharmonic are featured.
Gyakuten Kenji Orchestra & Video Album:
http://www.mediafire.com/?jzwegzm1n5f
By Ramza (Aug 20, 2009) (#12)
Angela wrote:
Ramza wrote:
Review forthcoming on RPGFan soon-ish.
Too much negativity. We need an antithesis, stat!
http://www.squareenixmusic.com/reviews/ … enji.shtml
A fine antithesis, indeed.
By Angela (Aug 20, 2009) (#13)
Ramza wrote:
A fine antithesis, indeed.
By Angela (Feb 26, 2010) (#14)
Just completed Ace Attorney Investigations, and as I've done with every soundtrack in the series, I did up my own English localization of the officially-released Gyakuten Kenji tracklisting. Check it out here, but be warned: it's front-loaded with spoilers:
http://a-liu2009.livejournal.com/9420.html
Also, I made an in-game recording of the Variation version of "Pursuit ~ Lying Coldly." Like Gyakuten Saiban 4's Pursuit ~ Cornered, though, other than a new opening drum roll, it's no different sounding than the one already featured on the Original Soundtrack. (Which I suppose was the reason they got axed from their respective OSTs to begin with.) For the Gyakuten completest, though, here it is:
Pursuit ~ Lying Coldly (Variation):
http://www.mediafire.com/?zkiwxiziz45
Ramza wrote:
I'm thoroughly disappointed with this OST, sadly. The types of synths use just irritate me. I've loved every other OST in the Gyakuten series, but this one just isn't doing it for me.
So, now that you've finished and professed your love for the game, has your opinion changed any on the music?
I myself have forged an even greater appreciation for the soundtrack. For instance, the contextual circumstances surrounding the song "Reminiscence ~ False Relations" is affecting. "Tell the Truth 2009" is incredible every time it plays, with the song itself a notable improvement over Iwadare's own Tell the Truth 2004 from Gyakuten Saiban 3. Perhaps my newest favorite, though, is the wonderful epilogue theme "Prosecutor's Murmur ~ Promise to Meet Again". It's classic Iwadare, with nostalgic shades that remind me of..... I wanna say Silver Star Story's Kaze no Nocturne. Maybe a bit of Hometown Burg and Now The Story Begins, too.
Last edited by Angela (Mar 05, 2010)
By SonicPanda (Feb 26, 2010) (#15)
Quick note - I noticed in the credits there was a third composer listed (I've forgotten the name, because I'm useless). Is this person not credited at all in the liner notes?
Also, as I said elsewhere, 'The Truth Isn't Sweet' is my new favorite piece in the series, supplanting the Steel Samurai theme. I didn't think the DS could thump like that, honestly, but I should've expected it from Iwadare. His original GBA compositions for GS3 had some pretty good percussion to them, which the DS version strangely lacked.
By Revoc (Feb 26, 2010) (#16)
SonicPanda wrote:
Quick note - I noticed in the credits there was a third composer listed (I've forgotten the name, because I'm useless). Is this person not credited at all in the liner notes?
The third person in liner notes is the game's director Tsuyoshi Yamazaki (山﨑剛). This guy pictured here:
http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20 … yaku39.htm
I suspect the third composer in the credits is because of the reprises from previous games. However, there are songs originally composed by Masakazu Sugimori and Akemi Kimura as far as I know.
By Ramza (Feb 27, 2010) (#17)
Angela wrote:
Ramza wrote:
I'm thoroughly disappointed with this OST, sadly. The types of synths use just irritate me. I've loved every other OST in the Gyakuten series, but this one just isn't doing it for me.
So, now that you've finished and professed your love for the game, has your opinion changed any on the music?
I still argue the soundtrack is the weakest of all five (or, perhaps, tied with Gyakuten Saiban 2).
In the context of the game, the music works really well. But it's very telling that my favorite songs in AAI:ME belong to Gumshoe and von Karma. Yeah, von Karma... I didn't even like her theme before, but I got into it with this game. Not sure why.
But the Gumshoe music is like the best song ever written. There are two versions in the game: one close to the original, and one new jazzed-up version for Gyakuten Kenji. I like the original version slightly more.
So yeah, while I do love the game, idk that I've had a big change of heart over the soundtrack. Again, contextually, it's strong. Much like FFXII -- in-game, I was never *annoyed* with the music. It was a good ride. But listening on its own? Meh.
Same with this one, for me.
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