Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Original Soundtrack - Kumi Tanioka

Album Thoughts

Here's the first video game soundtrack I'm putting on here.

I think it’s fitting - it’s hugely influential to me, and it’s such a vibe, and it’s also attainably perfect.

Song Notes

Echo of Memory

• The title theme. The chimes reverberate as the volume grows and disappears… the anticipation of a dream…

Sound of the Wind

• This song never fails to bring tears to my eyes. It is a song of yearning and adventure, of surging forward.
• The first shift down in the first verse brings so much depth that my hair stands on end when it happens.
• Notably, the Japanese vocal performance is more subdued than the English performance (which is, I believe by Donna Burke), which gives a slightly different vibe - like someone actually actively travelling in the caravan than at the beginning as it’s leaving.
• The horn solo is so fascinating! It really had a grip on me as a kid.

Serenity

• A very Final Fantasy rising, softly plucked arpeggio…

Today Comes, Tomorrow Approaches

• The overworld map theme!
• It looks like a toybox in game, and the music absolutely sells the windup toybox feel.
• I think there’s leitmotifs for The Starting Village

The Starting Village

• Home, with all its little idiosyncrasies. The weird buzzing woodwind that fades into the background, the humdrum repeating melody, and moments of serenity…
• What a sleepy, amusing little piece.

Caravan Crossroad

• The bongo-esque drums and the guitar are so nice, especially with the bass in there. A fleeting, friendly meeting.

Setting Forth

• Also known as “Departure”, The River Belle Path theme is the first hint of darkness in the soundtrack, but is almost like passing beneath the shade of tree boughs.
• The winding harp serves as the driving force, keeping the momentum steady and going, like the river, and the flute is the melody that tells the story.
• Once again, the pipes are a solo instrument, with their distinctive buzziness.

Clouds Reflected on the River

• So mellow and relaxed…
• This is exactly what I’d want to listen to if I were relaxing by the side of a river. I love that this musical theme comes up in other places!

Dreaming of Twilight

• The mischievous marimba of the Mushroom Forest… The syncopation definitely has a strange, fae feel, especially with the dark key but rising tones.
• There’s a brief togetherness where the marimba and flute match each other and then depart again that’s very evocative of some sharpened attention.
• The solo before the song repeats evokes a moment not necessarily of beauty, but being able to appreciate the beauty in a strange place.

Hammers Echoing on the Mountain Pass

• The drumbeats and… whatever the rattling percussion is are so good at evoking hammers, and then the deep bass pipes and accordion mimic the bellows of a mountain pass town filled with smithies.
• Friendly and busy!

In the Gloomy Darkness

• There’s a sad nostalgia to this one - the Mines of Cathuriges wistfully remember better days. The notes hang on, and the bass especially reverberates in this old cavern.
• An occasional metallic pounding in the distance is yet anther memory… or maybe a warning of the monsters that have taken up residence.

Prosperity and Tradition

• The hustle and bustle of Alfitaria is unmatched.
• There are thematic throughlines of Hammers Echoing on the Mountain Pass in here compositionally, but the addition of instruments and harmonies makes it feel even busier.
• There’s an extra grandeur in the solo, but also more of a feeling of mundanity in the rest.

Tremble, Evil Spirits

• The Goblin Wall has a menace about it, peeking out from the shadows.
• It is… perhaps less dangerous than it seems, perhaps more silly than it should be, but the darkness is unmistakable.

If there was three of us…

• Ahhh, the Selkie thieves…
• A wonderful foreshadowing of an upcoming theme in Leuda.
• These chucklefucks have some troubles about them. Despite being thieves, they’re mostly harmless, until it comes time to break the players’ hearts…

Eternal Oath

• Tida Village becomes the warning for what happens if you never make it back.
• The menace and sadness and anger that simmers here at a world that seems to have left this place to molder…

End of the Tale

• A wistful sound at the end of a life, where there isn’t even time to really think about what’s going to happen when you’re gone.

Magi is Everytihng

• Oh, Moschet Manor was a neat level! The stuffy waltz and the buzzy crumhorn gives kind of a silly feeling to it.

Amidatty and Eleanor, Too

• The triplets in 4/4 time that make up the base of this song are so delightful! Everything plays so nicely in concert, and the contrast of the movement before the repeat is such a fun contrast to the rest of the song.
• The hurdy gurdy that plays is also such a nice, quirky touch.

Promised Moisture

• Veo Lu Sluice’s theme had such a powerful hold on me when I was young, and remains one of my very favorite songs on the soundtrack.
• The crumhorns that are usually so silly are so dramatic here! There’s real peril and hurry happening.

Gentle Blowing Breeze

• Now this is a pokey little farm town song for the Fields of Fum.
• It was too sleepy for me as a kid to really properly enjoy, but as I’ve grown, so too has my appreciation.

Voice of Wind, Song of Time

• I kind of love how this song is more atmosphere than song. It just kind of lets the listener drift along with the chimes and marimba.
• The glassy, frozen sounds are very evocative, and I think the simple musicality does a great job selling this as an ancient tune.

Daemon’s Court

• This is what Tremble, Evil Spirits wishes it was.
• There is genuine menace here, despite the crumhorns.
• An organized march with a sharp gleam. The fact that the melodies have a call and response really gives it a feeling like watchmen calling out to each other.
• The solo has such a feel of a military procession or inspection. The whole piece works so well!

Prepare Yourself

• As the title says…

Monster’s Dance ~Rondo~

• The boss theme!
• There’s a sense of flow here. The percussion has many different layers, and the way they all work together, it’s the different voices of the song each taking up a role to handle the boss.
• The tension ratchets as the key rises.

The Water of Life

• It shares some themeing with Annual Festival in a really, subtle beautiful way. There’s that little lilting descent that feels like a relief.

I’m a Moogle

• What funny little creatures! It’s definitely critter music, but like… domestic critter.

A Familiar Face

• The beginning is a call for all to gather as the year’s journey is recounted…
• The drone keeps the audience rapt as the melody tells the story

Annual Festival

• What an bombastic release of tension!!!
• You can hear the jigs the villagers are doing to this reel (which I feel is the only truly appropriate word for this song).
• The flute plays the little celebration in The Water of Life, because the town gets to celebrate you getting the myrrh, too!! That melody also feels like a response to the… maybe not call, but a little bit of the question in The Starting Village’s solo.
• The folksy feel is so homey.

Endless Sky

• The mix it has of Caravan Crossing and The Sound of the Wind is so nice… It really sells some of the flavor of the journey you’re supposed to be on, and the tiny repetition of the motif in the minor key adds so much mystery.

Meager Advance

• The trepidation of passing through a dangerous place.

My Den

• More homey critter music. It’s off kilter and almost clown-ish, but in a slow, dreamy sort of way.

Overlooking the Great Ocean

• The leitmotif of Clouds Reflected on the River, but the instruments sound so much more expansive that it absolutely sells the feeling of looking out over the sea.

Something Burns in the Heart

• Mount Kilanda is an active volcano isle, and the low drone sells that strong.
• I can’t place the mode being played here, but it’s fascinating and unlike anything elsewhere in the game.
• The solo here is so dramatic, and I think it’s the most dramatic the crumhorns get.

Leaving the Body ‘Freely’

• This song is a top contender for favorite. Here’s where the solo of If there was three of us… comes from! Their home, Leuda.
• I never placed that it’s in 7/8 time.
• It’s so jaunty and there’s so much depth to it.

Sleeping Treasure in the Sand

• The Lynari Desert does so much more than just a generic “desert theme”.
• Yes, it has the low, short strings and the familiar desert mode (I forget which one that is…), but it gives so much more life to it all. Deserts may well be empty if you’re not looking around, but that’s the secret… Look around and you’ll find secrets.

Oh, Light…!

• This one hurts.
• You can hear instrumentation and busyness from Prosperity and Tradition, as well as some of its musical theming, giving a sense of what the man may be searching for.
• It’s perilous and frantic, much like the man it exemplifies.

Aiming Towards the New World

• Melancholy, searching, hopeful.
• The melodic drums are almost gloopy, and the marimba atop it is raindrops upon the water.

Strength in Sadness

• Trying to keep your chin up while you decide your future.

The Time of Many Smiling Faces

• The Princess returns to Alfitaria. A courtly song, but jaunty nonetheless! Don’t lose that sparkle!

When the Northern Sky Is Clear

• SO much awe in the fast arpeggiation. The crumhorn is otherworldly here with the marimba as the backdrop.
• Mysterious and magical are the name of the game here in the ruins of Rebena te Ra.

Mog Mail

• Also called Mag Mell.
• Very otherworldly and strange. The reversed sounds and strange chord progression are almost disorienting.
• The resolution the chords come at 1:47-2:12 to is SO satisfying.

Across the Divide

• There’s so much tension throughout this piece! The “chorus” is so fascinating, too.
• It gives such a strong impression of perilous climbing, and then a moment of looking not down, but out across the landscape and having a moment of clarity.
• And then you remember how dangerous your situation is.

Echo’s in the Heart

• The return of Echoes of Memory, with the titles cementing the game’s thematic link between the heart and memory the meaning therein.
• A very interesting inclusion of a piano for the first time.

Light and Shadow

• A properly ethereal track, once again including piano.
• And the return of the Final Fantasy rising arpeggio, but specifically from The Water of Life. I wonder if that motif is meant to specifically evoke memory?

I Don’t Want to Forget…

• An evolution of Light and Shadow, and the way the melodies wander around one another, each seemingly heedless of the other, is so dreamy, especially with the way the chimes are detuned.

Sad Monster

• Probably the most metal track.
• The bagpipes and the big bass drum are really climactic. It’s strange and imperious and serious.
• The shift to major is so weird and unexpected.
• I completely forgot about the friggin’ pipe organ that plays! The addition of new instruments towards the end of the game is so good at giving a feel that foreign, strange things are happening.

Unite, Descent

• Now this is boss fight music.
• The drums and low bass drone really lend a mood of intense focus, and then the return of the leitmotif from The Sound of the Wind comes back, and it’s what the journey has been leading to.
• Gotta have an addition of a chorus here.
• The chord progressions towards the end of the loop are sooo interesting!!

To the Successor of the Crystal

• Much needed peace.
• This song feels distant.

Thoroughly Blue

• What a wonderful return of Caravan Crossing by way of Endless Sky.

Starry Moonlit Night

• It’s so simple and sweet. I don’t think I can say much about it.

Orgel of Water

• What a beautiful little tune. The quiet celebration of success and returning home after a long journey.
• The sweet harps are almost music box-y.

Starry Moonlit Night (Arranged)

• This arrangement is very different - the instrumentation is more ethereal, with additional voices singing.
• This one is so strange because we get a choir and an electric guitar at the end. Super surprising.

General Thoughts

• I think an easy note to make early on as someone who’s listened to this soundtrack for… days worth of time, perhaps weeks, is the instrumentation. The actual usage of historical instruments is.
• There are so many very subtle leitmotifs and musical theming going on, from the very, very beginning, and they can be hard to place, but their usage is so key to the theme of memory that suffuses the game. I do not hope to catch them all.
• This is proving to be a delightful exercise, not in the least because I love the soundtrack and music very deeply, but because it’s giving me even more appreciation for the game’s atmosphere and vibe.
• The order of the songs on the album is kinda strange. I find it weird that it takes so long to hear the bossfight theme, and the song that plays on the coast. Alfitaria plays before you would usually get there, as well. Meager Advance and Endless Sky play weirdly late for where they belong in the flow of the game. I don’t think it necessarily takes anything away from the album, but it is interesting.
• Every single time a crumhorn comes in on this soundtrack, I am delighted. It’s so characterful, and has an almost silly stateliness.