Recent iterations of the Star Ocean series have been lackluster, alternating between bad and good at every turn. The soundtrack for the fifth Star Ocean game is similar, with great music interspersed with weak, or even annoying, compositions so that half the album is outstanding, and the other half poor.
Motoi Sakuraba brings all of his techniques to bear, including having a large selection of tracks performed by his rock band, plenty of small orchestra and sectional works, and of course his heavy-handed synthesizer sound. The album is also quite long, coming in at 4 discs with almost 20 tracks each. Given such a large canvas and Sakuraba’s talents, it is disappointing that so much of this OST, about half, could be described as filler, sufficient as background music only. Not only that, but almost 30 songs are taken directly from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and The Last Hope. These repeats make up many of the best tracks on the album. Pieces such as “Confidence and Domination,” “Shotgun Formation,” “The Divine Spirit of Language,” and “What a Breeze” will be familiar to fans of the series or collectors of Sakuraba’s arranged albums. Because of the high overlap, I’ll try and keep the review to the unique tracks but include some samples from the redundant ones.
Where the album consistently shines is in the rock band pieces. It is clear that the band had a lot of fun, and in the field of video game music I feel like this is where Sakuraba’s stylings stand out among the herd. While many of these tracks are prior recordings like the examples above, there are some new ones here that are definitely worth special attention. “The Cavaliero” is reminiscent of “Junk Modulation,” with a deliberate bass line played on guitar, backed by strings and melodic synths. “Mortal Combat” brings a more traditional progressive rock sound featuring a high-pitched rock organ, guitar riffs, and mid-song changeups to other styles. However, among the rock tracks, “Irrepressible Dignity” would be my favorite. It features violins, complex synths, and the rock band, going away on a chaotic melody with great hooks that switch every five measures or so, like a mashup alternating between six or so great songs rolled into one. There are many more rock pieces and the quality remains good to superior with all of them, making this a highlight of the album.
The orchestral and synth pieces are where many of the extremes in quality come from. The opening overture, “Star Ocean Forever ~ Overture ~” covers the main orchestral themes in the album, all of which are stellar but are largely from prior works. There are a good number of pieces, such as “Hour of Judgement,” which are technically proficient but feel like so much noise, fit only for the backdrop of a movie sequence. Similarly, “Unwavering Resolve” may impress those new to orchestral game music, but while it has a lot going for it, it doesn’t do much to rise beyond being background for something far more interesting. “Roles to Play” fares much better, but it is too synth-heavy and a bit imbalanced in audio levels. On the other hand, the subtler “Soldiers’ Footfalls” is powerful and carries its military and political themes well, without any visual ques. It is a lot of what a good soundtrack piece should be, derivative enough to evoke imagery, but unique enough to capture the listener’s attention. Another orchestra piece I really enjoyed was “Tears in the Sun Make a Rainbow.” While clearly meant to accompany an FMV sequence, it still carries its themes well, maintaining a kind of sad tension that is powerful and compelling. The song features strings using a wide variety of contemporary and romantic techniques. Basses and violins alternate taking the lead, and occasionally a chorus joins in while the rest of the orchestra keeps rhythm.
Sakuraba also has a number of sectional pieces on the album. These make up most of the town themes, such as “The Village of Sthal,” which brings a group of strings together for a gentle but tightly composed piece that effectively evokes a bucolic atmosphere. “Myiddok, Trading Port” features a few live instruments and synths for a busier town theme that also hits its mark. “Central Resulia, the Capital” is a solid take on late classical/early romantic music, and features an oboe and violin in several refrains. These pieces are also pretty mixed in quality, but enjoyable overall. “Incursion,” while melodically a bit simple, is a nice example of Sakuraba putting it all together. Synths, live strings, and live percussion come together in a very sci-fi sounding piece.
Sakuraba’s synth only pieces are some of the weakest on the album and many feel like padding. “Over the Planet” meanders but doesn’t go anywhere while being melodically uninteresting. On the other hand, “Sohma, the Snow-Covered Expanse” meanders but with a building melody that crescendos with an airy synth or vocals. “Trei’kur, Desolate Desert” has a somewhat generic synth-orchestra playing sustained minor chords with a Middle Eastern-ish sound, but then throws in well done samples of traditional strings and winds. The song works well, even if it is musically a bit weak. All of these songs feel like late additions, as if the orchestra was long gone and there was limited time with some content left to fill in the production schedule. None of them have the compositional or technical depth of the rest of the album. One exception to this is “Cruel Fortune, How Your Wheel Doth Turn,” which uses high quality synths and what sounds like sampled live instruments in a methodical, contemplative piece that stands out among the other synthesizer compositions.
I have mixed thoughts on recommending this soundtrack. Overall, the album is worth it if you are new to Sakuraba’s music. It contains some of his best work on the later Star Ocean games, and the new rock band pieces are great additions as well. But if you have a large collection, you may be disappointed by the redundancies, and the weaknesses of the non-rock tracks may be a further disappointment to fans of Sakuraba’s work outside of the Star Ocean series.
I would be very curious to know how some of the decisions were made regarding the musical choices for this album, but I suspect a lot of it has to do with budget. The Star Ocean games have been flagging under increasing expenditures and limited financial success. This probably played strongly into the decision to make half the soundtrack a rehash of prior works. Sakuraba’s contributions remain the highlight of the series, and his work on this and other sci-fi franchises have inspired him to produce a lot of unique and great music. If you like what you hear in these samples and have the budget for multiple albums, I might suggest looking for those other works, including Star Ocean arrangements, instead. But if you want just one Star Ocean album, and especially if you enjoy Sakuraba’s band, this may be the one.
