Only a few video games have such sweeping soundtracks that providing all the alternate, prototype, and in any other case unused music appears a smart choice. Suppose Ultimate Fantasy XIII OST PLUS albums. Now think about it’s much more thorough, and it’s from Indivisible by Hiroki Kikuta! Indivisible Unique Soundtrack PLUS is the inevitable, surprisingly pleasurable follow-up to the complete Indivisible OST.
As I’m listening to this album a full 5 years after its launch, I can’t assist however suppose: “Y’know who fell off in 2020? Me.” How did I go this up till now? I suppose I can blame COVID and life circumstances. However I remorse my failure to take time to hearken to this intelligent, curious two-hour set of music. So, in the end, let’s dive in!
The album opens with “Secret of Indivisible,” a form of proof-of-concept demo model that Kikuta wrote early in growth. Within the liner notes, Kikuta notes he wrote this piece earlier than he had a way of who Ajna was as a personality, so this try at a title theme is a bit of darker and extra moody than he had anticipated. Given the usage of some acquainted synths on this monitor, I do wish to suppose there’s a form of merge between his Seiken Densetsu work and his soundscape for Indivisible.
(As an apart: this digital album features a 21-page digital liner notes booklet with track-by-track commentary from Hiroki Kikuta. I’ll be referencing it all through the assessment. I feel that is a part of what makes the album so worthwhile!)
The older demo model of “Ajna” discovered right here lacks the vocals recorded by rionos, as a substitute using artificial vocals. It nonetheless sounds actually cool paired with all the pitched percussion and plucked strings, however it’s noticeably stilted and approaching the “uncanny valley” in comparison with what rionos did with the monitor. One thing related may be mentioned concerning the variant of “Stroll a Labyrinth” discovered right here (monitor 14). Kikuta writes within the liner notes that, on this model, he didn’t fear concerning the instrumentation and spectacular melodic traces, as a substitute maintaining deal with growing an applicable ambiance. Whereas the ultimate model is unquestionably superior, it’s attention-grabbing to listen to what this work-in-progress (WIP) model of “Stroll a Labyrinth” had been. It’s really a fantastic hear, although I feel it will’ve worn out its welcome extra simply in-game than what the ultimate model turned.
A few of my favourite tracks to check on this album are the four-minute tracks “Ortho,” “Para,” and “Meta.” On the OST, these tracks are a mixed five-minute piece “Ortho – Meta – Para.” On this OST PLUS, Kikuta reveals the three separate components as three separate kinds, or variants, of this intense piece of music. It’s ingenious how one can substitute for an additional, as is the nomenclature of those monitor titles, that are a reference to natural chemistry. I discover the jump-scare creepiness of “Meta” to be essentially the most enjoyable of those three tracks, however all of them supply one thing price trying out!
In tracks 20 via 24, Kikuta presents a number of variations of “Limitless Unity” and “Esoterica.” Kikuta explains within the liner notes that “Limitless Unity” was initially written as a brief piece (monitor 20), however the developer wanted a considerably longer model for Indivisible‘s precise ending sequence, so that’s what we get in monitor 21. It’s spectacular to see how Kikuta manages to stretch out the already strong ending music with out counting on repetition—as a substitute layering, constructing, after which chopping away to only one or two layers. The three variations of “Esoterica,” the top credit music, undergo so many iterations particularly as a result of the developer stored altering instructions and asking for small modifications. Listening to those many variations, one will get a singular perspective on sport growth: the artist who makes one thing completely acceptable and worthwhile, simply to be advised, “Do it over!” The same, although a lot shorter, instance exists within the jingle assortment “LABZERO BRIDGES”—the dev staff requested for variants on a musical sting to transition to battle themes, so Hiroki Kikuta crafted them. After which they modified their minds, so the music was by no means used till revealed right here.
I actually suppose followers of Indivisible will get pleasure from stepping via these track variants in OST PLUS with Hiroki Kikuta’s commentary as steering. In case you appreciated this sport and its OST, I’d encourage you to step barely again in time as I’ve and bask within the glory that’s Indivisible Unique Soundtrack PLUS. Be sure you take a look at RPGFan’s latest interview with Kikuta as nicely.
