A word of caution: this ain’t the Wizardry of yester-year. BUSIN’s soundtrack is totally different from all previous Wizardry scores. Not better, not worse, but certainly different. Okay, well … maybe a little worse.
Instead of the usual neo-romantic orchestra pieces we’re used to, this Wizardry title uses sequenced, synthesized instruments and loops to create music. The genres of modern music are all here: pop, rock, jazz, “easy listening.” It’s all here, but in forms of synth that don’t stand up to their PS2 peers. That’s right, Wizardry Alternative was released as “Wizardry ~ Tale of the Forsaken Land” in the US, and it was a PS2 title. Compare this music to, say, FFX, and you see where the problem lies. The audio quality just isn’t high enough.
But there are some hip songs. “The beast” sounds like an old, grungy battle theme from the glory days of Falcom. And the ending theme, “Smile again,” has some decent vocal work, though its soft and gleeful melody betrays the album’s cover art. The same could be said for most of the album, though. I don’t listen to this album and think of creepy skulls.
Ultimately, this is one of the weakeast albums in the Wizardry discography. However, if you compare it to all VGM, and not just the Wizardry series, you could at least declare this album “above average” without taking much criticism. So that’s exactly what I’ll do. The album is pretty good, and if you like to hear contemporary forms of music in your OSTs, this is one place to check it out.
