Bah! No guitar in the background and no Yonemitsu synths means it crap sir! CRAP!
>not liking glorious FM synth
how is that even possible
So, by that logic, the original PC-88 soundtracks of Ys I, II and III are also "crap" because "No guitar in the background and no Yonemitsu synths means it crap sir! CRAP!", right?
Though honestly not a big fan of Ys IV JDK Special. I quite like a lot of the other synth albums, but when it comes to Ys IV, the Perfect Collections cannot be beat.
The thing is, the Ys IV J.D.K. Special(s) contains recordings of the original version every single track from the soundtrack of Ys IV that Falcom gave to Hudson Soft and Tonkin House to make their own versions for The Dawn of Ys and Mask of the Sun. It's not much different than Ys I, II and III for the PC-88 except it uses a superior sound chip, which means it sounds even better than these and with a quality akin to Falcom PC-98 soundtracks.
So, yeah, saying that the original FM (PC-88) version of Ys III music is "god-tier" but disliking the Ys IV J.D.K. Special(s) makes no sense at all.
Agreed that Mieko Ishikawa is amazing. Disagree on the boss music, and do so heartily. Ys IVs boss music is probably my least favorite in the series V excepted. Strongest Foe sits up there with Darm as my favorite in the series.
Ys IV's boss themes are superior and fits much better than the ones from Ys I, II and III. Battle #58, A Great Ordeal and In the Fires of Ignition are all amazing tracks and pump epic battling into your bloodstream. Ys III just has The Strongest Foe and it only taps its full potential on the PC-Engine CD, OiF and some arranged albums (Wanderers SAV/J.D.K. Band 2/Boss Zanmai).
The Sorcerian Expansion Disks (also Ishikawa) have much better boss music than Ys III. In fact I'd say I consider them Ishikawa's finest effort on the PC-88.
Thing is, for me Ys III has songs I like better, AND more songs that I like total. Ys IV is no slouch, as I said. But outside of Dancing in the Road, I can't think of a song from Ys III that I dislike. The soundtrack is perfection. Morning Departure still gives me all the feels whenever I hear it.
You only posted 12 or so Ys III tracks, while I posted more than 20 tracks from Ys IV. Ys IV's soundtrack is also perfection in my eyes -- The Opening, the town themes (although I don't care about
that U̶l̶t̶r̶a̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶L̶e̶o̶ ̶r̶i̶p̶-̶o̶f̶f̶ I Want to be Kind), the field themes, the character themes, the battle themes, the "shit just got real" themes, the mellow endings tunes... One of Falcom Sound Team jdk's finest efforts and perhaps the Ys soundtrack with the most personality.
Ask and ye shall receive:
Seal of Time
Snare of Darkness
Steeling the Will to Fight
Tearful Twilight
Wanderers from Ys
Wanderers from Ys blows my mind every time I hear it. Good god, Ishikawa was a magician with that FM. Listen to that track at around 1:17 and be amazed.
So good.
But again, my issue isn't the arrangements per se, it's the fact that they cut out over half of the soundtrack that it was based on. That KILLS me. Ys games should never reuse music in dungeons. I mean that's inexcusable.
Ys I & II Book doesn't have Protectors in! Inferior version confirmed! [/joking]
Celceta ain't the "The Oath in Celceta" or "Ys IV Eternal" I've been lusting after for years, and in general feels like one huge, disorganized mess. I enjoyed the game a lot and it was worth buying a PSVita for it alone, but it should've just been Ys 8 with longer development cycle and with nothing to do with anything related to Ys IV.
But yeah, totally agree with you on this one. The lack of
Karna's theme in particular disturbs me the most
For Ys I and II this was true until Chronicles, where they knocked it out of the park. Chronicles was AMAZING! For Ys III, I have to give the nod to OiF, though I say that with a heavy heart, and not a little indecision, both are amazing. For Ys IV, most assuredly.
Overall, I find the TG-16 CD arrangements of Ys I & II music overrated except for some exceptions (First Steps, Final Battle, Ruins of Moondoria, Palace of Solomon, Subterranean Canal, etc.). The arranged tracks by Yonemitsu on the Perfect Collection albums were much superior.
I'd fix that "this was true until Chronicles" for "this was true until Complete". Chronicles was pretty good, but Complete is IMO the best incarnation of Ys I & II music.
For Ys III TG-16 CD, it's definitely up there with OiF. For The Dawn of Ys, I'd say yes if it weren't for those slowed-down versions of a few tracks (Burning Sword, Valley of Quicksand), but at least features the best versions of some of my favorite tracks, like Battle #58, A Great Ordeal or Walking the Path of Legend. But overall I say I prefer the Ys IV J.D.K. Special(s) -- the fast, steady beats and the enhanced drums and bass really makes some of my favourite tracks stand out.
Fun question:
What are everyone's favorite intro tracks from the Ys series?
I'll start with the best remix of a classic:
Dawn of Ys - Falcom Spring 2008
God bless the JDK Band.
1) To Make the End of Battle
2) Release the Far West Ocean
3) Can't choose between Genesis Beyond the Beginning and The Dawn of Ys without feeling bad :-/
Not sure how can that be the original when 1) Mask of the Sun was released before The Dawn of Ys and 2) The J.D.K. Special IS the original version.
This is my favourite rendition/design of Adol. That stern look, those pieces of armour, the flowing scarf and his pose all yell out that Adol is motherfucking ready for adventure.
Fans (also) improved on that -- meet Adol da Pimp:
He's so swag