There are so many highs and lows touched upon, so many depths waiting to be discovered. The music, as a whole, is very intellectually driven and challenging to listen to in both areas of mind and heart. Let me delve into this review while mentioning that I prefer to listen to the music of Vagrant Story apart from the game. Sakimoto’s mastery of utilizing emotional and instrumental textures is what makes Vagrant Story, regardless of whether you can handle or not, nothing short of a masterpiece. This is one ‘painting’ that will turn your emotions upside down and leave you screaming for mercy.
This is not only incorrect, but glaringly naive. I’ve heard people claim that Vagrant Story is a picture painted in one color. It has pushed the boundaries of what game music can be and did so according to its own sense of invention. It is so unlike anything which has come before that it irrefutably changed the way that I and perhaps many others, look at video game music. Like the crowd present at the Rite of Spring’s premiere, my musical sensibilities were completely redefined by this work. In all actuality, it is, within itself, and since there is no definition by which to define it, a work of startling vision. By most definitions, the music is caustic and ‘unbecoming’. The percussive and dissonant nature of the soundtrack is rooted in a most virulent musical violence and has no qualms with puncturing the heart to sell itself. The intensively convoluted thematic nature of the soundtrack makes it both difficult to define and appreciate at first glance. Not everyone will be able to handle Vagrant Story. It doesn’t seemingly ‘fit’, but the juiciness and tastiness of this fine fruit is without question for those willing to invest a little extra into the experience. Coming across the Vagrant Story soundtrack is like finding a watermelon in the orange produce section. There has been NOTHING like Vagrant Story before or after. Hitoshi Sakimoto hasn’t only created a work which defies explanation, he has done so in the presence of an industry in which originality and deviation from normal expectation is not always greeted favourably. I’ve also come to realize that Vagrant Story is one of the most artistically viable works of art in video game music history. What gives the Vagrant Story soundtrack its sense of gravity and purpose, is its very abrasive and unsettling nature. What I’ve come to realize is that the ‘grotesque’ can contain its own inherent sense of aesthetical beauty.
My own experiences with the soundtrack largely reflect first impressions of another infamous work, but more on that shortly. After a brief recovery period, of about 3 years, I’ve re-examined the album and have one thing to say genius.
Like one who gets ill after being at sea for the first time, Vagrant Story literally made me nauseous and I fled away in terror, sense raped and repulsed. The harmonies, percussion and orchestration were so jarring, so shocking that it literally turned my head on its side and punted it across the room. Final Fantasy Tactics was a brilliant game, backed by beautiful music and when I bought Vagrant Story, I must admit I was expecting more of the same… Boy was I wrong. I picked up Vagrant Story with the premonition that Sakimoto would be composing and it would be similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. I will be honest, I absolutely despised Vagrant Story upon first hearing it. This is a good soundtrack, but it’s not going to be for everyone. To call Vagrant Story a passionately convoluted, head-first dive into untrodden musical depths which fill the mind and heart with utter terror and leave the lungs gasping for air, would be putting it shortly so I will proceed with caution. DigiCube (1st Edition) Square Enix (2nd Edition)
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