Grandia Original Soundtracks II

This CD set is the second installment of the Grandia original soundtracks. This CD's instrumentation definitely sounds like it came from a video game system.

The characteristics of disc 1's music are very unbalanced. Musical length is skewed. For example, there are many tracks that are short, but there are a few tracks that last over six minutes. In addition, the musical style is also mixed. The majority of the tracks are filler or mood tracks. For instance, tracks 5, 8, 16, and 18 are mood tracks, but they last so long and are so repetitive that you will want to advance quickly. The instrumentation is adequate, but the composition is too game-like. Overall, the music is probably best heard in the context of the game itself, not as a separate soundtrack. In my opinion, only four tracks sound particularly good. Those few do not save the CD from complete mediocrity.

Disc 2 follows in the footsteps of Disc 1. There are still a lot of filler and mood tracks. The instrumentation is decent, but again the composition is distinctly game-like, including the repetitous musical patterns (see the review of Grandia OST1). Tracks 3 and 16 sound closest to the spirit of Grandia OST1. Overall, this CD is just as mediocre as the first CD.

Unlike its previous installment, Grandia OST2 is not strong buy. The tracks do not have the same feel as Grandia OST1. Game Arts should have arranged all the tracks on Grandia OST2 as well.