At first I was worried it would be a derivative action movie soundtrack, but these parts are actually quite sophisticated, and the Hamauzu's signature impressionist and jazz chords come shining through.  But why can't they give this man a universally-lovable game?  Everyone should love Saga Frontier II, though.

I haven't got my copy in the mail yet, but I've had a chance to, um, PREVIEW it. Yeah, preview.

And while there are certainly the appearances of his light orchestral and experimental side, he's now showing a good deal of darkness as well. I'm not quite used to that yet, but I'll have fun getting there.

Only two things bug me about this soundtrack. One, there's the non-looping of the tracks...again. Granted, they're a pretty good size, but still...that's just me. I like looping.

Secondly, I can't help but feel that something's missing.

Early descriptions of the soundtrack said there were about 70 tracks. But there's only 53. Did some material not make the cut?

I'm not just talking about the early trailer music and early version of "Trigger Action" that's on the website; those would be nice-to-haves, but not really essential. What I'm talking about comes from the beta test a few months ago. Someone was kind enough to post some gameplay videos. During the main gameplay, the scenario was underscored by a nice, Sakimoto-esque action theme. But after listening to the OST, I cannot find it...it's simply not there. And for that matter, neither is the "Mission Complete" jingle.

So Amber, you and davironica's efforts and headaches may not be in vain.

However, complaining about this doesn't detract from what is there. It's new Hamauzu, with a few new twists. And I enjoy it.

Once my copy comes in, I'll be back with more thoughts.

I thought the trailer music sounded suspiciously un-Hamauzu and generic.  I think it was re-arranged to be more trailer-esque. It could just be the snob in me, though.

And I'm glad there's no looping.  If anything he should have gone further and given more songs proper endings.

I will always love Masashi Hamauzu. When I first heard Dirge of Cerberus, I was a bit... well... disappointed. But I don't need to. It is an amazing soundtrack. A completely new Hamauzu, though his style is definitely present. There are some new and fresh instruments, such as the saxophone (Counteroffensive is GREAT!!!) and the electric guitar (thank you Satoshi Akamatsu, as in FM5). Also, the violin, the cello and the flute reminds me of Unlimited SaGa and Musashi. A good thing, that's for sure Without these live instruments, it would have been different... not as memorable...

Musashi last year, Dirge of Cerberus this year... More than ever, I think Hamauzu is a genius.

No, they shouldn't. (Game-wise, at least. The music is great)

I'm still waiting to hear this soundtrack... I'm getting desperate.

After hearing the first disc, I'd give it a... 7.7/10.
The sound quality is amazing, and it is very epic.
I do have one big complaint... all the music is extremely samey, and there's not a lot happening in many of the tracks.
I mean I'm all for using one cohesive style for a game's music... many of my favorite composers do it, and to great effect, but I think this is just too much. (SO many tracks start out with that generic "dark/dangerous" mood)
Also, it doesn't sound like game music to me for some reason... it's extremely cinematic (though that could be a good thing to some people), and in my opinion the majority of it is quite unmemorable.
That said... aside from being very different from the average game soundtrack (especially Square), and in my opinion the music not being all that interesting to listen to outside the context of the game, there's no denying the musical expertise that went into all these tracks, and Hamauzu has established himself as the most cinematic VG composer in my eyes.

I received my soundtrack on the 15th, and I must say that I hugely impresed. I've said it many times that Hamauzu has never let me down with any of his scores. Now that Dirge of Cerberus is out, I can honestly said that that sentiment still has not changed. It's solid from top to bottom. I was curious as to how his darker pieces would be but he did a wonderful job with them. I'm hearing conflicting opinions on the actual game, but as far as I'm concerned, Square-Enix can go ahead and get started on a sequel so Hamauzu can work on it.

5/5 for me.

I'm starting to wish that I had bought it. I haven't bought a new video game soundtrack in over three years though...

Ah, the joys of college and having no money.

I'm surprised they didn't incorperate any themes from FF7 at all. I was hoping there would at least be an arrangement of Vincent's Theme.

~Sky

I know nothing about Hamauzu's style or the game itself, but I can say that from a first listen, it sounds like a rather tragic soundtrack, which probably isn't surprising considering who the game's based on. It's not overly powerful, as in "beat you over the head with loud and strong tunes," but it seems very emotional.

Of course, I wasn't listening all that carefully, so my opinion could change drastically later on. I like it so far, though.

So far this is the best soundtrack of 2006, hands down.  And it trumps anything that came out in 2005, too.  I don't see what the big deal is with soundtracks not looping anyway.  Pretty silly to loop cinematic music on a cd like this.  The mood would get really old, really quick.

It's a crying shame that you now have emoticons to play with.

I didn't even notice. I have them disabled. =P

I've heard this one now, and I'd call it a disappointment.  After enjoying Good Hamauzu on Musashiden II, we must now suffer the the return of Evil Hamauzu from Unlimited SaGa Disc 1.  Most of the two discs are filled with very boring cinematic tracks, though there are a few actual game music sounding tracks that are pretty good.  Still, you know there's a problem with a game OST when the best track is from Gackt.

Ouch. U:S disc 1 = painful.

I must say the total opposite of the above two. I love US Disc 1 (and hate disc 2, so I never bough it), and DoC is great.

-Joshua

I haven't heard DOC yet, but I like U:S disc 2 better than disc 1. Way better.

Thank you. I feel inclined to respond too now; The first run through this OST left me thinking 'huh, how come I ain't diggin' it?'. I've listened to it a few times since it release now, and not a single track that stands out in the big pile of cinematic rubbish. What a bummer. Anyone who likes Hama Generica from Unlimited SaGa should inmediately pick this up.

But just damn! Some of my favorite artists have been disapointing me lately: Mitsuda' KiRite was kind of hollow and devoid of his usual spirit, and I didnt like Moonlight Shadow very much either. Then you have Kikuta's 2 hentai scores....and now this from Hamauzu. I think this is his weakest vgm effort so far, including arranges. Oh well, Musashiden II was amazing, so I can easily ignore this OST. And I just know Hama's next effort will rock again. I also really hope to see Nakano again sometime soon.

Same here. I really can't stand US Disc 2 but Disc 1 is lovely. And DoC is awesome.

.......all sense of good taste?

I for one think Unlimited SaGa disc 1 is better than disc 2. I enjoy both, but in my opinion disc one has better music.

New bump to an old thread...

I was just curious as to whether any experiments to break the audio encryption on this game were sucessful.

Barring that, isn't there a rumor that beating DoC will unlock a sound test? Or is that just wishful thinking?

It used ATRC3 audio compression... which is the same format that FF11 now uses (it didn't originally - it changed when the 'Distant Worlds' track came out). The new FF11 format was broken.  I imagine if whoever was hacking the game used whatever program they used for FF11, they could easily convert the Dirge of Cerberus files.

~Andy

Quote from Gamespot: "Also, you'll be able to access a character-model viewer, artwork, and sound galleries by playing through these bonus missions, which promise to be among the most difficult in the game."

This applies only for the US version of the game.

Hamauzu has also written new tracks for the added content in the US version, by the way.  He mentioned it on his home page on SE's site.

...!!!

Oh wow...
Well, Square-Enix BETTER release a "Dirge of Cerberus OST - International Version" or something, kinda like what they did with FFX-2. It's only proper!

And thanks for the tidbits, tennin and Kuja!

But oh man...they're gonna make us work for that sound test...

I think a lot of this album sounds redundant and it is pretty easy going in general.  But there are some really really good tracks like 10 and 12 on Disc 2.  There are nice ambient tracks as well.  However, is this composer good at making more  thick layered music?  I would hope he could vary his style somewhat b/c he's doing FF13 and I would get bored playing an RPG that long without a variety in the music.  I would love it if Motoi Sakuraba did an FF game - I find his scores to be extremely varied in style.

Have you had the chance to sample any other work by Hamauzu, such as SaGa Frontier 2, Unlimited SaGa, or a good bit of Musashi Samurai Legend? You may find your answers there.

Don't forget...DoC is an action RPG, and that's why it was scored this way.

"However, is this composer good at making more thick-layered music?"

"I would love it if Motoi Sakuraba did an FF game - I find his scores to be extremely varied in style."

...

Yeah, especially that hidiously non-linear game FFX would have benefited...

-Joshua

Oh I forgot he did contribute to Musashi Samurai Legend didn't he? lol

Square-Enix MUST release the music that was left out of the soundtrack. The Tutorial theme rocks.

Yeah...I was watching some gameplay vids last night, and heard a couple more pieces that didn't make the cut. One of them sounded like an alternate version of "Fearful Happening"...with GUITAR. Tasty, tasty.

Sounds good. Where's the video?