Mitsuda's latest game is Armored Trooper Armodine (PS2).  The game is from by Omiya Soft, developer of the Culdcept series and Front Mission Gun Hazard (which Mitsuda co-composed with Uematsu).  The game will be published by Sony in February.

Source (no pics, scans yet).
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126617

Interesting...thanks for the newsbit!

I wonder if we'll be seeing more of the Xenogears/Gun Hazard style due to this genre...?

Man i SURE hope so!
Although Gears & GH don't share the same style at all.
Later,

Alcahest

Some details concerning Armodyne in this interview:

http://www.eminenceonline.com/2006/inde … _interview

Thanks for posting the interview. Here's some additional info about the game's music from Mitsuda's latest mail magazine:

Armodine was announced on the second of this month. It took about one year to make (just the music, that is), but because I handled all of the composing, arranging, recording and mixing myself I was really able to fine-tune the music. The game is being produced by Omiya Soft, who asked me to participate in the project because of the experience we had working together on Gun Hazard back in my days with Square. While Gun Hazard was an action game, Armodine is a strategy RPG, so rather than emphasizing a sense of speed in the music I chose to gradually build tension while putting the stress on melody. There are a little under 40 tracks used in the game. The music has an orchestra vibe with rock and electronic elements blended into it; quite a different feel from my previous work, I think. I currently don't know if a soundtrack will be released, but if anything is confirmed I’m hoping to let you know though this mail magazine.

The mail magazine also mentions the music for Lumious Ark is about finished, and that the game will be showcased on the 2006 Games Japan Festa.

I thought Gunhazard was a rockish album. Was it at all like Xenogears OST?

Well, I was thinking in termof "mechanized" sound, which both albums have. It's just what they do with it that's different.

The OST is coming on March 28.  Ten samples are available here:

http://www.procyon-studio.com/sleighbel … .html#armo

Those samples are terrific. They sound like Gun Hazard taken to the next level. I for one am VERY glad that a soundtrack is being released because this is some of Mitsuda's best work.

Wow. I am very, very impressed.

Not to steal the thunder from this but what ever happened to that fabled Chrono Cross arrange project?

First chance in awhile (a LOOONG while) I've had to be optimistic about a Mitsuda soundtrack. What remains to be seen is if this one can avoid the repetitiveness so many militaristic OST's tend to fall into.

Black Wraith though...Toss in a couple tracks like that and you can diversify the field very nicely.

The only militaristic OST I've liked is Gun Hazard (go figure).

I think my favorite sample is "Cosmic View", if only for the wonderfully Mitsudaish progression  halfway through.

Mitsuda says it's near completion, even some musicians have recorded their parts already. He also says it will come out this year.

Okay, I need to read better, as I assumed this thread was about that DS tactical fantasy rpg he did recently (Luminous Ark, maybe?) and was really confused by the style of music here.  Me = dumb, today.  Sounds really good, though!

Holy.. Mitsuda's work on ARMODYNE has a very sexy sound.

It feels like he's taken on some of the styles from Persona in the rock and synth, with a weeee bit sounding like the tones from Front Mission 5. But definitely more Persona, I think. I think specifically the muted/soft electric guitar style coming from his "Twilight Street" work on Shadow Hearts 2 really shines through.

Very sexy.

'tis a Strategy RPG with mecha stuff and Mitsuda...

I couldn't be happier.

Ramza

Well, this is out and...

I'm kinda disappointed. It's like they picked the absolute best tracks for the samples and the rest are just Mitsuda pulling out his generic cinematic tricks (which semi-worked in Xenosaga because they had a big orchestra to back them up. Not so here).

I might have been more impressed if there was some inkling of thematic material but there's no themes, no motifs, nothing. It's like Mitsuda wrote over forty pieces completely independent of each other and stuffed them onto two discs.

Then again, I'm not completely surprised. I haven't been knocked over by the composer since "Xenogears".

It's pretty much as I originally figured...It seems like everything that doesn't fall into the OST's combination of military percussion + orchestra is quite good. The ones that do either feel generic (especially considering the game genre) or have a few decent moments of melodic goodness before the realization that they're nothing special (and that the soundtrack is full of them) sets in. I think I'd drive myself up a wall if I had to listen to 3 or more of those types of tracks back-to-back. The only such track that I really think is any good is "March of Iron".

So winners so far:

Armodyne (can't tell if this is a song or if the vocals are just added sound effects...very neat track)
Destined One
Strike From Behind
Logistical Support (which just confirms Mitsuda's strength is his lighter work)
Training Ground
Black Wraith
March of Iron (LOL @ Shinra Theme)
Parts Shop (w00t!)
Goodness Gracious
Valiant Souls
Stone Butterfly (I'm half and half on this one...One of the stronger military themes)
Beautiful Day
Lur Xecran
Ark of Winds (a track I WANT to like really bad)
For Peace

So yeah...Once I do a little filtering, it's REALLY enjoyable stuff.

It irritates me that people tend to say 'it's Sakimoto-esque' every time they listen to a bland orchestral soundtrack, yet this time, for whatever reason, I can't help but think this soundtrack does partly resemble Sakimoto. It doesn't mean this soundtrack is bland or imitative, but I suppose Mitsuda used the same brass and percussion libraries as FFXII. Plus, it's unlike him to mix music in such a lifeless and dry way. It might be the unavoidable nature of EW/QLSO, but I don't like this aspect at all events.

Still, this is more of an average album. Of all his minor works, maybe I like this soundtrack the most. "Logistical Support" and "After the Storm" are stand-out tracks.

Did he say such? Mitsuda said last yeat he just contacted musicians he had worked with, but I don't remember seeing him talk about the actual percentage of completion.

I actually haven't been able to listen to this sucker all the way through. I get bored somewhere about a quarter of the way through (after "Logistical Support", an obvious highlight).

I'm actually kind of enjoying this album, just because it's one of the few things since Chrono Cross he's done that aren't him writing pretty generic stuff and hiding it behind pleasant sounding Celtic synth.  I also think overall the melodies are stronger than Xenosaga I was, even if there's no orchestra this time.

Mitsuda is still, what, in his early 30s? He will only get better with age, I think. There's about 30 more years left in him.

I think he's broadened his musical skills greatly in the past 4-5 years, and venturing into foreign territory means he won't master the new stuff immediately and these should be regarded as experimental stepping stones to some extent.

I'm working through the first discright now, and while nothing has really blown me away yet I'm finding this album very comforting and Mitsuda-esque but without his usual Celtic overtones. I have a feeling this is going to be like an cinnuint for me; a lot of passive listening until one day the album really "clicks" with me and because a staple for me.

I'm enjoying it overall, he tried a few new things here.  There's enough of his typical style to know it's Mitsuda, yet some tracks surprised me.

I'll probably take half the tracks to burn a 1-disc 'best of' and just spin that a lot.

Having listened to the album once, I mostly agree with GoldfishX's track selection. Even some of the more average or cliched (military, orchestral) tracks should work fine in-game, though I too feel they are generally too bland to be enjoyed out of context.
I do think some of Mitsuda's more experimental stuff here is great (I love 'Beautiful Day' for instance). I think Hako no niwa really showed Mistuda is still willing to reinvent himself (or rather, his music), and although I haven't been particularly impressed by any of his work since the release of that album, this soundtrack, at least for me, shows he's still 'got it'. While I also feel that Mitsuda strength is his lighter work (which is probably why I consider Hako no niwa to be of such consistent quality), some of my favorite tracks do include his darker ones, like 'omen'. It sure would be nice to have him compose for a game I could actually get excited for though.

I agree that some of his darker music is quite good...Lavos' Theme, Black Omen and a lot of the Xenogears OST was all really well done. That's why I was a bit disappointed with the heavy military tracks on this one...The melodies just don't seem to have the same punch as those classics. I think if they had the same punch as much of Xenogears and tracks like "Crimson Knight" or "Awakening", mixed in with everything else, this would be really amazing. As is...It's still pretty good.

Also, Lur Xecren and Black Wraith FTW! More of these would be HIGHLY appreciated!

I've given Armodyne several more spins, and the more I listen the more I like it. It's growing on me very much. It reminds me of a little Xenosaga (the not-so-boring stuff) mixed with the compositional formula from An Cinnuint plus some experimentation and a good chunk of classic, melodic Mitsuda. I'd currently give this album an A- or so. I find it relatively filler-free and really easy to repeatedly listen to.

Despite all the negative commentary, I still have to check this album out being that I'm a Mitsuda-whore.

I wouldn't quite call it 'negative commentary', I think people are just saying the album is far from perfect despite being pretty good, which is pretty fair. For me, it fell right in line with what I was expecting and probably overachieved, since most militaristic soundtracks are completely boring to me (sorry Armored Core and Front Mission). Nothing wrong with a little objectivity...It's far better than reading 10 straight posts of "OMFG! Album iz teh WWWWIIIINNNN!!!!!".

Good album, but the next Chrono Trigger or Xenogears, it definitely isn't. Compared to some of the crap that was released in March, it was a freaking masterpiece though...

(Sonic...Musou...what the hell happened!?)

Yeah, maybe people's expectations were too high because of the samples, and I'm not a fan of military soundtracks either. Some times I wonder if people are too often more lenient or harsh depending on who the composer is.  Like if this sountrack was made by some unknown, would it be getting bashed harder?  I know I'm often guilty of this, giving composers I like a lot more listens to hopefully "get it" than someone I don't care about and just selling the CD off.

If Armordyne was composed by someone less-known, I'd say it would get even MORE praise, not less.  It's a solid album worth checking out.  (regardless of if you're a Mitsuda fan or not).

I wouldn't say it's been negatively received either.

How many people do you think would have actually bought it or cared about it though? 

Anyways, I just played through it today and I am totally digging it.  Haha.  Maybe the low expectations helped, but this is some good stuff.  Sure there are bland, filler tracks, but less than I expected and I already like it better than any Xeno stuff he did (I was never impressed by the OST to Xenogears, too many weak tracks dominated the few good ones).  Were still on our honeymoon, but right now I'm placing it on par with Shadow Hearts.

*high five*

Replace "Xenogears" with "Xenosaga" and I'll agree.  Xenogears is my favorite of Mitsuda's work.  I still think Chrono Cross is a little overrated, though on recent listens I think I can appreciate why some people think it's his best.