Square strikes again, with amazing fantasy rock!
Reader review by Paul Hoyak
Wow. Yes, that's what I said. This CD is very, very good. Don't let the "Mystic Quest" label fool you, the music for this game is really awesome. First I must rave about the first two arranged tracks. They are absolutely fantastic! Fantasy music with electric guitars and heavy drums... wow! The two tracks are just incredible. Track 1 is the arranged version of "Last Castle". (Those of you who played the game, think about it. It's better than what you can imagine.) Track 2 is a remix of the "Battle" songs. Very good as well.
The third arranged track leaves much to be desired though. It starts rather beautifully, with a light shower and crickets, flowing into some beautiful "town music". Then suddenly, there is this bashing drum, and a synthesized voice going "Mystic Que-que-que-quest" scratcha scratcha scratcha... It does this for the whole song, switching from very nice "mellow" music to the idiot "mystic que-que-quest" part. Yech.
The game music tracks are of decent length (much like FF6) and aren't repetitive. All are quite good, with the very beautiful city musics, and the hopping "Rock Theme" and "Rock 'n' Roll". However, the shining glory of this CD is easily "Last Castle" and "Battle 3". These two songs are just unbelievable. They are fast and heavy with synthesized (very well synthesized) guitar and drums. I have noticed that Mystic Quest has an abnormal amount of guitar and drums over the much more common flutes and violins of other fantasy games. My guess is that this was to appeal to the "younger" gamer, whom this game was aiming for (Mystic Quest still has the same amount of trumpets as FF4 and FF6). This is actually a very nice change, as the fantasy image isn't lost at all.
Other than the third arrangement, I have no complaints at all with this CD. Definitely one to buy - my money was well spent here. All in all, I say a great CD (not as good as Chrono Trigger, but pretty darn close).