Looks like, just out of nowhere, Squex is going to release a Secret of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 2 Arranged Album!

http://www.famitsu.com/news/201206/04015685.html

The album will be released on August 8th, and production will be helmed by Kikuta himself.

Not many details on what kind of arrangements we're looking at, but apparently it's based on the Midi data and uses the "latest technology and DTM equipment to realize high-quality sound."

A live album would probably have been more interesting, but I'll be keeping a close eye on this one regardless.

Oh crap, sign me up. Here's to hoping it won't be one giant track, haha.

Been replaying Secret of Mana lately, and I've been absolutely obsessed with the soundtrack.

I've been warming up to MIDI and chiptune-styled arrangements lately, especially with the explosion of indie games that feature chiptune-styled soundtracks, and my own entrenchment in the old NES classics.

So, I'm pretty optimistic about this.

all i hafta say is,, F- yeah.
i cant get used to to NON-midi soundtracks,, it just doesnt feel like VGM if its too realistic...

Isn't this the second album in their new Mana arrangement series? I believe this was the first one: http://vgmdb.net/album/27561

Yep. Shimomura's next.

That one should be really interesting. Not sure how she can make the LoM music any more amazing than it already is.

Website is up for this:

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/ … ken2_somg/

Samples are pretty close to the original melodies, since this is labelled as an arrange album i don't think they'll stray too far.

Just the sound alone makes me feel nostalgic... =p

Those samples sound AWESOME! I love how they're true to the original sound with a new twist. I'd take something like this over most other new arrange albums anyday.

maybe it's part of an SD2 HD remake project? (I wish!)

It literally sounds like Kikuta took the source composition and pushed it through his latest and greatest sound libraries, the sort of stuff he's used on the new "Shining" titles.

These sound amazing. Thanks for the link.

EDIT -- slow news day otherwise, so I made a post on OSV about this. With credits to James and STC forums in general.

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/som … ghty-good/

There are now samples up for eight of the sixteen tracks. The four new samples provide more of the same as the first four, but I'm not complaining.

This Exactly.

On one hand, I'm worried this sounds WAY too much like the original tracks, with subtle variations, and some improved sound quality, but on the other hand, I still feel pretty optimistic about it, and probably will pick it up. Really liking the accordion he's putting into some of the pieces. At the very least, the longer track times will be favorable.

Honestly, it really sounds like how a remastered soundtrack would for the Nintendo DS.

I'm hoping they don't even meld 2 different compositions into 1, when they could've easily been set off as 2 separate tracks...

...

Decided to re-pick up the Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections album from 1995 or so, and listen to the orchestrated suites; that's just some really high quality stuff; I only just wish they'd set the different compositions as different tracks, but doing it with an audio editor, they don't separate very seamlessly, and each individual composition/melodic idea isn't very long by itself. Still, really high quality orchestration, and it's sad it's been so overlooked.

The Seiken Densetsu ReBirth arrange album I think is actually pretty good.

...

I'd swear the only reason I've been ignoring all these arrange albums up until now is because I just haven't had the $$$ to pick them up until now. I'm so glad they've still been waiting for me... :X

They need to do something to drum up more enthusiasm for the Mana series, I think this's a good start; the recent World of Mana compilation didn't do anything for me, or dare I say, many people in general; they really just inundated you with subpar games on every console, when they really should just about Seiken Densetsu 3 / Secret of Mana 2 for the U.S. market, already.

...looking back on it now, I think it's curious how the hero's color scheme in Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 2 consists of pink and blue...but especially pink. Not necessarily the color for a warrior, but I never really noticed it so much until now...I was still in grade school when the game first came out, took it over to a friend's once, I remember him saying, "Why the hell is your guy wearing pink?!"

Man, now I want to replay Secret of Mana, and I haven't even completed the last playthrough I was working on...

Got my copy in today - this is everything i wanted it to be.  It's the same melodies as the original but as mentioned before pushed through updated sound libraries(? not sure if that expression is right).  The longer track times definitely help.

This would go great with a remake of the game.  Only disappointment to me, they didn't do a version of "The Oracle".

But it has Prophecy so that more than makes up for it

Time to put my order in today. Sounds like it'll be good for the most part.

Thing is, I got used to the lightning sounds that back that piece in the game; it just sounds bare without them.

Also gotta have the waterfall sounds in "Together Always" (it's the track that plays in the place where you get the sword).

When ambient sounds back up a piece in-game, I gotta have those on the soundtrack album, as well. Gotta have more cow bell, man.

For example, Final Fantasy III / VI soundtrack, I'm glad they left in the wind-blowing sounds in "Dark World," and the rain sounds in "Zozo" or whatever that theme is called.

Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2), the tracks sound bare without the ambient sounds, too.

As for "Oracle," I wouldn't mind if someone actually made a techno or even a rap or hip-hop remix of it. It seems suited to it already; it's got the record scratches and everything.

So I finally listened to this...it's actually a very good piece of work. Even some of the tracks I didn't care for on the OSV got multiple listens. Makes me wonder if they should've went all out and made it a complete soundtrack instead of a select few. Would've loved to have heard a Genesis rendition of Ice Palace (A Bell is Tolling).

Actually the more I listen to this album the more disappointed I am that they didn't redo the whole soundtrack like this.  There actually really isn't that much "arrangement" going on here...

I am not pleased by this album overall.  I think the main problem lies in the fact that Secret of Mana was one of my favorite childhood games and contained one of my favorite childhood soundtracks.  Thinking about it, Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger are at the tip top of my nostalgia list.
I always found the synth in SD2 incredibly charming.  This to me is for the most part the teeny tiniest bit of a step downward.  Since nothing really seems rearranged I listen to these tracks and they sound good, yet ever so slightly awkward... Ever so slightly wrong.  It's music I want to hear, and yet it doesn't give me the same feeling I get when listening to the OST.  This would be fine if the songs had been arranged differently or the synth had changed dramatically for the better.
I would be much happier with either a release of the original soundtrack with looped tracks, or a more typical arrange album.

If SD3 gets the same treatment I'll probably like it better to be honest.  I don't have a heavy attachment to the original material and I always thought the synth dropped from SD2 to 3.

Agreed. This one kind of disappointed me. If they're going to call it an "Arrange Album," shouldn't there be some actual arranging?

Kikuta should have done a melding of live instruments and synth, the latter for the sounds that you can't get from standard orchestral instruments. As it is, this is just a disappointing release, with *barely* upgraded synth that sounds completely wrong.