How complete is the official release of the Odin Sphere soundtrack? Does it really have all the gameplay and cinematic music from the game, or is it a partial release?

It's a two-disc release, and it seems to be complete.

It's got everything I recall hearing in the game, from the opening song to the world tracks to the boss battles to the event themes to the celtic-modified ending, plus some orchestral tracks.

Just ask if you want me to check something; I finally got enough time to finish translating the tracklist earlier this week.

So then, is the first disc pretty much all of the level themes, then?

Which tracks are the actual boss battle themes, and which track is supposed to be the fourth stage in the Valkyrie story, e.g., when the Valkyrie Princess has to face off with her own kind?

Yeah, disc 1 is almost entirely level themes.

Boss themes are 2-04 and 2-11, with 2-10, 2-16 and 2-17 being the final battles. (Though 2-10 is played during a few events, too)

I'm guessing you mean 1-10 when you're referring to Gwendolyn's return, but that's hardly a special track -- it's in virtually every path.

Ah, okay; say, those last 4 tracks of disc 2, are those special/bonus tracks unique to the soundtrack release, or are those versions actually used in-game someplace? What is the actual ending theme to the game?

There is one very brief song missing from the OST that was in the rip--it's the "orchestra tuning up" music that played when you selected a chapter. No great loss IMHO, but there's always the rip if you need that track.

The actual end credits theme is "ODIN SPHERE's Theme -Shanachie ver.-" on the second disc. The two tracks after it aren't heard in the game; they're live performances of themes from the game by the "Eminence" symphony orchestra in Australia--the first "Eminence" tracks to be on an OST, if my source is correct.

I believe you're correct.  ...what a pleasant surprise to see Eminence on an OST release.  Did Basiscape have anything to do with that?

I think that they did. Eminence has a history of collaboration with Sakimoto & co.--he's been a guest at several of their concerts, and he chose to record the still-unreleased "Romeo X Juliet" anime score with them.

It was a very nice gesture, especially since there was no CD made for "Night in Fantasia '07" where the arrangements debuted.

I could be wrong as always, but it appears the arrangements OS soundtrack has were for Destiny Reunion concerts (Yokohama, Melbourne and Otakon?), not for Night in Fantasia 2007 which seemed to have a true orchestra arrangement. Based on those bonus tracks are labeled as "orchestra version", the Night in Fantasia version would have been a more proper addition to the soundtrack, but I have little complaint with this since OS soundtrack is already a satisfying release (a deluxe case, a comment per track and two bonus tracks), leaving aside the compositions themselves.

Since there weren't any recordings issued of any of those concerts, and since they were held on the other side of the world, I didn't have the oppurtunity to hear for myself. I just mentioned "Night in Fantasia" because it was the only 2007 Eminence concert that I knew by name.

My last post was intended for my rambling rather than nitpicking, so please don't mind it if it sounds brusque (although I often realize my tone tends to sound too nasty for some people).

Btw, there is another Emience album, but I suspect these two Odin Sphere tracks are the same as the soundtrack had...
http://www.eminenceonline.com/merchandise-cd/store.html

Here's one last question: at which point in the game would you say you've heard all the music that the soundtrack has to offer?

After the credit roll, obviously.

Unless this is a trick question, 'cause of the Eminence stuff.

Haha, WELL, isn't there a long point between whatever the last piece is before the final boss battle?

A lot of games, it seems like they've gone through the entire soundtrack (with exception of the final boss battle and ending themes) about half-way into the game or so.

Some of these themes, I'm having difficulty matching up to where they occur in game, especially the second movements for each of the stages; do those just occur later into eah stage, or in different chapters?

Mind you, I'm only actually into the fifth stage/chapter of the "Valkyrie" book, the Inferno Lord's domain.

...

As far as the game itself...

I imagine the game takes largely from Norse mythology, but I find it interesting that Odin (essentially Zeus or God in other mythologies) would be referred to as the Devil Lord, yet that the Inferno Lord's domain (essentially Hell) would be separate from the Devil Lord, and that the Land of the Dead be further separate from either of these domains.

It's because of Norse mythology, as you said. I can't recall their names at the moment, but the "fire guy" is supposed to be Surt, the fire giant of the world of flame, Muspelheim. The queen of the dead is a corollary to Hel, the queen of Helheim, what else but the world of the dead.

Why Odin was called the Devil Lord, I have no idea. The """"real"""" Odin has many names as well, not all of them good ones, such as Ygg, which means "terrible one."

I seem to recall it being "Demon Lord" (both in English and Japanese), and I always assumed it was in reference to the fear, power, and general sense of dread that his presence and forces commanded.

In response to your revised question, Bernhardt, by the time you've finished the second character's storyline, the vast majority of the tracks have been made available to the player.

There are still a couple of event themes, as well as the final battle/ending themes, that are reserved for later, but I think "after the second character's storyline" is the answer you're looking for.

I just started playing this game, and was curious about the particulars of the soundtrack release, but ended up reading some things in this thread that I wish I hadn't.  Haven't you guys ever heard of SPOILER ALERTS?!?!  Sheesh!

On a more positive note, I'm really digging the music in the game so far, and I just ordered the soundtrack from CDJapan (with a 700 yen discount and SAL shipping, it came out to only $25).  Sweet!

I just went over this thread again, and I don't see anything that's even remotely spoiler-y.

Simply knowing who we think the characters are supposed to represent in mythology doesn't reflect in any way upon their actions or the plot in this game.

"...the fourth stage in the Valkyrie story, e.g., when the Valkyrie Princess has to face off with her own kind?"

"...the fifth stage/chapter of the "Valkyrie" book, the Inferno Lord's domain."

They may not be HUGE spoilers, but they still reveal bits of the storyline that I haven't reached yet in the game.

Then why would you read a thread about a game that's been out for a while if you don't want to be spoiled by it?

-Joshua

Go check how the thread starts. It's not about the game, per se, but the OST release and the music. As he said...

Exactly.  This is, after all, the Game Music forum, not the Gaming forum, so I didn't expect the discussion to reveal any storyline details.  I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, though.

Sorry, didn't think I'd really gave away any plot details.

Either way, I finally finished my playlist for the Odin Sphere soundtrack, thanks for all who helped!

This is definitely my most favorite game soundtrack right now.

Grim Grimoire had some nice music, but the soundtrack was too short; it had only about 15-17 pieces? Only about 3 of them were actually used to back battles, one of which was used FAR too often, when they could've used a few other pieces to support battles.

Still, Basiscape POUR LE GAGNER.