So we're all very familiar with Mitsuda's work on the Chrono series, but have you heard the awesome stuff he's composed for other games? I was on a Mitsuda music research kick a little while back and amassed a whole treasure trove. I'm going to try my best to update every weekend with a new track that's verified Mitsuda work -- I'm learning the "verified" part is important because a lot of videogame soundtracks are collaborations and sometimes it's difficult to pin down exactly who composed what without proper documentation.
Everyone's free to chime in with the awesome Mitsuda tracks they've discovered! All I ask is that you share with us why the track resonates with you, where you think it'd fit in a new Chrono game, or other random thoughts about the track.
First up is "Urban Fantasy," from the
10,000 Bullets (PS2) OST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdhpfYIyBkVerification that this one is by Mitsuda, and not collaborator Miki Higashino (also an awesome composer in her own right, see the Suikoden series):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10,000_BulletsIf there were a new Chrono game, and the story was structured in such a way that it followed the evolution of a particular civilization over a long time span, I see this as the "big city" music for the era when that society reaches its modern/industrial stage. In earlier eras the music for that city might have underscored a cheery feeling of togetherness and industriousness for its own sake, when people spontaneously came together in communal projects like erecting houses on the city outskirts... This track, in contrast, speaks to the social isolation felt in the modern city now that the sense of community pride has been replaced with a dog-eat-dog commercialism that benefits a slate of oligarchs.
The social isolation is paradoxical considering the number of people stuffed into each square mile of the modern city. And yet, there's still something noble underlying it all, manifested in the efforts of families scraping by to feed their kids and entertaining dreams that these children can achieve a more meaningful future if only they work hard enough. But does a villain lurk the streets, gathering the despair of those who are smart enough to lose hope?
