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"I am Setsuna" is a game that tries so hard to be the next Chrono Trigger, which is why I am surprised why the soundtrack is piano only. I am going to guess that the soundtrack being all piano was more a budget decision than an artistic choice. The art direction and lore contain a lot of Japanese influence, so having a western pianoforte instrument at times sounded a bit out of place. Nevertheless the soundtrack itself is very beautiful and the piano evokes so much sorrow and a quiet hope that the world in I am Setsuna will find peace.

The battle music, more than the other tracks, felt like it was itself a piano cover of the mythical true full instrumental soundtrack that we never got to hear. To the composer's credit, the piano handled the rhythm, the melody, and all the flourishes you expect would come from a flute, or a harp, or whatever, and I could almost hear it from just the piano. Pretty impressive. So this is my attempt to restore the full version of the song. To make it hardcore traditional Japanese, I used an ensemble of Taiko drums and the Shamisen. And boy, was this so much fun.

While I tried to translate everything from the original track, the one thing I totally redid was the rhythm. Using about 5-6 Taiko drums of varying sizes, I came up with a ton of different rhythmic loops. I don't like how lots of JRPG battle music have the same beat that just keeps on repeating. You start to tune it out. I wanted to constantly change it up, so the listener is always on his/her toes enjoying the unpredictable nature of the percussion, reflecting the tension in a battle.

I originally chose to add the Shamisen just so the piece would have that traditional Japanese flavor, but while playing around with the sample library I liked the sound so much I upgraded it to be the star attraction of the song. I listened to a ton of shamisen performances, including the Yoshida Brothers, for reference. There's so much nuance to the way a pro player slaps and plucks and slides the strings that I can only do a pale imitation on my cheap library. I like how you can use the shamisen as either percussion or melodic. Almost makes me want to go learn to play the real thing.

For those that know about Beat Saber, once the official level editor comes out, I am totally going to create a custom level for this track!

Arrangement and fan art by Jeremiah Sun

Original Track composed by Tomoki Miyoshi
You can buy this game for PS4, Steam, or Nintendo Switch

Resurrected Memories

No Turning Back Orchestrated (Battle Theme) - from I am Setsuna

I am a developer as well as a self-taught composer. My style is creating narratives in music through the use of strong melodies and unique instrumentation.

Primary DAW used: Presonus Studio One

No Turning Back Orchestrated (Battle Theme) - from I am Setsuna

The Second Narrator