ReMix: Illusion of Gaia 'Will's Journey'
- Game: Illusion of Gaia (Enix, 1994, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Wintermute
- Composer(s): Yasuhiro Kawasaki
- Song(s):
- Posted: 2003-01-03, evaluated by djpretzel
Took awhile, but Wintermute gives us our first Illusion of Gaia ReMix. I admittedly never played this SNES RPG from Enix beyond the very early stages, for one reason or another, but it was fairly big at the time. Nintendo sorta "borrowed" it from Enix as I remember and hyped it themselves to a great degree. From the outset, you know this mix is going to be a bit different - clean electric guitar to the left and gamelan off center start things off, with a groovy stereo breakbeat rhythm fading in to get things going. The flute that comes in is a bit marginal and unprocessed, but well-articulated and joined soon after by a very deep, stacked lead synth that's quite beefy in da mix. Then we get some meaty, distorted shred guitar work, then some cool string arpeggios over stripped-down percussion. Things change quite often in this arrangement, but the overall flow is maintained. There's skillful blending of both more traditional and "exotic" acoustic instruments with some very respectable synth textures and electric guitar to boot - Wintermute's got a lot on the table, soundwise, and this variety helps, esp. when everything's integrated well. There could have been an extended, kickass solo somewhere in here to fill it out a bit more and reinforce the last iteration of the chorus, but other than that, I'm diggin' it. The use of gamelan (or tibetan bells-ish) chromatic percussion alone makes it a standout, along with a great fretless bass and a dozen other goodstuffs to please your ears. Definite strongsauce from Wintermute, and a great introduction to the Gaia soundtrack. Recommended.
The bells are rich, sounding like they once adorned a dancer's clothes for animation AND acoustics. I think the flute adds a sweetness that suggests Will's cool-headed optimism on his travels. Blazing guitar shredding and toned-down percussion during the following ear break are also pluses in variety (2:39 kinda sounds like a steady horse gallop; nifty).
And then there's my favorite element of Will's Journey: the synth that debuts at 1:27. That is a bold, rad, exotic synth. It bends, twists, and speaks in all different tongues. And the way it ends the mix... *sweet finger kiss gesture* Wild.
- Polo on April 5, 2009
I really like the source though, so nice work choosing it. :-D
- OA on January 8, 2009
sparkydaman;11517 wrote: shee jigga this thing is so fine i got it on my mind yos! i bent my beastwhistle listening to this fine piece of magical audio bliss. man this thing will tear off your head and reverse it, leaving ou with a hole in your head! c'mon foos! let's get it on wit my beastwhistle yo... becasue it has fur surrounding it. illusion of gaia is sw33t g@me yo and anybody who no like it sux0rs mwahahaha
I think this review says it all. :?
But anyways. Nice mix, I've had this on my playlist for a while. I really had to go back to the source to remember what I should be listening for. After that I didn't have much of a problem identifying the source, but I feel like it's placed a little too much into the background. It seems like it's almost an afterthought for most of the mix. Aside from that I like it.
- DragonAvenger on September 17, 2008
- Liontamer on February 5, 2008
So now I do. Great work!
- Flare4War on December 4, 2007
This mix here brings back a lot of memories, especially when you see Will and the gang on the world map, even if its just for a short time. I've also began thinking of my own version of South Cape with Will and Lance to go along with the guitar solo.
Nothing beats out a timeless classic :) We rarely get fresh new classics nowadays...
- GreyMage on November 16, 2007
- Keiseth on February 18, 2006
I'm really torn on this one. I think I'd give it a 3/5 for good quality, but personally, I rate it 2/5 because it doesn't interest me that much and I wanted more of the original in there.
- Zipp on November 27, 2005
Will is so cool for teaching kids how to jump down from rooftops 8) (i used to do the same)
- RimFrost the Tourianist on July 20, 2004
- seizuiroleplayer on May 24, 2004
- JM_Zen on January 20, 2004
The whole thing is just pleasant through and through. For some reason, I'm having a hard time remembering the game, and where the song came from in it, so I can't give you a review (YET!) about how well I think it captures the games' spirit, but I've got it on emulator, so I'll go play a little later today and post again.
- Atomic Dog on April 10, 2003
- sparkydaman on April 10, 2003
- Straziante on January 21, 2003
- SSJ HBK on January 11, 2003
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