ReMix: Illusion of Gaia 'Will's Journey'

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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.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

A very colorful mix. I imagine it playing at an archaeological site as diggers unearth pots, jewels, jeweled pottery, and musical instruments used by the ancients.
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

Textures are pretty good, but the balance is a bit off. The melody is buried in a few sections, and though the groove is kept going, it lacks punch.
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

The flute lead was definitely on the flat side and the thick synth that came in later had timing issues that, purposeful or not, dragged the execution down. Despite that, the textures were generally working. Could use more oomph overall, so this shows its age, but the end result was still interesting stuff.

- Liontamer on February 5, 2008

This remix has just been growing on me over the past few months. I'd toss it on a playlist every now and then just to mix things up and ever time it would come I'd think to myself.. Wow this is a good arrangement, why don't I listen to it more?
So now I do. Great work!

- Flare4War on December 4, 2007

IOG for the win! Above all else, this game is my number one favorite. I've played it since before i could remember, and the deep storyline along with everything else just makes me love this game so much.

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

Ooh, this is cool. I haven't played Illusion of Gaia in several years, so this brings back a lot of memories. Calm and collected... Very good indeed. Quite catchy too, I might add. I've heard it in my head all day. Well done! Makes me want to telekinetically move boxes to solve puzzles, and such. =)

- Keiseth on February 18, 2006

Review #3 on my "review all" list. Well, I really don't hear much of the original at all, besides some basic chords, and that lowers it a bit in my opinion, especially as I really liked the overworld music in the first place. Otherwise, it's an okay mix, but it doesn't really go anywhere. It feels more like background music than a song in its own right, and that doesn't add to the replay value.
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

IoG or Illusion of Time , as it's called in Europe is a true snes classic (i've played through it a few times) ..this remix although very different is a total reminder of the greatness of the game :P
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

I have to say that I love it. I could tell that this was the map scene at the beginning of the game and when you travel off. I loved listening to it and I always do.

- seizuiroleplayer on May 24, 2004

I never actually played this game, but if it can inspire music like this, then maybe I should check it out. Great work - very different. We could use some more of that around here. :)

- JM_Zen on January 20, 2004

Yea, I saved this one.
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

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

- sparkydaman on April 10, 2003

Wonderful guitar patch. I can't really place the original too well, but I do remember hearing it. This is one of those cases where I find a remix better than the original. The drums go great with the guitar, and very awesome use of swelling strings. Sound quality makes this remix very groovable, and recommended to anyone looking for a good remix.

- Straziante on January 21, 2003

It's about DAMN time somebody mixed from this game! IoG is definetly one of my favorite RPG's, and this mix definetly is worthy of the game. First off, I like the bells, they really add to the mix, giving it a different feel. Not too sure about the flute, it's just sounds Wintermute could have done a better job with it. No complaints though. :) It does have the fade in drums, one of my favorite musical elements, and it has a different (but good) feel to it. I always thought if somebody mixed this track they'd do it in a western style. But that would be too easy. :lol: I just hope this excellent mix starts a new trend in the site...one where IoG gets mixed as much as the FF series.

- SSJ HBK on January 11, 2003

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