ReMix:Final Fantasy Mystic Quest "And He Returned Home" 3:45

By Diggi Dis

Arranging the music of one song...

"City of Forests (Foresta)"

Primary Game: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (Square , 1992, SNES), music by Ryuji Sasai, Yasuhiro Kawakami

Posted 2006-01-25, evaluated by the judges panel


Very appropriate mix title, as I just got back a couple days ago from sunny Costa Rica, where for the last week or so I took a vacation from cold temperature, work, my cell phone, and to a large extent Internet access and anything technological. The food was great, the people were cool, the roads were in the most miserable state of disrepair you could imagine, and I zipwired, hiked, relaxed in hot springs, and became painfully aware that my limited Spanish vocabulary, consisting mostly of food items, isn't sufficient to hold meaningful conversations. After all, there's only so many discussions in which taco, guacamole, salsa, and chimichanga are socially acceptable responses. All in all, though, a great way to start 2006.

Now, back to work... Diggi Dis sent in a collab with Thumper on the obscure Gameboy title 'Great Greed' way back in 2004, but now flies solo with some FFMQ action. There was a little dramarama when this was initially rejected by the judges panel, but I think it was mostly a miscommunication, as some of the rejections indicated that the only really substantive complaint was a somewhat out-of-place vocal snippet pimping Diggi Dis' website, www.diggidis.com, which Frank has since gratiously excised. The overall stye here is somewhat similar to that of Joshua Morse, with smooth EP comping set against acoustic piano and a light jazz mentality that's infused with a bit of funk and, in this case, classical piano. The intro hints at perhaps a pleasant, delicate solo piano piece, but at 0'20" wah guitar, crunchy layered drums, ep, and an anchoring, thick bass come in. At 0'44" pay attention to how the ReMixer changes the rhythmic feel without changing the tempo, introducing a synth lead and later bell pads to round out a very intelligently-chosen arsenal of timbres. Some excellent soloing in the third minute, and then the kit drops out, leaving only bongos and later mixed percussion for a restatement of the chorus and classy solo piano ending. It leaves the same pleasant taste of competent control, of knowledgeable arrangement coupled with the ability to pull off some appropriate riffage, in the listener's ears that the recent JM and po! collabs have. It also manages to mix the saccharin sweetness of the chorus melody with some dirtier, funkier verses and not sound the least bit incongruous, which I think is the salient strength and the mixer's largest accomplishment, but the whole dern thing is pretty spic-n-span. I was a little surprised to see the panel had rejected this, and not all of their comments were solely confined to the URL and vocal bits which have since been removed, I think for the better - some questioned the unorthodox drum panning, others thought the comping was at times frantic, and there was a singular observation about intonation. From my perspective, though, this is well above the bar OCR has set for accepting submissions, I'm glad to have it on the site and will listen to it myself often, and hope that other mixes of this calibre might have a *little* easier time making the grade. Ultimately, the process yielded what I view as a positive result: a version of the arrangement that has been, in my estimation, improved... however, we might need to take a step back every now and then and reassess where we're at with our own personal mix evaluation barometers, and I think Frank's mix offered us the opportunity to do that. Either way, what it means to you is that I'm back from Central America, I'm sunburned as all hell but surviving on pure grit, and you've got a great Mystic Quest mix from Diggi Dis to get a' downloadin', pronto. Guacamole!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
bobby1983
on 2012-09-07 20:34:58

nice selection. ah yes, going back and forth out of foresta to collect potions. This game has so much good music, suprised there's not more entrys for this game. I know alot of people have beef with this game, but [imo] it's actually one of the better 16 bit rpgs. My friend did a very kick-ass remix of the battle music but he said it got denied. oh well, thanks for making this track very nice and peaceful for a good mood.

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Nareusm
on 2010-02-07 20:05:39

The original piece always hinted at sadness for me, so when I heard this ReMix with it's much more happier overtones I was caught by surprise, However I really enjoy this piece. It's a great remix of the old song into something much more. I also enjoy how it shifts very quickly from one rhythm to the next while keeping those basic themes from the original.

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Pachi Risu
on 2009-11-17 17:22:03

When the familiar sound finally hit, the rest of this track

became that more enjoyable. The remix can stand on its

own if needed. Kudos to a job well done.

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yosefu
on 2009-05-27 11:48:36

I love how this mix changes very quickly from the start. A very cool mix.

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OA
on 2009-05-22 10:42:13

What a classy arrangement! The source is very subtly used, but those chords are unmistakable, and the direction this went in is perfect, and the changeup between the 2 sources was great. Excellent textures that are intricate and interesting. I love this sound.

After reading the dramaz about this on the judging history, i'm really glad the URL advertisement was taken out, as it would have totally ruined the track for me. Something small like that might seem maybe a bit drastic, but it sjust shows how powerful this track is to get me so involved. A sudden URL shoutout would have broken that completely.

I am completely groovin. Thank you, Diggi Dis~

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evktalo
on 2008-03-27 03:03:30

What I find great about this track is the two piano styles alternating, and indeed playing together as well. Well, actually it's pretty great in every other sense too - and from a good, underrated soundtrack too. Very funky and quite varied. I'm not personally super-fond of this style of music, but I still listen to this every now and then.

--Eino

avatar
Kantir
on 2007-04-21 13:11:54

Wow. okay, I'm gonna say something really cliche here, but I can't think of a better reply, so I'm just gonna say it anyway.. This really brings back my memories. I know alot of people say this about other game melodies, but this song is beautiful. I think I've found my favorite game music artist.

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DrkSummoner
on 2006-04-04 11:12:54

I've played FF Mystic Quest, I thought the game lacked in just about everything. However, I really enjoyed the music and this Remix has been at the top of my playlist since I first listened to it.

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Martin Penwald
on 2006-02-08 09:19:41

When the song started, I thought "Well, another orchestra version", but at 0:20, it suddenly changed completely and became a very nice, soothing piece of work. Reminds me of the stuff Joshua Morse and po! did together.

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badhabit
on 2006-02-07 10:58:05

I'm loving the groove on this song. For some reason, though, I keep thinking of Jamiroquai when I listen to it. Weird huh?

Nice though, on my playlist.

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Less Ashamed Of Self
on 2006-02-02 13:59:27

Every once in a while I'll post twice or more in the review thread of a particular song.

This is one that's worth it.

Still; fantastic.

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Coucou
on 2006-01-31 08:02:18

Sooooooo groovy!

Excellent -I mean: E X C E L L E N T - piano and drums parts.

Sometimes, it sounds like Steve Wonder plays the e-piano.

Why doesn't he play the harmonica too ? :wink:

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Seph
on 2006-01-30 14:06:28

I like this one, has a real good upbeat tune to it.

I just wish it had more of the funk in it and less of the piano/chimey part.

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Lemunde
on 2006-01-27 21:40:39

I've always enjoyed the Mystic Quest soundtrack. It's probably one of the most underated SNES soundtracks of all time.

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link14
on 2006-01-27 16:25:00

Im listing to it right now, its not the best but its pretty good. Its not really my style so, I dont know about it goin to playlist yet.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (Square , 1992, SNES)
Music by Ryuji Sasai,Yasuhiro Kawakami
Songs:
"City of Forests (Foresta)"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Funk,Pop
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Piano,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_Mystic_Quest_And_He_Returned_Home_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,483,362 bytes
MD5:
12783ac1124c8f6d62580d4676847035
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
3:45

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