Game info: Wikipedia
Listening/music info: soundtrack album
Info
A second volume of music from the NieR mobile game that apparently exists just came out, collecting the music of the second story arc, “The Sun and the Moon.” I don’t particularly like the music that Keiichi Okabe and his production company MONACA have written for YOKO TARO’s games all that much; I do appreciate the incorporation of synthy elements into the sound design of some tracks here and there, but I don’t really care about anything else they do beyond that. The initial soundtrack release for the game had what is by far my favorite piece of music ever written by Keiichi Okabe, though: “Ikō (Authority),” a really really cool minimalist composition. I listened to the rest of the album because of it, and it ended up being the only track I really loved, but there were a couple of ambient synthy pieces by co-composer Shotaro Seo that I thought were kinda nice.
And, well, I feel the same way about the second volume as I did about the first haha. It’s mostly ethereal, lowkey music with some actiony pieces, mainly using piano, strings, vox, and some synths. It’s been a little while since I listened to the first volume so I don’t remember for sure, but I think this album is a touch more varied in terms of additional instrumentation (I’m thinking about chromatic percussion and mandolin in some tracks) and style (“Mama no Otsukai” is cute and chiptuney???). Okabe’s tracks do include some minimalist elements like “Ikō,” but there’s no such full-throated embrace as in the first game. Seo’s tracks again are more synth-focused and kinda nice to listen to.
Recommended tracks:
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“Madoromi (Forty Winks)” (Seo) honestly sounds to me like a slow and somber remix of Nintendo eShop music at 0:54 lmao
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“Madan (Magic Bullets)” (Okabe) was the most engaging Okabe track to me, combining some rhythmic piano and bass layers with vocal harmonies
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“Kagerō (Heat Shimmer)” (Seo) has some nice mandolin chords
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