Game info: HG101
Listening: CD audio (3 tracks) + emulated audio, YouTube (CD audio, chiptunes)
Credits
Music Producer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Music Director: Noriyuki Nakagami
Music: Takashi Kokubo, Shinobu Narita, 荒殿卓, Jun Koshimizu, Kayo Matsumoto, Takashi Yamaguchi
Manipulators: Hajime Ohara, Takashi Morio
Sound Program: Toshiaki Takimoto, Keita Hoshi, Takayuki Iwabuchi, Katsunori Takahashi
Info
Just finished streaming this RPG last week, because something I enjoy doing from time to time is wasting my friends’ limited lifespans on this Earth by playing turn-based RPGs online. As a bit. This game’s claim to fame is that it’s considered to the be the first CD-ROM RPG, which I’m not 100% positive is a completely confirmed fact and not just a factoid that everyone who talks about the game copies from everyone else, but 1989 is extremely early for a CD-ROM game so I don’t have any specific reason to doubt it.
The game’s a comical parody of olden times Japan, taking real place names but applying them to emphatically unreal locations blended with Japanese folklore; the conceit is that the game takes place in “Jipang,” which is how westerners in the 1800s described Japan in extremely inaccurate books and not how Japan actually was. The music follows suit, evoking traditional Japanese music tropes in the melodies and instrumentations with a good amount of quirk mixed in there to match the game’s tone. It’s not too bad! I wasn’t expecting all that much, and honestly most of the tracks are short and not super memorable, but there’s occasionally some interesting instrument programming and random weird things that show up.
The game features three CD audio tracks by Ryuichi Sakamoto, used in the opening & title screen, an intermission cutscene halfway through the game, and the ending. These are the only tracks from the game ever officially released, appearing on a 1990 sampler CD with selections from other PC-Engine CD-ROM games (Sakamoto’s 1989 album Beauty also includes a slightly rearranged version of the opening theme under the title “A PILE OF TIME”). If you’re familiar with Sakamoto’s music then you probably know what to expect here: extremely synthy tunes with Japanese instruments. They’re fun, though not among my favorites of Sakamoto’s game contributions.
The rest of the game’s soundtrack are standard chiptunes; while we don’t have specific credits for these, I think it’s probable that Sakamoto wasn’t involved with these and they were done by the other staff credited with “music.” The only person I’ve heard of of the six is Takashi Kokubo, who I suspect was in charge and gathered the others; he’s actually a pretty big name in Japanese new age and ambient music, to the extent that you can be a big name in Japanese new age and ambient music. The other folks are:
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Shinobu Narita: this is the only other person who seemingly had an extensive career in music; he’s been in some bands and has done a bunch of arrangement and music production.
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荒殿卓: I couldn’t find any other music-related hits for this name besides this game, neither Japanese nor likely English readings, so I have literally no idea who this person is
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Jun Koshimizu: shows up in an “assistant” role on a few other Kokubo albums
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Kayo Matsumoto: she’s a keyboardist who’s been in some bands and has released at least one album of her own; she also seems to be known as Kayo Kokubo so maybe they’re married
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Takashi Yamaguchi: worked as an engineer and synthesizer manipulator at Kokubo’s STUDIO ION for a brief period of time
Recommended tracks:
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“Intermission” (Sakamoto) plays during a boat ride at the halfway point of the game and is weirdly unsettling for the moment
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“Walking Through Jipang 1 (Second Half)” is a calmer, slightly extended version of the overworld theme that starts playing after the intermission
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“Underground Shrine” uses some weird scales to sound funny
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“Tragic Past” moves the chords around the melody in a way I don’t entirely expect
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“Masakado’s Altar” is ominously ambient with some nice sound effects
(track titles are a mix of translations by me of official track titles and unofficial titles taken from a Japanese VGM contest wiki)
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