The warm pathos of “Ieyasu” recalls both James Horner’s brand of Americana on Legends of the Fall, as well as classic World War II scores during an episode for solo trumpet. It’s the score’s most rousing moment, but there are many more pieces that proudly showcase their broadly flowing, instantly attractive melodies. It’s a gloriously emotional outpouring of elation, nothing less than one continuously developing, gorgeous string melody adorned with proudly reflective brass inserts, dramatically rising and falling with the poignancy of an operatic overture. ![]() If you need proof of the Kessen soundtrack’s sheer melodic beauty, one listen to closing track “Denouement – Ending of Victory” should seal the deal. Add to that Kessen’s unabashed sentimentality, a much greater willingness to wring every bit of emotion from its slowly advancing notes, and you have a far more engaging and just plain moving work. Its melodic invention is far superior – Koroku writes organically developing, expansive melodies instead of the shorter, repetitive melody bits other Koei scores use. While those works embrace a similar orchestral style – slow tempi, a general air of portentous solemnity, string-heavy orchestrations – Kessen surpasses its competition in several ways. In fact, comparing Kessen with later Koei scores in the Nobunaga’s Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchises proves instructive. It helps that Koroku adds just the right amount of counterpoint to his pieces – never enough to distract from the passion of their melody lines, yet still sufficient to add substance and class to these compositions. Still, most of the time, Koroku seems to underscore this game in the vein of a Hollywood Golden Age historical epic, writing sumptuous melodies that proudly wear their heart on their sleeve – but without ever feeling overwrought or merely tear-jerking. Sure, you will find a decent amount of action material on this score. There is a romantic glow to Koroku’s velvety melodies, clad in heavy yet elegant orchestrations, that is immediately appealing. This is a soundtrack that feels “old-fashioned” in the best possible way. ![]() Career highlights included his score for franchise reboot The Return of Godzilla and NHK Taiga Drama Hideyoshi.Īll of the above – a talented composer with an impressive resume and a developer happy to spend on high production values – bodes well for the Kessen soundtrack and Koroku’s score does not disappoint. Having started out in the mid-70s as an arranger, Koroku had built a successful composing career, with numerous assignments across movies, TV and anime. As with Pacific Theatre of Operations a decade earlier, Koei treated the game like a prestige project, settling on Reijiro Koroku as the game’s composer. Kessen turned this development around, recorded once again overseas – this time by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (who had recently made waves with their demonstration-quality recording of Outcast the year prior).Ĭonsidering Shibusawa’s vision to create a movie-like experience, drafting a film composer to write the Kessen soundtrack almost seemed like a foregone conclusion. However, in the following years, Koei reverted to using smaller domestic ensembles or even just synthesisers. Throughout the first half of the 1990s, Koei had consistently raised the bar for the production values of orchestral game scores – even recording Romance of the Three Kingdoms IVand Nobunaga’s Ambition: Tenshoukiwith overseas symphony orchestras. Kessen’s producer Kou Shibusawa had created the game with cinematic ambitions in mind – which had direct implications for the Kessen soundtrack. However, several contemporary reviewers pointed out that the game lacked the usual complexity and depth of a Koei strategy game, making for an entertaining but shallow experience. Ultimately, Kessen was successful enough to spawn two sequels. Set once more in feudal Japan, Kessen emphasised spectacular visuals and battlefield action, attracting far more attention internationally than any previous Koei game. That changed with Kessen, one of the PlayStation 2’s launch titles. Several of these titles had made it to the US market but never turned into eye-catching best-sellers. It felt a bit like series such as Nobunaga’s Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms were reserved for those gamers who were willing to spend hours parsing menus and stats, while carefully planning their next move. ![]() Since their inception in the mid-80s, Koei’s many historical strategy games had always been more of an insider proposition.
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