Final Fantasy U.S.A. ~Mystic Quest~ Sound Collections

Wow. Yes, that's what I said. This CD is very, very good. Don't let the "Mystic Quest" label fool you, the music for this game is really awesome. First I must rave about the first two arranged tracks. They are absolutely fantastic! Fantasy music with electric guitars and heavy drums... wow! The two tracks are just incredible. Track 1 is the arranged version of "Last Castle". (Those of you who played the game, think about it. It's better than what you can imagine.) Track 2 is a remix of the "Battle" songs. Very good as well.

The third arranged track leaves much to be desired though. It starts rather beautifully, with a light shower and crickets, flowing into some beautiful "town music". Then suddenly, there is this bashing drum, and a synthesized voice going "Mystic Que-que-que-quest" scratcha scratcha scratcha... It does this for the whole song, switching from very nice "mellow" music to the idiot "mystic que-que-quest" part. Yech.

The game music tracks are of decent length (much like FF6) and aren't repetitive. All are quite good, with the very beautiful city musics, and the hopping "Rock Theme" and "Rock 'n' Roll". However, the shining glory of this CD is easily "Last Castle" and "Battle 3". These two songs are just unbelievable. They are fast and heavy with synthesized (very well synthesized) guitar and drums. I have noticed that Mystic Quest has an abnormal amount of guitar and drums over the much more common flutes and violins of other fantasy games. My guess is that this was to appeal to the "younger" gamer, whom this game was aiming for (Mystic Quest still has the same amount of trumpets as FF4 and FF6). This is actually a very nice change, as the fantasy image isn't lost at all.

Other than the third arrangement, I have no complaints at all with this CD. Definitely one to buy - my money was well spent here. All in all, I say a great CD (not as good as Chrono Trigger, but pretty darn close).

If you're looking for the type of music in Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, and VII, with all the passion and feeling and variety, you won't be getting it from Mystic Quest. Being that it wasn't composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the music is much different. I am not saying it is bad because it is far from it. Tracks 1, 2 and 28 are all wonderful remixes to say the least, save for the voice on track 28 that keeps repeating the words "Mystic Quest" over and over. I think the track could have done without him. The tracks that are taken straight from the game are done well with good stereo sound. The tunes are as they are in the game, kind of bouncy and light, nothing too complex, yet not simple and boring. It is indeed the type of music you might want to bop your head along with. Track 13, "Shrine of Light", in my opinion can beat out some of those really well known tracks from other FF CDs with it's light calm feeling that lets your mind drift when you listen to it. All in all this is a very good CD, though I don't think it is quite as good as some of the other soundtracks in the Final Fantasy series. The same true feeling in the music is not always present.