"Elvandia Story," developed by the company "Spike," is a PlayStation 2 RPG that had no hope of reaching the US. This is a shame, considering the prized composers who worked on this RPG. Noriyuki Iwadare wrote and arranged the extensive (read: long) opening and ending orchestral themes. The rest was done by a famous Konami composer, Norihiko Hibino, who has worked on Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders.

Powerful, somewhat military-march-like orchestra pieces dominate this score. The softest, most airy of melodies come from Iwadare's contribution. As for Hibino, the military-esque music is mixed with a bit of jazz, some "tension theme" music we know and love from MGS, and some surprisingly typical RPG music (that, frankly, I didn't expect Hibino to write). When I say "typical," you know what I mean. Traditional, tonal melodies backed by simple synth emulations of chamber music instruments.

Though I really enjoyed the battle themes, I also loved some of the ambient stuff that Hibino did on this score, particularly in the first few tracks of the album. Everything from track 1 to 7 was solid gold, but then the "filler tracks" dominated for awhile, until (surprise!) near the end.

Don't pick this up simply because it was promoted with Iwadare's name. Only a small portion of this soundtrack is Iwadare. Instead, if you'd like to hear the MGS composer take on a traditional fantasy RPG, you'll definitely be interested. I was happy to hear something slightly different from the norm, though the album is only slightly above average in terms of composition. The sound quality, however, is excellent, which is another reason to consider adding it to the ol' VGM collection.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann