ReMix: Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals 'Time Preserved ~ April Showers'
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- Game: Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (Natsume, 1995, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): mp
- Composer(s): Yasunori Shiono
- Song(s): 'Setting Off on a Journey'
- Posted: 2001-05-30, evaluated by djpretzel
More Lufia II! I particularly liked these games specifically BECAUSE they "felt" different than a squaresoft game. As good as square are, I feel their stranglehold on the RPG market can sometimes be a little boring, as many of their games (though fantastic) have subtle but percievable similarities. Don't crucify me for that statement, mmkay? I'm just a Phantasy Star boy at heart, still trying to get over PSO2 being ported to a NINTENDO console of all things . . . but I digress: Pollard's second Lufia II ReMix comes fairly recently after his Sinistrals mix, which came recently after my MysteryInRed mix. So it's been a good year for Lufia II fans thus far. This is a beautiful melodic piece, centering around a moving acoustic guitar pattern and a flute, though a delicate piano gets the melody a couple times. Intro and outro with nice respective ambient fx flairs, and nice to hear brush sets being used on drum tracks instead of snare hits; lends a little jazz feel to things and more importantly doesn't cover up the very intricate orchestration and instrumentation MP obviously puts some time into. Since I feel I've been too overwhelmingly positive lately, I will say that I would have loved to hear the guitar break out of its backing mold and take on a solo itself. But man, it's a damn fine ReMix :)
Discussion: Latest 12 comments/reviews; view the Given the thunderstorm at the start, I'm not so sure if that was
the "april showers" direction taken to mind.
But with that aside, the rest of the instrumentation does help escalate that feel and present it in a fitting atmosphere. The flute countermelody at 0:52 does give in a good lease of life towards the arrangement setting, as does in parts the synth bass that shows up at 1:40 giving more ominousness to the piece, which is similarly carried on by the rest of the writing. It may not be the smoothest arrangement idea, but for 2001 it's a fine approach.
I do however think that there could've been more stereo separation within the track. The levels themselves are good though, maybe aside from the flute countermelody being slightly too loud IMO, and the sound quality managed to preserve itself well over time.
It's a good kick for Lufia fans even now; like these elder mixes don't expect anything too spectacular, but as it is for its time I found it to be not bad at all :)
- Rexy on December 12, 2011
But with that aside, the rest of the instrumentation does help escalate that feel and present it in a fitting atmosphere. The flute countermelody at 0:52 does give in a good lease of life towards the arrangement setting, as does in parts the synth bass that shows up at 1:40 giving more ominousness to the piece, which is similarly carried on by the rest of the writing. It may not be the smoothest arrangement idea, but for 2001 it's a fine approach.
I do however think that there could've been more stereo separation within the track. The levels themselves are good though, maybe aside from the flute countermelody being slightly too loud IMO, and the sound quality managed to preserve itself well over time.
It's a good kick for Lufia fans even now; like these elder mixes don't expect anything too spectacular, but as it is for its time I found it to be not bad at all :)
- Rexy on December 12, 2011
Lufia 2! I remember hearing this song way back in 2002, although I
didn't remember it all that well until I listened to it again just
now.
Hearing it again, I remember what put me off originally with this song. It didn't deviate terribly much from the original, and is too short. I do love the approach with the calm soothing style along with an excellent use of background instrumentation/effects, but there's quite a bit more that could've been done with this and it just seems like there's so much potential. The ending also rubs me the wrong way as well, and the samples don't hold so well.
- Bahamut on September 30, 2009
Hearing it again, I remember what put me off originally with this song. It didn't deviate terribly much from the original, and is too short. I do love the approach with the calm soothing style along with an excellent use of background instrumentation/effects, but there's quite a bit more that could've been done with this and it just seems like there's so much potential. The ending also rubs me the wrong way as well, and the samples don't hold so well.
- Bahamut on September 30, 2009
This is indeed another one of those well-preserved (no pun
intended) surprises from days of yore. Soft and pleasant. The rain
works surprisingly well even in the middle of the track. A lot of
tracks use effects like that for intro or outro, and often with
poor results. This track uses it successfully. Overall, a
successful track.
- Rozovian on December 4, 2008
- Rozovian on December 4, 2008
This mix holds up well. Very enjoyable and relaxing. Everything is
put together nicely, although overall it doesn't deviate from the
original too much. I don't see that as a bad thing with this mix,
however it would have been nice to have a small original section
pieced in there somewhere.
Mixed feelings about the darker section that comes in at 1:28. Feels out of place towards the rest of the mix. Not horribly out of place, just not a contrast I really expected or wanted to hear overall.
Overall, nice work.
- DragonAvenger on October 22, 2008
Mixed feelings about the darker section that comes in at 1:28. Feels out of place towards the rest of the mix. Not horribly out of place, just not a contrast I really expected or wanted to hear overall.
Overall, nice work.
- DragonAvenger on October 22, 2008
Review 11/1522
Acoustic guitar, piano, soft drums and a classical setup come together to form an extraordinary mix that is smooth and playable over and over again. With the added dash of a small tech beat, this is almost at the top of my massive collection.
Score 10/10 "excellent"
- FlamingTP on April 29, 2008
Acoustic guitar, piano, soft drums and a classical setup come together to form an extraordinary mix that is smooth and playable over and over again. With the added dash of a small tech beat, this is almost at the top of my massive collection.
Score 10/10 "excellent"
- FlamingTP on April 29, 2008
Gotta agree with OA. For a mix from 2001 this still holds up well
today sound quality wise. It def captures the feel of the original.
The synth bass at 1:28 was a welcome addition to the soundscape,
gave a nice sense of groove. Per usual mp's down tempo mixes are a
nice relaxing blend of various elements that stay true to the feel
of the originals.
- avaris on December 6, 2007
- avaris on December 6, 2007
A little too generic for my tastes, as it doesn't seem to deviate
much from the original in any real way, aside from the rain
effects. It is a definite sound upgrade from the SNES chip, but
that's basically all it is.
Production is pretty good but i think a little more panning and separation would make the whole thing shimmer a bit more.
- OA on June 19, 2007
Production is pretty good but i think a little more panning and separation would make the whole thing shimmer a bit more.
- OA on June 19, 2007
I remember when mp was working on this one. Wow, was that long ago.
Anyway, this is a beautiful, smooth, relaxing take on the original.
Must download.
- DarkCecil13 on December 25, 2006
- DarkCecil13 on December 25, 2006
A fairly straightforward piece, but pretty chill and mellow. I'm
also a sucker for rain SFX. Cool yo.
- Liontamer on June 10, 2005
- Liontamer on June 10, 2005
This song is nice and mellow, with some good rainfall effects, a
soothing piano, acoustic guitar, and an almost-not-there percussion
that's more reminiscent of mp's darker tracks. Not fast or furious,
but relaxing, and I love the chord he ends it on...
- mDuo13 on August 18, 2002
- mDuo13 on August 18, 2002
I :D luv :D this mix too. It's a chill-out for all seasons. Except
maybe Winter.
The initial rain is nice and gentle. It reminded me of McVaffe/Quasikaotich's Castlevania "Tempest" remix in form, yet it's completely opposite in function. The drums are mellow and stay out of your way as the flute and guitar give you a rubdown....
Maybe I'm getting too physical with my speakers. But I'm relaxed, dammit, to hell with what other people think...
- bartkusa on June 9, 2002
The initial rain is nice and gentle. It reminded me of McVaffe/Quasikaotich's Castlevania "Tempest" remix in form, yet it's completely opposite in function. The drums are mellow and stay out of your way as the flute and guitar give you a rubdown....
Maybe I'm getting too physical with my speakers. But I'm relaxed, dammit, to hell with what other people think...
- bartkusa on June 9, 2002
Lufia 2 'Time Preserved ~ April Showers'
Everything about this mix is pretty damn near perfect, is I say so myself. The drums are just understated enough, the samples are high quality, the arrangement is done very well (especially the transition between the two songs), and the ambient rain effects add a lot of depth to the song. Kudos to Matt Pollard. Highly recommended.
- orkybash on June 5, 2002
Everything about this mix is pretty damn near perfect, is I say so myself. The drums are just understated enough, the samples are high quality, the arrangement is done very well (especially the transition between the two songs), and the ambient rain effects add a lot of depth to the song. Kudos to Matt Pollard. Highly recommended.
- orkybash on June 5, 2002
