Taikou Risshiden V Soundtrack

Taikou Risshiden V Soundtrack, unknown composer, 2004

There is no doubt that Koei’s most prominent historical simulation franchises are Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga’s Ambition, both of them stretching across dozens of games and ports. Yet Koei explored this material elsewhere as well, and that is where the Taikou Risshiden series enters the picture. The first title in the franchise, almost unknown outside Japan, appeared in 1992 for the PC-98, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis. The series continued until Taikou Risshiden V, released in 2004, which brought it to a close. What set these games apart from Koei’s other historical simulations was their sandbox structure, which gave players far greater freedom in choosing their path to success. Available professions included not only samurai, but also pirates, merchants, and blacksmiths, while players were free to roam the game world at will.

Musically, the Taikou Risshiden franchise had always shown promise, but never quite managed to make a serious impression, despite the fact that the first entry had been scored by the renowned anime composer Michiru Oshima early in her career. At last, the Taikou Risshiden V soundtrack unlocked the potential latent in these games, yielding one of the best orchestral scores on the PlayStation 2, one that charms the listener with a remarkable wealth of melody and colour. Unfortunately, there appears to be no information in the English-speaking corners of the internet about who actually composed it, and while the game’s Wikipedia page mentions a soundtrack album, no such release is confirmed by other sources such as VGMdb.

That is a frustrating state of affairs, but it should not prevent anyone from appreciating what is on offer here. While the Taikou Risshiden V soundtrack lacks the longer spans and sustained development found in the best works from Koei’s more famous franchises, it still makes for a splendid listening experience. The game’s cover art gives a useful indication of where this score differs from other Koei historical soundtracks. Rather than presenting battle-ready warriors or stern figures staring into the distance, Taikou Risshiden V’s cover is positively genial and light-hearted.

The soundtrack mirrors that spirit beautifully. The music does not dispense with martial elements altogether, but they feel far more welcoming than the usual battle cries. “Track 02” offers a good indication of the score’s approach to the often stale and inflexible form of the march. The cue is suitably bombastic, yet remains consistently approachable thanks to its jolly timpani rhythms and noble, warm melodies for horns and cello. Other marches likewise benefit from the composer’s superior orchestrational gifts. For every grand brass proclamation, there is a seamless retreat into woodwind interludes that are by turns cheerful and moving. “Track 12” demonstrates just how much the score gains from its luxurious instrumental writing, as woodwinds dart around carefully layered brass fanfares and soaring strings. “Track 19”, by contrast, has no difficulty transforming the music’s good-natured bluster into something more sincerely grand, bringing the album to a fittingly spectacular close.

Given the subtlety and richness of feeling already evident in these pieces, it comes as no surprise that the Taikou Risshiden V soundtrack proves equally adept in other emotional registers. The welcoming qualities of its march material translate easily into several more domestic cues, presumably intended to underscore village life. “Track 04”, for example, with its lyrical clarinet melody over layers of pizzicato strings, captures the placid, idyllic aspect of wandering through a rural settlement. “Track 06” marks the other end of the spectrum. It is no less charming, but far busier, with virtuosic woodwind writing that eventually yields to a swooning string passage. The fact that the cue combines first-rate development with a multitude of instrumental shades while always retaining a light touch is genuinely astonishing. “Track 13” adds further variety through cheekier woodwind leads before once more leading into a nostalgic string melody.

Other pieces take the composer’s fondness for heart-warming melody and heighten its romantic impulse, producing the kind of cinematic sweep one would hope for in a historical epic. The plaintive cello solo of “Track 05” unfolds carefully over a simple orchestral backdrop before blooming into something more expansive and elaborate. Once again, the shaping of the material is exemplary, from the interplay of strings and woodwinds that prepares the cue’s passionate outburst to the bassoon counterpoint grounding a particularly lofty violin melody later on. “Track 12” is similarly rich and complex melodically, while “Track 14” serves as a fine example of the score’s habit of developing its material with apparent ease, moving from folksy woodwind soli and playful percussion into an opulent string melody crowned by bells.

The score’s carefully integrated local influences naturally deepen its already impressive palette of colours. Arguably, the Taikou Risshiden V soundtrack is rooted chiefly in Western orchestral writing. Yet the composer weaves in enough traits associated with Japanese and Chinese music, pentatonic scales and certain instrumental colours, to give these symphonically styled pieces the requisite historical and geographical flavour. Cues that rely more overtly on Far Eastern elements are relatively rare. The clearest example is “Track 08”, which features sparer textures and more monolithic melodic statements. Through that approach, the music cleverly turns its solemnly repetitive gestures into something more abstract and exalted once the inevitable melodic release arrives.

None of this is to suggest that the soundtrack lacks overt drama. It certainly has its share of heavier, sometimes sombre material. Curiously, though, these cues often fall below the standards set elsewhere on the album, with weaker melodies and simpler orchestrations that can feel one-dimensional beside the score’s more mellifluous highlights. “Track 16” and “Track 17” are the notable exceptions, successfully transferring the soundtrack’s richness of invention into an action setting, accelerating the flow of ideas while still expanding its colouristic range. On “Track 16” it is a choir that provides the extra lift, while “Track 17” edges into Gothic territory through mighty brass declamations. The Taikou Risshiden V soundtrack requires a little curating, but what remains is more than 50 minutes of excellent orchestral music that deserves to be far better known.