User:MomoQca/Music of the Xenoblade Chronicles series

The Xenoblade Chronicles series is a series of science fiction role-playing video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. The series began with the 2010 release of Xenoblade Chronicles, which was followed by sequels in subsequent years. The music of Xenoblade Chronicles includes the soundtracks to all four main games, as well as the expansion pass of the second game. The original Xenoblade Chronicles was composed by Manami Kiyota, ACE+ (a musical group comprised of Tomori Kudo, Hiroyo "CHiCO" Yamanaka, and Kenji Hiramatsu), and Yoko Shimomura. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and the expansion pass of Torna – The Golden Country was composed by nearly the same people from the previous game. Starting with the second game, Shimomura was no longer involved and was replaced by Yasunori Mitsuda as the main composer. For Xenoblade Chronicles 3, all of the composers from the second game returned, with the addition of newcomer Mariam Abounnasr. Xenoblade Chronicles X was solely composed by Hiroyuki Sawano.

Main series

Episode I

Xenosaga Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Yasunori Mitsuda
Released	March 6, 2002
Length	55:08 (disc 1) 1:03:34 (disc 2)
Label	DigiCube

Xenosaga Episode I
Soundtrack album by Yasunori Mitsuda
Released	May 19, 2004
Length	1:02:09 (disc 1) 1:13:27 (disc 2)
Label	Sleigh Bells

The first episode in the series was Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, released in 2002. Designed as a spiritual successor to Xenogears, the game was worked on by much of the same staff, including the composer Yasunori Mitsuda. For the game, Mitsuda composed a score that is mostly orchestral in nature, using the London Philharmonic Orchestra for several tracks. Other pieces include vocal tracks by the Metro Voices choir, piano solos by Yasuharu Nakanishi, and performances by the Gen Ittetsu Strings. The game's theme songs, "Pain" and "Kokoro", were sung by Celtic singer Joanne Hogg of the band Iona, with whom Mitsuda had previously worked for the soundtrack to Xenogears. The vocal songs throughout the soundtrack range from choral to opera to a capella, while the tone of the soundtrack overall has been described as being "serious, sometimes dark, heavy and even haunting at times". At one point in the development process, Mitsuda planned to use a separate person to orchestrate his compositions after an early piece proved unworkable and had to be scrapped, causing him to lose confidence in his own ability. After working for several months, however, he regained his confidence and decided to work as his own orchestrator, a decision which he feels improved him as a composer.

The first release of the soundtrack as an album was the Xenosaga Original Soundtrack, released by DigiCube on March 6, 2002. The two-disc album includes every piece from the game's soundtrack, with a total length of 1:58:42 across its 45 tracks. Two years later, on May 19, 2004, Mitsuda released another version of the soundtrack through his Sleigh Bells label titled Xenosaga Episode I. This version features two new tracks—"World to be Born" and "Pain ~piano version~"—as well as re-recordings of some of the tracks. The playlist order was also changed between the two versions, with Episode I grouping the tracks by style, rather than in rough chronological order within the game like the original album. Mitsuda explained in the liner notes for the album that he felt that separating the two styles presented a different impression of the music that allowed the listener to greater appreciate the atmosphere of the pieces. In addition to the two albums, a single, "Kokoro", was released for the game's theme songs. Published by DigiCube, the disc includes "Pain" and "Kokoro" from the original soundtrack as well as a piano rendition of Kokoro and instrumental versions of both songs. The album has a total length of 23:55, and was released on February 6, 2002.

The Original Soundtrack album reached #38 on the Japan Oricon charts and was well received by reviewers. IGN termed it one of Mitsuda's best soundtracks to date, calling it "near genius with nearly every passing track". They especially praised the wide range of emotions present in the soundtrack. GameSpy agreed in their review of the game, saying that "the music is rich, full, varied, and underscores the cinemas and battle sequences excellently". RPGFan, in their review of the Xenosaga Original Soundtrack album, said that the album works well as a stand-alone album apart from the game, and that it has few, if any, bland or mediocre tracks. They repeated their praise for the soundtrack in their review of Xenosaga Episode I, though they felt that the two new tracks were not very impressive additions. "Kokoro" reached #61 and received praise as well, for its emotional intensity and lyrics.

Original soundtrack track list

Disc 1

No.	Title	Japanese title	Length
1.	"Prologue"	Prologue	4:32
2.	"Opening"	Opening	4:02
3.	"Battle"	Battle	2:59
4.	"Battle's End"	戦闘終了	0:42
5.	"Starting Test"	起動試験	2:19
6.	"Rising Emotions"	想いで	3:14
7.	"Gnosis"	Gnosis	4:22
8.	"Awakening"	覚醒	2:23
9.	"Shion's Crisis"	シオンの危機	1:54
10.	"Battling KOS-MOS"	戦闘するKOS-MOS	3:15
11.	"Sorrow"	哀しみ	3:43
12.	"Life or Death"	Life or Death	3:15
13.	"Game Over"	Game Over	0:42
14.	"Margulis"	Margulis	4:24
15.	"Breaking Space Ship Pursuit"	追われる宇宙艇	3:33
16.	"Relief"	Relief	2:43
17.	"Daily"	日常	1:55
18.	"U.M.N.MODE"	U.M.N. MODE	2:39
19.	"Durandal"	Durandal	2:32
20.	"Invasion Inside an Enemy Ship"	敵艇内への侵攻	0:39
21.	"U-TIC System"	U-TIC機関	2:45
22.	"Closed Minded Girl"	心を閉ざした少女	2:13
23.	"Kookai Foundation"	Kookai Foundation	1:55
24.	"Shion ~Past Memory~"	Shion 〜過去の記憶〜	1:11

Disc 2

No.	Title	Japanese title	Length
1.	"Ormus"	Ormus	2:27
2.	"Nephilim"	Nephilim	2:31
3.	"Warmth"	温もり	1:42
4.	"Insecurity"	不安	4:08
5.	"The Resurrection"	The Resurrection	1:54
6.	"Beach of Nothingness"	虚無の浜辺	2:28
7.	"Green Sleeves"	Green Sleeves	2:25
8.	"Zarathustra"	Zarathustra	3:06
9.	"KOS-MOS"	KOS-MOS	2:27
10.	"Panic"	Panic	2:21
11.	"Song of Nephilim"	Song of Nephilim	1:04
12.	"The Miracle"	The Miracle	1:52
13.	"Inner Space"	Inner Space	1:47
14.	"Albedo"	Albedo	3:45
15.	"Omega"	Ω	4:07
16.	"Proto Merkabah"	Proto Merkabah	5:25
17.	"Last Battle"	Last Battle	5:05
18.	"Pain"	Pain	5:36
19.	"Escape"	Escape	2:30
20.	"Kokoro (Heart)"	Kokoro	5:35
21.	"Shion ~Emotion~"	Shion 〜想い〜	1:19

Episode I track list

Disc 1

No.	Title	Japanese title	Length
1.	"Shion ~Memories of the Past~"	Shion ～過去の記憶～	1:15
2.	"Prologue"	Prologue	4:35
3.	"Gnosis"	Gnosis	4:25
4.	"U-TIC Facility"	U-TIC機関	2:49
5.	"The Girl Who Closed Her Heart"	心を閉ざした少女	2:15
6.	"Ormus"	Ormus	2:29
7.	"Nephilim"	Nephilim	2:33
8.	"Warmth <New Recording>"	温もり (new recording)	2:01
9.	"The Resurrection"	The Resurrection	1:53
10.	"Beach of the Void <New Recording>"	虚無の浜辺 (new recording)	2:35
11.	"Green Sleeves <New Recording>"	Green Sleeves (new recording)	2:27
12.	"KOS-MOS"	KOS-MOS	2:28
13.	"The Miracle"	The Miracle	1:53
14.	"Zarathustra"	Zarathustra	3:05
15.	"Ω"	Ω	4:08
16.	"Escape"	Escape	2:33
17.	"Pain"	Pain	5:39
18.	"Kokoro"	Kokoro	5:37
19.	"Shion ~Emotion~"	Shion ～想い～	1:24
20.	"World to be Born"	World to be Born	3:19
21.	"Pain -piano version- <New Recording>"	Pain -Piano Version- (new recording)	2:46

Disc 2

No.	Title	Japanese title	Length
1.	"Opening"	Opening	4:02
2.	"Battle"	Battle	2:59
3.	"Battle's End"	戦闘終了	0:42
4.	"Starting Examination"	起動試験	2:22
5.	"Thoughts"	想いで	3:19
6.	"Awakening"	覚醒	2:21
7.	"Shion's Crisis"	シオンの危機	1:54
8.	"Fighting KOS-MOS"	戦闘するKOS-MOS	3:19
9.	"Sadness"	哀しみ	3:54
10.	"Life or Death"	Life or Death	3:16
11.	"Game Over"	Game Over	0:42
12.	"Margulis"	Margulis	4:29
13.	"Followed Space Shuttle"	追われる宇宙艇	3:43
14.	"Relief"	Relief	2:47
15.	"Everyday"	日常	1:54
16.	"U.M.N. MODE"	U.M.N.Mode	2:39
17.	"Durandal"	Durandal	2:33
18.	"Invasion Inside an Enemy Ship"	敵艦内への侵攻	0:41
19.	"Kookai Foundation"	Kookai Foundation	1:58
20.	"Anxiety"	不安	4:08
21.	"Panic"	Panic	2:27
22.	"Song of Nephilim"	Song of Nephilim	1:06
23.	"Inner Space"	Inner Space	1:47
24.	"Albedo"	Albedo	3:50
25.	"Proto Merkabah"	Proto Merkabah	5:30
26.	"Last Battle"	Last Battle	5:04