One of Them Is Hope

February 28, 2021

Hiroki Kikuta may have had more than enough tracks for this part of the game, because after the brief experience that’s Morning Is Here, we go right to One of Them Is Hope outside the Mana Fortress.  The track has a fitting title as any one of them could be the “hope” that saves the world. There’s also an unnerving quality in the sound that something isn’t right.  The overdriven keyboard instrument that comes in late with the chimes is strikingly ominous and unlike anything else in the game.  The remake extends the track to almost seven minutes, with several changes in intensity and rhythm, but it’s undistinguished and doesn’t have the effect of the original. The lead is played by a synth vox that doesn’t fit.