Ending Theme

Track 6-15: Ending Theme

So, our analysis series has finally reached this point: the ending theme that plays while the emotion-filled credits roll.

Like in OT1, the credit roll sequence is a kind of video retrospective of the various boss battles, while the soundtrack is a field music medley. I was happy to reuse this idea because, as I wrote in the analysis for that the first game’s ending theme, I think ending with music from all of the areas the travelers roamed is very OCTOPATH TRAVELER-ish. As many players probably noticed, the order of the pieces in the medley corresponds to the order of the characters associated with the letters in the word “OCTOPATH,” just like in OT1.

Simply connecting the existing tracks into a medley would be boring, so I intentionally tried to take each one in a new direction. This lets players enjoy hearing the music in arrangements as far from the originals as possible. For example, take the opening arrangement of “Toto‘haha.” The original has a fresh, verdant feel that conveys coolness and excitement, but in “Ending Theme” it has to open the whole medley. With this in mind, I took the melody of the refrain and arranged it with a touch of sentimentality, as if looking back on a long journey.

The original arrangement of “The Winterlands” was meant to feel bitterly cold and lonely, but here it seems to draw nearer to Osvald as a character, with a hint of emotional intensity within. Incidentally, the metallic percussion instrument used in this arrangement is called an “anvil.” It really is just a block of metal struck with a hammer, haha! I included this to allude to Osvald’s memories of his time doing hard labor while imprisoned.

The arrangement of “The Leaflands” starts from the B melody and moves along with a rapidity quite unlike the original. When it returns to the melody, it’s as if the world has suddenly opened up. Those were the kinds of scenes I imagined as I worked on this arrangement.

As for “Hinoeuma,” this is the final piece in the medley, so I tried to give it a dense, dazzling sound as befits a finale without sacrificing the grandeur of the original.

In the ending sequence of the game, this track is followed by “Epilogue.” I’ll explain more about this in the next analysis, but note that, because “Epilogue” is still waiting in reserve, while “Ending Theme” does feel like finale music, it doesn’t use the main theme anywhere, intentionally hinting to listeners that more is still to come.

Details in my next post! 👌

Translation: Matt Treyvaud