Torrent of Evil/Normal Battle III

Track 5-7: Torrent of Evil

I composed this piece while watching Harvey’s event scene, so that was a strong influence in terms of imagery. What kind of baddie does it make you imagine? It was written assuming a scene very near the story climax featuring a character closely connected to those pulling the strings in the scenario.

The way the melody on strings that starts at 1:01 is joined at 1:29 by a trumpet playing in unison is the essence of this piece, I think. The title may be “Torrent of Evil,” but the melody has a certain pathos to it. This is because, when I imagined a scene in which a great evil reveals that it is not mere wickedness but has its own philosophy, a code of evil, if you like, and can defend it eloquently, a slightly melancholy theme seemed like the best musical fit. How did it feel to you?

Track 5-8: Normal Battle III

The third stage in the battle theme progression, appearing as the main storyline approaches its conclusion. Of the three “Normal Battle” pieces, I suspect listeners found this one particularly reminiscent of the music from OT1 (“Battle III”). (Take the part at 0:15, for example.)

Apart from this section, there are no motifs taken as-is from earlier themes, but the overall feeling is all but identical.

I’ve spoken a few times in earlier music analysis posts about what I did and didn’t change compared to the music of OT1. This piece might not quote any motifs, but I think it is the best example of something I didn’t change, because I concluded that choosing not to make changes would be the best way to make sure the piece filled the same role as “Battle III.”

What I mean by this is, normal battles undergo a kind of “drama inflation” causing tempos and excitement to rise (as they already have within the OCTOPATH TRAVELER series). In that context, if you add more dynamics to a third-stage battle theme, the problem is that you get closer and closer in terms of excitement to a boss battle theme. For this reason, I used “Battle III” from OT1 as a reference for “Normal Battle III” to express that this is the third stage of battle music, with the dynamics of the game itself acting as a separate kind of indicator.

Of course, the sense of excitement in the music itself was already composed with the idea of adding third-stage dynamics, and for some players OT2 will be their first game in the OCTOPATH TRAVELER series, so it has to convey that sense of change on its own, but I did want people who had played the whole series to sit up and take note. That was my thinking, at any rate.

Translation: Matt Treyvaud