Recommended Soundtracks: Deep Laybrinth

Recommended Soundtracks is a feature where we, uh, recommend soundtracks. Some of us are bound to come across soundtracks that likely no one aside from a lucky few have heard. But we're not a selfish bunch. We intend to bestow that knowledge of its existence to anyone reading, in the hopes that more listeners bask in its apparent quality compositions.

Let's face it, you're always bound to miss one or two soundtracks that are probably pretty good, yet fall beneath your radar because of the game itself. Way too many games release with good soundtracks, yet with underwhelming gameplay included in the package. It's not like music composers are intent to join up with a team that either has inexperience crafting a good game or unfamiliar with the hardware they're working with, so it takes someone to point people in the right way. Plenty of people already have, so what's one more?

Even if you have nothing else to do than to keep up with every single game release, you've likely never heard of Deep Labyrinth. The DS adaptation of the Japan only cell phone game -- which would make it over to America and Europe via Atlus and 505 Games, respectively -- initially held some promise because of some of the venerable staff behind it. It featured the endearing tale of a boy and his dog intent on rescuing his parents who were lost in a mysterious void. The endings of the game depend on the choices you make, similar to that of many western RPGs. The game itself is a dungeon crawler in the spirit of the Wizardry titles, though its results were regrettably mediocre. It's only memorable these days because of the music composed by the venerable (or once venerable?) Yasunori Mitsuda of Procyon Studio. His music here doesn't match the quality of soundtracks like Chrono Cross or Xenogears, but it's still well worth a listen.

It's worth noting, though, that there are two different soundtracks for the game; kind of. There was a soundtrack released that contained CD-quality tracks of six tracks in the game, despite that the DS iteration has a total of 14 tracks. Unfortunately, the DS tracks never received a formal release, so you'll have to settle for some good quality rips. The music quality itself in the rips isn't the best; this is a DS game we're talking about. But the quality of music resides within the compositions themselves, and they're quite exquisite.

And right here is where I wanted to post a comparison between two tracks that are on the official soundtrack and the ripped music, but they're nowhere on Youtube. Youtube! Assuredly a testament to how obscure the soundtrack actually is.

Some of the best stand-alone tracks can be easily found though, like The Azure Cavern from the DS iteration. It sounds very unlike any of his tracks from Chrono Trigger or most of the popular games he's been involved in. It's nonetheless a beautiful work of music:



Anyway, definitely give Deep Labyrinth a listen. I find that they sound excellent in accompanying you while you're working on something important. Its Celtic vibe provides a soothing factor, an anodyne to the stress you'll undoubtedly feel while working on a project or whatever important you're currently engrossed in. The problem is that you'll have to resort to using a download link or a torrent to get the DS tracks, though. It's well worth the time you'll have to search for it, as you'll make that time and more up by listening to it multiple times.