Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma
Comments from visual artist & original director David Owen (Odai), album directors Jorrith Schaap (Jorito) and Troy Plain (Trism), and mastering engineer Kristina Scheps (Chimpazilla)
Album freely available at http://ocremix.org

TERRANIGMA

What can I say about this game?

When I was about 15, I would frequent an independent computer game shop in my nearest city, a short train journey away. It always had all the great new games set up for customers to play at the counter and allowed folks to request-test anything that was on the shelves. Their range was incredible for such a humble hole-in-the-wall retailer, and included titles that were surely unheard of by most folks. Terranigma was one of these games. I actually walked past it on 3 occasions before taking a punt on it. Pre-owned at less than a year old, and I'd heard nothing of it. But I was feverishly into JRPGs and thought "Hey, what the hell?" I'd got lucky before, and the shop had an excellent returns policy.

I'm so very glad I did. What waited was a uniquely quirky story, with a plot centred on the myriad shades of grey between dark and light. It sported three-dimensional characters and excellent gameplay with some unexpected difficulty spikes to keep me on my toes, and was one of the pioneers of choice-based progress. The graphics were incredible for the technology and the JP-EN translation was... well, let's say charming...

Roll on to today and I still rank it among my favourite games. Even with the progress we've made in the past 25 years, it holds a corner reserved for the magical. It's a sadness that it didn't get more coverage. My beginning of Paths Less Travelled was an effort to bring the game more into the forefront and pay some small tribute to it, and Quintet, the game's ultimately and mysteriously doomed developer.

I started this project with hope and vigour and it quickly gained traction. With HoboKa as my second, we made good tracks, but unfortunately, as dedicated as he was, life prevented him from continuing. Trism quickly and humbly took up the yoke and we powered on for a good while, churning out progress like there was no tomorrow. Then, suddenly, life happened to me too and the project halted. With every intent on coming back to it, it sat there gathering dust while life continued to happen.

A couple of years rolled by before, out of the blue, Trism approached me, offering, again humbly to take on the mantle of project director to get it over the finishing line. After all, we'd done so well and we were so close. I agreed, of course, and relegated myself to art director and shouter-from-the-shadows. Jorito quickly came on board as co-director, and suddenly the machine was moving again! With Trism's enthusiasm and Jorito's experience (and admittedly very little help from me), the album has turned out to be better than I could have ever hoped.

So here we are! I encourage you to sit back, enjoy your beverage of choice, and experience the work that is Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma. Every single contributor to the album has reflected stellar work on every track, and it proves to be a truly eclectic triple-album that pays homage to what I consider to be one of the very best unsung computer games of all time.

Huge shout-outs to every musician and contributor, to Trism, HoboKa and Jorito, and, of course, Chimpazilla for her patience and mastering most every track on the album.

- David Owen (Odai)

I have to admit I never played Terranigma until near the end of the album production process, so I wasn't fully sure what all the hype and all the love was about. That didn't stop me from claiming my first 2 tracks ("Mountains" and "Crysta") in the first run of the project, and two more during the album restart. When checking out the OST, I noticed quickly that this was not your typical RPG music fare, but rather something interesting and different. After finally playing the game, the tracks, and their context, make a lot of sense, because they are all very well chosen and perfectly crafted for the occasion. The game is definitely worth a play, as one of the great SNES RPGs; if you haven't done so, do check it out.

While I was only active as a contributing artist in the first run, I was a bit sad to see the album project come to a halt. I was already playing with the idea to maybe pick up the pieces and try to help the project towards completion, but sadly I never found the time due to prior commitments and real life distractions. When Odai finally handed over the reins to Trism to give it another go, my schedule cleared up enough to offer to help out. I am glad I did. Terranigma is a great game that deserves all the love people give it, and the album project is a great way to pay tribute to it. Massive thanks to Odai for starting the project and the beautiful artwork, Trism for being a great co-director, and Chimpazilla for her mastering services as well as helping out on a few tracks. Hope you enjoy listening to the album as much as we enjoyed creating it!

- Jorrith Schaap (Jorito)

Well. This has been quite the experience. Three years and one hiatus in the making and it's finally here. I've never been involved with something this, well... involved before. It would be entirely accurate to state I had no idea what I was getting into when I offered to become assistant director to Odai when the project was in its infancy, and I CERTAINLY had no idea what I was getting into when I offered to resurrect the project later on. It isn't hyperbole to say that this project would either be significantly less substantial or straight-up wouldn't exist without Jorito stepping in. His experience has been essential to the completion of the album (not to mention his contacts within the remixer community) and I would be remiss if I didn't also give a huge shout-out to Chimpazilla for offering her mastering services during both "eras" of the project. And also, I need to thank Nadzilla from the very bottom of my heart for engineering Manji's "Destiny's Spire" on very short notice and doing a fantastic job of it!

As for the game itself; like Jorito, I had also not played the game when I offered my services on the album. I picked the "Royd" source due to its cool hook, but it did plant the seeds of interest when I looked up the Royd character and started reading into the story of the game itself. It sounded utterly bonkers! I had to play this thing! And play I did, and while life didn't allow me to play it to completion (though I have seen the game finished by some wonderful LPers on YouTube), I have to say it was an amazing experience, there really isn't another game quite like it.

So. Here it is, for better or worse. I really hope you, the listener, enjoy this smorgasbord of different genres and interpretations of some truly amazing source music. Now; what to choose for Paths Less Travelled vol. 2...

- Troy Plain (Trism)

I was invited onto the Terranigma project originally to provide sound support and mastering, which I was honored to accept. A few of the tracks required mixing help, and two of them ("Her Resolve" and "Royd Rage") I ended up collaborating on too, writing a bit of my own material for the tracks in addition to mixing and mastering. I was sad when the project went on hold, but I was thrilled when the project was taken up again by Jorito and Trism. Jorito collaborated on several of the tracks himself, including adding more excellent work to both "Her Resolve" and "Royd Rage." Even throughout the hectic final push to finish the album, Jorito was wonderful to work with. I have never played Terranigma, but I was astounded at the amount of love for the game that I felt as I interacted with every single track. I hope the listeners enjoy this album as much as we enjoyed making it, and I hope they feel the love that went into its production.

- Kristina Scheps (Chimpazilla)

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1-01. Ganaé - "L&D"
Source: "Light and Darkness"

1-02. Jorito feat. Earth Kid, JoyDreamer, Lauren the Flute, Kain White - "Find My Way"
Source: "A Place to Return To"

1-03. Jean Of mArc feat. Gamer of the Winds - "Blue Magic"
Source: "Prime Blue"

1-04. Supercoolmike, Chimpazilla, Jorito - "Her Resolve"
Source: "Prayer"

1-05. David Kiraeth feat. Trev Wignall - "Yomi or Not Yomi"
Source: "Yomi"

1-06. HoboKa feat. Stahalamora - "Enigma of a Broken Soul"
Source: "An Unforeseen Event"

1-07. Fredrik Häthén feat. JohnStacy, Alex Hill, dannymusic, DavidRussell323, Dean Nguyen, Harpsona, Andrew Thompson, Chromatic Apparatus, Andrew Steffen, mkafie, Gabriel Vizcarra, Bassoonify, Gamer of the Winds, Damian Nguyen, Lauren the Flute, Catboss., Travis Kindred, Andre Beller - "Beginning of the Journey"
Source: "Departure"

Alex Hill - tuba
Andre Beller - bass
Andrew Steffen - viola, violin
Andrew Thompson - cello, viola, violin
Bassoonify - bassoon
Catboss. - flute
Chromatic Apparatus - cello
Damian Nguyen - oboe
dannymusic - trombone
DavidRussell323 - piano
Dean Nguyen - percussion
Fredrik Häthén - arrangement
Gabriel Vizcarra - viola
Gamer of the Winds - clarinet
Harpsona - harp
JohnStacy - French horn, trumpet
Lauren the Flute - flute
mkafie - violin
Travis Kindred - bass

1-08. Manji - "Destiny's Spire"
Source: "Trials"

1-09. Clément Panchout - "Everlasting Campfire"
Source: "Evergreen"

1-10. Jorito feat. Sirenstar, Juan Medrano - "Will We Meet Again"
Sources: "Into the Door," "Welcome Rain," "Firm Steps Upon the Land"

2-01. DaMonz feat. Denis Bluteau - "Nature's March"
Source: "Zue"

2-02. LongBoxofChocolate - "Looking Out for the Big Guy"
Source: "The Willful Lion"

2-03. zykO - "Punch Drunk Beneath a Lazy Tree"
Source: "Sanctuar"

2-04. jnWake feat. zykO, ilp0, Ivan Hakštok, Trev Wignall, Jorito - "Brave New World"
Source: "Further into the Wide World"

2-05. Manji, Jorito feat. Pavos - "An Afternoon in Clisson"
Source: "Town"

2-06. That Headband Guy - "From the Depths of the Dungeon"
Source: "Under the Ground of the Giant Tree"

2-07. David Kiraeth - "Soothing Rhythm"
Source: "Liotto"

2-08. HeavyViper feat. Gamer of the Winds - "Wade into the Changing Tide"
Source: "Ship"

2-09. Jorito feat. Manji, Tuberz McGee, Lauren the Flute - "Skaði, Fjallið Veiði Gyðja"
Source: "The Sacred Summit"

2-10. Rozovian, MrSubstitute - "Trepidation"
Source: "Those Who Stand in the Way"

3-01. Nadzilla - "The Road to Lhasa"
Source: "Lhasa"

3-02. NyxTheShield - "Espíritu Gitano"
Source: "Quatro's"

3-03. Nostalvania - "Protectress"
Source: "Fyda"

3-04. Trism, Jorito, Chimpazilla - "Royd Rage"
Source: "Royd"

3-05. djpretzel - "An American Expanse"
Source: "Freedom"

3-06. Jorito feat. Gnegon Galek, Juan Medrano - "Groovin' Like a '90s Kid"
Source: "Perel"

3-07. rebrained - "Walking Amidst Future"
Source: "Neotokio"

3-08. HoboKa feat. Usa - "AHHH, the Zombies Ate John Carpenter"
Source: "Wandering Souls"

3-09. Trev Wignall - "Hypotheosis"
Source: "Laboratory"

3-10. Sbeast - "Dark Gaia Appears"
Source: "Overcoming Everything"

3-11. Manji, Jorito feat. JoyDreamer, Catie Williams, Richard Spencer - "Mother Earth (Bound by Faith)"
Source: "The Way Home"