Let’s listen to some field tracks from the original, namely the ones for Gaur Plain and Mechonis Field:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx0r4_btOQc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_n9lMS3ahw
Gaur Plain is a bold, adventurous track, definitely well suited to its placement in the first large, completely open area that the player encounters. I love how this song immediately puts the player in the mood for a sweeping adventure, as Shulk and company take their first steps outside of the warm confines of Colony 9 into the vast, dangerous world beyond, complete with high-level monsters wandering around, ripe for the player to come back and destroy when they’re not level 20 anymore.
Meanwhile, Mechonis Field gives a completely different vibe, one of a mysterious, alien, hostile world that the player is exploring for the first time. At first it’s somewhat unassuming; the intro and first minute and a half or so are very reminiscent of games like Metroid, very atmospheric and tending to blend into the background as the player skirts around big, high-level threats trying to navigate the maze that is the inside of the Mechonis. Afterwards, the music takes on a distinctly industrial sound, reflecting the factory-like environment that the Mechon inhabit.
Both themes are composed by ACE+. Of the three groups that composed most of Xenoblade’s music, theirs are generally my favorites, both for these songs and my next example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OfNgkxkM_o
You all know this one, if you’ve played Xenoblade. Not only that, but if you’ve never listened to it outside of the game, chances are even just hearing that intro made you jump a bit, since this is the music that accompanies the Unique Monster battles, which players know are some of the hardest fights in the game. Hearing this song start up when you’re in the middle of a regular encounter is often a good sign that it’s time to disappear, especially if you’re not above the usual level for monsters in the area (and even then, sometimes the Unique Monsters are 20+ levels higher than you anyway). Then once the part at 1:00 or so kicks in, and by that time you’ve usually committed to the fight and it pumps you up, ready to take whatever the enemy can throw at you.
And then you get your ass kicked, because Unique Monsters are always a major threat unless you’re several levels higher than them. Especially if they jump into a fight already in progress. Chances are, you’re screwed.
Then compare that to this song, “Uncontrollable” from Xenoblade Chronicles X:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgudF-hVlDA
This is the closest equivalent to “You Will Know Our Names/Those Who Bear Their Name” in X, and plays during encounters with Tyrants, essentially the new game’s equivalent to Unique Monsters. It features vocals by mpi and Mika Kobayashi, who are also in several other songs on the OST and in others by Sawano – for example, mpi is also heard in “The Reluctant Heroes” from Attack on Titan, while Kobayashi is heard in “Before My Body is Dry” (a.k.a. DON’T LOSE YOUR WAAAAAAAAAAY) from Kill la Kill. It’s also one of relatively few songs on the OST with a normal title.
I love this song. Maybe even more than “You Will Know Our Names”.
The two songs have a distinctly different sound, with “You Will Know Our Names” having a fairly triumphant sound, especially in the second part, while “Uncontrollable” makes me think more of persevering through a losing battle. The lyrics reinforce this sound, with lines such as “There’s no direction for us / Here it comes the endless fight” and “We’ll get back the life for ourselves today / Let’s get started again / Do not scare yourself / We can take this ride for ourselves”. Two totally different songs, yet neither is less suited for the situation in their respective games.
