New ASTRAL CHAIN Development Blog Provides Insight Into the Games Soundtrack

Satoshi Igarashi, the lead composer of Platinum Games’ upcoming action-adventure title has recently uploaded a blog to the Platinum Games website, in which he details the compositional process of ASTRAL CHAIN.

He describes the three different genres that are implemented into the soundtrack - Metal, Electro and Orchestra - and provides a graph detailing the way each genre is implemented to convey a specific mood. Where as Metal is used to create tension in the game, the Orchestral side of music takes centre stage for the dramatic moments. Electro comes into play during the calmer sections of down time within the game, likely when players are busy exploring the world.

Igarashi also describes a conversation he had with ASTRAL CHAIN’s director Takahisa Taura, where Taura stated that he wanted the combat music to sound cool, with a “rocking beat”. Igarashi then goes into the specifics of the guitar tuning (Drop G), and talks about the instrumentation used to achieve the sound the team wanted. As expected for the soundtrack of a story set in a futuristic world, numerous synthesizers have been implemented into the soundtrack, with drum machines and tight beats making up the percussion.

Also credited are two other composers named Naofumi Harada and Hitomi Kurokawa, as well as outside help coming Masahiro Aoki and Satoshi Setsune, with the latter two mainly working on music for the cutscenes.

Five music tracks are included in the blog, including the more mellow “Task Force Neuron” and “Ark Mall” tracks, as well as the high tension tracks “Ark Mall (Combat Phase)”, “Homunculus α” and “[REDACTED]”.

ASTRAL CHAIN is set to release on 30th August exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.