Um, hello everyone...! I'm so nervous posting on only my second forum... I'm not even sure this is the right place for one's first post...
I am an avid fan of foreign languages, card games, and shmups, and I couldn't help but notice a translation request in this thread for the "Liner Notes"... Please allow me to offer my services. The song titles are nonsensical as Shinimai-san mentioned earlier; far be it for me to even try to make sense of most of them, so they'll be left as is. For all of you seasoned shmuppers, these notes provide a wealth of references to other shooting game titles; it's very interesting.
∀kashicverse - Malicious Wake - Liner Notes by Nicolai Souvlaki
"To start with, simply picking out and talking about just the music out of all the things in the completed game system may seem a bit boorish, but if you've been looking into this game with interest for this long, then why shouldn't I give out a few tidbits on what went on behind the scenes. I truly hope you enjoy looking upon these so-called "Liner Notes." There's a very good chance I'll end up talking about things other than this game's music though...." —Nicolai Souvlaki, July 2013—
WARNING!!
These Liner Notes will contain certain spoilers regarding the game progression of "∀kashicverse: Malicious Wake." For those of you who don't want to be spoiled or otherwise have no interest in behind-the-scenes extras, please do not read these notes!
Preformizer
Track #00: Promotional Video Theme
A song that feels like one of my "failed creations" (What the hell is this, all of a sudden?!). Even though this track was made for the sake of advertising our game, it still feels too dark. Even if I took all the musical phrases that pop up in my head and attach the proper coding to each of them, there would still be dark undertones emerging somewhere down the line.... However, I still believe this song portrays the kind of high speed you would expect to find in a game like "∀kashicverse." I'm pleased with the second half of this song because the continuous high-pitched synthesizers feel like a festival from a different country(?).
Forkshed
Track #01: Route Console (Main Menu) Theme
I had LuCK actually write the song while I was in charge of mixing. This was one of the songs we finished in the early stages of development. I remember there were so many requests for what direction we wanted this song to go in, like having it "feel like we're inside an aquarium" or having a reference to "that song in
Raystorm that plays after you insert credits." It may sound a bit unstable at first, but once you get used to it, this track gradually makes you feel like you're being brainwashed.
De-Ordorle
Track #02: Stage 01 Theme
Generally speaking, this track starts off with the feeling of racing down a dark back alley. Stage One themes in most shmup games tend to be catchy, I think, with the sense of pumping up the player's motivation to get to the middle or the second half of the stage, but with this theme I dared to do the exact opposite. Even the stage background is dark! After being lost in the shadows for a while, the moment the midboss emerges, and the stage theme shifts to something a bit brighter, but since I lack the talent, I couldn't convey such an explosive moment adequately... orz (<—Bowing in failure and shame...)
Stuldropped
Track #03: Stage 01 Boss Hymeno's Theme
I composed this track with the idea of making something profound with a little bit of fantasticality and a fast-paced hook. I am relatively pleased with the result. This song was made between the three of us, LuCK, Yamakou, and I. This is not the only song in this game that is "two-faced" as it changes from the melodious to the minimal. In addition, this concept of "duality" is prevalent not just in the music, but has become a keyword for the entire game overall. The only part where I think this song fails is that the Stage 1 boss is so weak that you get almost no chance to hear this song's high-point. I would be very happy if players would at least wait until the hook of this track begins before crushing the boss.
Majallakubia
Track #04: Stage 02 Theme
The background animation of this stage was made to give you a feel of traveling from a forest zone into a flower garden and later crossing a vast desert. You probably won't understand it at first glance, but the reasoning behind the long strings of assorted English letters swaying to and fro in the second half of the stage is to create a scene of seeing "a digital desert mirage in the middle of a world of data" (hence the letters have no meaning to them). The music this time around flows from an "Indonesian style"(?) to more of a Near-and-Middle Eastern flavor. Why the "forest area" of the stage is associated with Indonesia is a bit of a mystery. Well, much of the intended flavor is missing anyways.
Inconxlenble & Fastmyth: Noncut Version
Track #05a: Stage 02 Boss Theme (unused in game)
In reality, the song for the second boss was this long! Just as the "noncut" in the title implies, the glitched section of the track is cut out and replaced with a piano piece. The reason the piano section was nixed from the final game was because it didn't mesh well with the "glitched" boss presentation; tearfully, I had to take it out. Afterwards, I fussed over the first half of the theme (Inconxlenble), what parts to cut and/or preserve, and the overall balance of the song...
...Just setting up a scene. ALL OF THE ABOVE IS LIES.
The real story is that after I ended up making two boss songs for Stage 2, I had a lot of time on my hands, so I started adding things in and experimenting, and after some suitable tampering this alternate version is the result. I edited it with wasteful intentions. My apologies.
Inconxlenble-Fastmyth
Track #05: Stage 02 Boss Aranha's Theme
"Inconxlenble" is the theme that plays in the first half (First Form: Eliminator "Caladenia") while "Fastmyth" plays in the second half (Second Form: Phantasmagoria "Fake Theater"). I simply mixed and mashed the two songs together in a DJ style....
Or I'm just setting up another scene. "What the hell were you talking about up until now, then?!" you might ask. Anywho, this song was another creation between the three of us, just like the boss theme from Stage 1. Collaborations are fun. The Soflan* parts of "Fastmyth" were a result of Yamakou doing whatever he felt like doing for the "glitched" part of the battle. As a result of this, the game programmer went crazy.
*Translator's Note: the "Soflan" in this passage is an abbreviation of the phrase "Soft Landing" (ソフトランディング Sofuto-Randingu —> ソフラン Sofuran).
In Konami's "Beatmania IIDX: 2nd Style," one of the songs listed in said game, "Soft Landing on the Body," was infamous for having extreme changes in sequence speed and beats-per-minute during and throughout the song. The song "Do You Love Me?" featured in Konami's "Beatmania Complete Mix 2" also had a so-called "Soft Landing Remix" with the same extreme characteristics mentioned. Ever since then, BEMANI fans have used the coined term "Soflan" to refer to frequent and sudden pauses or changes in speed and BPM in the middle of a soundtrack. Popular songs from the Dance Dance Revolution franchise such as "Chaos," "Fascination MAXX," and "Pluto Relinquished" are prime examples.
Platenocrypt (Remastered)
Track #06: Stage 02 "Omake" Boss Theme
An inspired parody of a hidden boss theme... remastered to fit the style of ∀kashicverse. Originally, this song was written by an acquaintance of mine for a game he created for his circle of friends, but as fate would have it, I had this song rearranged for this game, resulting in the remix heard in the next track. This song had high value when first revealed to the public.
Platenocrypt: Disasterisk Remix
Track #07: Stage 02 Hidden Boss Theme
This game's true hidden boss theme: a harshly remixed version of the earlier song "Platenocrypt." The concept of defeating the boss of Stage 2 while meeting certain conditions to reveal the secret boss (the person within the mech) was inspired by
Hellsinker, of course. Well, unlike
Hellsinker, this secret boss battle doesn't end after only twenty seconds....
Besides this, I also put in other references to other shmups, like the blue sky background scrolling at high speed (Evaccania DOOM from CAVE's
Ketsui: Kizuna-Jigokutachi), then having it turn red and scroll in reverse, making it look like the boss is chasing you (Hibachi from CAVE's
DoDonPachi series)... Hey! If I'm the one making my own shooting game, then by all rights I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with it! Hahaha!
Forthecolida
Track #08: Stage 03 Theme
For the third stage, I wanted to give the sense of a speedy start leading up to an all-out massive battle, but the final product isn't so "massive," is it? The melody of this track changes once the battleship enters the screen, so I also had the background change accordingly. It's almost like an unspoken promise to always have battleships on the third stage. I wanted to replicate the feeling of that epic mid-air dogfight against the giant battleship like in Stage 5 of Raizing's
Battle Garegga, but as my responsibility as chief programmer was so great, I determined that this likely wasn't something worth fussing over, so I scrapped that idea. I am however pleased with how the stage theme mellows out once you reach the warship's bow.
Thifiler
Track #09: Stage 03 Midboss Theme
For this song, I wanted a lively beat (like the boss theme from CAVE's
Mushihime-sama) as well as take a minimalist approach; how was it? The midboss is the warship's central power and control system, so of course once it's destroyed, the whole ship comes crashing down. Since the player character can't break through the central system's high-power shield, I had the boss of Stage 3 come in unexpectedly and destroy the midboss for you. I am quite proud of the scene where the burning airship crumbles around you as you try to escape, and the backdraft of the ship's explosion flies outward from behind you. Well, it is an homage to
ChoRenSha 68K's Stage Zero, after all.
Urtinaum Frellor
Track #10a: Stage 03 Boss Theme (unused in game)
This is a Soflan-less version of the third stage boss theme that is not used in the actual game. I completed this theme in the very early stages of development. How early, you ask? This song got finished before I started work on the Stage 1 Boss theme. This track as well as Stage 1's theme defines the specific musical direction shown in ∀kashicverse. I'm personally quite satisfied with this song, but it got a lot of bad rep among the development team for being unable to compare to the Soflan sections of the Stage 2 Boss theme or the evolution of the Stage 4 Boss theme. Hmmm.....
A lot of love was put into the character and attacks of the Stage 3 Boss, so please watch and enjoy.
Urtinaum Frellor: Chaos Bullet Mix
Track #10: Stage 03 Boss Tau's Theme
This is the version of "Urtinaum Frellor" you will hear in ∀kashicverse -Malicious Wake-. I like the part where the bullets stretch out in time with the song.
By the way, in his character settings, Tau can't talk (he lacks the ability of verbal speech).
Shiwasticked
Track #11: Stage 04 Theme
Some snippets of Hymeno's theme are mixed into this track. All the songs in this game are choreographed to go along with the stage visuals, and this theme is no exception. However, compared to the rest of the songs in this game, the Stage 4 theme in particular has such a severely high synchronization level with the stage itself that as soon as your processing unit starts dropping frames or lagging, there's a good chance the stage and the music and stage end up shifting out of sync with each other.... Sorry about that.
Since this is essentially the last full stage (that is, one with a journey to get to the boss), I put in more stuff that I like just for fun, like the rotating bee bit zone as an homage to CAVE's
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu and adding terrain features you would find in Treasure's STGs. The difficulty of these areas are relatively much easier by comparison.
Devastimare
Track #12: Stage 04 Boss Hymeno's Theme
The boss theme of Stage 4... ENEMY LEVEL UP!!
We were warming up to the idea of having an enemy power up in time with the music for quite some time before working on this stage, so this idea took shape quite quickly. The boss theme for Stage 1 is being used at every point of this track, so it might be fun to listen and compare the two themes.
I didn't realize that the latter half of this track sounds a lot like the final boss theme of
Final Fantasy VIII until after I finished composing the song. But perhaps giving this song a "last boss smell" turned into something good.
咒薨爻華 Jukou-Kouka (Cursed Demise in the Blossoms)
Track #13: Stage 05 Theme
...AND SUDDENLY WE'VE GOT JAPANESE KANJI!!!
This is the theme for the Fifth Stage (Assuming you can call it a proper "stage"...?). This track is a collaboration between me and LuCK—actually, it's more 60% LuCK and 40% me. LuCK's hobbies and interests are fully unleashed in this song. I think the song also succeeds in distinguishing itself as different from the Stage 4 boss theme. It felt like we were faced with the question: "We already brought things to a climax with the fourth boss, so where we do go from here?" So we changed direction with this stage with great results. Unlike the other previous bosses, the boss of this stage fires off strong attacks with a very distinct originality. I hope you enjoy this unique-feeling stage together with the theme.
Amalancer
Track #14: Stage 05 Boss Hal's First Theme
The boss theme for Stage 5. After the Stage 5 main theme, there was a vacant blank space there for about two months; it was a hassle coming up with something to fill the gap.** This track is an arranged version of the Stage 5 theme. I wanted to compose a piece while keeping the concept of "duality" (in this case, "passive vs. active" with the first half being more fast-paced and the second being more peaceful), but with my paltry skills, the only ideas that came to mind were sequences of sudden surges and pauses....
For the time being, this fifth boss is the final boss of the game, but listening to this song alone, it doesn't feel like a last boss at all. Aha...
I'm particularly fond of the high-speed note phrases in the first half of the song as they give a sort of "foreign energy" to the theme.
**Translator's Note: I am not too confident in the translation of this sentence; please take it with some grains of salt.
∀[v]@|_41V<3Я (41V07#312 AA1><)
Track #15: "Freak Out: Euthanasia" (Stage 05 Boss Hal's Second Theme)
...4N) $V))31V|_`í VV€'\/₤ 60+ 1337!1! (...And suddenly we've got Leet!!!)
This is the second Stage 5 boss theme where he "goes berserk." For those unfamiliar with Leetspeak, the title reads "Amalancer (Another Mix)." This is yet another arrange mix of the main theme of Stage 5. It takes the base setting of Hal's theme while mixing in passages from "Platenocrypt" (Stage 2 Boss theme) and "Urtinaum Frellor" (Stage 3 Boss theme). You can catch the tune of "Platenocrypt" easily, but it may be hard to understand where the "Urtinaum Frellor" parts begin. The truth is, parts of the Stage 3 Boss theme play throughout this track from the very beginning; it's just mostly buried beneath the other instruments.
"Amalancer" (the normal boss theme) doesn't sound like much of a final boss theme because this song was prepared to be more fitting of a final battle by comparison. ...At least, that was my original intention, but in the end, even this song doesn't have that last boss feel... \(°Д°;)/
Viendfrorld
Track #16: Ending Credits Theme
In comparison to how long this theme is, the ending sequence unfortunately ends so quickly that you don't get to hear the whole song. This soundtrack finally brings that to light. This is the only track in the game that uses a mellow guitar; the guitar is used here as a symbol that the harsh battles are now over. The sneaking-in of the Stage 1 theme in the second half of this credits theme is there because, well, since this is the end of the game, I wanted to add in a musical phrase that could be a symbol of the whole of ∀kashicverse.... Maybe this song could be better if I had percussion with more reverb, and gave the theme a more empty feel.
Zodark Dethightrue
Track #17: Extra Stage Theme
The theme for the path leading to the True Last Boss. I wanted to have a stage where a beautiful melody is accompanied by a relentless storm of danmaku, so that's exactly what I did. Pairing this theme with the visuals and attacks of this stage almost seems unfitting to the point of being cruel, but the song by itself is something I'm proud of.
∀kashicverse
Track #18: True Last Boss Subaru's Theme
The title of this theme holds this game's namesake. Code progression for this song went in the same direction as the main stage theme; in any case I wanted to try my hand at a harsh remix. The background animation for the True Last Boss battle changes from the Extra Stage to Stages 2, 3, 5, 4, and finishing with Stage 1. "Where's the Stage 1 background? I can't see it!" you might say, but if you look carefully, Stage 1's animation is there. Though you probably don't have the time to try and find it with the True Last Boss wailing on you.
Primityforce [∀kashicverse: ∀postasia Remix]
Track #19: True Last Boss Subaru's Eliminator (Apostasia Exmachina) Theme
A remixed version of "∀kashicverse" (Track #18), arranged by LuCK. The melody is now more hardcore! The enemy's attack is now more fearsome! This track is listed in-game as "∀kashicverse: ∀postasia Remix," but "Primityforce" is its true title.
LuCK told me he wanted to have the music change when the Eliminator emerges so I told him, "OK, I'll give you the project file and let you handle the remixing~!" And voilà! This track was born. Ahh, having other people remix your songs feels great!
4D616C6963696F75732057616B65
Track #20: True Last Boss Subaru's "Malicious Wake" Theme
The True Last Boss's "Insanity Mode." The main theme of this song is "a stillborn baby." It's a heavy theme that pierces right through the heart of this game.... This is truly the game's ultimate battle, so I took the Stage 1 theme (what I think is the game's "main theme") and made yet another arrangement, only this time I added in various places snippets of various songs I have made for ∀kashicverse up to now, plus some unused discarded files (songs that didn't make it to the final product)... In other words, this song is an expression of "the lingering grudges of a miscarried fetus." Afterwards, to enhance this bizarre feeling, I added an irregular rhythm and mixed in a pulsing heartbeat and a baby's cry played in reverse.
0 Afx
Track #21: Top Secret Method Theme
The song that heralds your certain victory. The title can be read as "
Innocent Affection," the same name as the final method you earn. It would be foolish of me to talk about this in further detail, so I'll just end here.