Year: 2003
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Hideyuki Fukasawa
Number of tracks: 24

★★★★★

Hard rock from Japan

With Chaos Legion , another game in the special interest category finds its way onto this website. I confess that I know next to nothing about the story. Something about gods, demons and other unholy things, all of which fall victim to our oversized sword in over-the-top Japanese style. We play the character Sieg Wahrheit (no shit), complete with red hairstyle and fur collar coat. We are assisted by the eponymous legions, which we summon according to the situation, just like in Pikmin or Overlord ... or something like that.

If you want to know more, ask my brother, who for some unknown reason found the game really cool and even unlocked the last, legendary Legion, for which you had to do something special - no idea. You're welcome to look it up somewhere, I'm not going to go to the trouble of doing so for a now 20-year-old piece of crap that I have virtually no connection to.

That's why I was all the more interested in the soundtrack. It is the debut work of Hideyuki Fukasawa, who not only later became famous for his work on the Onimusha-games and the Street Fighter-series, but is also the first composer from the Far East that I am proud to immortalize on this site. Congratulations!

Congratulations are also in order for the OST, because it's really well done. I don't know what it is, but for me, video game music in the style of Chaos Legion is always quite easy to locate towards the eastern hemisphere. In the style of Japanese action orgies, the sound blasts around our ears and mixes rock riffs with ominous synths, reminiscent of Metal Gear or Nier .

Meanwhile, you shouldn't expect too much variety. The OST has a high tempo - or at least creates such a feeling. Heavy electric guitars shred to powerful drums, we can virtually see in our mind's eye how damage and combo counters soar. Examples of this are Welcome to the Darkness, Pledge, Choire of Curse or Monks. The volume level is almost constantly on full blast here. A break? Not a chance!

Away from this, Fukasawa also goes in the direction of contemporary music and incorporates The Matrix. I Can Hear the Shriek begins with female vocals, before the beat drops and the dancefloor is opened up. Fell No Fear hits the same mark, while Bloody Truth goes its own way and builds on classic epic à la Final Fantasy , although the booming bass gives it its own touch.

Every now and then Chaos Legion does have 'calmer' moments like Blood Remains, Ravine of Silence or the very beautiful Now I See, indeed thoughtful or even emotional pieces like a Nier: Automata are nowhere to be found. But since you can't accuse DOOM of that either, there's no reason to make this a point of criticism. Only the high degree of repetition in the tracks, which average 3 ½ minutes in length, could be noted on the negative side. If that doesn't bother you, you can look forward to a thoroughly worthwhile first attempt that should appeal to fans of the genre and nostalgics alike.

Nostalgia warning

The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Blood Remains	Hideyuki Fukasawa	3
02	Narration BGM (First Half)	Hideyuki Fukasawa	2
03	Stage Title BGM	Hideyuki Fukasawa	1
04	Welcome to the Darkness	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
05	Pledge	Hideyuki Fukasawa	5
06	From Result Screen to Intermission (First Phase)	Hideyuki Fukasawa	3
07	Choir of Curse	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
08	A Way to Nowhere	Hideyuki Fukasawa	3
09	Evil Shore	Hideyuki Fukasawa	3
10	The Drones of Hell	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
11	Ravine of Silence	Hideyuki Fukasawa	2
12	I Can Hear the Shriek	Hideyuki Fukasawa	3
13	From Result Screen to Intermission (Middle Phase)	Hideyuki Fukasawa	2
14	Monks	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
15	Fell No Fear	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
16	Narration BGM (Second Half)	Hideyuki Fukasawa	1
17	Bloody Truth	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
18	Battle Cry	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
19	Solemn Voice	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
20	From Result Screen to Intermission (Final Phase)	Hideyuki Fukasawa	2
21	Be Killed Again	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
22	Massive Strokes	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
23	Now I See	Hideyuki Fukasawa	4
24	The Final Result	Hideyuki Fukasawa	3