Ku, Land of the Scarlet Sunset - Octopath Traveler II (cello/piano cover ft.

EDIT (5/7/23): Now on streaming platforms! Listen here: https://songwhip.com/purpleschala/ku-...

So it's been a month and pretty much everybody's beaten this game but me, I love it so much I just don't want it to end!!! 😭😭😭 IT'S SO GOOD GUYS OMG if you have ANY hesitation at all about getting it, DON'T lol. And I wasn't that crazy about the first game, but the second one is so gleefully chaotic and borderline unhinged with the gameplay mechanics that I am 1000% going back to replay the first game, it's really that good. Improvements in every aspect--the visuals, the characters, the designs, the storytelling, the combat, there's just so much to do I have completely forgotten about the main stories and am having a blast just exploring and trying to optimize my squad. Everybody's around level 55 with my main man Hikari nearing 80 and I've barely cleared everybody's Ch. 3s.

(I still need to finish FE: Engage, which I also absolutely LOVE btw, but got distracted by Chained Echoes, which I also absolutely love, and then got distracted by Octopath 2 gahhhhhh and I still have yet to scratch the surface of Xenoblade 3 sigh thank goodness I am not a Zelda fan and am safe from TtoK on the horizon my backlog is already insane as it is!! 😭😭😭😭)

Ok I gotta talk about OT2's OST now. Yasunori Nishiki already made a huge splash with his excellent work on the first Octopath's OST, but OMG he absolutely KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK with this one. Like I expected it to be more or less on par with the first game but holllllly crap how did he go above and beyond and top himself!?? And the day/night cycle with the night themes omg! Piano candy right there. Every single area I'm like UKHJFJGKHD THIS THEME IS SO GOOD and within a week ‪@IsrafelCello‬ and I already drew up a list of stuff we wanted to cover and we keep adding to it lmao, so there will be quite a bit of Octopath in this channel's future lol!

I started with Hikari because I love the Warrior class and Hikari is literally everything I ever wanted with his Chinese and Japanese hybrid aesthetic, which is also reflected in his character theme and the kingdom of Ku and I just LOVE THAT, like all the Hoshido stuff in Fire Emblem Fates. This theme plays in the first town area in his Ch. 1, and within 5 minutes I had put the controller down and was transcribing immediately lol. I'll probably end up doing every single theme featured in his story, one way or another because I'm a total flaming dumpster fire for when games draw inspiration from ancient China or Japan for the character designs and the music. 😍😍😍😍 FOR THE CULTURE LOL

So this theme is no exception, with a peaceful, longing minor pentatonic vibe, which is more classical Japanese (the Chinese tend to favor the major pentatonic), which gives way to this excellent funky rhythmic section for which all kinds of shenanigans may ensue for the repeat ahahaha. (I'm also doing the Night version of this theme with a percussionist buddy, where the shenanigans are getting a bit out of hand OTL) Andrew took it in a Mitsuda sort of direction, for which I was happy to follow suit lmao. Leaned extra hard into the major pentatonic for the ending for more Chinese flavor, which would probably make my ancestors cringe but oh well lmao.

We loved how this turned out, and can't wait to share more of what we've been working on with you!!!! Keep an eye on ‪@IsrafelCello‬'s channel as well for more Octopath 2 goodness!!!!!

Cello, mixing: ‪@IsrafelCello‬
Piano: Me
Arrangement: both of us

All our Octopath covers:    • Octopath Traveler