Kenji Ito's Work on Gameboy SaGa (Final Fantasy Legend)

The Gameboy SaGa trilogy (Final Fantasy Legend in the west) is the brain child of the highly controversial developer, Akitoshi Kawazu. He invented a system that rewards players statistical increases to stats based on usage. While he absolutely butchered this system in Final Fantasy II, he sought to prove the soundness of his concept with the SaGa series.

Even though you do not hear a lot of discussion about SaGa, it was actually more popular than Final Fantasy when it originally came out, and had a massive following in Japan. SaGa 1 (Makai Toushi SaGa) was even one of the main inspirations for Pokémon. Its success was largely due to the overhaul to the implementation of usage based stat increases.

In addition to having the ability to build a party from scratch with a variety of customization options, the HP stat no longer required taking damage to train, so multiple hour long "hitting yourself" sessions are not required to make it through the game. Stat decreases were also removed (which were a dumb idea anyway). What was left was a short grindy JRPG with mechanics that made it infinitely replayable.

My favorite battle system in the series is the DS remake of SaGa 3 because it scraped the EXP leveling system for a variation of the usage based stat increase system that rewards stats every turn rather than every battle. In a single turn of battle, you can gain new attacks, stat increases, and skill increases (that help you learn new attacks). This makes every turn into an RNG slot machine. You typically get at least something every turn, and every increase feels like a massive deal because it is permanent. All the while, some of Kenji Ito's best arrangement work plays in the background.

The original SaGa 3 was composed by a bunch of no name composers, and the remake had Ito fix the mess they made. Ito is a fantastic an eccentric battle theme composer who is more famous for the Mana series, but I think his work on SaGa is just as iconic.

One of the first pieces you hear in SaGa 2 is "Mother Earth":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsh1j30VMhs

In this piece, Ito establishes a very recognizable harmonic gesture that would be developed later on in the series. He starts at i, moves to ii6, and then descends stepwise from "Sol" to "Mi" in the bass. A variation of this is used in Romancing SaGa's main theme where ii6 is swapped out for V/V and the iii chord is changed to V7/VI. The only major difference between the opening phrases is the inclusion of secondary dominants instead if diatonic chords in those two locations. I highly doubt this similarity was a mistake, as it is a great device to make the theme sound more SaGa-like. In fact, the first time I heard the Romancing SaGa theme, I was able to guess that it came from SaGa even though I had never played the game and heard it out of context.

Here is the Romancing SaGa theme for comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cj5PleGkko

In the SaGa 3 remake, Ito added a couple original battle themes because of new mechanics like miniboss fights and pile up stacks. Both of these new themes are incredible tracks with a remarkable harmonic palate.

Here is me playing them:

https://youtu.be/MFEzEnegE2Y

Pile up stacks occur when you get into an encounter with more than one enemy on the overworld at a time. These battles go on for a while, so Ito changes up the music to make them more exciting and distinct.

Here is the music that plays when you get into one of these battles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUy01CU3wcQ

The intro has a nice i-ii/VI-VI-V progression that feels so intense because of the speed of the harmonic rhythm. ii/VI to VI is a minimalist version of the (ii-V-I)/VI, a super common drop tonicization in J-pop.

The mode mixture filled A section sits pretty on a tonic pedal while Ito swaps between predominant chords until he swings it back around with a VII. In the first line, he adds a very funky electric bass line. When the bass note stays the same, the electric bass can go nuts, and he takes full advantage of it.

Once the main melody comes in, the harmony stays the same, and the accompaniment calms down a bit. I'm not a big fan of the saw lead used in this section, but it was likely a product of the DS sound chip's limited sound capabilities and a lack of other available samples.

The last line of the A section is pretty mad. The progression goes iv7-III9-iv7-III9-bII7-bV7-Vsus-V. A iv7-III9 vamp is quite excessive. There are so many extensions on these chords that it starts to sound like you are in a different key. I wouldn't be surprised if most peoples ears would snap to hearing the progression in the relative major key like ii7-I9 of C major (III). The craziness continues with a bII-bV-V which is an uncommon (but video game-y) dominant approach. I remember writing similar progressions back in my undergrad. There is a parallel fifth when moving from bV to V that is really invigorating.

The B section is a bunch of chromatic lament derived progressions on i and iv.

The developers added in a couple stronger monsters variants that you will encounter in dungeons and on sidequests. Along with the new fights is a new battle theme with an awesome progression.

Here is what plays when you encounter these new minibosses:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGN5RrQP3xs

There are a bunch of really neat harmonies in this piece. The weirdest ones are the two secondary tonicizations of iv that appear in the B and C sections. The one in the B section is a (iv-V-i)/iv and the one in the C section is (iiø7-V-i)/iv which is even more insane. I have never seen another example of either of these tonicizations in any other literature, so Ito has something quite novel here.

Another awesome thing he does in this piece is mess around with chromatically ascending and descending diminished chords over a tonic pedal. In the A section, he starts with i-viio7-i over a "Do" pedal. In the next measure, he adds io7 that does not seem to resolve properly the the iiø42 in the second line no matter what way you rotate it.

It probably has something to do with the way it is voice lead. If you have a tritone that descends by half-step to another tritone, it typically ends up moving you through the circle of fifths, and Ito is messing with this idea over a pedal which confuses it further. If that wasn't weird enough, after the iiø42, he goes back to the io7 followed by a iiø42-viio half cadence. I've used this device in my own pieces even though I still don't fully understand why or how it works. It's neat though. Dominant chords are notoriously elusive and difficult to conceptualize theoretically.

Now, it is time to appreciate some of his fantastic arrangement work.

Fight!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV87X8R9x3M

The normal battle theme is my favorite track from the original SaGa 3, and Ito's version is a direct upgrade in every conceivable way. It begins with a crazy drum fill and shoots right into the main section before you have time to process what is going on.

My favorite part of the track is at 00:16 when the drums abruptly cut out before a bunch of fills. It hits so hard and transitions so nicely into the new section he added. It is pretty disrespectful to write a second half of the piece that is almost as long as the original, but I agree it really needed it. The original track looped every 27 seconds.

While Ito is known for bombastic and intense combat music, he is fully capable of creating emotional tracks. In the DS remake of SaGa 2, he remade one of the most serene pieces of music Uematsu ever wrote in a spectacular manner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TIZbfSkG-M

He sinks into the melty parallel fifths in a way that pulls out the beauty of the sonorities. The duo of violin and guitar is unconventional, but I find it extremely calming in this context. The strings add an angelic warmth that fills the texture masterfully. This is by far my favorite version of the SaGa theme, and it goes to show what Ito can do with one of the king of melody's finest themes.

The most iconic piece from SaGa 2 has to be the battle theme written by him, but the second most iconic theme is the final boss' theme, "Save the World", which was originally written by Uematsu. As an avid fan of Uematsu's work, I was prepared to be very critical of Ito's instrumentation choices, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much he understood how to replicate his style.

If you have never heard one of Uematu's battle themes, take a listen to the last section of the final boss theme from Final Fantasy VI (because the whole thing is over 10 minutes) for a little context:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-WDVnDvAoY

Uematsu may be known for incredibly moving melodies, but he is a rock musician at his core. As he is a keyboardist, the electric organ is the first instrument I think of when I think, "Climactic Uematsu battle theme". That's why I found it awesome that the lead instrument in Ito's arrangement of "Save the World" was a snappy electric organ.

Take a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YspKeKk7Cc

He doesn't change any of the existing counterpoint like a lesser arranger would. It is incredibly faithful, and the additions like the drum kit and the power chords before the loop are a welcome change. It is weird how much this battle theme feels inspired by Final Fantasy's final boss themes. Ito definitely did his research (or just knows his style well enough after working with him for so long).

Speaking of the SaGa 2 battle theme, I don't have much to say to say about it, but it is a classic battle theme with dorian mode and VI-VII-i, so it is 1,000,000% worth jamming out to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5re_YfjDJgE

My only gripe with Ito's writing is his occasional disregard for narrative tone, leading to a couple scenes that are funny when they were intended to be sad.

The best example of this is his arrangement of "Heartful Tears" in SaGa 2 DS. There is a moment where the protagonist's father dies, and it is supposed to be an emotional moment, but halfway through the track, obnoxious drums kick in and completely ruin the scene. I remember laughing my ass off because I had grew up with the original, and the tonal whiplash caught me off guard so badly.

Here, listen to Uematu's original track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avqYTQjfvYo

And then to Ito's hard rock interpretation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYX5c1xld5M

Now, I realize it is based on the mostly unused arrangement from Romancing SaGa 2, but that version still takes itself more seriously than the version from SaGa 2 DS which has an inappropriate amount of crash cymbal for a death scene.

Father's dead? Listen to this funky groove!

"Hold Your Tears" from SaGa 3 DS is better at being a mournful tune, but the intruding hi-hat groove that appears at the halfway point still feels a little out of place. This man NEEDS his drums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHTg8kb4vKQ

"Ito, you're banned from writing with drums on sad tracks!"

Ito:

I will probably do a post on Uematsu's work on SaGa, but that post will likely be double the size of this one because he did all of the legendary tracks from Makai Toushi SaGa and a bunch of extremely technical tracks from SaGa 2. I like all of the Ito tracks (besides "Deep in the Dark" from SaGa 2), but Uematsu's are so incredible, they made me the theorist I am today, so I will have to talk about them in great detail.

P.S.: The reason I did not use the full names for the DS remakes is because they are stupidly long. The remake of SaGa 2 is called SaGa 2 Hihou Densetsu: Goddess of Destiny and the SaGa 3 DS remake is called SaGa 3 Jikuu no Hasha: Shadow or Light. Whoever names Square games needs to chill out.

Thanks for reading! It's nice to finally share all this old music research with someone because I have known this stuff since I was like 8 years old. SaGa is an old people game, but I still love it and play the originals today. I think Makai Toushi SaGa aged even better than Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, but the mechanics are not as well documented so I understand why it doesn't get as much attention.

There are a couple of other pieces worth talking about that I left out of this post for brevity's sake. Maybe I will come back and cover them, or maybe I won't. They are really confusing, and I do not feel that I have a full grasp on them still. Go ahead and see which tracks you think they are in the comments.

Good evening,

Evan Davis

All chord charts and diagrams created and owned by me. If you would like to use any of my figures, contact me at evandavispiano@gmail.com for permission.