I couldn’t resist listening to this spine-tingling choral piece at least once each time I loaded Panzer Dragoon Saga during the 30 to 40 captivating hours (over the space of what can’t have been more than about a fortnight) or so it took me to complete it.
Ecce Valde Generous Ale (or Behold the Precious Wings to translate it from the Latin) sets the mood perfectly for the sombre yet majestic, other-worldly atmosphere of Team Andromeda’s stunning 1998 fantasy RPG.
Saori Kobayashi and Mariko Nanba produced some extraordinary (mostly chip-generated rather than the real orchestra employed here) music for Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG (as the game is known in its native Japan) – not to mention a host of other Sega works – although many of my favourite pieces from the series as a whole are still from Panzer Dragoon Zwei (1996), which used a different team of composers.
Turn your speakers up and let the timeless ethereal beauty of this one wash over you.