YIIK: Electric Soul Archives Music Review

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On February 15, 2025

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When I read the news about the digital EP YIIK: Electric Soul Archives featuring SuperSweep artist Ayako Saso, I leapt for joy! Ayako Saso is one of my all-time favorite composers, but I rarely get to write about her work on RPGFan, as much of her music appears in arcade games (fighters, racers, shmups). Saso, alongside SuperSweep founder Shinji Hosoe, are musicians I wish the world knew more about and celebrated more widely!

This special short album, published by Scarlet Moon Records, contains five tracks. It is largely a recognition and celebration of Saso’s singular contribution to YIIK: A Postmodern RPG alongside its recent I.V content update. Saso brings out one of her signature styles—orchestral EDM—for the battle theme “Struggle with the Fallen Angel.” The rhythm is key for this one: ultra-syncopated 6/8, with a downbeat so hard to find that the average listener is going to get lost in it. When the main melody comes in, I can never anticipate it. I cannot count it or intuit its landing, its sticking point. However, as the layers build and a heavy brass ensemble takes center stage, the rhythmic confusion settles, and suddenly I can perceive. I imagine the battle where I am indeed struggling with a fallen angel, and I have that moment of clarity to strike at a weakness. Exploring this with musicality is just so cool. And, again, it’s indicative of Ayako Saso’s strengths.

Before getting to the arrangements, we have “Lullaby for a Soul” as the second track on this release. This one comes from YIIK composer Andrew Allanson. I am not certain of this song’s context in-game, but I am familiar with Allanson’s work in the full YIIK soundtrack and the recent YIIK I.V updated soundtrack (which effectively doubles the soundtrack’s size from four hours to eight). This piece appears to loosely utilize the melodic motif of “Struggle with the Fallen Angel,” but it isn’t an arrangement or remix. The structure, the additional melodic lines, and the slow 4/4 pace feel much more like the ambient electronic work I would expect to hear from Allanson. This is a strong, slow number.

As for these remixes? All three are quite good. The most tonal and least experimental of the trio is Frank van ‘t Ende’s “Subdued Grievances.” Detecting Saso’s time signature but reframing the pulse, we have a brisk waltz for piano and strings. This arrangement evokes feelings of love and loss, making the song title rather fitting.

The most experimental of the bunch is coda’s “anti-frame residue.” I’ve been following coda‘s work since 2011’s Tree of Knowledge, an original album with surasshu. Most recently, coda did the score for Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER. Looking at the past 15 years, I hear coda’s growth and his composer’s intuition in his latest works. That includes this new arrangement for YIIK. We’re living in quite the time, when coda is arranging Ayako Saso for an indie RPG. What I love about coda’s arrangement is the provocative choice to put the melody in lower octaves, using a synth that I want to call a percussive pan flute. I don’t know what to make of it. It’s weird and wonderful (much like the NEURODIVER soundtrack!). The layers of synth and the occasional surprise sample make this a great arrangement.

With all that said, I’ve saved my favorite for last. Arranger “Jamphibious” (Jordan Michael Reed) is someone unknown to me. But goodness, did he knock it out of the park with his arrangement “Feverdream Future Fragments.” I feel like this arrangement takes a page from Saso’s own capabilities as an arranger (particularly, her work on Cave arrangements like Mushihimesama Futari‘s “Cry! Scream!!”). This remix fully maintains the complexity and chaos of the rhythm in Saso’s original piece, and even elaborates on it with sick, sleek drum machine work. Then, Jamphibious brings in all of these bright synths for the melody: some crystal clear, others blurry and cloudy. It’s just so good! This is the kind of arrangement I would want to appear in a solid rhythm game (DJMax being my preference). Check out this great video accompanied by the Jamphibious arrangement!

So, there you have it. Five tracks total, a lovely digital EP celebrating Ayako Saso as a guest composer on YIIK, an indie RPG still going strong years after its initial release thanks to fantastic content updates. If you enjoy what you’re hearing, know there is so much more to explore across the full YIIK OST and I.V update OST!

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