One listen.

I started off just describing the instrumentation. That’s fine. I ran into trouble early and tried to stretch beyond that which may not have worked best here based on how I started. Still, overall this represents some of the song well enough.

Yasunori Mitsuda’s (光田 康典) “Brink of Time” (“時の最果て”) is from Chrono Trigger‘s soundtrack, Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version.

Edit: Looking through stuff today and just found out I did this song twice. Never realised due to a misspelling. I’ve added the first one (done on the 23rd of April, 2023) and in italics here and deleted the prior post so as to have a comparison in one place. I think doing so helps to highlight differences in how much I was struggling to write.

This was one listen that I kind of threw myself into. I’m pretty familiar with Chrono Trigger; nowhere near as much as a lot of people out there, but familiar enough through playing it a fair bit over the years. As such I’d like to believe that I have a fairly good idea of where a number of the songs are used.

I tried to write more about the feelings related to when “Brink of Time” plays. It still represents the song but it very loosely covers some of the scenes also. I think I could’ve drawn out much more had I written this over a few listens, but as a brief coverage I think this works well enough.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Strums float in a still silence, forming the only motion for a few seconds. The next round keys play a spaced motion that wavers up and down with a few brief pauses. The next round what could be plucked strings provide a sort of lower build on the melody, and then all shift.

Keys and strings here take on more motion, slowly weaving their way through the space, gently, steadily, dragging out and then all returns to the start.

The melody of course flows on and it seems like movement in stillness, and it seems small, perhaps, but growing, and then it returns to the moment of more motion.

Once more the sounds move forward and they seem to ask a question but hold a sense of peace as a moment for thought during rest, and the sounds draw on and keep going until once more a return to the start for everything to fade out and end.

A sense of poignancy rings out on these light steps. Upon the sound a story heaviness comes forward and continues floating and permeating as more instrumentation comes in. The sounds dip low, almost as a reinforcement and reinforce they do.

Once more the light steps are on their own and once more it is only for a brief passage, and once more the poignancy carries as sounds return. However, within it all hope to succeed and carry on to something greater, that challenges that weight and sheds it comes forward, and it carries on into what lies beyond as the sounds fade out and the song ends.