Roadside Trees Outside the Window – Etrian Odyssey

About game/music

This is “Roadside Trees Outside the Window” from Turn-based RPG “Etrian Odyssey”, developed and published by ATLUS.
This is composed by Yuzo Koshiro.

Etrian Odyssey is a game in which you build a party and conquer dungeons by creating characters by freely choosing from a selection of pre-defined classes, such as warrior or mage etc.
There is no map of the dungeon and you have to draw it yourself, which gives you an feeling of ‘exploring’ despite the low image quality of the Nintendo DS.
Sometimes powerful enemies are placed along the way, so there is a sense of tension as to how to avoid them and proceed.

This music is played in the town, which is the base for conquering the dungeon.

Analyzing

bar 1~8

• Progression like Pachelbel’s Canon. Descending bass with inverted form, using diatonic chords.

bar 12 (0:22)

• It seems to be a secondary chord towards V, but the quality is m7b5 (II9 root omitted) and sounds melancholy.

bar 15~17

• bVI-bVII-I (other TABs include this)
  • Root ascends by a whole tone and resolves to the tonic
  • bVI, bVII are borrowed chords from parallel minor
  • Sometimes called “Mario Cadence”
  • examples;
    • The Amazon – DuckTales
    • Roadside Trees Outside the Window – Etrian Odyssey
    • Ripple Field 2 – Kirby’s Dream Land 3
    • Seabed Diving – Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
    • Rainbow Road – Mario Kart 7
    • Route 203 – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
    • Canalave City – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
    • Battle! (Frontier Brain) – Pokémon Platinum
    • Nacrene City – Pokémon Black/White
    • Believe In Myself – SONIC ADVENTURE 2
    • Seaside Hill – SONIC HEROES
    • Go Quickly! – Sonic Runners
    • World Star – Super Mario 3D World

Original: