Edge of Memories Soundtrack Interview: Dynamic Combat, Iconic RPG Collaborations, and Why AI Can’t Replace the Soul

Edge of Memories is the second entry in the series by French developer Midgar Studio, which began with Edge of Eternity back in 2018 with its Early Access release. Doing away with turn-based combat, the new entry in the series will be an action RPG heavily inspired by the Mana series, sporting a colorful cast of characters and a setting that seems ripe for adventure.

While we wait for the Edge of Memories release date announcement, we sat down with the musical minds behind the game: main composer Cédric Menendez, celebrated arranger and composer Mariam Abounnasr (Xenoblade Chronicles), and legendary vocalist Emi Evans (NieR), discussing its dynamic audio systems, their collaborations, and why generative AI can never replace the human soul required to craft an unforgettable soundtrack.

Note: the interview was conducted via email.

Cédric Menendez on Navigating Shifting Worlds and Dynamic Combat

Edge of Memories takes us to the continent of Avaris, a land scarred by the Corrosion. How has the afflicted and decaying nature of this new world influenced your instrumental choices and the overall weight of the soundtrack?

Cédric Menendez: In Edge of Memories, not every environment is corrupted, which creates a sharp musical contrast between different areas. This shift isn't necessarily about changing instruments; it's more about a darker, heavier atmosphere. We added processed vocals to give the orchestra an eerie, organic sound that’s simultaneously disjointed and relentless, as if it’s inexorably spreading.

While Avaris is scarred, the game features a colorful, vibrant aesthetic. How do you convey the tension between this beauty and the encroaching rot through music? Does your diverse background in genres like Metal and Jazz help create these clashing layers?

Cédric Menendez: As I mentioned, corrosion isn’t everywhere. The preserved zones are very vibrant and full of personality. For these locations, I really wanted the music to emphasize the sense of journey and fantasy, shifting between epic crescendos and more poetic moments. Since the soundtrack is dynamic, the transition into a corrupted zone happens smoothly via crossfades, but the vibe itself changes radically.

As for the jazz and metal influences—yes, I think you can definitely hear them in certain themes. Those genres forged who I am as a composer today. Whether it's conscious or not, I’ll always carry some of that DNA into my work.

This title marks a major departure from its predecessor, moving from a turn-based combat system to a high-speed Action RPG. How did you adapt your compositional style to keep up with the more frantic pace of combat?

Cédric Menendez: In Edge of Eternity, we used a more traditional system where the music would swap at the start of a battle, randomly picking from the themes of the characters in your party. For Edge of Memories, we wanted something more organic.

Now, the moment Eline lands her first strike, the music evolves: certain instruments fade out while new layers kick in to give it that epic scale without any cuts or interruptions. It makes the soundtrack feel truly adaptive to the situation.

At Midgar Studio, the audio team is involved as early as pre-production. That’s what allows us to design these sophisticated dynamic systems by working together with the other development departments.

When I played an early build of Edge of Memories during Gamescom last year, I couldn't help but notice how Edge of Memories looks and plays like an entry in Square Enix's Mana series. Has the iconic soundtrack of the series been an influence?

Cédric Menendez: If I understand correctly, you're asking if the Mana series inspired the OST? To be honest, not at all—even if our dynamic combat music system shares some similarities with Visions of Mana. Truth be told, the only entry I’ve played was Secret of Mana on the SNES back in the 90s, and the music didn't leave as big of an impression on me as Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, or The Legend of Zelda did. My real influences for Edge of Memories are more along the lines of NieR, Final Fantasy VI and VII, and The Legend of Zelda.

The game features a dynamic and adaptive soundtrack. Could you walk us through the technical side of how the music transitions between exploration and different intensities of battle? Does every track in the game have these shifting layers?

Cédric Menendez: The music in Edge of Memories is designed to scale with the intensity of the action, whether it’s a standard encounter or the 'Black Beast' mode—which is essentially a 'super' version of Eline.

We use FMOD for this. It’s incredibly useful middleware that lets us script the music based on in-game behavior. As I explained, at the first sword hit, the music evolves while staying on the same theme: tracks layer in and out seamlessly. Technically, Unreal Engine sends a signal to an FMOD event containing the track stems to trigger these changes. When Eline transforms, a new, even more epic layer kicks in. Once the fight ends or you pull away from enemies, the theme smoothly transitions back to its exploration version.

Actually, every exploration theme has its own dedicated combat layers, except for dungeons or corrupted zones. In those places, the music is already dynamic, and the tension is palpable. It’s a bit like the castles in Super Mario World or the Bowser levels in Super Mario 64: the music is already dialed in to let you know you're in for a challenge.

You’ve been the musical heart of Midgar Studio since Hover. How do you feel the sound has evolved from the funky, colorful vibes of that title to the darker fantasy of Edge of Memories?

Cédric Menendez: I’m very open-minded musically. I’ve had the chance to work across all sorts of genres throughout my life—from orchestral and techno to jazz, metal, and reggae.

Every new project is a challenge, and I try my best to adapt to the game’s soul. We’ve also been lucky enough to host some incredible guest composers: Hideki Naganuma on Hover, Yasunori Mitsuda on Edge of Eternity, and Mariam Abounnasr on Edge of Memories.

For the first two, the composers came on board very early in development, so I tried to align my style with theirs. For Edge of Memories, Mariam joined a bit later. Thanks to our past experience, I was able to provide her with a solid audio direction brief, which helped her seamlessly blend into the game's musical universe. She absolutely nailed her tracks—they are gorgeous and fit the spirit of the game perfectly.

Ultimately, we’re gaining more experience and learning from our past mistakes. The evolution of music here at Midgar Studio is happening naturally—we’re always looking at where we came from while keeping our eyes on where we’re going.

Mariam Abounnasr on Intimacy, Instrumentation, and RPG Heritage

You are producing four tracks for Edge of Memories. Did the shift to Action RPG mechanics and the dynamic, adaptive nature of the score change how you approached the arrangement and layering of these specific pieces?

Mariam Abounnasr: I wasn’t particularly conscious of layering while creating the music, but each track is divided into several stem files according to its instrumentation (e.g., a strings file, synths file, three-rhythm file, etc.), which makes the process of layering possible in postproduction.

You are widely celebrated for your work on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3. Is there a specific philosophy or influence from the Xenoblade Chronicles series that you’ve brought into your work for Midgar Studio?

Mariam Abounnasr: Not consciously, however the influence of Japanese RPGs can be found in the art and narrative of Edge of Memories, and perhaps that reflected in how I approached the four tracks.

It has been mentioned in the past that the Xenoblade sound is defined by its sense of scale and distance. In the smaller world of Avaris, did you find yourself intentionally pulling back on grandiosity to create something more intimate or unsettling?

Mariam Abounnasr: I usually don’t make any comparisons between titles, in this case between Edge of Memories and the Xenoblade Chronicles series, as the settings are totally different. Speaking about Edge of Memories, considering how filled with unease its world is, bringing an unsettling quality into the music felt natural, and using less instruments in some of the tracks naturally gave them a feeling of intimacy. I never meant to tone down in grandiosity, but having a full orchestra wasn’t necessary for expressing the epic nature of Edge of Memories.

Since you are working alongside Cédric Menendez, how did you ensure your four tracks felt like a seamless part of the larger OST while still maintaining your unique compositional identity?

Mariam Abounnasr: I listened to some of Cédric’s compositions beforehand to make sure that I was heading in the same direction as he was. Aside from that, I didn’t particularly try to adapt to his compositional style, but I believe the four tracks work well with the rest of the music.

Unrelated to this project, you have also worked on new arrangements for legendary Xenogears and Xenosaga tracks. How was the experience of revisiting music from classics that are so beloved even decades after their release?

Mariam Abounnasr: It’s always an honor to be a part of projects like that, yet frightening at the same time. I usually try to be careful in what sort of arrangement I do. Balancing out what fans want to hear and what I would want to do with the music is always a challenge—sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t—but I always work on these projects with a deep sense of respect.

Emi Evans on Vocal Performance and Personal Collaborations

Your voice is often described as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual. Since Eline is a Soul Whisperer, does your singing represent her specific power to communicate with and heal the Corroded?

Emi Evans: I'm very honored to have my voice described in such a way! However, while I was recording for Edge of Memories, I wasn't specifically thinking about Eline being a Soul Whisperer or trying to represent her power. I just felt the music, loved it, and poured my own emotional interpretation into the vocals.

You’re providing vocals in both English and Japanese for this soundtrack. Can you tell us how many tracks we can expect to hear your voice on?

Emi Evans: I am singing on 8 tracks in total! 2 are in Japanese, 1 is going "aah," and the rest are in English. I really adore some of these tracks and can't wait for the world to hear them!

Did you have a hand in writing the lyrics or did you work with lyrics written by someone else?

Emi Evans: In this project, I asked my close singer friend SAK to write the lyrics in Japanese, and for the English lyrics, I chose to ask my poetic Dad to help me as I felt this project would resonate with him. This collaboration with my close friend and Dad made these songs feel all the more personal and dear to me.

How challenging is it to maintain the same emotional resonance when handling multiple languages (or invented ones), especially for a single character's journey?

Emi Evans: I didn't find any challenge in this at all, or rather I didn't really think about it! What was important for me was just to feel and love each track I sang—and if I could do this, then everything else, including emotional resonance, would just happen naturally.

Many fans, including myself, feel the first NieR and its sequel wouldn't have been nearly as memorable without your ethereal performance, which manages to deliver haunting tension in tracks like Snow in Summer, and melancholy in Shadowlord as well as uplifting joy in Hills of Radiant Winds. How does it feel knowing your voice has become a shorthand for emotional weight in the RPG genre, and almost the benchmark for delivering true emotion with vocals?

Emi Evans: I am so humbled and delighted to think that my voice has been heard by so many people and inspired and influenced others. I don't think I have done much other than sing in a way that is true to myself, but if that has touched other people's lives in a positive way, then I feel that everything has been worthwhile and am all the more determined to continue singing my heart out!

The Grand Finale and the Generative AI Debate

The Edge of Memories' musical journey culminates in a theme by the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda. Did the theme by Mitsuda-san act as the basis for the entire project's harmonic language, or did he compose his piece based on the world Cédric had already built? Did you all coordinate to ensure the rest of the soundtrack builds the tension and emotion toward that final piece?

Cédric Menendez: This song is actually the ending credits theme for the game. I think it’s one of the most important tracks, because when you finish a deeply narrative game like an Edge of title, you don't really want to leave that universe. You need to give the player the most beautiful melody possible. And honestly, what could be more beautiful or exciting than a collaboration between Yasunori Mitsuda, Emi Evans, and SAK for the lyrics? Nothing! Mitsuda-san composed a truly marvelous song; it aligns perfectly with the game's overall musical direction, while fully showcasing his immense talent and experience. He is a true master!

Nowadays, much of the conversation around AI focuses on visual artists, but musicians and vocalists are facing the same existential risks, with the proliferation of AI music and entire fake AI bands that, effectively, do not exist. As creators who put immense soul into your work, how do you feel about this? Do you believe AI could be used as a creative tool in music without stripping away that emotional connection that still makes it a worthwhile pursuit?

Cédric Menendez: I believe that viewing AI as a tool is a positive thing, but not as a tool for generating art. While it might be useful for rough drafts, the musical quality is still far, far behind that of real composers. And when it comes to vocalists, it’s even worse, in my opinion.

I think people will soon move past this 'AI hype.' AI is simply a means for certain individuals to maximize profits by removing humans from the creative process, but it makes no sense. Art cannot exist without humanity.

Thanks for your time!

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