Nintendo of America has published a blog entry from Octopath Traveler composer Yasunori Nishiki.

Nishiki explained in his first blog entry what inspired him to compose Octopath Traveler’s main theme. The main theme was one of the hardest music for Nishiki to compose, as it was rejected the first time.

Listen to a preview of the main theme here.

Check out Nishiki’s full comments below.

“For our inaugural entry in this deep dive into the music of Octopath Traveler, I’d like to talk about the main theme.

 The main theme is the “face” of the game, as it were, but I can tell you that  this one didn’t come out easily. Thinking back, all I can really remember is how much I struggled with this—that’s how much pressure I felt having  to compose the main theme of this game.

 At the point I wrote this, I had already finished about half the songs from  the game. We recorded the whole soundtrack in two sessions, and I composed  this theme just before the first session. I remember spending about a month composing something, tossing it out, and so on over and over again.

 It took me about two weeks to compose my first version of the theme, which—after agonizing for  quite some time—I  decided to submit as my initial draft. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very well received. I remember thinking to myself, “Yikes…I really messed this one up, didn’t I?”  And so I was given five days to submit a second draft. Which I did, but  again, the response was…less than enthusiastic.

 To be honest, at this point I was in complete disarray. It was like I was  lost in the woods, with no clue of how I could emerge with a completed piece.  I mentioned this in my Famitsu  interview as well, but I honestly considered resigning from the project (even  though I’d already composed half the soundtrack!).

 So I asked for a one-day extension. I had a feeling that I’d just get even  more lost if I tried to start over from scratch, so I presented the idea of trying to combine the first and second versions into a third draft. On top of that, I structured it so that the melody repeated, helping it to stick in your head as much as possible, and the theme you hear today finally came  together.

 The main theme that I arrived at after this long road starts off in the key  of C, with a melody taken from the first draft of the piece. The original version had more of an extended intro, but I decided to cut it and have  players hear the main melody right from the start.

 The string melody that follows is from the second draft. It has a hint of melancholy while also being full of hope. I’m quite pleased with it, and I’m glad I was able to preserve it in the final version.

 After this comes a trumpet melody that’s also used in the victory fanfare (the lead-in to the victory fanfare is from the original draft, while the  part that loops after is from the second draft).

 After this, the melody from the first draft returns, this time in the key of D-flat—this is the intentional repetition I mentioned above.

 Transposing it up a semitone, we bring back the melody with even more spirit and energy. We then repeat the melody once more with an added fill to make a further impression, then bring the piece home with the ending. I was asked to make a lavish (but not too long) ending that would be suitable for trailers  and the like, and this is how it turned out.

 And that’s the main theme. While it was a struggle all the way, when I listen to it playing now at the character selection screen, I feel it really evokes the feeling of these eight travelers and their journeys. I guess it’s a good  thing I didn’t quit the project after all, haha.”