[Wild Arms 2 Opening Full Version
Amancio Mccrae
Advanced Wind is the opening theme song for Wild Arms 3, with multiple different versions playing throughout the game depending on the player's progress. composed by Michiko Naruke, with Japanese vocals provided by Kaori Asoh and English vocals provided by British-American vocalist Samantha Newark.
The first time the song can be heard during gameplay is at any time the player loads a data file that was saved before Chapter 1. Here, the melody is being whistled instead of vocalized. The animation that plays during both the prologue and the first chapter both feature a segment with characters Virginia Maxwell and Janus Cascade having a duel, a sort of "quick-draw" showdown in the middle of a town.
Any file data that was saved between the prologue and the second chapter will have this version of Advanced Wind play once loaded from the Playstation 2 memory card, with the specific lyricization in the table below. Again, the stand-off between Virginia and Janus makes for another commonality between the Prologue and the first chapter, which still sets them both apart from the remaining chapters' opening animations.
The first and second chapters both share the same lyrics, although there is a sequence during the animation of Janus in his new demon form, as well as the three Prophets serving as this chapters main antagonists. After a certain point in the chapter, a segment featuring Asgard is added to this.
It is during the third chapter that the second verse of lyrics plays, as well as the villain party featuring in the animated segment. Here, the Prophets appear as their demonized forms, along with the Metal Demon Sigfried as this chapter's main antagonists. They replace Janus, who was killed at the end of the second chapter, and Asgard, who is temporarily missing in action.
The lyrics change one final time for this portion of the game, and the same goes for the animation. These particularly lyrics are written in a very butchered English, in what seems to have been an attempt to translate the lyrics from their original language.
Concerning the animation, the characters featured include the Schroedinger Family, consisting of Maya Schredinger, Alfred Schredinger, Todd Dukakis and Shady Thousand are featured, moreso as rivals than as out-and-out enemies or antagonists, while Beatrice features as the true and final antagonist of the overall story.
The full version is available on the franchise's alone the world album, and is basically a mix of the first verse used in Chapters 1 & 2, and the second verse sung in Chapter 3, with a western leitmotif connecting the two.
For the North American localization of the game, all vocals were provided by singer Samantha Newark, and all four chapters past the prologue have this song playing. However, none of the tracks featuring Newark's voice were released onto any of the game's official soundtracks or albums proper.
When I write my books, I often compile a soundtrack of music that inspires me or brings to mind particular scenes, characters, or events. For Polychrome I ended up with quite an extensive one, some of which were integral to my writing of certain scenes. Here is the soundtrack list in its final form!
Run For Your Life: Opening theme from Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis. An interesting game, and a tune that I originally wasn't sure I liked, but it ended up getting stuck in my head. Now I envision an entire anime-style opening for Polychrome when I hear it. If only I was an animator...
Opening Music, FFXII: Final Fantasy has often had lovely music; this opening for FF12 is no exception. For Polychrome, it evinces first the beauty and peace of Ozma's Oz, a place of wonder and marvels and safety... and then segues into the march of armies, and finally ending with a few notes of hope.
A Storm's Coming: The time of the Prophecy is come, and finally the Lord of Rainbows begins to act. From Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture. No link because it appears all copies of the soundtrack have been removed from YouTube. Unfortunate. This is a very short piece, either the first or second track on the album.
The Doctor's Theme -- Season 4: Alone in the night, Erik searches desperately... and in a last-moment burst of inspiration, finds the key to wonder in the glory of a city at night. From Doctor Who, the 4th season.
Totoro Theme II: Welcome to Pingaree, the island kingdom watched over by the Sea Fairies. From My Neighbor Totoro, one of Miyazaki's finest works. Unfortunately, all versions of this song appear to have been removed from YouTube. It's a soundtrack worth getting if you can find it, though.
Super Strength: Kaliko is impressed by Erik's survival of his gantlet, but has one more test: how will he rescue Princess Zenga from a seemingly unstoppable trap? "She doesn't need ME to save her." The supernal power of the Blue Pearl versus the steam-engine power of the Nome Kingdom! From Two Steps from Hell: Invincible.
One of the Living: His ship destroyed, with twenty miles or more to Oz, Erik must walk through the deadliest land in Faerie to reach his final goal... if he can live that long. From Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
Remember Us: Polychrome stands before the Armies of Faerie, and in speaking to them, finds her true voice, calling forth their courage and will, to stand against a force that may destroy them all. From the movie 300.
The Battle: The Armies of Faerie, led by Polychrome, Erik, Ruggedo, Nimbus, and Zenga, confront the Armies of the Usurpers in the battle for Oz. From The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first of the Narnia motion pictures.
The Greatest Story Never Told: The stage is set and the final act begins; first Erik bargains with the Usurpers for the lives of his friends, and especially Polychrome. "If only she is safe." With the word sworn, the ritual begins (at about 1:47), with Amanita Verdant closing in with the chanting of her spirits. The blade is raised, and driven down -- but not into its true target; at 2:50, Erik Medon cradles the dying Princess of the Rainbow in his arms and realizes too late that what he felt, she shared. Ugu stays Amanita's hand so that she might prepare anew, and lets the two have their single kiss (at 4:11). Polychrome breathes her last with a final command to Erik, who asks how he can do that, when they have just ripped out his... And comes to the true realization of what the prophecy means (4:57). "Come," says Ugu. "Let us end it." "Oh, we'll end this, all right," Erik whispers, at 5:17, "but not the way you think." He calls upon the power of Ozma, in the name of a mortal man bathed in his heart's blood, and is answered. "Ward thyself, Amanita; THIS is our moment of reckoning!" From Doctor Who Season 4.
Stigmata: The Pyramid is shattered and from it Ozma emerges; her sympathy is rejected by Erik, who fears it will destroy all the control he has left. "For now... FINISH THIS." The Final Battle is joined, from the first testing of powers to the final fall of Amanita Verdant. "You are... already dead." Final battle music from Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis.
Love's Theme: "The hero deserves at least ONE wish, don't you think?" And Erik is reunited with Polychrome. Yes, it's a cheesy 70s tune, but a very pretty one I think. I was surprised to also find there are orchestral versions that aren't as cheesy, but not uploaded -- and somehow none of them quite capture the spirit of the original, despite the waka-waka guitar in the background.
Experts of Justice: The Kingdom of the Rainbow and all her allies are assembled as Polychrome and Erik are married before the very eyes of the Above. From the magnificent OVA series Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still.
Yeah, I can't name the amount of "American opening/ending themes" for games I'd love to have on a official disc... Wild Arms and Mega Man Legends have great localized ending themes that have never and probably will never grace an official CD.
Oh, you're saying they just cut out the lyrics for the U.S. version to accomodate the xenophobes? *sigh* They couldn't have put an instrumental-only version on the single along with the vocalized version, could they? What a drag...not that I hate Japanese vocals, it's just that I've gotten so used to the instrumental-only version...
Why should they fine tune their products for a market they really don't seem too concerned about penetrating... it be a waste of resources if you looked at it from a business angle. I know of a few instances where they have they have modified products for other markets but it's always few and far between.
The US opening was specifically made for the US version of the game (and even none of the people who did the original track were involved), and that after both the Japanese game and the Japanese soundtrack were already released for a long time. Of course the newly made music can't travel back in time to be included on the already released Japanese soundtrack/single/whatever as well.
Hey, if you want the Wild Arms 3rd English songs (Wings, Advanced Wind and Only the Night Sky Knows, at least), I have them. The singer, Samantha Newark, had them up on her site a while ago (oddly enough, marked as Dark Cloud 2 songs, which made it hard for me to find out what they actually were). Haven't got anything for the rest of the series though.
Thanks for the offer but I'm not really big of fan of WA3's vocal themes as I am those that where in WA2 and I'm pretty content with what I currently own/have as far as WA music goes. Still, I personally have no problem listening to vocal themes with Japanese lyrics even if I can't understand them... a song can still be quite beautiful even if you can't understand a single word. Actually, sometimes a song feels pretty empty when they take the Japanese vocals out during localization... I honestly can't listen to WA2's "You're Not Alone..." without the vocals.
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