I am ready to jam on August 14, Corset Day. Someone came up with a corset fortune reading on this day. If the flab that was pushed out of the corset was heart-shaped, your luck is good. If the flab was ball-shaped, your luck is bad. For most people, this fortune reading turns out bad, so I don’t trust it one bit.
Previously on Wild Arms 3: Chapter 3 complete!
It is a sad side effect of the construction of these Let’s Plays that I very rarely discuss the music involved in a game. Without delving too far into how an official Goggle Bob Co. Let’s Play is designed and rolled off the assembly line, understand that by the time I am actually writing about some particular section of the game, it has likely been months since I played that portion. And, since I often dice up and catalogue these screenshots while my computer is muted and I have my television streaming some random nonsense (currently rewatching Gravity Falls!), the first and last time I ever hear music and gameplay together is “early” in the whole process. If I want to jam along with a particular dungeon, I ultimately have to go out of my way to do it.
And never mind that there are usually about ten thousand things to cover over the course of the Let’s Play anyway. How am I supposed to take time out for tunes when I already must choose between discussing battle systems or lesbian overtures!? Bah!
So let’s take a break from all that to talk about the music of Wild Arms 3. And, since music is subjective as hell, I am just going to be looking at my favorite songs from the soundtrack. This is my Let’s Play! You deal with that!
I am going to attempt to link to Youtube uploads of these tracks. If the links rot, or some random song is secretly Never Gonna Give You Up, I accept zero responsibility. Go find your own Wild Arms 3 soundtrack!
… Which you actually can within the game. There is a complete "sound test" at the bar in Little Rock. However, all the tracks have extremely nondescriptive titles like “BATTLE_03” and whatnot. Additionally, their order in the game-based soundtrack is founded on “purpose”, so we’re going to go with the official soundtrack listings today. As that soundtrack more or less follows the chronology of the Wild Arms 3’s plot advancing, we are going to start with…
Advanced Third
Here is what plays on the title screen, so I have heard it ten thousand times. It is appropriately exciting, and uses trumpets, which was used to great effect in Wild Arms 2, too. It is also only a minute long, which is appreciated when you start reviewing an entire RPG soundtrack.
From Beyond
One of the many dungeon themes in Wild Arms 3. I can close my eyes and see random protagonists using tools…
Gunmetal Action
There may be a lot of general dungeon themes, but there is only one main “random battle” theme. This was well before RPG battle themes could be more dynamic to accompany the actual flow of battle, but it does seem generally timed to work with a “contemplative” starting menu of choosing your moves, and then the actual fight starting. Whatever the case, it is appropriately peppy for smooshing giant bugs.
Scars of Leftover Memories
Our second dungeon theme. I feel like this one has more of a “you are definitely solving puzzles” vibe. I want to say this one is very distinctly tied to the “memories” of Ruins of Memories, but also appears elsewhere.
Blood, Tears, and the Dried-up Wasteland
One of the boss themes. The start of this track now just makes me think “remember to use a Lucky Card”. Like the main battle theme, it has a sort of “plot” that picks up at the :50 mark when the battle should really be kicking into gear. By 1:15 or so, it is downright menacing.
That Which One Aspires to and Seizes
WA3 basically has three modes: dungeon, fight, and cutscene. This is one of the cutscene songs. No, I cannot recall exactly when it is used. Probably when Virginia first takes the stage as a drifter that will fight for justice at the end of Chapter 1? Whatever the case, it is triumphant as hell (heaven), so we’re giving it a listen.
Long Days of Rest
What would an RPG be without memorable town themes? … Probably Xenosaga. But still! This is a fun little ditty to listen to while talking to random people and hoping at least one of those bookcases contains useful information.
Let’s Run Around, Let’s Look Over There
Much like Super Mario Bros. 3’s “Running”, the title of this track tells you everything you need to know. I believe this theme is deliberately reprised every time you enter a dungeon that involves Maya and her family…
Flying in the Midst of the Storm
This is technically more cutscene music (traditionally used for good times), but the opening vocal bit of some dudes belting out the main theme acapella is not heard in the game proper. I mean, it might be in there, but I would have noticed if it was at all featured, and doesn’t happen during some distracting important event. Whatever the case, this one wins for something I like listening to divorced from actually playing Wild Arms 3. Because I can’t get enough WA3, apparently.
Wild Bunch
Wild Bunch is the (well, "a") theme of Maya and her gang, and also the name of their Triple Tech during their final battle. Not my favorite song, but “goofy team theme” would get on this list even if it wasn’t associated with my favorite side characters. And I think I hear something about “wetting the sofa” in those few words spoken?
Migratory/Wandering Bird-Scoundrels
The main overworld theme is confusingly named. Wild Arms 3 is the kind of game where you can spend a lot of time on the world map if you don’t know exactly where you’re going, so it is good that the theme of wandering around the wastelands is so… whistle-y. That’s the way you do it. My only issue is that it is basically a 1:30 loop, and you are going to spend a lot more than a continuous minute on that world map.
Scenery Called ”Everyday”
Another town theme. I like this one better than the other one. I think it has just enough rhythmic clapping.
A Person’s Warmth
This is the theme for the Secret Garden area. As a result, it is, essentially, another town theme. If the title of the track is the thesis for the song, it nails it. This is a very “warm” ditty.
Losing One’s Way in Darkness
This is my favorite dungeon theme. It deeply reminds me of Wild Arms 2 songs, and sounds just “mechanical” enough to be appropriate for when the Prophets start rearing their pseudo-science heads. Just a shame it has to be associated with that damn sand sewer…
The Stage is full of miscast people
You can tell that Wild Arms 3 is good, because it has multiple themes for its resident “comical” characters. Another Maya theme, this one occurring more often with “here comes trouble” scenes wherein Maya introduces her latest kooky plan. You can feel how badly the whole thing wants to underscore Bulk and Skull. This theme would go on to graduate high school, get a masters, and then become the Goron theme for Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.
That’s Just a Rumor
And this is the song for when Maya actually successfully pulls something off. Or maybe when our team decides to rescue her? Whatever the case, it is an excellent mixture of “goofy” and “we’re gonna go kick some ass”.
There’s only one family named Schrödinger
This song is probably about cats or something.
You Look Defeated when Sad
Despite the title, this is not the Game Over theme. This is the tune that plays in Virginia’s head every time she gets sad about dad. It’s sad dad song. It incorporates the main theme, but is slow and contemplative. Virginia would appreciate its place on this list.
Bad Guys and Bad Land
The official town theme for the “shady” town, Little Twister. You might hear this one for a while as you shuffle around your inventory for sale at the Black Market. Other than that, you will probably forget about it pretty quickly.
Ready Lady Gunner
This is the “happy” version of You Look Defeated when Sad. Considering it is once again a variation on the main theme, we may as well identify “the main theme” as “Virginia’s theme”. Virginia must enjoy whistling, too.
Crossfire Sequence
Our second boss theme. I don’t feel like this one does a lot to distinguish itself musically from the previous theme, but it is ringing in my mind as a familiar tune for gunning down giant monsters.
Fate Breaker
If you’ve got a dungeon that could marginally be described as “radical”, it will be assigned Fate Breaker as the theme. This sounds like something that could come out of a sentai show… or at least accompany a group of heroes saving the day. Which is technically what happens all the time in Wild Arms 3…
Black as Sin Red as Blood
The Prophet boss battle theme. Complete with that… sound at the start, this is otherworldly for the bad guys that are literally being rejected by your mother planet. Remember when they used to have that little alien guy follow them around everywhere? Whatever happened to him? … Oh, we killed him? Sorry, forgot.
Puzzle Maniac 2000
This is the theme for all the Millenium Puzzles. This is a fun little song for doing what is essentially Geometry homework, but I would have been happier with something longer than three minutes. You could spend hours on those puzzles…
Higher than can be carried by Wings
This is the air battle theme. It follows the same “battle theme” pattern of having a sort of intro before getting into the proper fighting bits. It could work as a land battle theme, but it does feel vaguely flighty.
Lightning Blade in the Blue Sky
The normal flying theme. Given how the radar system works, you are either going to hear this song continuously for seventeen minutes as you circumvent the globe over and over again, or it is going to cut in and out as you land, fly, and land again repeatedly to find your exact destination. Any RPG that makes the airship theme and overworld theme one in the same to avoid interruption is making the correct choice. Sorry, Wild Arms.
The Weight of a Heavy Life, The Meaning of the Meaning of Life
Hey, it’s no The Weight of the World, but we just didn’t have the technology for that back then. It’s pretty alright.
Walking into the Heart of the Sunset’s Light
One of the cutscene songs that works on a sort of crescendo. It must have been difficult to properly time music to cutscenes back in the day when a player could advance dialogue at any speed.
Have you told your beloved ”SAYONARA”
Kiss your loved ones goodbye, because Siegfried is big and scary. Also: complete with the signs that are seen in various locales, nobody on Filgaia speaks Japanese. I wonder if the implication of “SAYONARA” is that that is a demon dialect…
A Party So Long As the Stars Exist
Now we are getting into music that has not technically appeared in the Let’s Play yet (insomuch as music appears in this Let’s Play at all). This is the theme of the pseudo-ending that kicks off this coming chapter. At around the :45 mark, it moves into a very cool, subtly victorious bit. Aways happy when it gets to that part on its infinite loop.
Only You Can Cross Your Own Barriers
Get ready for some spooky music as we deal with a dream demon through Chapter 4! Uh… Spoilers!
Succubus Princess
Really spooky! Like, finale of Breath of Fire 1 spooky!
If You Reach Your Dream
And speaking of older RPGs, this is a Final Fantasy 4-ass final dungeon theme. Whether you are on the moon or in a nightmare castle, apparently there are similar sounds to use.
The End of the Beginning
In what will soon be the end, it all comes back to whistling. Please whistle along as we now enter the finale of Wild Arms 3.
But don’t worry. I’m sure everything is going to turn out fine.
Next time on Wild Arms: “But I wanted to have an adventure, too!”