ReMix:Skies of Arcadia "Black Moon" 5:14

More from Arcadia Legends as PrototypeRaptor (Jonathan Paulsen) takes "Gigas' Theme" down a dark, suspenseful, & charred hybrid/cinematic trap avenue, with sinister synths, unnerving ambient FX, swirling orchestral components, and then some. PR didn't send comments for his track, but Darkflamewolf (additional album comments) has some additional thoughts on the album:

"I never owned a Dreamcast, being a Nintendo fanboy at heart. However, I did own a Nintendo GameCube and I was intrigued by the game Skies of Arcadia Legends after it was advertised in my Nintendo Power subscription. It was an enhanced port with more content for the GameCube and, since I was on a huge RPG binge at the time, this looked right up my alley. What I played would changed my young adult life. Amidst all the dark, dreary, depressing, emo RPGs that spawned as a result of the uber-popular Final Fantasy VII, this RPG flew completely under the radar with its expertly used cliche storm and upbeat & happy characters. There was a sense of daring-do, brave exploration, and an overall message of doing what's right when everything else tells you no. It was a breath of fresh air in a sea of RPG copycats.

The gameplay and story weren't the only things that lingered long after I had finished playing the game; the music left an indelible mark on my psyche. To this day, I can't get the fantastic tunes and songs out of my head. So when I looked around to see what OC ReMix albums were out there, I was shocked and disappointed that there wasn't one for Skies of Arcadia. Reading up on the rules and regulations about such albums, I saw no restriction that I couldn't start one myself. So, a little over three years ago, a virtual nobody in the OC ReMix community, I decided to start my own album to bringing this music to Arcadia and video game music fans everywhere!

What floored me was how unknown this game was. Even though it has its rabid fans and devotees, the game was largely unheard of. Almost every remixer I polled either had not heard of the game, had not played it or simply wasn't interested in arranging a track for a game they were not familiar with. It was disheartening for the first year trying to gather a huge array of remixers to arrange for what basically amounted to an "underdog album." This was not the sort of album that people were clamouring for, but it would definitely be appreciated by those who enjoyed the game and its music.

So, I pressed onward, gaining both a co-director and art director in the form of Modus when I pinged him to remix a track. He had long since left the remixing scene, but was delighted to lend his talents in other capacities and has proven beyond useful in all respects. I could not have done this project without him. And only just a year ago, we got our sound director in the form of Rotten Eggplant whom pinged us with samples of his work after stumbling across our album project. After that, we became a trio that pushed onward to see this to completion. Some major shoutouts to several remixers who went above and beyond the call of duty to provide either one or more tracks and assist other remixers in the creation of other tracks: Deedubs and Jorito! But every single remixer did a fantastic job bringing their unique individuality to the album!

Over the three years, I have experienced great highs and quite a few lows with regards to project tempo, progress, outlook, and more. It has been a wild adventure and a crazy trip for my first time directing an OC ReMix album and quite an ambitious one at that! I wouldn't trade that experience for the world and if I had to do it all over again, I'd probably pick a smaller project! Regardless, this was an album I felt the world needed and I dedicate this to all the fans of this beloved, cult classic game. And remember: "Impossible is just a word people use to make themselves feel better when they quit." I'm glad I didn't quit this! Enjoy the music, everyone!"

What a journey; DFW's efforts to make Arcadia Legends happen are truly proof-of-concept that you don't need to be an established artist within the OCR community to initiate & ultimately complete an album project - and a pretty big one, at that!

As for this mix, Jonathan turns in a dark, raw, suspenseful cinematic trap mix - it's not FAR off from what I was *trying* to go for with "The Usurper Queen" from Window to the Stars, sans harpsichord but with more formidable production oomph :) It's cool to see how quickly a *relatively* new genre like trap has been effectively blended with other genres, showing how its staple components are flexible enough to absorb different textures & styles, and PR has always been ultra-adept at incorporating influences while keeping the "edge" of an arrangement razor-sharp. Larry Oji writes:

"I love hearing P-Raptor back on the front page. The original "Gigas' Theme" has a tense, cinematic vibe; Jon retained the tension, but I'm all about how grimy and sinister this is now!"

Roger that; as Larry says, it's wonderful to see Jon back in the OCR spotlight, he always brings creativity coupled with precision & power, and this mix adds sinister, enveloping modernity to Gigas' theme and to Arcadia Legends - enjoy!