World Map Music?
So I'm sure this has been debated before and I know it will be debated again, but here's a question I figured I'd throw out to everyone in this community.
Do you consider the world theme in FFVII to be Cloud's theme, do you see it more of a game theme, or just map music and nothing else? I don't think there is anything that officially states it as Cloud's theme, and as we all know, so long as SE hasn't explicitly stated something (and even sometimes if they have), there is always room for interpretation :p
It could be no. "Blue Fields" is certainly not Squall's theme--nor does it appear anywhere in the game besides on the world map. The world theme from IX is a variation on "Melodies of Life," thus making it far more closely associated with Garnet than with Zidane, and even though X does not have a world theme, as it doesn't have a world map, while both variations on Yuna's Theme and To Zanarkand appear as location music, the only time Tidus' Theme is re-used is in conjunction with Blitzball. In X-2 a more high energy version of Yuna's Ballad is used as location music, however as Uematsu did not write the music for X-2 it can't really be counted. I'm not as familiar with the early generation FF games so I can't speak for those, but of the later generation games, there is no reason to believe that the world music should have anything to do with the main character.
As a counter-point, however. Within the game, the World Theme is recycled several times. In "Ahead On Our Way," it is more of a prelude to the main world theme, however both "Holding My Thoughts In My Head" and, more specifically, "Who Am I?" are very closely associated with Cloud's character--in "World Crisis," both Tifa's and Aerith's theme come back, woven in and out of the world theme--the characters have all long since left the world map, and the girls' themes play as focus is given to some significance of their characters, should the same not also be said for Cloud? The World Theme was also used as the credits music for Advent Children, and as AC had little to do with Cloud's adventures roaming the planet, it would make more sense from a design standpoint to choose music associated with a particular character or theme from the *movie,* than to simply draw out nostalgia for the game. Furthermore, both Zidane and Tidus have themes that are very clearly free-standing of the world theme to break away possibly association, and while Squall does not have his own, I would more closely associate him with 'Love Grows' or 'Ami' before 'Blue Fields.' The only other non-character song that focuses mainly on Cloud's part of the story line is 'Anxious Heart,' as it plays in his hometown--but that could almost hold as much significance for Tifa as it does for Cloud.
So, the long and short of it, I consider the World Theme of FFVII to be Cloud's Theme--what does everyone else think?
I love the use of lietmotif in scoring for movies and games, and I love how Uetmatsu has utilized this, so if anyone ever wants to discuss FF music, give me a shout :)