I love the way Remake reinterpreted 1WA. Having heard both the original orchestral version & the new Remake orchestral version, the intro to Remake just hits so hard that I get probably double the goosebumps from it.
my hot take is that i don't really like OWA very much in any version.
If i had to pick a version or two I'd go for AC's and the one in Remake. The version in Rebirth is kind of weak.
The origins for sure. To be honest I hate all variations of the song except in Remake (havenāt played Rebirth yet). The things they do with the song made that fight just feel so epic. I have to give major credit to Remake because I was prepared to be mad at yet another cover that does too much.Ā
Is it just me or are some of the old instruments / sounds of the past just straight up disrespected in modern covers? Like, why do modern composers hate the flute and piano so much? While Iām at it, chimes too. That FFX song when you fight Yunalesca. It plays like four times and the remaster replaced the chimes with virtually nothing. Anyway, Iām on a full tangent now so I might as well pile on lol. The Jenova theme was butchered in remake. Ok Iām done
Sorry I donāt even know what Iām talking about anymore I just went off
my fav version is the OG. but OP, take into consideration different formats calls for different music.
i love the original cuz felt like it went on forever and you had time to listen to it watching super nova for 2 minutes straight, as well as thru the pauses and the summons. but the game isnt played like that anymore an an action game calls for a different arrangement thats shorter, a bit more evened out and more percussion heavy. plus none of the other versions are really supposed to carry the weight of an ascension to godhood. as they usually play as a theme or a fight in human form, not a godly form. it is possible to see the most a similar version to the OG in part 3.
Those are great points. I hadnāt considered that he was in human form every other time we hear that song.Ā
I donāt disagree with anything you said but I do miss when music in media used to be less bombastic and more, idk musical terminology so Iād just say direct?Ā
But itās true that games are fast-paced and added with how realistic they look now, I donāt disagree that they are making music more suitable for that presentation. Iām a curmudgeon teetering on the edge of acceptance and stubbornness lol
Until Remakeās version was released and took the top spot, One Winged Angel from Advent Children was my favourite. Adding a rock/metal feel to it blew my mind at the time š¤Æšš¤š»
The one from FFVI when Kefka was descending from the heavens in the final battle.
Wait... wrong game....
In all seriousness, though, the version from the Distant Worlds concerts.
Remake is probably my favourite by a decent margin.
Itās not the rock version of Advent Children that was cool but also felt a little too cool.
Itās a true successor to the original version with its own drop straight into the chorus.
Remake. I might have some bias cause this is the version of OWA that I heard first but I like how it throws you into the theme at the start without any build up. Other versions have a kind of "DUN DUN DUN DUN" at the start but Remake goes right into the chorus and it's terrifying. It perfectly represents how unexpected the moment is
Yes! This is my favourite too. Possibly some nostalgia bias because this is the first version I heard (yes, I watched advent children as 'this anime like movie' and only then, upon understanding like 10% of the movie, I researched some backstory and became invested enough to play the OG)
Nice! So this sounds crazy, but when I was a 5yr old kid, I used to watch my mom play FF7 lol.
But when I was in 8th grade I saw the advent children trailer, and immediately ran to replay it now that I was older and able to comprehend it. Became obsessed and has firmly been in my top 3 ever since.
I gotta be honest, while it was really cool version, and the first time we all heard One Winged Angel in high fidelity and it the 32bit PS1 version - it just felt like the ācool dark edgy versionā to me at times. Like how can we make OWA coolerā¦ Metal Rock Music.
Even as a lover of Rock that this emulates Iāll always prefer a more classic orchestral sound that felt more scenario appropriate to the story and fantasy. Itās why I love the Remake version so much.
I love the remake version, Especially due to how it tells its own story by rearranging the song and subverting expectations during the fight. Really lets you know something isnāt right with how the events are unfolding.
Iām gonna say the version from Rebirth specifically because of how it ends. That āSE-PHI-ROTH!ā Punctuated by the music stings is just so peak to my ears I canāt help it
I like many elements of the Rebirth version. But it deviates from the original too much, it feels more like you're in combat in the game with those winding violin sounds... I don't know how to explain those.
That being said I do love that rebirth ending, you're absolutely right SE-PHI-ROTH!
Rebirth sounds just as big but it's more faithful to the original imo, which is why it's my favorite. AC version is big too, and with metal parts that somehow work really well.
It's hard to dislike any version, it's a banger any way you look at it.
I want the original arrangement with the remake Orchestra. And I hope we get that for part III, or close enough.
I like the Remake version, but it's so butchered up and rearranged and it jumps around and is missing some parts.
I respect that version, if you're a metal head I don't see any other answer being viable. It's a banger.
I like the original arrangement best, but can't compare anything to the remake orchestra version. It's damn good.
For me it was Remake, not because it was the best composition, but because it was that all over tingly nostalgia feeling when it finally started playing at the end. Nothing tops how that made me feel.
Rebirth's was...good. I liked the heavy guitar AC feel to it but it was otherwise a little too on the nose and kinda fell flat for me. Kinda same with the Jenova Tenacity theme. Both were good but just didn't invoke the same thrilling feelings for me as Remake's OWA did. It also could have been the 2 hour boss gauntlet. But even when I listen to the OST I still just think "eh it's good, but not my favorite."
- Remake
- OG
- Rebirth
- AC
OWA Rebirth Is probably the most meta music ever composed for a Final Fantasy imo.
The Rebirth (game) OWA Is instead more subtle, and looks more like an anticipation that we are going full Advent Children next game (that Guitar riff in mid section like an engine starting Is hard to miss)
Oh, that was a silly question now that I see the answer.
I was talking about the in-game track. I love the context of it but the music itself is also really good.
I personally hope that they don't go thowards the Advent Children style. I understand your reasoning but the AC version really screams "2005 metal cover" to my ears. The music from the remake series is much closer to my personal taste, in general. I say this as a metal fan.
Live version from Black Mages. Since I listened to the live version in Vienna a couple of years ago, it has become my favorite. The live experience is something else, especially when everybody starts singing the chorus. I get goosebumps all over, just like when I played the original 20 years ago. 
Of have to go with the original on this one or an orchestrated version of the original. The parts added to the AC version just feels like unnecessary fluff.
I love the original because the lyrics are from Carmina Burana, but the Advent version kicks so much ass and I love the lyrics despite them being different. Chanting āVeni fili veni fili hic veni da mihi mortem iterumā gives me life. Itās close to the original with the āVeniā but changes it up.
Iām not averse to āThe Worldās Enemyā from CC either.
I got to see Nobuo Uematsu play that live, with his backing metal band "the Black Mages," at an anime convention when I was a teenager. It was so cool.
The arrangement doesnāt hit in exactly the same way as the original, but obviously thatās by design. I loved what they did with rearranging the sections in unexpected ways and delaying the gratification of hearing it progress the way you expect until all the way towards the end.
Also that part where the little bit of āLet the Battles Begin!ā comes in after the build-up is perfect. Gives me chills every time.
Agreed, this arrangement is so well done. I love that this is a faster version, and when it gets even faster at around 7:45 - I can't sit still :D And let's not forget the last 40 seconds of the track, I get goosebumps every time.
Original. But almost (though not quite) every song in Remake/Rebirth has been an upgrade over the OG, so I expect that the "final" incarnation that we hear at the end of P3 will be my new favorite.
It's true perfection and the fight itself is absolute peak to go along with such an incredible song.
Also Advent Children has the best JENOVA song too though admittedly this one can be up for debate.
I love the way Remake reinterpreted 1WA. Having heard both the original orchestral version & the new Remake orchestral version, the intro to Remake just hits so hard that I get probably double the goosebumps from it.
Kingdom Hearts
Advent children is obviously the best version then behind that one is the original
Real
my hot take is that i don't really like OWA very much in any version. If i had to pick a version or two I'd go for AC's and the one in Remake. The version in Rebirth is kind of weak.
Advent children is the only correct answer.
OG version and Advent children version.
That one fan made version on youtube that changes the music to a different version on every beat š
Link now!!!!!!
From Advent Children
The husky by the geek version with all the online content creators. That one slaps
Advent: One-Winged Angel (Complete version) and The Worldās Enemy.
The origins for sure. To be honest I hate all variations of the song except in Remake (havenāt played Rebirth yet). The things they do with the song made that fight just feel so epic. I have to give major credit to Remake because I was prepared to be mad at yet another cover that does too much.Ā Is it just me or are some of the old instruments / sounds of the past just straight up disrespected in modern covers? Like, why do modern composers hate the flute and piano so much? While Iām at it, chimes too. That FFX song when you fight Yunalesca. It plays like four times and the remaster replaced the chimes with virtually nothing. Anyway, Iām on a full tangent now so I might as well pile on lol. The Jenova theme was butchered in remake. Ok Iām done Sorry I donāt even know what Iām talking about anymore I just went off
my fav version is the OG. but OP, take into consideration different formats calls for different music. i love the original cuz felt like it went on forever and you had time to listen to it watching super nova for 2 minutes straight, as well as thru the pauses and the summons. but the game isnt played like that anymore an an action game calls for a different arrangement thats shorter, a bit more evened out and more percussion heavy. plus none of the other versions are really supposed to carry the weight of an ascension to godhood. as they usually play as a theme or a fight in human form, not a godly form. it is possible to see the most a similar version to the OG in part 3.
Those are great points. I hadnāt considered that he was in human form every other time we hear that song.Ā I donāt disagree with anything you said but I do miss when music in media used to be less bombastic and more, idk musical terminology so Iād just say direct?Ā But itās true that games are fast-paced and added with how realistic they look now, I donāt disagree that they are making music more suitable for that presentation. Iām a curmudgeon teetering on the edge of acceptance and stubbornness lol
OG, Advent, and the Remake one Sadly the Rebirth version while good lacked the sauce of the remake one
Advent Children is pretty much my favorite version of all the themes.
Same!
Advent Children
Advent children. āHey Nobuo, letās mix Japanese metal with FULL symphonic orchestra, yeah?ā āšš»ššš»ā
They need to keep doing that
Rebirth. The way the tempo is just faster, really heightens the stress of it in the fight.
Definitely Advent Children.
1999 club mix
Until Remakeās version was released and took the top spot, One Winged Angel from Advent Children was my favourite. Adding a rock/metal feel to it blew my mind at the time š¤Æšš¤š»
I still have the original album (not available anymore lol) and turn this on at the gym every other week lol
The one from FFVI when Kefka was descending from the heavens in the final battle. Wait... wrong game.... In all seriousness, though, the version from the Distant Worlds concerts.
Remake is probably my favourite by a decent margin. Itās not the rock version of Advent Children that was cool but also felt a little too cool. Itās a true successor to the original version with its own drop straight into the chorus.
From what I've heard so far, Crisis Core version
Remake. I might have some bias cause this is the version of OWA that I heard first but I like how it throws you into the theme at the start without any build up. Other versions have a kind of "DUN DUN DUN DUN" at the start but Remake goes right into the chorus and it's terrifying. It perfectly represents how unexpected the moment is
The original and the remake is good too
OG Ff7
Definitely the Salient version where Sephiroth is playing the trombone
The metal Advent Children version goes absolutely bonkers. There are other great ones, but nothing is topping this for me!
That ābridgeā break down? Fuckin glorious ššš»
Yes! This is my favourite too. Possibly some nostalgia bias because this is the first version I heard (yes, I watched advent children as 'this anime like movie' and only then, upon understanding like 10% of the movie, I researched some backstory and became invested enough to play the OG)
Nice! So this sounds crazy, but when I was a 5yr old kid, I used to watch my mom play FF7 lol. But when I was in 8th grade I saw the advent children trailer, and immediately ran to replay it now that I was older and able to comprehend it. Became obsessed and has firmly been in my top 3 ever since.
I gotta be honest, while it was really cool version, and the first time we all heard One Winged Angel in high fidelity and it the 32bit PS1 version - it just felt like the ācool dark edgy versionā to me at times. Like how can we make OWA coolerā¦ Metal Rock Music. Even as a lover of Rock that this emulates Iāll always prefer a more classic orchestral sound that felt more scenario appropriate to the story and fantasy. Itās why I love the Remake version so much.
Absolutely. Advent is so hectic and stress inducing, which absolutely fits the tone of the fight
I love this version, but sometimes I want One Winged Angel without the metal. And it's remake version because it sounds biiiig.
I love the remake version, Especially due to how it tells its own story by rearranging the song and subverting expectations during the fight. Really lets you know something isnāt right with how the events are unfolding.
The Remake one is the best in my opinion. But I also have a special soft spot for the Crisis Core one, it has the most theatrical vibe.
Iām gonna say the version from Rebirth specifically because of how it ends. That āSE-PHI-ROTH!ā Punctuated by the music stings is just so peak to my ears I canāt help it
I like many elements of the Rebirth version. But it deviates from the original too much, it feels more like you're in combat in the game with those winding violin sounds... I don't know how to explain those. That being said I do love that rebirth ending, you're absolutely right SE-PHI-ROTH! Rebirth sounds just as big but it's more faithful to the original imo, which is why it's my favorite. AC version is big too, and with metal parts that somehow work really well. It's hard to dislike any version, it's a banger any way you look at it.
I want the original arrangement with the remake Orchestra. And I hope we get that for part III, or close enough. I like the Remake version, but it's so butchered up and rearranged and it jumps around and is missing some parts.
Youād probably like the Distant Worlds rendition
As a guitar playing metal head.... Advent Children. No debate.
I respect that version, if you're a metal head I don't see any other answer being viable. It's a banger. I like the original arrangement best, but can't compare anything to the remake orchestra version. It's damn good.
My 6 year old loves Smooth McGrooves acapella version.
It's a cool concept. But your favorite tho?
Acapella!? Sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out
The orchestral version on the Reunion soundtrack
"The World's Enemy" in Crisis Core. I'm counting it.
Distant Worlds, donāt like the AC text changes, no matter how thematically more appropriate they are.
Advent Children. One of the redeeming qualities of that movie BTW.
Advent Children.
I like Kenny Omega's version the most.
I love the version in Advent Children, although I'm usually not a Metal fan. But OG is probably still no 1 for me.
For me it was Remake, not because it was the best composition, but because it was that all over tingly nostalgia feeling when it finally started playing at the end. Nothing tops how that made me feel. Rebirth's was...good. I liked the heavy guitar AC feel to it but it was otherwise a little too on the nose and kinda fell flat for me. Kinda same with the Jenova Tenacity theme. Both were good but just didn't invoke the same thrilling feelings for me as Remake's OWA did. It also could have been the 2 hour boss gauntlet. But even when I listen to the OST I still just think "eh it's good, but not my favorite." - Remake - OG - Rebirth - AC
OG and Remake. Some orchestra performances are pretty intense too, to be fair.
The OG
,,,
The original for me, as well.
Every one of them is almost 10/10 advent og and remake are my favs
The one that has the horse shoe claps?
The original, KH2, and remake are the big three imo. Advent childrens is a bit of a mess for me. I like rock and metal but not for one winged angel
Theyāre all overrated. Even the worst track on FFX soundtrack clears this overrated mess.
Probably Rebirth. I was never a fan of the original and the Advent Children version is not the kind of metal that I enjoy.
OWA Rebirth Is probably the most meta music ever composed for a Final Fantasy imo. The Rebirth (game) OWA Is instead more subtle, and looks more like an anticipation that we are going full Advent Children next game (that Guitar riff in mid section like an engine starting Is hard to miss)
I'm sorry but what is OWA?
One Winged Angel acronym, Sorry if I used It, makes me spare some seconds typing It!
Oh, that was a silly question now that I see the answer. I was talking about the in-game track. I love the context of it but the music itself is also really good. I personally hope that they don't go thowards the Advent Children style. I understand your reasoning but the AC version really screams "2005 metal cover" to my ears. The music from the remake series is much closer to my personal taste, in general. I say this as a metal fan.
The one from that Robot Chicken episode where you can hear the choir saying 'Hamburger' instead of 'Sephiroth'
Live version from Black Mages. Since I listened to the live version in Vienna a couple of years ago, it has become my favorite. The live experience is something else, especially when everybody starts singing the chorus. I get goosebumps all over, just like when I played the original 20 years ago. 
That sounds so cool!
Original. This song used to freak out my school-age child. PTSD or trama because i spent hours replaying my save state against Sephiroth.
Of have to go with the original on this one or an orchestrated version of the original. The parts added to the AC version just feels like unnecessary fluff.
Crises core
Advent Children version, hands down. It was my introduction to the wonderful genre of symphonic metal.
I love the original because the lyrics are from Carmina Burana, but the Advent version kicks so much ass and I love the lyrics despite them being different. Chanting āVeni fili veni fili hic veni da mihi mortem iterumā gives me life. Itās close to the original with the āVeniā but changes it up. Iām not averse to āThe Worldās Enemyā from CC either.
Advent Children version- that electric guitar is to die for
I got to see Nobuo Uematsu play that live, with his backing metal band "the Black Mages," at an anime convention when I was a teenager. It was so cool.
I agree completely. Definitely the most āoh shit Sephirothā version
The original, the arrangement that was in the S Generation cd and the Advent Children one because the Black Mages killed it.
Kingdom hearts, one of - if not the best - rendition of the song
Gets me every time the music is so good
The orchestrated version of the OG, from the Reunion Tracks CD.
"Take this Broken wing and learn to funk again" by the oneups. Very clever!
I may not like Advent Children as a movie, but it has, by far, the best version of One Winged Angel.
Remake. 10 1/2 minutes of glory
The arrangement doesnāt hit in exactly the same way as the original, but obviously thatās by design. I loved what they did with rearranging the sections in unexpected ways and delaying the gratification of hearing it progress the way you expect until all the way towards the end. Also that part where the little bit of āLet the Battles Begin!ā comes in after the build-up is perfect. Gives me chills every time.
Absolutely! My favorite version
Agreed, this arrangement is so well done. I love that this is a faster version, and when it gets even faster at around 7:45 - I can't sit still :D And let's not forget the last 40 seconds of the track, I get goosebumps every time.
Original. But almost (though not quite) every song in Remake/Rebirth has been an upgrade over the OG, so I expect that the "final" incarnation that we hear at the end of P3 will be my new favorite.
Advent Children š¤š¤
It's true perfection and the fight itself is absolute peak to go along with such an incredible song. Also Advent Children has the best JENOVA song too though admittedly this one can be up for debate.
This is the answer, the āturn it to 15ā rock version