Persona Music is pretty cool

First Blog; No Idea but Introduction Time

I got bored so I'd just write about music I hear on Persona, only mainline entry games though;
Well, to say that the Persona fandom doesn't even play the games couldn't be anymore truer (except for me, I actually play the games-), I once yapped to my girlfriend about this but I couldn't find thee right words for it (now I do!), like most of this are just incoherent rambles and stuff now into text format so now I sound like a crazy schizo person

Music is pretty cool, you have music in racing games pumping you adrenaline in every single moment, simulation games where it's so upbeat and joyful, sports games having the most out of touch and generic music (in some cases) where you'd think "Man, this song being in this game feels so cliche" and then you have Persona music

Well... why discuss about Persona music, surely there are OTHER games out there that deserve attention like Forever Kingdom (it's a REALLY great PS2 game, please play it) or like Sam & Max with their jazzy tunes (It never overstays its place, it's that GOOD), well Persona just has a special place in my heart, I like Persona! (I'm gonna be honest, saying I like Persona in this day and age feels like there are snipers being pointed at me; "Oh he plays Persona for [x]", No it's just for the music (and the gameplay), BACK TO THE TOPIC!

This isn't gonna be an entirely in-depth analysis on how all the instrumentals are arranged; maybe a bit of lingo here and there but it's just my two cents on how I feel on the music/genres presented in the games, or what genres fit which soundtrack, stuff like that- sorry about not having the most nerdiest explanation ever. It's VERY jumbled, like even the writing feels inconsistent like why is this sentence mentioned here and not earlier before???

I cross-examined early 2000s songs (25 to 50 songs for each) with the genres that will be mentioned; a lot of genres are a bit weird to say the least because you'd find a song that sounds like a certain genre only for it to be a completely different one.

I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE BASE GAMES!!! Not any of the ports or enhanced versions because I feel like I would've made this way longer than it should be.

I hate Persona 1, anyways it's more orchestral, ambient, techno/rave (School Days, ah yes so fun bumping into walls and seeing people never leave the damn school-), and rock influences (Let butterflies spread until the dawn); the intro is amazing though! I don't know if there are any Persona 1/2 fans, but Persona 1 has better music hands down than P2. And then you have this... which is so out of place but well the original title for this track says otherwise-

I can't say anything else about it but I would vibe better than P2's music.

Persona 2 (1999)

Where do I actually begin? I can't tell what Persona 2 really is; but it's whatever Persona 3 has minus the hiphop. It probably has a lot more than any of the Persona games. I haven't finished Persona 2 because it was a slog to play (that's why the PSP remaster exists, but even that I didn't want to play it after playing the original), but I have listened to... I think most of the soundtracks; and then the rest on youtube.

Uh, everything feels so somber, nonchalant, it's screams "HI, I AM A JRPG, HERE IS MY MUSIC". Since, back then, consoles didn't have much space and considering how Persona 2 was packed with so much content, it'd make sense that the instrumentals feel lacking, I don't know how to describe it, it's more techno if you'd ignore the ambience music for certain locations, but the main themes don't feel distinct from the rest, and it's all over the place. A lot of the tracks are short and they're pretty consistent with the loops. Some of the tracks used synthesizers and it's very noticeable.

Persona 3 (2006)

I'm going to be honest, for the love of god, I LOVE Persona 3 (I emulate it, because it's pretty expensive and also hard to find a working PSP [I had one as a child, but it broke] and an actual copy in the country I'm staying in). The soundtrack is the best; I downloaded both the original (with ambience tracks), FES AND Portable (excluding the silly dancing games).

The idea of combining the most obvious 2000s genres of hip-hop (as seen Iwatodai Station [or also known as Iwatodai Dorm] with some subtle jazz instruments to it because jazz sampling was prominent in the hip-hop scene; did you know the backing vocals are samples? Yeah, me neither), and also who can ever forget Mass Destruction, okay Polanian Mall feels hip-hop infused jazz.

Then there's J-Rock, Burn My Dread, Unavoidable Battle.

Orchestra music like the Velvet Room theme, it's been present to all persona games but Persona 1 and 2 has alterations to they're not entirely the same, they ARE the same tracks till 3 to 5.

There's a lot of tracks that combine electronic/techno/orchestra/hiphop/rock all in one track, like seriously hear Persona Invocation while you hear all the funky electronic beats mixed with that one random string which does make for some performance impact (Also; Orchestra infused with Rock to fit in with the game's theme; no SPOILERS! Spoilers here (I highlighted it in black): But, I do have like this 'game theory' where Hip-hop is often related with Death, and how Death plays a big theme, the idea of morality, and how you talk with Death himself disguised as a child because why not?), and Deep Breath Deep Breath (this is literally club music, it's so good). It really feels more lively when you realize yes that of course that era early on included club bangers, Master of the Shadow.

and J-Pop, Want to be Close (I would say it fits that genre with some techno beats to it if not then erm let me know), Tranquility/, A Deep Mentality, Changing Seasons.

and while it does have some Jazz tracks (This Mysterious Feeling; sounds more hip-hoppy y'know?), it isn't as fleshed out as it would be later games (e.g. Persona 5).

one of my favorite tracks; DUDE I'M LITERALLY GONNA FREAK OUT! Is the Tartarus theme; seriously THIS is one of the BEST job they've done, the more you ascended, the more the music adds in instrumentals, it's more urgent and then turns it into like this mix to show how far you've delved deep and your accomplishments for making it that far; a full continuous build up of mashed in strings, a drum loop, pianos, all THAT was astonishing; LISTEN to the MIX. It's really such an emotional impact once you finish the game. Don't listen to Memories of You, that hit me really hard.

I only found out about this when an associate/classmate of mine during class pointed out to me on this detail, while I did notice it earlier I never really thought deeply about it UNTIL well like after he told me (We weren't really 'friends friends', just people who know we exist, but they are a chill person and they have a cool art account on twitter; no self promo tho-)

Persona 3's soundtrack feels more like myself, since I struggled with my mental health early in life, it definitely saved me from doing anything harsh to myself.

I will say that I didn't like Reload's version to most of the soundtracks except the new vocal tracks. A lot of the charm is there but the personality feels stripped and not natural anymore; THAT'S JUST HOW I FEEL!

Persona 4 (2008)

I didn't like Persona 4 honestly (I own Golden on steam but played without the accessibility settings aka more xp gain, etc), again the soundtrack is great, the repetitive loop still exists from P3, yet it feels even more tedious.

Well since you're a city boy going to the countryside, the idea of bringing in city music into the country side really does have an effect, being from out of town and entering a place you're not familiar. As someone who lives far (UAE) from where I was born (Philippines), listening to this soundtrack feels more relatable or whenever I enter a new city I'm not familiar with. Although the genres and the plot itself does not... mix and match well—which is DELIBERATE! Although personally I feel like the execution could've been better; tracks like Who's there? does work in a way where you do start to realize that "Huh, this cheerful charming game has something deep in it" but it doesn't really utilize it properly in some scenes (they feel so out of place, I can't remember which one)

If I did provided any examples it would literally be those genres, like seriously; Reach Out To The Truth -First Battle-. Persona 4's soundtrack is a lot more recognized than Persona 3 (mostly because Persona 3 didn't have an abundance of vocal tracks unlike Heartbreak, Heartbreak or whatever)

Again, using previous genres J-Rock and J-Pop, it's mainly focused on that actually other than the battle themes, the vocal themes makes it apparent that it is both those genres which I love in general. I know a friend who loves Persona 4, although I can't say if he actually played the game, he makes it sound like he's posing honestly- but yeah him bringing my attention to Persona 4's soundtrack definitely made me want to revisit it and listen to it quite often, but it feels situational for me. But the overall structure HAS improved from Persona 3, while Persona 3 was a blend between this and that, Persona 4 kept it grounded to only a couple of genres, and it does it quite well.

Persona 5 (2016)

Jazz. I love Jazz. Acid-jazz is jazz (it has some city pop/j-pop influences). I can think of multiple OST where jazz is such a main influence, majority of it is without a doubt jazz, jazz-fusion, rock. The opening gives you a glimpse to the soundtrack itself; setting the tone for the entire plot (which is literally stealing hearts, jazz is a very fitting tone for this, a heist scenario).

Persona finally realizes something; focusing on a particular theme that fits the overall tone and nature of how the game actually plays out; all the music stays consistent (I wish I can talk about the Royal Soundtrack, but ANOTHER DAY... that's for another day), every suspenseful track matters a lot more than Persona 4 (If only the plot was good... MAN I would LOVE to talk about Royal right now).

All the battles feel engaging to the player, while it does get repetitive overtime, it's motivating and gets me pumping immediately without any hassle, the way each track was composed is just truly great because the structure feels more 'stable', that it can actually continue to stay in it's current genre without going into a different genre immediately.

I've actually listened to the Persona 5 soundtrack a lot more lately, especially Beneath the Mask (when showering as well), the feeling off just taking away that mask off to go ahead and rest down doing whatever the things you want to do (or your social battery; it's like a getaway... get it? Because of the plot- and also the double-life meaning of 'Beneath the Mask' itself of how our protagonist shifts out of both realities), It's slow for a reason, to give players a break after wandering in the palaces (basically the 'dungeons'), like I would not want to hear.. Death Grips after finishing the longest boss battle of my life, I want it to feel triumphant of my battles. 

Do you remember where I talked about Persona 3's Tartarus having a different mix for each floor? IT MAKES AN APPEARANCE IN PERSONA 5. Although it is a bit different, since it doesn't blend in that well (but you can definitely connect the two together, how it gets more chaotic the more you delve deeper, all that stuff, and I prefer this reason actually because it DOES make sense).

End

Honestly I should've talked about a game instead (cough), god actually writing this was a mess and even being so self aware of how messy it is, i still want to post this, oh well... writing has never been my strongest suit (i think)

Anyways, this is Token- erm... bye