We often spend a lot of time playing games. But when we're done, we're done. We move onto the next big thing, occasionally revisiting a particularly beloved title for whatever reason. But recently, I noticed something. The games I remember the fondest are the games with the most memorable music. Everything from Sonic 2 to Metal Gear Solid to games like Mass Effect and Half Life 2. My favorite games have all had one thing in common, and that was a quality score or a definitive soundtrack. I think I'm writing this blog to clarify almost to myself why this seems like such a revelation. Of all the game's who's music I can actually listen to for extended periods of time outside of the gaming environment, five come to mind: Outrun (but really only when I'm driving), Sonic 2, Eve Online (a game I only really started to play, but wow), The World Ends With You and Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3/4.

There are other soundtracks that I love, the scores of Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect as well as the licensed soundtracks like the shockingly great soundtracks to Gran Turismo 2 and 3. But this blog in particular is more about the games with original, yet still modern, music. And while I understand Mass Effect's is close to this (in particular Eve), it listens like a score, and not like music in the sense I'm discussing.



But the Persona series. The whole game has setting's you revisit over and over again, and so you begin to associate specific songs with specific places. The game manages to drive the songs into your head to help create the mood of whatever setting you're in. A good example of this is in Persona 3. The first time I booted up the game, I had no idea what to expect, other then a dating sim with dungeons. But then you enter the velvet room.



The opening to the Velvet Room, one of the most important places in the Persona universe is one that is pretty ominous, especially when you compile it with Igor, Igor's nose, and Elizabeth, the creepy girl in the elevator attendants dress. But then you hear the music. The music is actually relaxing, it sounds pure and it certainly sounds non-threatening. The same concept is repeated in Persona 4. In 4, a similar situation occurs, except you're in a Limo instead of an elevator. But the same pure music is there to reassure you that Igor isn't going to violate you. He is there to help. It is one of the clues to the series that not everything is as it appears.

At the same time, while a lot of the Persona series deals with Death, the music is often upbeat and relaxing. It does so to reinforce the fact that the player is supposed to be having fun while trying to solve the mysteries of the game, and it also reinforces the social links aspect, as a lot of the more relaxing tunes are often played during time spent with your in game friends. It sets an amazing tone to play to, and carries over into the real world where I can actually listen to the soundtrack to relax. A lot of the music from the Persona soundtrack is actually on my sunny day play list, which is exclusively for sunny day driving. I think the surprisingly relaxing tracks also help balance out the game world from the crazy shadow world. It present's a nice dichotomy and allows the player to remember that they’re not always dungeon crawling in this game. The names of the relaxing songs also seem to reinforce the way the game is meant to be played. Signs of Love, Like a Dream Come True, Youthful Lunch, etc. are all tunes that (while cheesily named) are all Jazzy and relaxing and serve to remind the player that they're there to have fun with their in game friends, and not just grind. Again though, this carries over to the Real World, where I can listen to these songs after a hard day, and not only reminisce about the awesome times I've had playing these games, but also hear the jazz and relax a bit.



What is interesting, is that Persona also manages to have some of the best "dark" music. The music of the dungeons are all upbeat, stressing the urgency of each floor. The Persona series is always timed. You only have a certain amount of days to get to a certain point, and so each dungeon has more rapid paced music. One thing that 4 does better then 3 is that the music to each specific dungeon is perfectly tailored to the that dungeon. In Persona 4, the dungeons represent a specific character's soul. And as such the music is perfectly matched to the setting. From the 8bit-esq techno of the Game Dungeon (literally an old school 8 bit castle) to the thumping beats of another character's setting as a strip club, the soundtrack is perfectly matched. It just speaks volumes to the time and effort put into the game and it's music.



It is not just the game play that makes a game last to me. I love music in most of it's forums, but Persona is one of those series where the game's regularly cross the boundary into Music that can be listened to outside of a gaming environment. I think that is why it has stuck with me for so long. The music helped evolve the game into something longer lasting (not to say the game's are really all that transient, but the music can be listened to anywhere). It is part of the reason I love Atlus for providing the soundtrack for the game, because the music has transcend the game for me. It has become worthy of praise on it's own merits, but still fits the game perfectly. I think that any soundtrack that can reach that status, at least in my head, reflects something about the game as well. If the original soundtrack is so damn good, then it reflects positively on the game. A great soundtrack doesn't make a game great, but it can certainly help.