Persona and Sound

The music of Persona 3 and 5 is super, super interesting. They’ve both got different styles and all that, obviously, but the intent and how each soundtrack works with the game is quite different.

(Also i won’t be looking at 4 because it’s somewhere in the middle and I want to look at a clear dichotomy. Sorry 4, your ost was killer though)

Basically, 3’s soundtrack is informed by the tone and themes, and 5’s soundtrack informs the tone and themes. That sound kinda pretentious? Well, yeah, but it’s actually a pretty important distinction. 3’s soundtrack carries the themes and tone of the game. Every song on the ost feels like it was written in close consultation with the writers, and it really shows. Whereas in 5, it almost feels like the entire soundtrack was composed first, and the writers wrote a story from that basepoint.

This is probably very confusing so let’s compare the main themes, Burn My Dread, and Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There. They’re both very very good songs, and accomplish very different things.

Let’s start with Persona 3. Burn My Dread is a song about the themes of the game, and as a piece of music is very much in service to them. It doesn’t vaguely establish a tone, it directly and pointedly sets up what the themes are, the activities and locations you go through every day. "Dreamless dorm". "Windless night". "I still live". Those lyrics are to the point and powerful, and given great prominence and space between them. Of course, in doing so it does give up some song flow, and overall I’d say is a weaker song than P5’s theme, however it makes up for it in being a song that tells a story, and it’s themes.

Persona 5 goes for a more conventional song, with a much different effect. It vaguely sets up a tone, and a vibe that’ll last throughout the game. While that sounds not as strong as 3’s, it’s a really damn strong tone setter. The story of P5 is very grounded (well, for persona) and has a lot of conflicting themes that all work in story, but they alone cannot establish a tone. That’s where songs like this theme come in, tying together all the elements with a sound that brings it all together. Listen to it, then listen to 3’s theme. You’ll almost certainly come away with a better idea of what 5 is like than what 3 is like. It’s smartly made, and while the songs aren’t as evocative as 3, they serve just as important a role and are excellently done.

I really don’t wanna get into which one is better, because that would be a, uh, bloodbath. I have my preferences (read: i prefer 3) but on the whole it’s super interesting to see how each game uses sound to reinforce, inform, and establish story and themes in the game, and they both do a top notch job of it.