You guys seemed to have enjoyed the last one post so I thought I would give you another quick review if you're interested; this one on the Persona 2 Innocent Sin soundtrack. I have over the years made it no secret that P2IS has my favourite OST in the franchise and it is why this channel exists so if I come off as a biased boomer I apologize in advance. I am a real sucker for this late-90's sound and Tasaki's P2 and Soul Hackers OST's specifically just really resonate with me.
The lead composer for P2IS is Toshiko Tasaki who previously worked under Tsukasa Masuko on the original Devil Summoner, and was give the lead role on Soul Hackers. She is joined by Kenichi Tsuchiya and Misaki Kurokawa. This soundtrack is very much a Tasaki soundtrack as it has her distinct sound which is largely created by the samples and reverb she uses which gives all her songs this "airy-ness" to them. Tasaki largely handled the dungeon themes on the soundtrack, with Tsuchiya being responsible for the character themes and battle themes. Shop themes, and event themes were largely split between Tsuchiya and Kurokawa.
As for the soundtrack itself, it really has something for everyone because I don't think a Persona soundtrack has covered this many genre's at once since. To some this may not be a good thing since it may feel the soundtrack lacks a central theme and focus but to others the variety is welcomed. The dungeon themes are my favourite part of the soundtrack, it's just a shame you have to stand still to hear the damn thing in-game. Songs like Smile Hirasaka, GOLD, and Mt.Katatsmuri are particular standouts for me, but they are all great. Tsuchiya once again delivers great battle themes and characters themes with Knights of the Holy Spear, and Maya's Theme being arguably the two tracks that have transcended P2 and entered into the collective consciousness of all Persona fans (Tsuchiya really is underrated for the amount a songs he was written that are still with us today). Of course there are many good shop and location themes provided by Tsuchiya and Kurokawa with ROSA CANDIDA - Aoba Shop being a stand out track (this is also one of the rare times I will say to check out the PSP version as Atsushi Kitajoh does the song justice). Ramen Shiraishi is another track I find my self going back to listen to. Of course we also cannot forget the many Satomi Tadashi themes this game adds and whether you think that is a good thing or not depends on how highly you think of yourself. Lastly this soundtrack would start the trend of Persona games ending with a credits theme with vocals, in this case "Next to You" by Hitomi, which I can't imagine was cheap given her popularity at the time. The Persona 2 Innocent Sin Soundtrack is what I would call a "complete" soundtrack in that it really has everything.
While the soundtrack is by no means underrated in the Megaten fanbase, I would say it is in the largely JRPG space and their are of course many reasons for this. Firstly the game wasn't localized until the PSP re-release, Persona in general was a niche series up until recently, the gameplay is understandably hard for many to get into and of course this game came out in the late 90's during what you could describe as the golden age of JRPG's so there was a lot of competition and of course on top of that no one was going to stop Nobuo Uematsu's ascension to godhood so every other soundtrack was competing for second best. There is more I could say but this post is long enough so I will leave it here. Basically if you haven't heard the soundtrack but are intrested I highly recommend you give it a listen when you have the time. JUST DON'T LISTEN TO THE PSP VERSION! IT'S NOT BAD BUT TRUST ME DON'T UNLESS YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE STORY OF P2IS. LISTEN TO THE PS1 VERSION FIRST/PLAY THE GAME OR WATCH A PLAYTHROUGH, THAN LISTEN TO THE PSP VERSION; YOU'LL THANK ME LATER.
PSC
You guys seemed to have enjoyed the last one post so I thought I would give you another quick review if you're interested; this one on the Persona 2 Innocent Sin soundtrack. I have over the years made it no secret that P2IS has my favourite OST in the franchise and it is why this channel exists so if I come off as a biased boomer I apologize in advance. I am a real sucker for this late-90's sound and Tasaki's P2 and Soul Hackers OST's specifically just really resonate with me.
The lead composer for P2IS is Toshiko Tasaki who previously worked under Tsukasa Masuko on the original Devil Summoner, and was give the lead role on Soul Hackers. She is joined by Kenichi Tsuchiya and Misaki Kurokawa. This soundtrack is very much a Tasaki soundtrack as it has her distinct sound which is largely created by the samples and reverb she uses which gives all her songs this "airy-ness" to them. Tasaki largely handled the dungeon themes on the soundtrack, with Tsuchiya being responsible for the character themes and battle themes. Shop themes, and event themes were largely split between Tsuchiya and Kurokawa.
As for the soundtrack itself, it really has something for everyone because I don't think a Persona soundtrack has covered this many genre's at once since. To some this may not be a good thing since it may feel the soundtrack lacks a central theme and focus but to others the variety is welcomed. The dungeon themes are my favourite part of the soundtrack, it's just a shame you have to stand still to hear the damn thing in-game. Songs like Smile Hirasaka, GOLD, and Mt.Katatsmuri are particular standouts for me, but they are all great. Tsuchiya once again delivers great battle themes and characters themes with Knights of the Holy Spear, and Maya's Theme being arguably the two tracks that have transcended P2 and entered into the collective consciousness of all Persona fans (Tsuchiya really is underrated for the amount a songs he was written that are still with us today). Of course there are many good shop and location themes provided by Tsuchiya and Kurokawa with ROSA CANDIDA - Aoba Shop being a stand out track (this is also one of the rare times I will say to check out the PSP version as Atsushi Kitajoh does the song justice). Ramen Shiraishi is another track I find my self going back to listen to. Of course we also cannot forget the many Satomi Tadashi themes this game adds and whether you think that is a good thing or not depends on how highly you think of yourself. Lastly this soundtrack would start the trend of Persona games ending with a credits theme with vocals, in this case "Next to You" by Hitomi, which I can't imagine was cheap given her popularity at the time. The Persona 2 Innocent Sin Soundtrack is what I would call a "complete" soundtrack in that it really has everything.
While the soundtrack is by no means underrated in the Megaten fanbase, I would say it is in the largely JRPG space and their are of course many reasons for this. Firstly the game wasn't localized until the PSP re-release, Persona in general was a niche series up until recently, the gameplay is understandably hard for many to get into and of course this game came out in the late 90's during what you could describe as the golden age of JRPG's so there was a lot of competition and of course on top of that no one was going to stop Nobuo Uematsu's ascension to godhood so every other soundtrack was competing for second best. There is more I could say but this post is long enough so I will leave it here. Basically if you haven't heard the soundtrack but are intrested I highly recommend you give it a listen when you have the time. JUST DON'T LISTEN TO THE PSP VERSION! IT'S NOT BAD BUT TRUST ME DON'T UNLESS YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE STORY OF P2IS. LISTEN TO THE PS1 VERSION FIRST/PLAY THE GAME OR WATCH A PLAYTHROUGH, THAN LISTEN TO THE PSP VERSION; YOU'LL THANK ME LATER.
10 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 311