For some time now, the videogame medium has evolved, becoming ever closer to cinema, with high-impact soundtracks played by highly respected symphony orchestras. We can therefore almost compare the great gaming blockbusters to the great film productions, both for the effort put into composing the soundtrack and for the budget made available between recording studios, musicians and singers.
However, not all OSTs have the same purpose and the same “presence”: some of the most popular tracks of videogame colossal films such as God of War or Red Dead Redemption have the aim of underlining certain moments in the most epic way possible, proving functional to the story but never taking on a leading role or distracting the listener, who perceives the music as background (here is the review of God of War Ragnarok).
For this reason, large masses of sound are moved, mostly through large orchestral formations, and little space is left to the melodic side of the scores. However, there are soundtracks, like the one we are about to analyze, which take on a meaning through lyrics and general “mood”, stealing the spotlight from the gameplay or changing its perception (here the special on the colors of Persona 3 Reload). In Persona 3 Reload there is no shortage of moments of great stasis and emotional tension, for example in the dialogue parts, in which there is no actual action (here the review of Persona 3 Reload). Within these scenes, it is necessary to have a soundtrack that almost acts as an external narrator, imprinting these moments in the player’s imagination.
An important legacy
One of the most interesting aspects of discovering the soundtrack of a Remake is the “passing of the baton” between the various composers who have come and gone over the years. The Persona series is historically associated with Shoji Meguro, a multifaceted musician who composed its most iconic songs and who will return to work with Atlus in the long-awaited Metaphor Re:Fantazio. The term “multifaceted” is not accidental, as the Japanese composer used different genres and techniques depending on the setting and context in which each game was set. The rock and heavy metal atmospheres of the titles belonging to the Megaten series contrast with the much more relaxed J Pop and Acid Jazz atmospheres of Persona 4 and 5.
Persona 3 Reload
Persona 5
As already underlined several times, Persona 3 is a particularly delicate chapter as it is a bridge between Shin Megami Tensei and, indeed, the saga that gave birth to Joker and Makoto. This is also reflected in the musical sector, with powerful guitar riffs accompanied by rap verses sung by the legendary Lotus Juice. The work of re-imagining the soundtrack in Reload was entrusted to Atsushi Kitajoh, a musician who has already accompanied Meguro in the latest Atlus productions and who is the “Main Composer” of a title in the saga for the first time. This is an interesting “relay” that allows us to see the soundtrack of a 2000s classic in a new light.
“Reload” operation
Kitajoh began to accompany Meguro during the last chapters of the Persona series, signing some entirely his own pieces in the Strikers spin-off. Persona 5 already contained various Jazz influences and moved away from its predecessors, but it is precisely in Strikers that this tendency towards “swing” was accentuated, and this happens in part thanks to the main composer of Reload.
The two pieces by Kitajoh in Strikers, “Axe to grind” and “What you wish for”, take up some of Meguro’s trademarks, for example the very powerful bass line, and combine it with a mood that abandons colors ” Acid” of the fifth chapter to shift the axis towards a more properly jazz mood (here is the review of Persona 5 Royal).
In working on Reload, Kitajoh decided to partially sweeten the soundtrack by bringing back the “Swing” of the latest works made in Atlus in the third episode, in particular in the new original pieces. This effect, within the remake, is achieved through the introduction of instruments such as the electric organ and the change of “lead vocalist”. Yumi Kawamura’s “scratch” will therefore be replaced by Azumi Takahashi’s cleanliness and vocal intonation.
As already underlined, the new singer manages to give her best in the pieces that the composers have modulated on her vocal range but is less effective and, if we want, more “cold” in the reinterpretation of the original themes. The effect, however, may be intentional.
A multidimensional soundtrack
The introduction to Reload contains a new song, different from both the FES version for Playstation 2 and the Portable edition. We are talking about “Full Moon Full Life”, which replaces the iconic “Burn my Dread” (which is also present in the Reload soundtrack) and “Soul Phase” from Portable. Already from the title it is possible to notice a clear change of direction: rather than representing the drama and misery of existence, the intro of Reload plays on contrasts.
It is a piece with a carefree flavour, which celebrates life and the path of growth, seen as a short but intense journey. It is no coincidence that the phrase “Carpe diem” is repeated several times within the text. The music fits perfectly with the images on the screen, which show contrasting sides of the protagonists. The pain and latent suffering of the protagonists is only hinted at, and makes this introduction a clear upgrade on the original, as it is much more subtle and easily manages to deceive the new player who approaches the adventure in a “blind” way.
The contrast between rhythmic and cheerful music and internal suffering permeates the entire soundtrack: just think that one of the most iconic songs of Reload, “When the Moon’s reaching out stars”, despite an instrumentation and a rhythm that suggest something else entirely, begins with the phrase “I’ve never felt like so miserable”. We could nicely define the soundtrack of Reload as “groovy depression” and it would be the most correct adjective to summarize the work of Meguro and Kitajoh. Wanting to summarize the entire soundtrack, we could divide it into three main strands.
The trend of everyday life is represented in game by exploration and social links and musically by smooth jazz and citypop atmospheres that celebrate the building of bonds and the valorization of one’s existence. The part dedicated to Tartarus is instead represented by a mysterious “composable” theme which will be enriched with new notes as we climb the monstrous tower, while the fights will have musical pieces in which the rap will become more pressing and the lyrics will be more gritty and combative. Finally, nostalgia, one of the main leitmotifs of the Persona series which returns periodically in the final phases of the various adventures made in Atlus.
In Reload, as in the original, the final part takes up the themes of everyday life and revisits them with a decidedly slower and more emotional “mood”, using the piano as the main instrument and demonstrating the slow distancing from the events of the game.
The farewell to the world of Persona 3 Reload begins long before the end-game Credits, as if the adventure ended with a slow fade out, rather than with the sudden closing of a curtain. It is in this portion of the game that music plays a leading role: the places visited daily will always be the same, but what changes is the attitude of the main character and, therefore, of the player. The songs used in this phase, whose title always begins with “Memories of”, serve to give a new identity to the usual game spaces, which will now be perceived with nostalgia, since the protagonists and the player will be perfectly aware of the slow but inexorable turn to end of the story. The great lesson of this soundtrack, as indeed of the entire Reload, is that the gestures that seem repetitive and almost boring to us acquire a new precious value when we realize that they could be the last. So you need to live life to the fullest, until the credits roll. Precisely, Full Moon Full Life.