Today, I'm featuring a few songs from the Persona 3 Portable soundtrack which is actually just geared towards the Female Protagonist, considering the Male Protagonist storyline is mostly a combination of Vanilla Persona 3 and FES. Despite Girl Mode, as I call it, not specifically being geared towards female players, but rather veterans of P3 looking for a new spin on the same old scenarios they're familiar with, it -is- fairly girly and the soundtrack does reflect this in a way. This isn't a bad thing and it's not very overt, nor does it overtake the mood of the music in the game which I'm happy to say is still fairly groovy, but it is noticeable and quite different. What better place to start with this, then, than at the beginning. The song below, "Soul Phrase" is the introduction song for Persona 3 Portable in particular. (Oddly enough, if you wait long enough, you can see Persona 3's intro movie, possibly FES' as well, at the start of P3P. This is how I got confused last time, thinking Burn My Dread was still the opening song for P3P.)
It's a little more subdued than Burn My Dread, but it's more fitting to the game as a whole, I'd say. It has a somber nature around it, yet is striking throughout which is rather appropriate. I can't really make sense of the lyrics just by sound, but I suppose that's neither a strike against the song or the game, as it's less what they say and more how it sounds that really matters. On top of all that, it's just a fairly nice song - there's a nice blend of the vocals and the electric guitar that carries through the song, providing those hard-hitting moments that resonate with the game proper. It simply does a very nice job of getting you prepared for it, I say, since it's not upbeat enough for you to expect something rather action-packed, but it's stimulating enough that you realize the game, in its portable form, is more than the 'visual novel' nature might lead you to think it is.
Mirroring the last post a little more, the next song I'm sharing is Persona 3 Portable's answer to Mass Destruction in the form of a little song called "Wiping All Out". As I said, the songs, from what I've heard, seem to really try to capture the same spirit of Persona 3, albeit in a different way considering the different protagonist. Admittedly, the song is, as I said earlier, a bit girlier in its composition and sound, but it's very much a very different version of Mass Destruction, which is all one could hope for, really. Aside from the original song. Or some of the real fun jazzy vocalizations that you can't help but mouth out or even sing to yourself despite having played the game for more than 100 hours.
It's still very much music to kill things to, especially Shadows, and the sentiment remains unspoiled. "Wiping All Out" is very much Mass Destruction in theme, just on the naming of it. It also has the same rapping that Mass Destruction has (admittedly with different lyrics) and plays during battle as Mass Destruction did. While it's not as upbeat, I will say that Wiping All Out is enjoyable in its own right, as it manages to keep the jazzy feel, the general flow that goes through the rest of the songs (as did Persona 3's original soundtrack) and the fun in it. It helps, I suppose, that the female vocalist is quite enjoyable to listen to as well, but that's clearly just my opinion. Though it's one that I'm sure I'm not at all alone in having, as the soundtrack seems pretty liked from what I can tell.
The last song I want to feature sort of exemplifies just what I've been saying with the other two, in terms of keeping the general theme of the original game's soundtrack while adding a different spin on it for a very different scenario. Again, while girly, the last song here, "A Way of Life" is the general overworld theme, s'far as I know, which means it's what will play as you're out and about at the station or Pawlonia Mall (I think, at least) and it's only after I've listened to it here that I really sort of get the song. It's...just really a delightful song; not overly fantastic, not something that makes you want to get up and do something big, but it's something I'd definitely want to listen to while relaxing somewhere or, perhaps while walking around leisurely as I'm sure is the intention with the game. (At least, I've always considered the soundtrack in the game to be what the main character listens to when appropriate since regardless of male or female, they love their headphones)
Like I said already, it's just a nice, enjoyable little song. It's not anything more than it tries to be, nor is it anything more than it simply -is-, but it doesn't need to be. Despite not having any real jazzy influences (mostly the rockin' sax from other songs on the soundtrack) it's still decidedly part of the soundtrack by sound because it very much carries the same mood as the rest of the songs. And it really ties them together I think, by being just....well, 'funky', as I've said of the other songs. It's fun which is something that, as the sole descriptor of a song, means a whole lot more than I could hope to cover, so it will have to suffice along with my assurance that you know what I mean when I say that. It's clearly evident upon listening to it, especially if you're really intent on just listening to it and relaxing with it.
I'm sure that, depending on how my time with Trails in the Sky goes, I might just be ready to hop back into the world of P3P afterwards. Unless I have Resistance: Burning Skies at that point, in which, well, I'm playing that. I can't wait to see just what the Vita's first real first person shooter has to offer, though perhaps not as a direct representation of 'the bar' as it were. Since it is still early software and all. Though, I'm sure all the while til then, I'll be enjoying the smooth sounds of the Persona 3 extended OST (through Portable, I mean) because it simply stands out more in my head lately. And with good reason, I should suggest.
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