The "Even when it gets aggressive with the guitar, you can tell underneath the person is still good" bit like. Hits the nail square on the head with the shadow boss battles. So cool how you can pick up on that just from music alone.
People having two sides is actually the entire premise of Persona. They summon gods and demons that stem from their psyche. The guy in the picture is the protagonist and his "Persona".
Jungian psychology (very simplified) is the premise of Persona, though. It's not as simple as merely having two sides. Personas are also specifically not demons and gods, they are avatars of the image the self wants to project to the world, the mask one wears to hide the true self. Siegfried, Scathach, Pixie for example are neither of those things, they are just representative images of archetypes of personalities one may put forward. That's what Personas (latin for "mask" of the theatrical variety) are: what you want the world to see you as. Personas take the form of heroes, villains, gods, demigods, demons, devils, animals, concepts etc in the series because it's a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off and also because, as part of the Jungian concept of the shared human consciousness, they are also perfect representatives of how humans defined many of the archetypes we would conform to. Through stories about heroes and deities that conformed to the same archetypes, the monomyth and the prevalence of certain characteristics and preferences in how narratives are built and told, even across cultural divides, we can see that humanity has a lot of things that uniformly make sense to us and that we share as a species on some level. Some myths are dictated by circumstances (like geographical location, climate, local calamities or extreme events like droughts, floods etc) others are dictated by cultural norms but across the world there are stories that formed almost completely independent of each other that still share a lot of similarities. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice for example shares a lot of elements with the myth of Izanagi and Izanami (guess why P3 and P4's protag personas are Orpheus and Izanagi respectively) and they're not the only ones. The gods Vulcan and Hephaistos are related clearly between Roman and Greek cultures but the Japanese also have Ippon-Datara a youkai blacksmith with one leg that was corrupted from a mountain god. Hephaistos, the lame-legged asshole blacksmith of Mount Olympus should sue, though to be fair there are other interpretations of Ippon-Datara that don't match as closely. Broader concepts such as journeys, wise men, tests of strength and wit etc are also shared between stories appearing in vastly separate cultures. More specific character concepts such as "the hero" or "the trickster" also appear in stories told in a lot of cultures on the planet. Native Americans had Coyote, West Africans had Anansi, the Norse had Loki, Polynesians had Maui and so on. The roles they played in their stories were varied as they're not always the villain or the hero, sometimes just supporting characters, but they are remarkably similar concepts and all representative of the Trickster archetype. Some of these characters may have been imported as people migrated and took stories with them that started changing over time, but a lot of these concepts appear in isolated locations or in places that wouldn't have had a chance to communicate with outsiders when forming these myths. To consider that these stories could have diverged, changed and crystallized over hundreds if not thousands of years into completely new narratives but are still so recognizably similar is something I personally always found amazing. Is that a confirmation that the shared human consciousness exists as a mystical part of who we are as a species? Nope, it's just the human brain, at it again, making categories and putting things in their own little box. It's all born out of humanity's ability to perceive the world around it in an efficient way so people from most places on Earth saw something and found a convenient explanation that will usually take a similar form. Take lightning and thunder for example that were attributed to a god because they couldn't explain it otherwise. The Greek attributed it to Zeus the almighty father of his pantheon, the Norse to Thor, a powerful but not-quite-as-powerful-as-Zeus deity and other cultures attribute it to saints, demigods, devils etc. Always a supernatural being, however, so the concept of the God of Thunder/Lightning/Storms takes form. The "flood myth" is pretty big as well since early cultures lived in areas close to rivers that would likely flood a lot so they told stories about big floods to caution the young and drill fear of the stuff into them. Those stories were corrupted by the telling and grew more and more until it appears as part of several religions (you know which ones) despite a global flood being completely physically impossible. But all of this IS a confirmation of the shared human consciousness in a way - we don't share things telepathically, that's absurd, but we share things as a species that evolved in a certain way: the way we process and interpret information. It's the way we look at things that makes us the same in many ways. I'm unsure if without this shared perspective we would even be able to understand one another or form communities. But back on track Personas take the form of heroes and villains from stories and myths because it's shorthand to tell you about the actual traits that the self tries to project in-universe. Rather than say that P3's protag is a shy guy who is capable of bringing great joy to those around him but is held back by a loss he experienced in the past and extreme grief, his Persona is Orpheus, a musician who is said to have been so good that he could bring joy even to the gods but lost his wife and fell into super-depression. Later on, instead of saying this boy has opened up and is willing to sacrifice himself to help others, we see his persona evolve after interacting with the world around him into Messiah, a word that symbolizes the savior archetype. From a story perspective it's a way of foreshadowing events and characterizing your cast in a fun way. From an in-game perspective the characters don't get to pick who their Personas are, they just try to be their ideal selves and the Persona is then interpreted from the previously aforementioned shared human consciousness as a character that embodies the virtues, hopes, virtues and flaws (them's the elemental weaknesses I think) that the self tries to live up to - the archetype that Orpheus and Messiah respectively represent. Personas are then specifically not gods or demons because those also exist in the SMT universe. Personas are specifically a part of human psyche, draped in the image of a mythical being whereas deities and other such beings are separate. Marie for example IS Izanami at the end of P4G as she's been made whole again. She's not a Shadow or a Persona. Same for Nyx, Erebus, Nyarlathotep etc. Whether they are creations of the human mind (as they are said to come from the sea of human consciousness) is hard to say within the Persona universe but prior to Persona 3 devil summoners existed in Persona (as an extension of the SMT titles) as well so they are very likely separate entities entirely. So it's conceivably possible for someone to call both a Persona and the same devil at the same time. That... would be an interesting conversation, I should think. Don't take my word as law though, this is a lot of personal interpretation on my part and I'm sure to have gotten a lot of these things wrong. However it's a sincerely fascinating subject and while the games don't really get into details on the technicalities they can be a wonderful gateway into the subject. ... I guess thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Take care and stay safe!
@@vetreas366 wow that was a killer reply to find out of nowhere thank you for the condensed info bomb of persona lore that i've been trying to figure out myself
I think the proper words is Jung's theory of Archetypes which simplified into persona being our "mask" that we wear for others to see, shadow being our dark side that we hide and I think if I am not mistaken the last one is ego which I forgot what it is
Probably best to specify "Golden" in the title, since this is a different version from the original song. Both versions are great imo, the original is more what you'd expect with a heavy atmosphere and more rock elements, while this one has that amazing violin and piano and takes you along on an emotional journey. I'd argue this one is better to react to since the original is a pretty short loop.
Technically, this came out first in the Reincarnation Album of Persona 4, Golden includes the album into the game. There's also many Reincarnation mixes from Persona 3 and Persona 4 that didn't make it into the game, and all is a banger
"You're not me!" "You're right, I am me now. I don't need you anymore, see?!" That's the gist of the entire Persona 4 game right there. Denial of one's true self in the TV world leads to a Shadow, the parts of your own psyche and soul you don't want other people to know about, that you're ashamed to look at even in the safety of your own head, will go berserk and seek to kill its host. Only by coming to terms with your whole being can someone manifest a Persona, the power to face life's hardships, and the power to destroy even gods should you become strong enough by the end of the Journey. (And yes, Journey should be capitalized given how Persona 3's theme was all about overcoming one's fear of death itself, and living one's life without reservations or doubt despite the fated end that awaits us all.) To summarize, the Persona games covers the entire gamut of the many hardships we face in our day to day, and finding the strength within ourselves to overcome them. A truly beautiful message no matter which one you decide to play will be your reward should you persevere. :D
You have a cool theory about the song, but this specific version actually plays in a boss fight very late game in P4G (G stands for Golden), and its lighthearted, calmness is more about the boss than your characters :3
oh yes the reincarnation version of I'll face Myself, tbh this theme has like 5 dif versions, (a "-battle-" that goes like this by name title, a more calm version, this from the Reincarnation Disc, an 8-bit Version that goes by "Shin Mitsuo Tensei" and a Smash Remix of the theme), this one is my favorite version of this theme as it goes to a gentle tone, and then goes trough a heroic hymn for the protagonist and the rest of the main cast for ONE Battle but one important for the narrative of the Golden Version of Persona 4
this is a mix of the two versión of the song, you have the agressive version for the boss battle and the violin version for the aftermath and is because this song represent the battle against you dark feelings and the acceptence of you flaws and the embraces of them
Its a variation of the boss track that originated on the "Reincarnation" arrangement album, but Golden uses it during its one major boss addition to the game. This track normally doesn't have violins or techno to it. Also, the track name is a reflection to one of the main themes of Persona 4: Self-acceptance.
As others have said this is a different version of the main boss theme, made specifically for an extra boss added to the 'Golden' version of the game. It's still really good though, all the songs are for P4 really xD The original version is much more focused on the guitar and feels more action orientated, whereas this one is more for telling the story and struggle of the boss your facing. I hope you do the normal version too as that one is always a banger :D
To be specific, this is the Reincarnation version that was originally made for an album after P4's original release, and was then utilised in the P4 anime, then as a boss theme I Golden.
What makes this song hit so hard is that this is supposed to represent when the characters face the parts of themselves they hid and disliked. It’s really impactful and this game is phenomenal and changed my life completely. This song will always hit so hard for that reason it’s just such a trip but full of clarity
Well, in P4 your suppressed thoughts an emotions, the things about you the you dont want to acknowledge about yourself are given form and emerge to talk to you, trying to get you to acknowledge that they too exist inside of you. Should you fail to do that, they go berserk and try to kill you. This theme is whats playing while you fight those entities.
Its been a while since i played P4G, but one thing that i never forget is that each big boss battle has its own variation on this, though i think this one is from Marie's battle? U really should listen to some of the others, they will suprise u in how different they are.
Listening to all the Persona music recently makes me wish for a brand new Persona Arena. It's easily one of my favorite fighting games and I'm miffed that the steam rerelease isn't going to have rollback on launch.
Oh Boy, Persona 4, some bangers. Some of my favourites: Heaven, Snowflakes and the Powder Snow version, Signs of Love, Reach Out To The Truth -First Battle-, Backside of the TV, Time To Make History, Electronica In Velvet Room, Never More, Poem for Everyone's Souls (the lore behind the song is amazing as well), Awakening (love what they did to the drums to bring them to the front), Mist, The Genesis, and if you like your retro then Shin Mitsuo Tensei. The whole soundtrack hits hard
Technically, I'll Face Myself is two songs. They're both kinda meshed together here in this version... The more heavier parts are a boss theme for all the "dungeons" of the game. The lighter parts, story bits about characters accepting their Shadow, a part of themselves they don't really necessarily want to admit even exists... The Persona series delves into topics of psychology quite a bit, which is where the term Persona even stems from.
The colorful directions in this song is meant to kinda highlight the coloration of a little more people of different walks of life being put to the mettle of (as the title suggests) "I'll Face Myself". But ultimately they'll be face to face with who they really are underneath what they show and struggle to sort of accept themself. Symbolically, it's a tough battle, but leads to a happier road at the end of it all. Genuinely a brilliant concept and well tied together without coming out as too harsh on the ears in transition. One of the many reasons i think there's a lot to take in artistically from the series as a whole.
It might've helped to listen to the original version and its battle counterpart, but this special boss theme is definitely not a bad start. There are 5 versions of I'll Face Myself. I've only heard 4, and they're all amazing.
So to give some context. I'll Face Myself is the boss theme of P4, but there's actually a few versions that play. Battle is the boss version. The base version plays after the boss fight, and a special version plays late game during a very emotional scene in the hospital. This version is from the arrangement album Never More - Reincarnation. They added it to a single boss fight in Persona 4 Golden, the games remaster. It plays if you meet all the criteria for the hidden dungeon, and the context for why it's a mashup of the 3 versions is because it's a roller coaster of a fight. You're fighting a friend who wants to kill herself, and trying to convince her to accept living.
It also shares it's core melody with the games title screen and ending credits, A Corner of Memories, and Never More respectively. P4's core theme is self identity and accepting the good and bad about yourself, so I'll Face Myself is a very literal song. It plays when a character is forced to confront the truth of themselves.
This version of the song is actually a mashup of 2 different versions. the more rock oriented parts are actually the main boss theme in P4, whereas the calmer parts are from the scenes that follow the boss fights. To give better context, throughout the game, you have to go into the TV world and rescue people, when you reach them in their respective dungeons, they wind up having to come face to face with a shadow version of themselves. The battle is generally initiated by their inability to accept what they are seeing in front of them as them, and after you beat their shadows, they have to come to accept that the shadow is them, to which that shadow then becomes their persona. The boss theme itself is one of my favorite boss themes in RPGs simply because of that context. The story itself is beautiful, btw. One of my favorite all time games at this point. Would highly recommend it, but you will probably miss Inaba (the town it takes place in) once you end the game. If you don't have the time to sink into the game (it's a pretty long game, with over 100 hours of content involving a rich cast of characters, not just the main ones) I would highly recommend the anime adaptation in its place if you can find it (the regular one, Persona 4 The Animation, not the other one, Persona 4 The Golden Animation... at least not until after you watch the other one or play the game... The Golden Animation does have legitimate reason to be watched after playing the games though, as there is some extra backstory to some characters that's not shown in the game)
This is my fav track in the series , its rly underrated and is amazing as a conclusion to a rly good character arc, the song is just as underrated as that character imo
@@ZayIvory7 I don't see anywhere near as much discussion as many other popular songs in this series, even comparatively to other songs in p4 such as a new world fool or the almighty
@@jamescarrotcsl8 Discussion is subjective to what you see at the time. But overall "I'll Face Myself" is considered one of the best tracks in the Persona series. Don't compare what ppl in the comments are saying at the time, compare the views. A New World Fool = 1.1 Million The Almighty = 1.1 Million I'll Face Myself (this video in particular) = 3.4 Million Even combined they don't match up to I'll Face Myself. Ppl absolutely love this song, and for good reason.
This theme only gets used once in P4 Golden compared to the original version. But it was used often to great effect in the Persona 4 anime, it played during a lot of battle and emotional scenes.
Lots of Persona recs huh? I would love to see you react to Shin Megami Tensei V's Da'at Battle Theme ...or anything from the Digital Devil Saga and Devil Survivor games. Other SMT stuff is amazing too.
I’d totally love for you to check out the persona 3,4, & 5 dancing songs with their respective dances as well. Most of the songs are a treat, leaving only a select few to be kinda e h
Persona 4 music tracks some how have the leitmotif between corner of memories and never more. The image on the video that's the protagonist and mean your not wrong on thinking that. It was a surface level assumption and this game teaches you to not look at a person by first meeting or rumours about but too understand them more as actual people with problem.
The full version of Burn My Dread is still one of those songs that gives me chills down my spine. That and Kimi no Kioku (Memories of You) are two of the songs that just remind me that life is always worth living.
Here are more Persona 4 tracks for you to listen to that I think are particularly rich! Note most of these are from the P4 spinoffs and anime, I feel the Reincarnation album particularly features the "definitive" versions of several tracks. -Specialist (Reincarnation version) -Signs of Love (Reincarnation version preferred) -The Fog (Atlus Konishi Remix preferred, better mix) -Ying Yang -Break out of... -Dance!
This song is a remix of the boss theme used for persona 4 that is on the reincarnation album which is remixes of the OG themes this theme was also used in the later release of the game persona 4 Golden and the fight that it was used for not to get super into spoilers is essentially no one wants the fight but it's gonna happen which really works not to mention this version of thr song is just godly If you had to categorize the persona games soundtracks from 3 onward this is gonna be a big oversimplification but it would be Persona 3 hip-hop Persona 4 jpop Persona 5 jazz Obviously there are gonna be themes that don't always fall into that genre but it's an easy thing of what to expect for the soundtrack as a whole
This wasn't actually composed for the game itself. It was made as a standalone song on the Reincarnation album, part of which was in Persona 4, though this still wasn't used in actual gameplay segments. Despite that, it is a huge love letter to the situations presented within the game. This actually merges the two "I'll Face Myself" tracks (the normal one and the battle version) into one song, and does so quite well.
Tho at least most of this particular version of the track was used for the marie fight. I dont think it includes the nevermore part, but the rest of its there
Your theory is actually not wrong... except the character. The one in the image is the protagonist and his "Persona", his physical representation of his feelings, personality and thoughts (not evil btw)
That's pretty good for a blind impression of the song. Persona 4 is a game about schoolkid investigators looking into some murders in a sleepy town in rural Japan. Supernatural elements aside, every bit in that sentence is also explored quite extensively by the game; In that you have to go to school, make new friends there, being a new transfer student, navigate the social landscape typical of small towns, bond with your uncle and his daughter, who are hosting you while you are studying in the school, find out who's actually the murderer (And you actually could accuse any of the named NPCs you've met along the way), be a bro to the male friends, perhaps romance one of the girls, all while kicking butt in a supernatural TV dimension inhabited by mythological figures and the subconscious of the various characters you meet and grow close to along the way. You mentioned that it could be the leitmotif of a sympathetic villain, that's actually an angle I haven't considered myself. But in the game's context, it's a little more about the feeling a teenager might get when going through adolescence (YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND ME, MOM!). Or at least that's the flavour of angst I personally identify with, myself.
I hope you listen to splatoon ost, especially Tentacular Circus, one ot my fav songs from the game that really shows off how distinct the music of the game is.
Id love to hear your thoughts on the ending themes of 3 and 4, memories of you and nevermore respective But yeah 4's ost is very poppy, energetic, nostalgic, and a lot of brass and 3 has a lot of grunge rock, rap, and attitude; reflecting the more dire plot.
P4's I want to say the most personal but also relatable to its demographic - being teens. The game is a big critique on how people aren't allowed to act like themselves if they want to survive in society, but at the same time you also can't put all the blame on outside forces since sometimes you have to learn to make your situation work for you (depending on the character learning the lesson). I'd say the music fits really well with how they all feel like you want to win but the situation's really scary. The latter description's very prominent in a lot of the later bosses. It's kinda a shame P5's niche of a power fantasy against society along with its music was what propelled the series into popularit,y because I feel like a lot of the unresolved issues some teens carry into adulthood can be empathized with in P4. At least that's how it was for me since I related to the character who got judged cause she dealt with how her sex affected how she behaved, since women were expected to be in maternal roles in Japan instead of being police and detectives.
Not a patreon request but my man you gotta give a listen to Guilty Gear's newest theme for Baiken, Mirror of the World. It somehow tops Smell of the Game.
What I like about this song in particular (other than the constant repetition of the Reach Out To The Truth theme) is how well all these different instruments harmonize. Even if one drifts off from time to time and has its solo and does its own thing, they all come together eventually and just sound awesome in layers. And what I interpret from it is that there is a harmony to achieve within all these different sides (personas) one might have. Well that and the power of friendship of course. :D
Persona 4's theme is about facing and embracing one's self personality traits, dark thoughts and guilty pleasures. Persona 5 is all about rebellion, to society's rules or from ones self-imposed beliefs. The music in both tell the story quite successfully.
Note: Making this comment before the premier Is this the original in-game version or the anime version!? The anime version is 10x better in my opinion. Edit post premier: Hell yeah~
Yeah, Persona 3 is very dark and depressing, 4 is more upbeat and melodic, and 5 is very unique with alot of jazz. Each ost is very reflective of the games plot and themes
@@tastethecock5203 I view them as such but to each their own, thats the beauty of music aint it? One piece can make someone swell with sadness and another swell with pride
The rawness of the original is great but I definitely prefer this version, those great violins make this version a lot more emotional. Especially when the facing your shadow part of the track kicks in.
@@J2ojuiced95 This ver. is great, but when it comes to the game itself, it only plays once, it's an optional boss and has no story significance. So honestly, the original is just superior. In it's simplicity and importance.
@@Sekainoowaride Which is exactly what makes it better on a blind listen than the original. Within context, the original hits harder, but it's a simple battle loop, less suited for a blind listen imo. This version has it all, and really lets you experience the motifs of the game at their absolute peak, plus you don't have the context of the story moment more or less dragging it down.
@@NSDominator I have just listened to the original, haven't done that in awhile and Nope, Original is still better, because of it's simplicity not in spite of it. "Less is more". Reincarnation ver. was originally made for a special CD, it was never gonna be in the game till Golden came out, almost 5 years after P4. It's barely in the game. This ver. is nowhere near my Top 100 Fav Persona OST songs, it's not bad, it just tries to do too much. Same reason why EVERY remix of "When my Mother was there" from P5 SUCKS, they add too much.
The leitmotif of Never More always kills me with it's absolute beauty.
Never More is sooooo fucking good
Yes
It's so good that I had to learn how to play it on my guitar.
always makes me shed a tear
Me too
The "Even when it gets aggressive with the guitar, you can tell underneath the person is still good" bit like. Hits the nail square on the head with the shadow boss battles. So cool how you can pick up on that just from music alone.
People having two sides is actually the entire premise of Persona. They summon gods and demons that stem from their psyche.
The guy in the picture is the protagonist and his "Persona".
Jungian psychology (very simplified) is the premise of Persona, though. It's not as simple as merely having two sides. Personas are also specifically not demons and gods, they are avatars of the image the self wants to project to the world, the mask one wears to hide the true self.
Siegfried, Scathach, Pixie for example are neither of those things, they are just representative images of archetypes of personalities one may put forward. That's what Personas (latin for "mask" of the theatrical variety) are: what you want the world to see you as.
Personas take the form of heroes, villains, gods, demigods, demons, devils, animals, concepts etc in the series because it's a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off and also because, as part of the Jungian concept of the shared human consciousness, they are also perfect representatives of how humans defined many of the archetypes we would conform to. Through stories about heroes and deities that conformed to the same archetypes, the monomyth and the prevalence of certain characteristics and preferences in how narratives are built and told, even across cultural divides, we can see that humanity has a lot of things that uniformly make sense to us and that we share as a species on some level. Some myths are dictated by circumstances (like geographical location, climate, local calamities or extreme events like droughts, floods etc) others are dictated by cultural norms but across the world there are stories that formed almost completely independent of each other that still share a lot of similarities.
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice for example shares a lot of elements with the myth of Izanagi and Izanami (guess why P3 and P4's protag personas are Orpheus and Izanagi respectively) and they're not the only ones. The gods Vulcan and Hephaistos are related clearly between Roman and Greek cultures but the Japanese also have Ippon-Datara a youkai blacksmith with one leg that was corrupted from a mountain god. Hephaistos, the lame-legged asshole blacksmith of Mount Olympus should sue, though to be fair there are other interpretations of Ippon-Datara that don't match as closely.
Broader concepts such as journeys, wise men, tests of strength and wit etc are also shared between stories appearing in vastly separate cultures.
More specific character concepts such as "the hero" or "the trickster" also appear in stories told in a lot of cultures on the planet. Native Americans had Coyote, West Africans had Anansi, the Norse had Loki, Polynesians had Maui and so on. The roles they played in their stories were varied as they're not always the villain or the hero, sometimes just supporting characters, but they are remarkably similar concepts and all representative of the Trickster archetype. Some of these characters may have been imported as people migrated and took stories with them that started changing over time, but a lot of these concepts appear in isolated locations or in places that wouldn't have had a chance to communicate with outsiders when forming these myths. To consider that these stories could have diverged, changed and crystallized over hundreds if not thousands of years into completely new narratives but are still so recognizably similar is something I personally always found amazing.
Is that a confirmation that the shared human consciousness exists as a mystical part of who we are as a species? Nope, it's just the human brain, at it again, making categories and putting things in their own little box. It's all born out of humanity's ability to perceive the world around it in an efficient way so people from most places on Earth saw something and found a convenient explanation that will usually take a similar form. Take lightning and thunder for example that were attributed to a god because they couldn't explain it otherwise. The Greek attributed it to Zeus the almighty father of his pantheon, the Norse to Thor, a powerful but not-quite-as-powerful-as-Zeus deity and other cultures attribute it to saints, demigods, devils etc. Always a supernatural being, however, so the concept of the God of Thunder/Lightning/Storms takes form. The "flood myth" is pretty big as well since early cultures lived in areas close to rivers that would likely flood a lot so they told stories about big floods to caution the young and drill fear of the stuff into them. Those stories were corrupted by the telling and grew more and more until it appears as part of several religions (you know which ones) despite a global flood being completely physically impossible. But all of this IS a confirmation of the shared human consciousness in a way - we don't share things telepathically, that's absurd, but we share things as a species that evolved in a certain way: the way we process and interpret information. It's the way we look at things that makes us the same in many ways. I'm unsure if without this shared perspective we would even be able to understand one another or form communities.
But back on track Personas take the form of heroes and villains from stories and myths because it's shorthand to tell you about the actual traits that the self tries to project in-universe. Rather than say that P3's protag is a shy guy who is capable of bringing great joy to those around him but is held back by a loss he experienced in the past and extreme grief, his Persona is Orpheus, a musician who is said to have been so good that he could bring joy even to the gods but lost his wife and fell into super-depression. Later on, instead of saying this boy has opened up and is willing to sacrifice himself to help others, we see his persona evolve after interacting with the world around him into Messiah, a word that symbolizes the savior archetype. From a story perspective it's a way of foreshadowing events and characterizing your cast in a fun way. From an in-game perspective the characters don't get to pick who their Personas are, they just try to be their ideal selves and the Persona is then interpreted from the previously aforementioned shared human consciousness as a character that embodies the virtues, hopes, virtues and flaws (them's the elemental weaknesses I think) that the self tries to live up to - the archetype that Orpheus and Messiah respectively represent.
Personas are then specifically not gods or demons because those also exist in the SMT universe. Personas are specifically a part of human psyche, draped in the image of a mythical being whereas deities and other such beings are separate. Marie for example IS Izanami at the end of P4G as she's been made whole again. She's not a Shadow or a Persona. Same for Nyx, Erebus, Nyarlathotep etc. Whether they are creations of the human mind (as they are said to come from the sea of human consciousness) is hard to say within the Persona universe but prior to Persona 3 devil summoners existed in Persona (as an extension of the SMT titles) as well so they are very likely separate entities entirely. So it's conceivably possible for someone to call both a Persona and the same devil at the same time. That... would be an interesting conversation, I should think.
Don't take my word as law though, this is a lot of personal interpretation on my part and I'm sure to have gotten a lot of these things wrong. However it's a sincerely fascinating subject and while the games don't really get into details on the technicalities they can be a wonderful gateway into the subject.
... I guess thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Take care and stay safe!
@@vetreas366 Yeah, I didn't read all of that, mostly because I know. I just wanted to keep it simple. But respect! You certainly did your homework.
@@vetreas366 wow that was a killer reply to find out of nowhere
thank you for the condensed info bomb of persona lore that i've been trying to figure out myself
@@vetreas366 Very informative, thanks dude👍
I think the proper words is Jung's theory of Archetypes which simplified into persona being our "mask" that we wear for others to see, shadow being our dark side that we hide and I think if I am not mistaken the last one is ego which I forgot what it is
Probably best to specify "Golden" in the title, since this is a different version from the original song. Both versions are great imo, the original is more what you'd expect with a heavy atmosphere and more rock elements, while this one has that amazing violin and piano and takes you along on an emotional journey. I'd argue this one is better to react to since the original is a pretty short loop.
Technically, this came out first in the Reincarnation Album of Persona 4,
Golden includes the album into the game.
There's also many Reincarnation mixes from Persona 3 and Persona 4 that didn't make it into the game, and all is a banger
I also love how the anime used it for their midseason climax
@@Amitlu ah yes, the showing off persona montage lmao
The use of this song in p4 golden made me cry ngl. The violin in this song is incredible
Playing Golden now, haven't heard this version yet.
Though it's a completely different kind of song, I really want Jesse to experience the Specialist meme now.
@@kev1nno we must make this happen
I love this version! It only plays during one fight, but man, it has impact.
I like songs that usually play once or twice because they are unique and leave more impact, especially if its like remix or something
I've been having a bit of a rough afternoon, so this was a welcome distraction. Thanks!
"You're not me!"
"You're right, I am me now. I don't need you anymore, see?!"
That's the gist of the entire Persona 4 game right there. Denial of one's true self in the TV world leads to a Shadow, the parts of your own psyche and soul you don't want other people to know about, that you're ashamed to look at even in the safety of your own head, will go berserk and seek to kill its host. Only by coming to terms with your whole being can someone manifest a Persona, the power to face life's hardships, and the power to destroy even gods should you become strong enough by the end of the Journey. (And yes, Journey should be capitalized given how Persona 3's theme was all about overcoming one's fear of death itself, and living one's life without reservations or doubt despite the fated end that awaits us all.)
To summarize, the Persona games covers the entire gamut of the many hardships we face in our day to day, and finding the strength within ourselves to overcome them. A truly beautiful message no matter which one you decide to play will be your reward should you persevere. :D
I love how you explain Persona 3’s theme so perfectly. To me, Living with Determination embodies that theme to the fullest.
@@Exlegion19 Not a bad way to describe it XLegion. :D And I'm always happy to talk shop with another Persona User (fan lol).
You have a cool theory about the song, but this specific version actually plays in a boss fight very late game in P4G (G stands for Golden), and its lighthearted, calmness is more about the boss than your characters :3
No it’s actually from the reincarnation album
@@ZeldaGamer2005 you're both right
@@ZeldaGamer2005
But it does still play in the game, so
oh yes the reincarnation version of I'll face Myself, tbh this theme has like 5 dif versions, (a "-battle-" that goes like this by name title, a more calm version, this from the Reincarnation Disc, an 8-bit Version that goes by "Shin Mitsuo Tensei" and a Smash Remix of the theme), this one is my favorite version of this theme as it goes to a gentle tone, and then goes trough a heroic hymn for the protagonist and the rest of the main cast for ONE Battle but one important for the narrative of the Golden Version of Persona 4
this is a mix of the two versión of the song, you have the agressive version for the boss battle and the violin version for the aftermath and is because this song represent the battle against you dark feelings and the acceptence of you flaws and the embraces of them
The Almighty From Persona 4 is also a certified Classic
It, along with The Fog, makes you feel the most badass person on earth.
Its a variation of the boss track that originated on the "Reincarnation" arrangement album, but Golden uses it during its one major boss addition to the game.
This track normally doesn't have violins or techno to it.
Also, the track name is a reflection to one of the main themes of Persona 4: Self-acceptance.
The violin in this song is actually incredible, it gets me every time
As others have said this is a different version of the main boss theme, made specifically for an extra boss added to the 'Golden' version of the game. It's still really good though, all the songs are for P4 really xD The original version is much more focused on the guitar and feels more action orientated, whereas this one is more for telling the story and struggle of the boss your facing. I hope you do the normal version too as that one is always a banger :D
To be specific, this is the Reincarnation version that was originally made for an album after P4's original release, and was then utilised in the P4 anime, then as a boss theme I Golden.
What makes this song hit so hard is that this is supposed to represent when the characters face the parts of themselves they hid and disliked. It’s really impactful and this game is phenomenal and changed my life completely. This song will always hit so hard for that reason it’s just such a trip but full of clarity
"The Almighty" and "The Fog" from P4 are also great
Well, in P4 your suppressed thoughts an emotions, the things about you the you dont want to acknowledge about yourself are given form and emerge to talk to you, trying to get you to acknowledge that they too exist inside of you.
Should you fail to do that, they go berserk and try to kill you. This theme is whats playing while you fight those entities.
Its been a while since i played P4G, but one thing that i never forget is that each big boss battle has its own variation on this, though i think this one is from Marie's battle?
U really should listen to some of the others, they will suprise u in how different they are.
Yes its Marie's battle. I agree he should listen to the original and also the Golden remixes for the bosses.
This song made me cry when i first heard it. 15 year old me was so lucky to have played this game!
Listening to all the Persona music recently makes me wish for a brand new Persona Arena. It's easily one of my favorite fighting games and I'm miffed that the steam rerelease isn't going to have rollback on launch.
This game changed me
Someone should get this man to listen to some of the remixes from the persona rhythm games for even more variety in persona music
The dude on the left is Yu Narukami and and the dude on the right is Izanagi who is Yu’s Persona/ other self.
Persona 3 = Mainly Rock with some slow track
Persona 4 = Piano focused and some jazzy tracks
Persona 5 = Pure funk
P3 is personally more rnb / hiphop (most memorable songs)
Idk what p3 you played but the one i did was more hiphop and rnb
Personaly my take
Persona 3 = hiphop/ rnb with some slight rock and metal influence
Persona 4 = mostly j-pop
Peraona 5 = pure jazz
Oh Boy, Persona 4, some bangers. Some of my favourites: Heaven, Snowflakes and the Powder Snow version, Signs of Love, Reach Out To The Truth -First Battle-, Backside of the TV, Time To Make History, Electronica In Velvet Room, Never More, Poem for Everyone's Souls (the lore behind the song is amazing as well), Awakening (love what they did to the drums to bring them to the front), Mist, The Genesis, and if you like your retro then Shin Mitsuo Tensei. The whole soundtrack hits hard
I recently got my restricted drivers licence
And this is one of my favourite song to play while driving, the whole soundtrack really
Technically, I'll Face Myself is two songs. They're both kinda meshed together here in this version...
The more heavier parts are a boss theme for all the "dungeons" of the game.
The lighter parts, story bits about characters accepting their Shadow, a part of themselves they don't really necessarily want to admit even exists... The Persona series delves into topics of psychology quite a bit, which is where the term Persona even stems from.
Awesome stuff jesse
The colorful directions in this song is meant to kinda highlight the coloration of a little more people of different walks of life being put to the mettle of (as the title suggests) "I'll Face Myself". But ultimately they'll be face to face with who they really are underneath what they show and struggle to sort of accept themself. Symbolically, it's a tough battle, but leads to a happier road at the end of it all. Genuinely a brilliant concept and well tied together without coming out as too harsh on the ears in transition. One of the many reasons i think there's a lot to take in artistically from the series as a whole.
The split image is of the Protag it is him and his persona. If I remember correctly the theme of P4 was joy/happiness.
And pursuing the truth
It might've helped to listen to the original version and its battle counterpart, but this special boss theme is definitely not a bad start. There are 5 versions of I'll Face Myself. I've only heard 4, and they're all amazing.
Man I remember listening to covers of this song and immediately hunting for the original to listen to it.
So to give some context. I'll Face Myself is the boss theme of P4, but there's actually a few versions that play. Battle is the boss version. The base version plays after the boss fight, and a special version plays late game during a very emotional scene in the hospital.
This version is from the arrangement album Never More - Reincarnation. They added it to a single boss fight in Persona 4 Golden, the games remaster. It plays if you meet all the criteria for the hidden dungeon, and the context for why it's a mashup of the 3 versions is because it's a roller coaster of a fight. You're fighting a friend who wants to kill herself, and trying to convince her to accept living.
It also shares it's core melody with the games title screen and ending credits, A Corner of Memories, and Never More respectively. P4's core theme is self identity and accepting the good and bad about yourself, so I'll Face Myself is a very literal song. It plays when a character is forced to confront the truth of themselves.
Persona music is all fire. The rhythm game has some insane rap/hop remixes with Lotus Juice doing them
If you want to hear a song that represents the whole Persona series: The Bond's of everyone's soul from Persona 4 the animation
Maya's theme 😐
This version of the song is actually a mashup of 2 different versions. the more rock oriented parts are actually the main boss theme in P4, whereas the calmer parts are from the scenes that follow the boss fights.
To give better context, throughout the game, you have to go into the TV world and rescue people, when you reach them in their respective dungeons, they wind up having to come face to face with a shadow version of themselves. The battle is generally initiated by their inability to accept what they are seeing in front of them as them, and after you beat their shadows, they have to come to accept that the shadow is them, to which that shadow then becomes their persona.
The boss theme itself is one of my favorite boss themes in RPGs simply because of that context. The story itself is beautiful, btw. One of my favorite all time games at this point. Would highly recommend it, but you will probably miss Inaba (the town it takes place in) once you end the game. If you don't have the time to sink into the game (it's a pretty long game, with over 100 hours of content involving a rich cast of characters, not just the main ones) I would highly recommend the anime adaptation in its place if you can find it (the regular one, Persona 4 The Animation, not the other one, Persona 4 The Golden Animation... at least not until after you watch the other one or play the game... The Golden Animation does have legitimate reason to be watched after playing the games though, as there is some extra backstory to some characters that's not shown in the game)
Facing yourself and your fears/deep secrets is a huge motife and plot device of persona 4 I won't say more to not give spoilers
This is my fav track in the series , its rly underrated and is amazing as a conclusion to a rly good character arc, the song is just as underrated as that character imo
I don't think this song is underrated at all.. its universally considered one the best tracks in the whole series.
@@ZayIvory7 I don't see anywhere near as much discussion as many other popular songs in this series, even comparatively to other songs in p4 such as a new world fool or the almighty
@@jamescarrotcsl8 Discussion is subjective to what you see at the time. But overall "I'll Face Myself" is considered one of the best tracks in the Persona series. Don't compare what ppl in the comments are saying at the time, compare the views.
A New World Fool = 1.1 Million
The Almighty = 1.1 Million
I'll Face Myself (this video in particular) = 3.4 Million
Even combined they don't match up to I'll Face Myself. Ppl absolutely love this song, and for good reason.
This theme only gets used once in P4 Golden compared to the original version. But it was used often to great effect in the Persona 4 anime, it played during a lot of battle and emotional scenes.
Persona 4 is about facing your weakness and accepting as part of you and by doing so you Will be able to find power to fight on yourself
Lots of Persona recs huh?
I would love to see you react to Shin Megami Tensei V's Da'at Battle Theme
...or anything from the Digital Devil Saga and Devil Survivor games. Other SMT stuff is amazing too.
SMT soundtrack is just 👌😩
Dds soundtrack is lit af
"Humans, Demons, and..." Is such a banger
Without giving spoilers, I think Jesse's assumption about the character was actually pretty close to what happens in the game. Good job.
I’d totally love for you to check out the persona 3,4, & 5 dancing songs with their respective dances as well. Most of the songs are a treat, leaving only a select few to be kinda e h
Persona 4 music tracks some how have the leitmotif between corner of memories and never more.
The image on the video that's the protagonist and mean your not wrong on thinking that.
It was a surface level assumption and this game teaches you to not look at a person by first meeting or rumours about but too understand them more as actual people with problem.
I honestly think you'd enjoy Burn My Dread and I'm honestly surprised that no one has talked about it to my knowledge
The full version of Burn My Dread is still one of those songs that gives me chills down my spine. That and Kimi no Kioku (Memories of You) are two of the songs that just remind me that life is always worth living.
Here are more Persona 4 tracks for you to listen to that I think are particularly rich! Note most of these are from the P4 spinoffs and anime, I feel the Reincarnation album particularly features the "definitive" versions of several tracks.
-Specialist (Reincarnation version)
-Signs of Love (Reincarnation version preferred)
-The Fog (Atlus Konishi Remix preferred, better mix)
-Ying Yang
-Break out of...
-Dance!
This song is a remix of the boss theme used for persona 4 that is on the reincarnation album which is remixes of the OG themes this theme was also used in the later release of the game persona 4 Golden and the fight that it was used for not to get super into spoilers is essentially no one wants the fight but it's gonna happen which really works not to mention this version of thr song is just godly
If you had to categorize the persona games soundtracks from 3 onward this is gonna be a big oversimplification but it would be
Persona 3 hip-hop
Persona 4 jpop
Persona 5 jazz
Obviously there are gonna be themes that don't always fall into that genre but it's an easy thing of what to expect for the soundtrack as a whole
This wasn't actually composed for the game itself. It was made as a standalone song on the Reincarnation album, part of which was in Persona 4, though this still wasn't used in actual gameplay segments. Despite that, it is a huge love letter to the situations presented within the game. This actually merges the two "I'll Face Myself" tracks (the normal one and the battle version) into one song, and does so quite well.
Tho at least most of this particular version of the track was used for the marie fight. I dont think it includes the nevermore part, but the rest of its there
Omg cant wait for him to do ying yang
we need to give this man more p4 like the fog, new world fool, and some p4a stuff like The arena
Your theory is actually not wrong... except the character. The one in the image is the protagonist and his "Persona", his physical representation of his feelings, personality and thoughts (not evil btw)
That's pretty good for a blind impression of the song.
Persona 4 is a game about schoolkid investigators looking into some murders in a sleepy town in rural Japan. Supernatural elements aside, every bit in that sentence is also explored quite extensively by the game; In that you have to go to school, make new friends there, being a new transfer student, navigate the social landscape typical of small towns, bond with your uncle and his daughter, who are hosting you while you are studying in the school, find out who's actually the murderer (And you actually could accuse any of the named NPCs you've met along the way), be a bro to the male friends, perhaps romance one of the girls, all while kicking butt in a supernatural TV dimension inhabited by mythological figures and the subconscious of the various characters you meet and grow close to along the way.
You mentioned that it could be the leitmotif of a sympathetic villain, that's actually an angle I haven't considered myself. But in the game's context, it's a little more about the feeling a teenager might get when going through adolescence (YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND ME, MOM!). Or at least that's the flavour of angst I personally identify with, myself.
I personally love this and the Smash remix as well.
I hope you listen to splatoon ost, especially Tentacular Circus, one ot my fav songs from the game that really shows off how distinct the music of the game is.
You should try reacting to any version of Persona 4's "The Almighty" bro
Narukami: "I AM FAR FROM BEING EMPTY"
DO THE IMPOSSIBLE, SEE THE INVISIBLE! ROW! ROW! FIGHT THE POWA!
Id love to hear your thoughts on the ending themes of 3 and 4, memories of you and nevermore respective
But yeah 4's ost is very poppy, energetic, nostalgic, and a lot of brass and 3 has a lot of grunge rock, rap, and attitude; reflecting the more dire plot.
P4's I want to say the most personal but also relatable to its demographic - being teens. The game is a big critique on how people aren't allowed to act like themselves if they want to survive in society, but at the same time you also can't put all the blame on outside forces since sometimes you have to learn to make your situation work for you (depending on the character learning the lesson). I'd say the music fits really well with how they all feel like you want to win but the situation's really scary. The latter description's very prominent in a lot of the later bosses. It's kinda a shame P5's niche of a power fantasy against society along with its music was what propelled the series into popularit,y because I feel like a lot of the unresolved issues some teens carry into adulthood can be empathized with in P4. At least that's how it was for me since I related to the character who got judged cause she dealt with how her sex affected how she behaved, since women were expected to be in maternal roles in Japan instead of being police and detectives.
The trumpet version goes *HARDER*
Not a patreon request but my man you gotta give a listen to Guilty Gear's newest theme for Baiken, Mirror of the World. It somehow tops Smell of the Game.
What I like about this song in particular (other than the constant repetition of the Reach Out To The Truth theme) is how well all these different instruments harmonize. Even if one drifts off from time to time and has its solo and does its own thing, they all come together eventually and just sound awesome in layers. And what I interpret from it is that there is a harmony to achieve within all these different sides (personas) one might have. Well that and the power of friendship of course. :D
Persona 4's theme is about facing and embracing one's self personality traits, dark thoughts and guilty pleasures. Persona 5 is all about rebellion, to society's rules or from ones self-imposed beliefs. The music in both tell the story quite successfully.
You should definitely react to the fog
It would be cool to see you react to Heaven or New World Fool both are from Persona 4.
Note: Making this comment before the premier
Is this the original in-game version or the anime version!? The anime version is 10x better in my opinion.
Edit post premier: Hell yeah~
This is the Anime and Golden version, they put this in as a late game optional boss against somebody you'd only know in Golden
People have already said it but it's the cd arrangement version, which the anime uses and golden uses once too.
If you are a rock fan you will like the battle version much more
you're actually not far off with your theory, only thing it's not for the character in the picture really
Can you react to "mortal reminder " by pentakill?
Smt and persona are from the same company and persona is the spin-off of smt I thought you should know
Try out
Persona 3 Fes - Heartful Cry
make one for zero escape ost
PLZZZZ do a Persona 1 school days D:
Yeah, Persona 3 is very dark and depressing, 4 is more upbeat and melodic, and 5 is very unique with alot of jazz. Each ost is very reflective of the games plot and themes
Persona 3 OST is not that dark and depressing. Most of the sadder tracks are more melancholic, and a lot of tracks are really bright in this game.
@@tastethecock5203 I view them as such but to each their own, thats the beauty of music aint it? One piece can make someone swell with sadness and another swell with pride
You should REALLY listen to the original ver. Even in your own time, cuz you're missing out unfortunately lol
React Ludwig bloodborne
Tch FUCK, they gave you the reincarnation ver.....oh well, it's still good, but it loses a LOT of the rawness of the original. Still a good song tho
The rawness of the original is great but I definitely prefer this version, those great violins make this version a lot more emotional. Especially when the facing your shadow part of the track kicks in.
@@J2ojuiced95 This ver. is great, but when it comes to the game itself, it only plays once, it's an optional boss and has no story significance. So honestly, the original is just superior. In it's simplicity and importance.
@@Sekainoowaride Which is exactly what makes it better on a blind listen than the original. Within context, the original hits harder, but it's a simple battle loop, less suited for a blind listen imo. This version has it all, and really lets you experience the motifs of the game at their absolute peak, plus you don't have the context of the story moment more or less dragging it down.
@@NSDominator I have just listened to the original, haven't done that in awhile and Nope, Original is still better, because of it's simplicity not in spite of it. "Less is more". Reincarnation ver. was originally made for a special CD, it was never gonna be in the game till Golden came out, almost 5 years after P4. It's barely in the game. This ver. is nowhere near my Top 100 Fav Persona OST songs, it's not bad, it just tries to do too much. Same reason why EVERY remix of "When my Mother was there" from P5 SUCKS, they add too much.
One of my favorites.