Whether Joker is deep in the metaverse or shuffling around Shibuya, there’s almost always an appropriate track playing in the background. As is tradition with Atlus, the original Persona 5 got re-released as Persona 5 Royal with hours of additional content, as well as gameplay improvements. In Persona 5 Royal there is an entire spring semester that takes place after the events of the main game if certain prerequisites are met. There are also a handful of new songs not present in the original release. Given the sheer amount of music present in Persona 5 Royal, only major songs will be considered. As a result, fans of silly tracks like “Big Bang Burger March” may be disappointed, but those sorts of tracks just aren’t relevant enough to the plot.
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S Tier
Life Will Change Beneath The Mask Take Over I Believe The Whims of Fate Ark Rivers in the Desert No More What Ifs Throw Away Your Mask Our Light
S tier is for tracks that are either exceptional for what they do or are used sparingly to have the most possible emotional impact. While “Take Over” plays every time Joker and the Phantom Thieves ambush an enemy, which can be a lot in a single playthrough, it generally never ceases to get the player pumped. Other tracks are more rare, such as “Life Will Change” and “I Believe,” which only play on the final day of combat after the calling card has been issued. Furthermore, the fan-favorite “Rivers in the Desert” has thoughtful and relevant lyrics for the encounters in which it is played. It makes the player feel on-edge, like they are risking everything for those fights.
“Our Light” is only played once over the end credits for the true ending. Its tempo is relatively slow and the lyrics reflect a certain sadness that the journey is over, but also a sense of resolve that the player made the right choice. It’s not the happy ending for Persona 5 Royal that many wanted, but it is the real one. These tracks are all instantly recognizable, no matter if they are played often like “Take Over” or once like “Our Light.”
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A Tier
Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There Colors Flying High Will Power King, Queen, and Slave Last Surprise Victory Tokyo Daylight Butterfly Kiss Price When Mother Was There What’s Going On? Break It Down Mementos (Royal Versions) Gentle Madman So Happy World Keep Your Faith
This collection of tracks, while excellent, are unable to reach the status of the S tier for a couple of reasons. They are, in large part, fairly memorable but are played often. There are several Palace themes here such as Kamoshida’s “King, Queen, and Slave,” Kaneshiro’s “Price,” and Maruki’s “Gentle Madman.” These are excellent at setting a unique mood in Persona 5 Royal and its expansive palaces, but they aren’t quite on the S tier level of quality. Furthermore, tracks like “Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There” could benefit from being used more due to their general applicability to any situation.
There are also many tracks that play often enough that they begin to lose the initial charm, like the post-win “Victory” screen theme and “Butterfly Kiss” for when Joker stocks up at Takemi’s Clinic. It would also be remiss to not mention the Royal-exclusive additions to Mementos and its theme, which changes the deeper the party goes and is very welcome compared to the derivative version found in Persona 5.
B Tier
Interrogation Room Hymn of the Soul Tension Talk Tokyo Emergency Layer Cake Blooming Villain Keeper of Lust Life Goes On Alleycat The Spirit Is It Boring? Yaldabaoth With the Stars and Us Ideal and the Real Another Ideology Out of Kindness
The B tier is the baseline for Persona 5 Royal, as these tracks are usually only memorable by sound alone and are solid in that regard. Upon hearing “Alleycat,” a Persona fan will be able to think of any number of sad moments within the game, not just one specific event. Songs like “Yaldabaoth,” which only plays during the titular fight, should have been as epic and memorable as the fight itself, but do not live up to their full potential. Hopefully, among the improvements in Persona 6 is a truly fantastic final boss theme, as Atlus did with Royal’s true ending. Others like “Layer Cake” and “Hymn of the Soul” are great at first, but the more Joker goes back to Iwai’s shop and the Velvet Room respectively, the less special they become.
C Tier
Phantom Awakening Confession Regret Endless Days My Homie A Woman Sunset Bridge Suspicion New Beginning Sweet Run, Run, Run! Restlessness Freedom and Security Swear to My Bones Royal Days Our Beginning
This collection are all just below the baseline for any number of reasons. They are typically unmemorable in both title and melody, or are played so often that there is no singular significant meaning attached to them - such as “Endless Days,” which is the typical song that plays when trying to pay attention to class. There are also tracks that are overshadowed by in-game events so they don’t have the opportunity to shine on their own, as is the case with “Awakening” and “Run, Run, Run!” There’s nothing inherently wrong with this handful of songs, they just are fairly unmemorable and don’t stand out among the rest.
D Tier
Escape Blood of Villain Have a Short Rest Wicked Plan High Pressure Alright Sweatshop Desire Prison Labor
The D tier represents songs that are not quite the worst in the game, but they are close. None of these are played during wholly unique moments, but rather are used repeatedly for certain events, such as “Blood of Villain” when Joker encounters the Palace host and “Have a Short Rest” in every single saferoom. It’s also worth mentioning that Okumura’s Palace theme, “Sweatshop,” is here because even though it fits the grungy and oppressive interior, it’s generally unpleasant and different from the rest of the soundtrack. It is even more unwanted as it leads up to arguably the worst boss in the game.
F Tier
Mementos (original theme) Crossroads Days of Sisters
While the entire soundtrack for Persona 5 Royal is excellent, there are three tracks in the lowest tier. The original version of “Mementos” is grating and easily the most repetitive track for Persona 5 Royal. Luckily, Atlus realized this and added additional versions throughout Momentos for Royal. There is “Crossroads,” which is fine as background music and only plays when Joker visits Ohya at the Crossroads bar. Ohya’s confidant progression is probably the least useful in the game, so there aren’t a ton of reasons to go back and visit her. Finally, there is “Days of Sisters,” which only plays when the player is subject to the Nijima sisters household and is generally forgettable, despite giving Sae and Makoto more characterization.
The collective soundtrack for Persona 5 Royal is a cut above many other games, and none of them can be described as truly awful. The greatest songs for the game all possess either catchy melodies or general importance to the plot of Persona 5 Royal, while the worst among them have neither. Each of the staggering amount of tracks were made with care and purpose, along with everything else in the game. As a result, there are precious few games that reach the same heights as Persona 5 Royal.
Persona 5 Royal is available now for PS4.
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