Video game soundtracks are a key part of the gameplay experience, and Persona’s high-energy, eccentric collection of tracks have gained something of a cult status amongst gamers, combining jazz with pop and rock, with the instrumental often accompanied by upbeat and uplifting vocals.
However, until now it has been tricky for fans based in Western countries to access the soundtracks, with many having to stream the music through Japanese accounts or YouTube, which is awash with Persona music playlists.
The Twitter account @AniPlaylist, which tweets about anime playlists and original soundtrack releases, first revealed the news on January 4, before the batch of Persona songs went live on Spotify’s platform in the early hours of January 5, to much fanfare from the gaming community.
AniPlaylist has also collated all of the music into a single playlist, which contains a staggering 746 songs, led by the Persona 5 opening theme Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There.
Listening to the playlist in its entirety would take more than 24 hours, and at the time of publication, it has garnered more than 22,000 likes.
The Persona tracks that have been added to Spotify includes music from almost the entire mainline Persona series, but also from Persona spin-offs and live albums.
The list of core Persona games, spin-offs and live albums that have had their soundtracks added to Spotify is as follows:
Persona 5Persona 4 GoldenPersona 4 Dancing All NightPersona 4 Arena UltimaxNever More - Reincarnation: Persona 4Persona 3 + FESPersona 2 Sound CollectionsPersona QPersona Q2Persona 3 Vocal Sound CollectionPersona 4 Vocal Sound CollectionMusic FES 2013Super Live 2015
Revelations: Persona and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona are two notable absences, but that may change in the future.
The music of the Persona series has been handled by multiple composers, but Shoji Meguro is the name that is most closely associated with the series.
The first entry in the Persona franchise, Revelations: Persona, was released 25 years ago in September 1996 for the original PlayStation, and the series has gone on to sell more than 13 million copies worldwide.
The game’s publisher, Atlus, is set to release Persona 5 Strikers in North America and Europe in February, but the company has also teased a “commemorative project” to mark Persona’s 25th anniversary.
