Persona 5 Royalis a rare game that does many things very well. Everything from its turn-based combat to life-simulator elements are done with huge attention to detail. ThePersona 5 Royalsoundtrack stands out in many fans' minds as one of the best parts of the game, and for good reason. Not only is every song structured and executed well, but the lyrics and moments when they play make some of them particularly special.
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 originalPersona 5got re-released asPersona 5 Royalwith hours of additional content, as well as gameplay improvements. InPersona 5 Royalthere 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 inPersona 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
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 timeJoker and the Phantom Thievesambush 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 notthe happy ending forPersona 5 Royalthat 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
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 aunique mood inPersona 5 Royaland 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 theRoyal-exclusive additions to Mementosand its theme, which changes the deeper the party goes and is very welcome compared to the derivative version found inPersona 5.
B Tier
The B tier is the baseline forPersona 5 Royal, as these tracks are usually only memorable by sound alone and are solid in that regard. Upon hearing “Alleycat,” aPersonafan 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 theimprovements inPersona 6is a truly fantastic final boss theme, as Atlus did withRoyal’strue 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
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 alsotracks that are overshadowed by in-game eventsso 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
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 thatOkumura’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
While the entire soundtrack forPersona 5 Royalis excellent, there are three tracks in the lowest tier. The original version of “Mementos” is grating and easily the most repetitive track forPersona 5 Royal.Luckily, Atlus realized this and added additional versions throughout Momentos forRoyal. There is “Crossroads,” which is fine as background music and only plays when Joker visits Ohya at the Crossroads bar.Ohya’s confidant progressionis 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 forPersona 5 Royalis 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 theplot ofPersona 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 asPersona 5 Royal.
