When asking gaming enthusiasts about great video game music, Persona 5 and, by extension, Persona 5 Royal, are bound to come up. This is for good reason, as the games feature some of the best and most memorable original music to appear in a video game in recent memory. As fans of the franchise begin looking to the series’ future with Persona 6, the unofficially announced sequel’s music is one of the things that everyone wants to hear about. Persona 5 has a unique sense of style largely aided by the musical performances featured within it, so all eyes are on Persona 6 to have great music as well.
One problem that Persona 6 may run into when trying to establish its own identity as a game, is that the bar for Persona music has been set so high by Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. This means that Persona 6’s soundtrack is really going to need to stand out amongst the back-to-back hits that are included in P5’s soundtrack. To do that, it might not be a bad idea for Atlus to consider changing music genres for the next entry in the Persona series.
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Sidestepping, Not One-Upping Persona 5's Soundtrack
While many fans might want Persona 6 to try and outdo Persona 5’s soundtrack by sticking with the acid-jazz genre that the game is known for, it might do P6 well to drop acid-jazz entirely and look for something new to set the game to. Because of how beloved Persona 5’s soundtrack is, it might be asking too much to expect even better music in a sequel, but by changing the genre, Atlus would be able to dodge comparisons all together. This would potentially be the best of both worlds, as both soundtracks would be able to stand on their own and avoid direct comparisons.
Atlus has proven that it’s able to deliver more quality acid-jazz music, as the studio gave plenty of new excellent tracks to Persona 5 Royal. However, if it were to keep with the genre, it might become a little bit too played out and begin to get boring. A perfect example of what they could do for Persona 6 is to follow Persona 5 Strikers’ lead and go in a slightly different direction.
Dipping into other Musical Genres for Persona 6
Persona 5 Strikers brought back plenty of memorable tracks from the original Persona 5, but it also featured a handful of remixed tracks that match its more action-oriented gameplay focus. For example, the game remixed titles like “Last Surprise” and “Keeper of Lust,” as if they were rock tracks which really matched the feel of the game. Persona 6 could follow and use its music to solidify its feel, putting distance between P5 and P5R by going in a completely different direction.
There are an endless number of genres that Persona 6 could take inspiration from, and it’s unlikely to simply pick one and stick with it for the entire game. Persona 5’s iconic tracks were acid-jazz, but it had a healthy handful of rock tracks as well as other jazz sub-genres. Depending on the tone and type of main cast that P6 will have, it could use genres like bubblegum pop, folk, or even metal to help set the stage and create another iconic soundtrack. Whatever direction the game decides to go, it seems like the fanbase is willing to follow, as it was extremely receptive to the acid-jazz of P5 despite the franchise not having anything like that in the past.
Persona 6 is reportedly in development.
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