Shin Megami Tensei V - Battle Origin / Nuwa | Reacting To Video Game Music!

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#ShinMegamiTenseiV #SMTV #Reaction

[@manbearpigsereal]

The harshness is definitely by design, the battles in SMT games are ones where any given turn can quickly become your last, you've always got a sense of danger even in non boss battles so the music really fits well with that feeling. It's also simple enough to not distract too much from the combat and gives you space to think more about your next few actions rather than what the music is doing. That's how I feel anyway.

[@MegamanStarforce2010]

yeah SMT4 has the same effect in the music

[@oak8194]

Persona music: “Ooh yeah! All right! Let’s dance!” SMT music: “I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die!”

[@Jaimethepanda]

Since SMT mainline games predominantly take place in apocalyptic settings, the harshness in the music sets the mood

[@TheAntiCosmic]

Ryota Kozuka is probably one of the most experimental composers still working at a major Japanese game studio , and the experimental nature of this soundtrack means there are definitely a few tracks that are less impressive but overall it has an often gritty, sometimes surreal, and even awe-inspiring vibe. His style combines the intense synth sounds of the early megaten games from the 80s and 90s with metal, surreal avant-garde sounds, mystical ambience, and even Jazz and dance music. While there are some really good battle themes (battle -destruction- is probably the most insane battle theme I have ever heard), I think the stage and incidental themes are really where the game shines musically

[@Xenochrist]

Agreed, but also both of the songs in this video were Toshiki Konishi who did a good chunk of the SMT5 OST, 30+ tracks. I do love a lot of his songs but I think his stuff is generally less varied and unique than Kozuka who does some of the most original music I've ever heard anywhere. Konishi did write Battle C2 from SMTIV though, which is one of my favourite battle themes of all time.

[@TheAntiCosmic]

@Xenochrist interesting, I knew he worked on the soundtrack but I hadn't looked at the individual composer credits before. Most of the really memorable ones are definitely the Kozuka ones but I did really appreciate Konishi's Tokyo tracks in this game

[@kevinnguyen4711]

Well, you're right in that the Nuwa battle theme is for a more important battle than the other, but Origin actually plays for boss fights that are somewhat more important than usual. SMT 5 has a lot of boss themes for different situations so it's hard to put a definite label on where most of them play. The Nuwa theme, though, plays for a specific endgame boss. Against... well, Nuwa, who is that red Chinese goddess you see on the top-right of the OST video image. SMT, at its core, is about going around a post-apocalyptic world, fighting demons, and eventually competing between people with differing philosophies to make your ideal world. You tend to side with characters representing these differing philosophies and fight against the rest by the game's end. Nuwa is one of those characters, and unlike a lot of other RPGs, you would not fight the character you side with, and so there's a chance you would not hear this in the game at all! Which is a shame, because out of SMT 5's three potential bosses who represent philosophical alignments, Nuwa has my personal favorite theme out of the bunch. That dark, choppy, chugging beat and rhythm is something I'm a sucker for, because it reminds me a lot of an engine revving up and kicking into high gear. I also love weird, unorthodox riffs and melodies, and so this theme just has the perfect combination for me. However, the other two endgame boss themes (Abdiel and Tsukuyomi) are also really good, and I initially thought this was going to be paired with one of them. I think Abdiel is one of your requests, so you should check that one out as well. Shin Megami Tensei really is Persona's darker, moodier, more cynical cousin (and came first; pretty sure it started in the 1990s), and the atmosphere of the games, in aesthetic, music, and story, all reflect that. That may be the source of the rougher, harsher sound quality you talked about. Honestly, I enjoy the harshness, but I also know that it's not for everyone. SMT in general is for a more niche audience than Persona, so you'll see the two series attract _very_ different fanbases. Of course, there is always significant overlap who enjoy both. P.S. Nuwa has a signature move called Rising Storm Dragon. As simple and indicative as Battle: Nuwa is, some part of me will always be disappointed that they passed by the opportunity to name a music track _Rising Storm Dragon._

[@menosay1912]

SMT not only came first, it was pretty much the first game in the collect monster RPG genre Pokemon made popular.

[@arkdetective]

Shin megami tensei started as megami tensei on the nes, which came out in 1987. It's also very loosely based on a sci-fi novel trilogy as well, though the games deviate hard from the novels after the 1st game plot wise. The series became shin megami tensei after it came to snes in 1992.

[@AgelessIlluminate]

@@arkdetective so the novels have the same name? That's cool. I didn't know that. I'm gonna check them out

[@arkdetective]

@AgelessIlluminate they're called digital devil story: megami tensei (the one megami tensei as a game series started with by loosely being based off of), digital devil story 2: warrior of the demon city, & digital devil story 3: demise of the reincarnation.

[@neogoterra]

Thats one thing that I personally say the SMT games do well when they go hard or heavy they tend to make some bangers.

[@giovanniprovost]

So glad you are revisiting this OST!! It has some serious bangers including Strength, Tsukiyomi and Abdiel respectively.

[@paperluigi6132]

Unlike most RPGs, missing in SMT can have very major consequences. Even worse if your attack is repelled or absorbed. That’s why almost all battles themes are so intense.

[@devranyilmaz9806]

This is why Sukukaja is the GOAT. Especially with Press-Turn, you can basically steal enemy turns and guarantee you don’t miss with one simple, cheap cast.

[@oryxthetk]

Love to see more SMT 5! Hope you react to Tokyo -Daybreak-, Battle -Abdiel- and Battle -Seraph- one day! Also I think you'd really like SMT Raidou games OST like Battle -Raidou-.

[@JeanKP14]

This game's intentional sound quality really adds to the atmosphere of the game and scenes. While I'd love to hear them clearer, I think it would not be as memorable or invoke the same feeling. Imo the mixing is amazing, if you listen to more of the OST.

[@degapalgamer3772]

This was a sick video. Haven't actually heard this in game as I sided with Nuwa which represents the neutral alignment. But battle: Abdiel and battle: Tsukuyomi are sick. You definitely need to hear those aswell. And you should play the game, seeing your reaction to the difficulty and vibe would be a blast.

[@rezahydra]

Whereas Persona is focused on stories and focuses heavily much more on the social sim aspects to add to the gameplay, SMT tends to minimize the stories to more ideologies and concepts that’re merely represented by characters so that the RPG gameplay can be focused on more than ever.. That being said, SMTV definitely focuses more on the story and characters than any other SMT, closest before this would be 4Apocalypse. And the music does reflect this in a lot of ways as well, as not only is SMT’s music more harsh and normally lacking vocals aside from stuff like the occasional distorted audio, SMTV’s OST tends to have more variety in its tracks than SMT normally does.

[@nachot6592]

The difference between both is that persona is about saving the world from destruction and SMT is about what you do after the would has ended, hence the music.

[@felipebisi4145]

Well SMT is the edgy older brother of Persona And as they say On SMT you gather demons to kill your friends And Persona you gather friends to kill demons..... SMT V OST feels more on the Mystic

[@rotonek2887]

More like its dad that still does rock concerts

[@fearthemightyedelgard8137]

SMT is definitely the darker older brother of Persona. I don't think there's any actual vocal themes (well, battle themes anyway, there is Prayer from Digital Devil Saga, a duology that has probably the best soundtrack Shoji Meguro ever composed). The vibes between SMT and modern Persona are completely different, but I think they were a bit closer in tone with the first 2 Persona games, but those games were still a bit more in line with modern Persona. Persona 1 is a sequel to what was planned to be the last Shin Megami Tensei game, SMT If, but then they had the idea for SMT Nocturne. Both series have great music, but I think I'd have to go with SMT if I had to choose between the two. Nocturne and SMT5 have some of my favorite OSTs in gaming, along with another spinoff, Digital Devil Saga(1&2). Hopefully someone requests Battle for Survival, that's probably the best random encounter theme in any JRPG.

[@Vovi-Knight]

persona is a spin off series the first persona game is a shin megami game i believe

[@Senkishon]

All persona games are megami tensei, they just took away the smt subtitle in the west after 4 golden came out or I guess arena technically

[@arkdetective]

The persona series is an extension of the concept of shin megami tensei: if... which was a what-if scenario where the 1st game's plot didn't happen & a group of teens at a school get involved instead, which was very well received.

[@Painocus]

Does qoutes from the book of revelations read by an old Mac text-to-speech program count as singing? (Also the SMT: Strange Journey soundtrack has a lot of chanting in it, but that'd ruin the joke.)

[@Kiaran249]

What i love the most about the big bosses theme in SMT V, everyone is in compound time. Nuwa i believe in 6/4 The other 2 are in 12/8 and 7/4

[@Deranox]

would love if you could visit another banger from the SMT Franchise. It's called Battle for Survival from Digital Devil Saga 2 :)

[@rawaali8451]

Best soundtrack from atlus after Persona 3 and 4!

[@ssjsylver]

SMT doesn't really have vocals but some songs do have words. They're used more like an extra instrument rather than actual lyrics

[@ClvrBstrd]

A great recommendation from SMTV is Crazy Dancing Murder Edit: It's appears he already has seen that one. Now I look silly.

[@mistertaz94]

Destruction was also a banger imo.

[@kevinnguyen4711]

Jesse already has a reaction video for Dancing Crazy Murder.

[@ClvrBstrd]

@@kevinnguyen4711 In which case, if he hasn't already, I recommend Eon phase one and two

[@masstrash4609]

I hope you react to smt v's Daat battle theme someday cuz holy moly it might be the greatest atlus normal battle theme ever. The exploration overworld themes are imo the best part of the ost especially Tennozu and konan so i also hoping one of them gets into the next smt v reaction vid :D Theres a lot of battle themes in this game to the point of the quality getting a tad bit inconsistent but they fit really well ingame

[@brennholz6031]

Regarding the low sound quality/messy mixing, I feel like with smt 5 it was also an issue of a very messy development process and massive workload being further complicated by the pandemic, which probably meant the composers didn't have access to their usual equipment. They said they're redoing 80% of the ost for SMT 5 Vengeance, the ultra-enhanced relrelease of the game releasing in a few months, and what could be gleamed from the trailers sounded pretty promising.

[@shawesomest]

Battle Origin is really funny to me, because the first time I ever heard it, I thought it was the boss theme from Bakugan Battle Brawlers on the Wii.

[@Malficious]

I don't know how i missed this upload but Battle Origin is my favorite combat theme in the game, maybe because it was used rather sparingly so it remained fairly novel, but overall i thought SMT V had great combat music

[@PamonhasDePiracicaba]

Badass track!

[@gnen7680]

best song in this game

[@justinwalker2838]

👍