Ranking the Persona Battle Themes from Worst to Best

Following the ranking of the Persona intros, today we rank the battle music.
Like only 5% of this footage is my own, so big shoutout to all these folks:
Revelations: Persona -
/ @irrelevantgames
Persona (PSP) -
/ @the1upblock
Persona 2 Innocent Sin (PSP) -
/ @noireblue
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment -
/ @tommylovehd
Persona 3 FES -
/ @lacry
Persona 3 Portable -
/ @killscottkill
Persona 4 -
/ @ps2emulator
Persona 4 Golden -
/ @chronosplays
Persona 5 -
/ @sphericalpha

[@Kafka_Garezerra]

A small fun fact about Mass Destruction: The choir isn't really just going "dadadada" but actually "down" pretty fast, being a reference of how you knock down every enemy in front of you

[@Kafka_Garezerra]

@@agatsumare1846 Just hearing the song a lot. I realized the woman ends the choir with "down" like "Dadada down" or something like that. I don't know if it's intentional or not

[@missasyan]

ya in japanese their loan word for down is "daun" so it makes sense they cut off to da and finish with down at the end

[@Kami.Anarchy]

No way that people didn't know this lmfao

[@thephantomgamingbros.6329]

I wish I didn’t see this

[@jokeryeha5167]

Even though Meguro “quit” Atlus, he will most likely be back for persona 6

[@ender7278]

I wouldn't say so. I think he's moving on from the series the same way Hashino did.

[@jokeryeha5167]

@@ender7278 wait Hashino’s not directing persona 6?

[@matador2806]

@@jokeryeha5167 Nope. Naoto Hiraoka will direct the sixth installment.

[@J2ojuiced95]

He’s basically doing what people like Masahiro Sakurai do now. He’s a freelancer but since he has such a good relationship with Atlus, they’ll most likely hire him for every new mainline Persona game.

[@aoiyuuter]

Konishi will most likely take his place.

[@brandonhughes4076]

3:43 Chie's idle animation is easily the best part of Persona 4's combat, followed by Chie's galactic punt and Chie's one liners

[@Christian-gr3gu]

Just chie is amazing

[@brandonhughes4076]

@@Christian-gr3gu I agree. Chie.

[@minatokun6580]

Chie best party member

[@brandonhughes4076]

@@minatokun6580 extremely true and based

[@minatokun6580]

@@brandonhughes4076 i bought a ps vita Cant wait to use her 3th persona's skill

[@DeadRebornKid]

I actually enjoy Takeover way more than Last Surprise. It could be the over saturation of the meme or that I clocked over 500 hours in vanilla P5, but last surprise gives me a headache whenever I hear it. (wish I was a joking...)

[@KitteridgeStudios]

Same here, I like the buildup in that song particularly. That intro...

[@homesteadhero]

I unfortunately have to agree with this. The memes made me cringe every time I heard the chorus for at least a year. Thankfully, the Strikers remix reignited my love for it - I'd give that a listen, if you haven't had the chance to yet!

[@adriansrsa90]

I will not stand for anything less than take over, like ooooh man has this guy not perfected the art of intentionally drawing out battles to AOA the chorus? Fight me I dare you... I'll take the absolute majesty of "say your prayers now" over "you'll never see it coming" any day 😤 also smaller hot take but I think p4 golden's ROTTT and TTMH are just simply more balanced than any other SMT battle music

[@heatedrindo]

I didnt like last suprise… due to the memes a bit actually.

[@KevinTangYT]

The opening chords in Take Over gets my way hyped compared to Last Surprise. I haven't gotten sick of it the entire game. My issue is the violin in Last Surprise doesn't seem to resolve itself and it doesn't assert itself with like the chorus in Take Over. Also cuz brass is amazingly triumphant.

[@J2ojuiced95]

The thing I’ve always loved about the battle themes from P3 onwards, is how well the chorus matches with an all out attack. As far as the P5 battle themes, I think Last Surprise works better as a stand-alone track but Take Over is a better battle theme.

[@station428]

I love Last Surprise, but I think Take Over works better as a battle theme because it's high-energy the whole time, whereas Last Surprise takes a bit of time to get loud, and the fight is over before the chorus can even start

[@expressience]

Nuh uh

[@station428]

@@expressience Yuh huh

[@alvezzg]

nah

[@Hebleh]

>Persona 1 original theme is in complete dead last and complains about it sounding too dread inducing when that is literally the point -Puts Lone Prayer in 4th place even though it doesn't fit with the darker tones of the game Yeah, okay. lol

[@agoodguy2230]

As soon as I saw the 2nd place, I immediately knew he was going to put Last Surprise on number 1 and groaned

[@LOLquendoTV]

cope, lone prayer slaps

[@Hebleh]

@@LOLquendoTV Lone Prayer is good! It just doesn't fit Persona 1's tone as well as the original music

[@Hebleh]

@@agoodguy2230 Glad I wasnt alone in feeling that way, haha

[@Shazam1998]

@@agoodguy2230 And the problem with him liking it the most is what exactly?

[@aphantomthief1416]

You can't beat Persona 2: Innocent Sin's base Battle theme [PSX version].

[@astralvelocity]

exactly!!! i was so pissed he didn’t include it :(

[@SSL_2004]

I actually completely disagree with Take Over being so low. In my opinion it's one of the best in the series. Last Surprise is amazing, But in the context of an ambush where Take Over plays, It fits MUCH better. The entire song Is shamelessly victorious and triumphant, where Last Surprise, outside of the obvious lyrics, felt more on equal footing. And when combined with the audio and context of the game itself, NOTHING is more satisfying then hearing "Show me your true form!" as the battle initiation sound effect leads PERFECTLY into that brass.

[@crusaderofholyness2042]

I dont know, its a little overwhelming considering shit goes sideways for our protagonists after the fifth palace of the game

[@tryinglyon]

I actually found Take Over to be too loud and lacked a lot of the classy vibe of Last Surprise. When you think of thief music you think of something smooth and jazzy, but Take Over comes across as too abrasive for it. Obviously, it fits more as a battle theme, but it doesn't fit the theme of thievery. Also, timing the moment when Lyn says "You'll never see it coming!" or "Your last surprise!" with an All-Out Attack is way more fun than trying to do it with Take Over.

[@SSL_2004]

@@tryinglyon Timing and all that attack to "Say your prayers now..." Is even more satisfying 🗿. Plus The Phantom Thieves aren't normal thieves. They're bombastic, bold, and theatric. Take Over fits that perfectly, and TBH, Last Surprise - Scramble has literally ruined the original for me, I can't go back.

[@tryinglyon]

@@SSL_2004 I respectfully disagree. I believe the instrumentals of Take Over are stylistically weaker. While I will say that Royal's soundtrack is about on par with the original, something like Take Over has a very generic feel to it. Something I enjoy about Mass Destructuion, Reach Out To The Truth, and Last Surprise is that they're far beyond ordinary battle themes to the point where you would mistake them for normal songs. That's not how I feel with Take Over. It's very clear what Take Over is and it gets the job done, but it is undeniable basic for Persona.

[@decoy1359]

take over >>>>>>> last surprise

[@jacksonbrickmedia939]

My rank: 11. Revelations Persona 10. P2 innocent sin 9. P2 eternal 8. Wiping it all out 7. Time to make history 6. Take Over 5. Face out to the truth 4. Mass Destruction 3. Mass Destruction FES 2. Last Surprise 1. Lone Prayer

[@glasssawsslipperstraws7410]

last surprise is my favorite battle theme but tbh I prefer an instrumental version of the song instead. I think without any lyrics it would get less repetitive and gives the few battle themes with lyrics in persona 5 more weight.

[@thewho2820]

I like Revelations’s battle theme

[@dantemustdie00]

This is exactly my problem with battle music with lyrics, it get's repetitive WAY too quickly for me. I was so done with Last Surprise after Kamoshida's Palace.

[@daemonlynn7616]

I wish they would have made rivers in the desert more common because of this exact problem

[@ShotzInTheLight]

@@daemonlynn7616 problem with that, tho, is that the fact you don't hear it until so late in the game makes the impact of hearing it for the first time SO. DAMN. GLORIOUS.

[@daemonlynn7616]

@@ShotzInTheLight for real. You have a point

[@xuanathan]

Honestly I would put Persona 1's theme at the very top because it fulfills its role as a battle theme the best of any of them. The others don't sound like they really considered you'd be hearing the 1st couple seconds, end the battle and fight again, but Persona 1 strikes that perfect balance of Catchy, simple, and BANGING. Even after playing Persona 1 with its horrible encounter rate, I at least never got sick of the music.

[@ender7278]

Which one? PS1 or PSP?

[@xuanathan]

@@ender7278 Ps1

[@Jonkeeb]

@@xuanathan i got sick of the psx music quick, after getting used to battles you only hear the first few seconds of the song and goddamn does it HURT. A loner prayer simply is better to the eara

[@sonicsucks2961]

And Persona 1s OG battle theme has that sick "vocal" near the end of the song. It's my personal favorite battle theme in the series along side its og boss theme

[@SelphoZed]

I thought Lone Prayer was the Opening song for the longest time

[@camharkness]

Am I really the only person who doesn't think last surprise is the best persona battle theme???

[@Maikeru101]

It’s the best my dude

[@skywardarceus]

You’re not. Last Surprise is very over played and is grating after a while.

[@redzero627]

I think its pretty lame Dont like it at all

[@heinrichskies]

I just have a special place in my heart for Time to make history

[@HIIIMM2]

Probably because some "fans" only played P5 and declared it the best game in the series

[@SCFick318]

Meguro just left his position, they’ll have him back to work on P6 in some capacity, guarenteed.

[@ender7278]

I can't believe you did mah boi P2IS like that. That is a top tier battle theme. The other two classic themes I agree aren't great though.

[@homesteadhero]

Hearing you analyze each of these tracks makes me realize just how knowledgeable you clearly are about music as a whole. It's really refreshing to hear someone be able to dissect these with clear understanding and passion. While I was shocked about Take Over's abysmal placement, I still understanding your reasoning for it, and the entire list got me excited to listen to the older games' soundtracks that I'm (unfortunately) unfamiliar with! Thanks, as always, for a great video 👌

[@OrbitalForce]

Take Over being that low feels like an injustice, unless it's because I'm just sick of always hearing Last Surprise. I find myself singing to the song before making any action when I encounter an enemy.

[@vestal3430]

I like how in P4G, Reach Out plays less times, which makes it my fav battle theme in games

[@drowzee6076]

REACH OUT TO THE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS BE MY FAVORITE THAT SHIT IS PEAK. also justice for og persona 1 battle theme

[@ender7278]

I'm surprised by what you said about Lone Prayer's lyrics pertaining to the Snow Queen Quest. I interpreted Lone Prayer as being about the SEBEC Quest and Bloody Destiny being about the Snow Queen Quest. I guess it's inevitable with such cryptic lyrics different player would come to different conclusions.

[@CaddyKiddo]

I am still so grateful you introduced me to Lone Prayer

[@Gael-xp4fk]

reach out to the truth deserve higher spot

[@case2858]

Man, when I heard Last Surprise for the first time, I got shivers. And I just about fainted when I heard the remix in Strikers. Def landed on my motivation play list

[@velahtielredfang9417]

My man dunks on Innocent Sin PSP's easy target battle theme and just doesn't rank the original Innocent Sin battle theme which is an ez top 5 or top 3 contender? Shame.

[@docphil9602]

the p2:is battle theme is literally my favorite battle theme ever among any rpg period.

[@heethanthen]

10. P1 battle theme 9. A Lone Prayer (I like it but after the eleventy zillionth time I wanted to DIE) 8. Wiping All Out 7. Reach Out to the Truth 6. Eternal Punishment battle theme 5. Last Surprise 4. Time to Make History 3. Take Over 2. Persona 2: IS battle theme 1. Mass Destruction

[@dimitriosgladio059]

Pretty close to my ranking

[@alexmorpheus6762]

Agree but I'll rank Lone Prayer much higher

[@T--------]

Wiping all out is so damn great honestly probably the best up there with last surprise imo

[@ace52387]

I only realized now after your video why its easy to confuse reach out to the truth with face myself. The main chorus of reach out to the truth is like an inverse of the main theme of face myself. Pretty awesome

[@masquerade3852]

Its a shame that strikers isnt on here because counterstrike is damn good and speaks volumes when used as sophies and in some ways jokers music

[@floppaflopofficial2085]

Wiping all out is really cool i freaking love it

[@fesyuki-kun2332]

When 11 is a banger you know it's all amazing

[@jackw8338]

I felt the same about P2 IS (psp). The theme is great but if you listen to it for too long then it starts to hurt. Atlus must’ve felt the same way since it’s dulled down in the p2 dlc for persona 5.

[@raidengaembing]

Very nice video I cant believe it only has 8k views!

[@thegamerfe8751]

I personally think Last Surprise is a little overrated cause it's like the only song that's known this well from Persona, probably cause 5 is the most popular entry and it appeared in Smash (yeah I know other songs appeared there).

[@ChaoticMushy]

I thought Aria of the Soul would be most popular since it's in pretty much every entry

[@thegamerfe8751]

@@ChaoticMushy Pretty sure it's cause Last Surprise is actually used in a lot of memes/shitposts and while iconic, the Velvet Room theme isn't used online to that extent.

[@ChaoticMushy]

@@thegamerfe8751 I saw quite a few memes using the Smash Remix. Though it was mostly just Igor being weird

[@thegamerfe8751]

@@ChaoticMushy I think you mean Igor being Igor, he's not "weird".

[@ChaoticMushy]

@@thegamerfe8751 no I mean weird

[@numetalrapcore3827]

persona 2 soundtracks are the only ones that make me shiver every time.

[@9nxt]

P4 is kinda my favorite. Yellow is my favorite color and the poppy song was a slapper, it was so goofy compared to the morbid story and that stuff 😀

[@PenCatStudio]

Hi Voyan here’s a video idea “RANKING EVERY GYROID (either only the new ones or all of them from past games) ok love your vids bye

[@V0211V]

I love your commentary. New sub for youuu :D

[@snarkspur]

yknow as predictable as it is, i completely agree with your top pick - even though its been blown up to, at times abnoxious amounts just because of memes and such, you cant deny its such a bop and fitting for p5's vibe

[@Updoggo1]

what do you think about the snippet of persona 3 reload's battle music

[@popeurbainii7807]

Oh my god this dude really put revelations persona's battle theme at bottom 😂

[@normalichu]

To be honest, Lone Prayer is amazing, but starts feeling repetitive very fast.

[@TheGoblinsWithin]

HOLY SHIT 2 UPLOADS IN ONE WEEK LETS GOO

[@Ryuryusu]

Damn I really wanted the know your placing for Light the fire up in the night

[@Xman34washere]

I may sound insane, but I really like the revelations battle theme. It's a bop.

[@hereticalbug3112]

Could you could do a credits music video

[@MetalGamely]

I love the innocent sin battle theme, good list tho!

[@Irish_Enderman]

There are some placements on this list I completely dissagre with, P3P Wiping All Out should be much higher, as well as P5R Take Over

[@LuminousArc92]

no mention of Persona Q or Q 2's battle music?

[@kazdoerba1599]

The way that my list is basically the exact opposite of yours 💀💀 (except for A Lone Prayer would be in the bin where it belongs)

[@Fra8_]

In the end, they're all bangers.

[@itsbarzel1123]

the only thing about last surprise is after playing new game+ 7 times over it drives me insane but its an absolute banger

[@femboy__bunny]

….. am I one of the few that prefers Last Surprise over Take Over?

[@agentdon1760]

...I feel like you're in the Majority of that...Take Over is fine...but you can't make a last surprise 2

[@femboy__bunny]

@@agentdon1760 almost all of my friends prefer Take Over to last surprise lol

[@user-pc8sv2vl5f]

Bruh why doe’s nearly everyone hate Last Surprise? IT HITS HARD. 🔥

[@JalesAmaral]

Why aren't you guys talking about Rivers in the Desert?

[@sazalamel4749]

Make History is my favorite so far. I just love that bass line at the end of the chorus.

[@olivermutt]

oh my god from 11 to 1 you were OFFFFFFF

[@ashbanasiak9385]

I almost didn’t want to finish battles in p5 because of how good the song was

[@willc3799]

Personaly I preferred take over from last surprise but I do think they are so unique and good them both that any could be concidered the best

[@ThereGoCupid]

trippin, every time i heard step up to the plate i’d get an adrenaline boost and finish the battle that turn

[@mado8153]

Hard disagree with you on almost all placements but huge like for battle OST ranking vid, really love and wish for more of those.

[@ZXaria]

Take Over is such a bop tho

[@Hymn_]

i agree, even tho last surprise >>>>> take over. it's just addicting as heck

[@ZXaria]

@@Hymn_ Personally, I prefer Take Over, but Last Surprise is infinitely more iconic. If I were asked to name Persona songs, I'd probably not mention Take Over.

[@Hymn_]

@@ZXaria understadable

[@JamiJason]

I was not disappointed by the #1 ranking 🙏

[@caiuscosades8538]

last surprise as number 1 lol

[@mary-lt2bo]

regular posts? are you feeling okay voyan?

[@-Noble]

i like take over, but i like last surprise much better, that beginning instrumental hits so damn hard i liked it to the point that when playing royal i make sure that the enemies detect me instead of ambushing them so I can hear it in the fight XD

[@deth2munkies]

I woulda put Take Over a little higher personally, but the real hot take is that Reach out to the Truth(First Battle) is just a straight upgrade on the base song.

[@Nooby.]

Voyan… this is TOO much!! I’m not used to this.

[@wa7saka]

I agree with a lot of your points on this fr. Mass destruction is solid. Lone prayer sounds pretty sick. Persona 3 portable’s is cool. Even though I’ve heard it way too much I enjoy last surprise it’s so groovy and recognizable.

[@Mageman17]

I get the feeling that the PSX trilogy battle themes were the bottom three just to quickly get them out of the way. It also wasn't consistent on what renditions were review. Maybe it would've been best if the original and updated renditions were considered for them. Persona 1 has the refine version on P5S, which is likely now out in Japan at this point. A version of the P2: IS battle theme is included as P5 DLC with lesser guitars as you wanted. I understand that the P2: EP PSP translation wasn't out at this point, but the theme is already uploaded on KZbin, so you could have taken that into consideration.

[@eliassaari2454]

Now to rank the persona spinoff songs

[@falco451]

All this music is bussin, respectfully of course

[@tempesthereticgaming8541]

Makes me want to play the other Persona Games just so I can listen to the songs in it

[@water5951]

I love persona 4's music both of the songs. Sure there happy and mostly positive I grinded to level 99 and I never got sick of it in either of the games. And every single battle I still bobbed my head to the beat drops.

[@sarkaztik3228]

Yep, both are fantastic.

[@starky4352]

Imma be honest I prefer the PS1 Persona 1 battle theme more than Lone Prayer, I just like the vibe more. I fucking LOVE both of P2’s battle themes, but I will admit compared to the rest they are lacking.

[@fox0holic130]

I'm still not over how they replaced Last Surprise in P5R... Yes, I know it's still there, but I almost always surprise my enemies so I almost never hear it anymore.

[@Giac_of_all_trades]

Sad you left spin offs out. Q2 battle themes are INSANELY GOOD. I think they are my favourites

[@Arcsin27]

Yeah I’m gonna be honest p2is is absolutely my favorite one but geez idk if I remember a single track except the intro and knights of the holy lance Also the song that plays when eikichi is being an idiot but idk if anyone else remembers that one lol

[@fink_rat]

Its Going Down Now has taken my #1 spot

[@Qualske]

Isn't Q canon? Every article I i look up says that is...

[@ChillyChief612]

P1 school theme is busin

[@BlueMageDaisen]

Can't put the Persona 2 themes anywhere but right at the top myself

[@HorazioZan]

persona2 eternal punishment is my top theme, maybe its because the first persona i played back in 2001 or 2002 cant remember on psx, after playing that game i became a die hard fan but couldn`t find persona 1 in any shop , i had to play it in windows.

[@slashinswingin4369]

DISTURBING THE PEACE

[@Tyrantlizardking105]

Mass destruction is my favorite, but I can’t justify you placing Take Over so low, I personally like it so much better than Last Surprise

[@perpps]

omg brother

[@aswirlything5838]

If Royal gave us the option to change the music for battles, I'd almost always be blasting Willpower. Take Over is cool and all but I believe it just doesnt go places fast enough during a fight unless I'm seriously dragging my feet, same applies to Last Surprise.

[@Miunim]

2:47 wtf

[@superamigo987]

Chad mass destruction

[@danielmayonaka8818]

1:54 *Estoma*

[@fojisan2398]

Lone Prayer is a crime against humanity

[@aquamentus8951]

I know musical taste is subjective, but hurts me to see P1 psx battle theme in the last place and Lone Prayer in a higher spot. P1 was intended to have a Dark, Night fever, 90's gritty vibe and the tension the music gives fits perfectly and IMO, you don't get bored. Lone Prayer by the other hand is short, has bad looping at the point you want to rip your ears off after a while since combats can be really long.

[@fortello7219]

Okay but you gotta talk about Sun from p3p at some point

[@SSJMatt]

Take over disrespect is honestly shocking

[@blackstratosfer3485]

p3 reload's new fight song became my top 1 persona songs

[@awesomeking4647]

My favourite song is last surprise

[@Yorukou]

i love A lone prayer

[@bleakslug]

>p2is at second to last >last surprise as top literally the most "new persona player" opinion of all time

[@agoodguy2230]

Literally

[@butterflydreamer9649]

Orrr he just has preferences in music? Literally the most “new persona player but acts like they’ve been here for ages” mentality of all time

[@Hymn_]

man, it's just his preference. i mean i bet most of us are pissed if our favorite persona music is seen as suck for some ppl.

[@gibo5]

man i was enjoying the list til i saw where you put mass destruction taking up the 2 and 3 spot...big yuck. shoulda had'em both right above the og themes for 1 and 2.

[@omegadabbryt]

do people not like take over?

[@Whosville]

I honestly liked take over more than last surprise