#and also i needed a moment to go 'hey sh2 is good actually'

[shinmegamitensei2]

For the SMT ask game, #14.

14. Best soundtrack

how could you Fucking do this to me. this is the most impossible task because almost every smt ost bangs and fucks and rips and i go to bat for 99% of them

but uhhh. i can divvy this up by era i think. and none of this is going to be coherent in any way but i think you should take my word as gospel because i'm right

The Early Years (1988-2000):

Majin Tensei II: SPIRAL NEMESIS

this shit SLAPS. the music in majten2 is, uh, quite frankly incredible on the SNES, and the composers (hidehito aoki, misaki okabe, yoshiyuki ito) were on some next-level shit when they scripted out bangers such as A.D. 1995 Story and Smash Up and remakes of two of the previous game's songs (which already were AWESOME) Flame Up Fragment and Bicarbonate of Face and and and,

idk play majin tensei. i'm about to become a majin tensei blogger and stan. did you know that almost all of the majin tensei manga is translated, and all that's left is the rest of vol 4 and all of vol 5? (grabbing your face) DID YOU KNOW!@!!!!

Shin Megami Tensei II

i mean. okay. you knew i was gonna bring this up. who do you fucking think i am. the whole game is wonderfully done and atmospheric, and even with the odd dumbass-theme playing in the BG i just, i dunno, i think it still gives me chills. loading up the game and watching the text scroll to the Title Demo is a lot, listening to that banging Battle theme is intense in a way that no other smt game has reached since IMO, and the Makai map theme is just... really sorrowful! these are the PSX songs because i prefer them over the muddied instruments they used for the original SNES game, but the original isn't bad either!

Megami Tensei II

i think everyone should bare minimum play Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei (2) at least once in their lives, but replace the ost with the original NES version because ohhh my gooooood holy shit there is SUCH a world of difference between the synths used vs the really muddied KMT instrumentation. that aside, the music is just... Good. the battle theme, Death Match, is incredibly intense, TOKIO Adventurer is a fun song to walk to on the overworld map (even being interrupted by demons every 2 steps), OMEGA is a REALLY good final boss theme... it's a bummer they don't get referenced more often! the last time they were was in Majin Tensei, and then again as a total throwaway in SMT5...

The 2000s (2000-2009):

Digital Devil Saga 2

both games go on this list imo, but i uh, i personally really like 2's ost more than 1's. i have no reason for this i just think it's nice. the battle theme Battle for Survival especially, but i just like the whole thing in general? sorry i have nothing else to say here

uhhh. i don't. have. anything else to put here. the other games in this category are good but their osts don't stand out to me... except for Strange Journey, which i. never finished. oougrhghhgfdnjdfjgdgh explodes IT'S SO GOOD THOUGH SO I?? HEARTILY RECOMMEND IT ANYWAY

The Recent Age (2010-Now):

Shin Megami Tensei V

don't talk to me about 5, but if you DO talk to me about 5, talk to me about its ost. of anything in that game, the music and sound direction REALLY stuck with me, it's probably the best the series has ever had to offer

i REALLY like Strength, and yes that is entirely because it feels like OMEGA of megami tensei 2 fame; but the regular battle theme Da'at is great too, and i spent an uncomfortably long time listening to fan recreations of it from the trailers because it was that fucking good to me. honestly the fact that there's so many different battle themes and they all slap is great, they're all fun to listen to. especially Destruction, like fuck dude did they really have to go that hard? (yes)

Soul Hackers 2

gnawing and chewing on 2's ost. i don't care how many people didn't like it, i did, and i think it's really well-done. very very atmospheric! Karakucho is wonderful, COMP SMITH is the GOAT (and i'm glad so many people agree with me!), and even the idiot theme, Cats and ladle, is... very cute! i never thought it out-of-place whenever the team started goofing off, since the idiot theme was never too jarring

... also, Battle of Devil Summoner is bumpin, i'm glad we got to hear this song so many times over the normal battle theme, because. hot damn

i'm not picking a favorite out of any of these are you kidding. except maybe majin tensei 2 that one is undoubtedly a beast. but like. i think everyone should play all of these games and experience their music and have your taste in music irrevocably changed against your will