Beloved Japanese role-playing game series Persona typically sees you dealing with everyday teenage issues by day, before battling supernatural monsters by night. It’s a full-on existence but luckily the game soundtracks are packed with the sort of urgent, high-tempo bangers that’ll keep you going regardless of what comes your way – whether that’s a tricky piece of homework or a snarling hell beast.
Since working on the original 1996 game Revelations: Persona (including what would become the series’ haunted unofficial anthem ‘Aria Of The Soul’), frequent composer Shoji Meguro has given each entry an individual sonic identity. Persona 3 used sugary pop vocals and a blend of rock and hip-hop to give the dark coming-of-age tale a modern flavour, while its 2008 follow-up turned to J-pop for its peaceful, rural setting and Persona 5’s soundtrack was full of Jamiroquai-inspired acid jazz.
“From the PlayStation era through the early days of the PlayStation 2, there were hardware limitations so I wasn’t completely free in terms of what I could express [with my music],” Meguro tells NME via translator. “But since then, I haven’t really felt constrained.”
“When players hear a song in the game, I want them to think, ‘Wait, they can actually have a song like this!?’ and be genuinely surprised,” the composer says of his approach to music creation. “Then, over time, I want that reaction to become something like, ‘It really surprised me at first, but it actually fits the scene so well, and now I’m hooked on it…’. That’s the kind of music I try to create.”
Persona is grounded in our everyday reality but Metaphor: ReFantazio, the latest creation from game developers Atlus, is pure otherworld fantasy. Players take control of an orphan from the magic-wielding Elda tribe and, with the help of fairy companion Gallica, head out across the United Kingdom Of Euchronia to uncover who murdered the king and find out why the prince is in a cursed sleep.
Early on its creation, Meguro knew the game’s soundtrack needed to be an orchestral epic but Metaphor: ReFantazio boss Katsura Hashino encouraged him to create something with the “distinctive, edgy quality associated with Atlus”. It’s why there are moments of electronic euphoria throughout the traditional orchestral score that add to the “drama” of the adventure. It’s also why he recruited Chief priest Of Myojoji Temple, Keisuke Honryo, to record religious chanting for the game’s gloriously overblown battle themes.
“I wanted to create something that was both religious in nature and had that distinctive Atlus edge,” says Meguro, who took the familiar Japanese Buddhist sutra chanting and increased the urgency to give it more of a bite. “I didn’t have any particular difficulty convincing Honryo to take part,” he continues. ”I actually came across him after seeing a performance that he and his group had posted on YouTube under the name ‘Nam Jazz experiment’ where they combined Buddhist chanting with jazz. So this kind of performance wasn’t new to him.”
The music of Metaphor: ReFantazio also features choral vocals in a specially created language to make it seem as if the music is playing in the game characters’ heads rather than simply soundtracking their heroic quest. “I never felt that there was any particular risk in pushing the music in a more eccentric direction,” said Meguro. “In fact, I think taking the more conservative approach and making a new IP sound like Persona would have been riskier.”
Meguro first became interested in music as a child and started taking electric organ lessons when he was just five. A few years later, he got his own 8-bit computer and started fiddling around with programming. “That’s what sparked my interest in game development.” He started working at Atlus in 1996 and, despite going freelance in 2021, is still a frequent collaborator at the studio. Over the past 30 years, he’s created some of the most beloved and progressive gaming music around. “Thankfully, I don’t feel that I have anything left to prove. I think that’s why I’m able to create new music without feeling that I’m taking a risk.”
“To be honest, my physical and mental energy have declined as I’ve gotten older,” admits Meguro, but he’s still making inspired, creative music to this day. Don’t believe us? Listen to anything on the Metaphor: ReFantazio soundtrack. “I think [I’m still creating] because I still haven’t found anything that truly satisfies me.”
Later this week, the Metaphor: ReFantazio world orchestral tour will premiere in Texas (Friday October 9) before visiting Illinois (Sunday October 11) and California (Tuesday October 13) ahead of stops in Asia and Europe. “I think having fans hear and enjoy game music at a live concert can create a lot of emotion by allowing them to relive their experiences of playing the game,” says Meguro.
“But aside from that, the reason I personally perform the music live as the composer is because I want to surprise the fans,” he continues. “I want them to think, ‘Wait, the composer is actually playing this live!?. I’ve always wanted to surprise people a little.”
For more on the ‘Metaphor: ReFantazio’ orchestral concert tour, head here.
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