Shoji Meguro is possibly the greatest video game composer of all time, and Persona 3 is one of his greatest works. Put two and two together…

Meguro blends a variety of modern pop, electronic, and hip hop music, flourishing it with even more genres such as nu jazz, blues, and classical music to make a fittingly modern soundtrack for the world of Persona 3.

The daytime tunes as you explore a bustling city are naturally upbeat and lively, as pristine as the modern buildings you see and explore. The nighttime themes are smooth, cool, and relaxing. And the themes that play during the Dark Hour are demented and warped, just like the giant tower you explore all throughout the course of the game and the malformed shadows you constantly fight.

This is where Meguro’s inventiveness really shows as he blends odd genres together to create something new and is further motivated to make it like nothing you’ve ever heard when he designs it to match the inhuman world of the Dark Hour. The twisted disco-rave of “Master of Shadow” is just one of many examples. Themes of contentment, joy, heartbreak, paranoia, self-reflection, doubt, and self-actualization are all over this soundtrack.

I can’t pretend Persona 3 and its music aren’t immensely important to me. I listen to this soundtrack all the time on its own.