At the time of its release, the MMORPG for Shin Megami Tensei had the “Shin” dropped off of it, but it was later added back on. In 2007, when “Megami Tensei Online IMAGINE” was first released in Japanese stores, the box came with a promotional soundtrack. This is a review for that soundtrack.
The two kings of MegaTen, Shoji Meguro and Tsukasa Masuko, are a part of the sound team, as is Kenichi Yoshikawa. Now, I’m not sure how active a role each composer played in the creation of this soundtrack, as many tracks are re-used from earlier SMT titles (prime example: House of Heresy, track 6). It seems Yoshikawa, the newcomer, did all of the new compositions, and the Meguro/Masuko stuff was re-used from older (Shin) Megami Tensei games.
The music is, surprisingly, quite good. Being a barely-canonical entry to the series, with minimal effort from Atlus in the game’s actual creation, I didn’t expect much of this soundtrack. But it’s surprisingly decent. And it’s not just because of the re-used tracks from older titles. The original music is really enjoyable too.
The only way you’ll be able to get ahold of this soundtrack, sadly, is by importing a physical (DVD) copy of the Japanese game, which is unplayable in North America. If you want to play the game (and you can do so, for free!), Aeria Games has released the English-language version (with permission from Atlus). But they don’t sell physical copies of the game, nor do they offer any sort of promotional soundtrack. That’s just the way the MegaTen-cookie crumbles.
