Note: this is the domestic (US) soundtrack release that can only be found alongside limited edition packaging. Two noticeable differences exist between the Japanese and US tracklists: “Heterodox Hall” (Jakyo Manor) is now “Cathedral of Shadows”, and “Kotowari” is “Reason”.
In an act of praise and salutation for publishing of US version of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (SMTN for short), I have decided to write a lengthy review of its accompanying soundtrack release. If you purchased the limited edition of SMTN, you received a bonus soundtrack that contains all 21 tracks from Japanese “SMT3N Maniacs Soundtrack extra version”, plus 12 tracks from the two-disc Japanese “SMT3N OST”, which I have also reviewed (you’ll notice my opinion seems to have changed between this soundtrack and the last, but I’m not going to retract my last review, though there is some contradiction in point of view).
Although you may feel fulfilled by the “gift soundtrack” from the limited edition, you unfortunately missed a bunch of outstanding tracks from the Japanese OST. I’m not calling the bonus soundtrack bad; the tracks collected in gift soundtrack are some of the best from this original SMT3N OST. However, the US gift soundtrack is missing the character themes: Chiaki, Isamu, Rescue, Hijiri, Hikawa, etc. I found that I’m especially enjoying to lisiten to the female character themes: Yuko (disc 2 track 3, track 10) and Chiaki (disc 1 track 15). The tracks for the females are all mainly piano, the simple and touching melody successfully describing their will and gentleness (note that Shoji Meguro, having composed these tracks, is also the composer of “Velvet Room” from Persona). Besides, the males tracks are all describing their ambition, which is in contrast to the females.
Furthermore, this OST is lacking in dungeon tracks. As I can count, excluding the mall tracks, the actual dungeon tracks you can find on this OST comes to three. The BGM of the last dungeon (Tower of Kagutsuchi) is missing, leaving players with a lack of satisfaction when reflecting on the game they have conquered.
Shoji Meguro put his focus on the battle tracks, which you will find plenty of on the US OST. It’s interesting that Meguro fused Japanese synthesized rock with these 80s-Amercian punk-rock snarling vocals, keeping the battle in a highly convulsive and revolting mood but never feeling discordant to other tracks. There is a sufficient quantity of battle tracks on this OST: four for normal battles, three for boss battles, and two for last boss, totalling to nine battle tracks! The rock and roll on here may not be the best of its genre, but then again, it is good enough to be a significant attraction for this OST.
The main theme of SMTN plays through the Title Loop 2 and the Staff Roll with breath-taking piano plus electric guitar performance. The Staff Roll, especially, simply melts anyone who has beaten the game. Throughout listening to this soundtrack, I can recapture the image of the game itself by those excellent tracks; it’s hard to resist the aftertaste.
One last word: if you enjoy the whole music of SMTN, but you missed out on purchasing the limited edition of the US game, consider purchasing the Japanese “SMT3N Maniacs Soundtrack extra version”. You will be surprised by Kenichi Tsuchiya and Toshiko Tasaki in the Maniacs version, since they handled more tracks than the initial SMT3N.
