Never More is sooooo fucking good

Yes

It's so good that I had to learn how to play it on my guitar.

always makes me shed a tear

Me too

Jungian psychology (very simplified) is the premise of Persona, though. It's not as simple as merely having two sides. Personas are also specifically not demons and gods, they are avatars of the image the self wants to project to the world, the mask one wears to hide the true self. Siegfried, Scathach, Pixie for example are neither of those things, they are just representative images of archetypes of personalities one may put forward. That's what Personas (latin for "mask" of the theatrical variety) are: what you want the world to see you as. Personas take the form of heroes, villains, gods, demigods, demons, devils, animals, concepts etc in the series because it's a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off and also because, as part of the Jungian concept of the shared human consciousness, they are also perfect representatives of how humans defined many of the archetypes we would conform to. Through stories about heroes and deities that conformed to the same archetypes, the monomyth and the prevalence of certain characteristics and preferences in how narratives are built and told, even across cultural divides, we can see that humanity has a lot of things that uniformly make sense to us and that we share as a species on some level. Some myths are dictated by circumstances (like geographical location, climate, local calamities or extreme events like droughts, floods etc) others are dictated by cultural norms but across the world there are stories that formed almost completely independent of each other that still share a lot of similarities. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice for example shares a lot of elements with the myth of Izanagi and Izanami (guess why P3 and P4's protag personas are Orpheus and Izanagi respectively) and they're not the only ones. The gods Vulcan and Hephaistos are related clearly between Roman and Greek cultures but the Japanese also have Ippon-Datara a youkai blacksmith with one leg that was corrupted from a mountain god. Hephaistos, the lame-legged asshole blacksmith of Mount Olympus should sue, though to be fair there are other interpretations of Ippon-Datara that don't match as closely. Broader concepts such as journeys, wise men, tests of strength and wit etc are also shared between stories appearing in vastly separate cultures. More specific character concepts such as "the hero" or "the trickster" also appear in stories told in a lot of cultures on the planet. Native Americans had Coyote, West Africans had Anansi, the Norse had Loki, Polynesians had Maui and so on. The roles they played in their stories were varied as they're not always the villain or the hero, sometimes just supporting characters, but they are remarkably similar concepts and all representative of the Trickster archetype. Some of these characters may have been imported as people migrated and took stories with them that started changing over time, but a lot of these concepts appear in isolated locations or in places that wouldn't have had a chance to communicate with outsiders when forming these myths. To consider that these stories could have diverged, changed and crystallized over hundreds if not thousands of years into completely new narratives but are still so recognizably similar is something I personally always found amazing. Is that a confirmation that the shared human consciousness exists as a mystical part of who we are as a species? Nope, it's just the human brain, at it again, making categories and putting things in their own little box. It's all born out of humanity's ability to perceive the world around it in an efficient way so people from most places on Earth saw something and found a convenient explanation that will usually take a similar form. Take lightning and thunder for example that were attributed to a god because they couldn't explain it otherwise. The Greek attributed it to Zeus the almighty father of his pantheon, the Norse to Thor, a powerful but not-quite-as-powerful-as-Zeus deity and other cultures attribute it to saints, demigods, devils etc. Always a supernatural being, however, so the concept of the God of Thunder/Lightning/Storms takes form. The "flood myth" is pretty big as well since early cultures lived in areas close to rivers that would likely flood a lot so they told stories about big floods to caution the young and drill fear of the stuff into them. Those stories were corrupted by the telling and grew more and more until it appears as part of several religions (you know which ones) despite a global flood being completely physically impossible. But all of this IS a confirmation of the shared human consciousness in a way - we don't share things telepathically, that's absurd, but we share things as a species that evolved in a certain way: the way we process and interpret information. It's the way we look at things that makes us the same in many ways. I'm unsure if without this shared perspective we would even be able to understand one another or form communities. But back on track Personas take the form of heroes and villains from stories and myths because it's shorthand to tell you about the actual traits that the self tries to project in-universe. Rather than say that P3's protag is a shy guy who is capable of bringing great joy to those around him but is held back by a loss he experienced in the past and extreme grief, his Persona is Orpheus, a musician who is said to have been so good that he could bring joy even to the gods but lost his wife and fell into super-depression. Later on, instead of saying this boy has opened up and is willing to sacrifice himself to help others, we see his persona evolve after interacting with the world around him into Messiah, a word that symbolizes the savior archetype. From a story perspective it's a way of foreshadowing events and characterizing your cast in a fun way. From an in-game perspective the characters don't get to pick who their Personas are, they just try to be their ideal selves and the Persona is then interpreted from the previously aforementioned shared human consciousness as a character that embodies the virtues, hopes, virtues and flaws (them's the elemental weaknesses I think) that the self tries to live up to - the archetype that Orpheus and Messiah respectively represent. Personas are then specifically not gods or demons because those also exist in the SMT universe. Personas are specifically a part of human psyche, draped in the image of a mythical being whereas deities and other such beings are separate. Marie for example IS Izanami at the end of P4G as she's been made whole again. She's not a Shadow or a Persona. Same for Nyx, Erebus, Nyarlathotep etc. Whether they are creations of the human mind (as they are said to come from the sea of human consciousness) is hard to say within the Persona universe but prior to Persona 3 devil summoners existed in Persona (as an extension of the SMT titles) as well so they are very likely separate entities entirely. So it's conceivably possible for someone to call both a Persona and the same devil at the same time. That... would be an interesting conversation, I should think. Don't take my word as law though, this is a lot of personal interpretation on my part and I'm sure to have gotten a lot of these things wrong. However it's a sincerely fascinating subject and while the games don't really get into details on the technicalities they can be a wonderful gateway into the subject. ... I guess thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Take care and stay safe!

@@vetreas366 Yeah, I didn't read all of that, mostly because I know. I just wanted to keep it simple. But respect! You certainly did your homework.

@@vetreas366 wow that was a killer reply to find out of nowhere thank you for the condensed info bomb of persona lore that i've been trying to figure out myself

@@vetreas366 Very informative, thanks dude👍

I think the proper words is Jung's theory of Archetypes which simplified into persona being our "mask" that we wear for others to see, shadow being our dark side that we hide and I think if I am not mistaken the last one is ego which I forgot what it is

Technically, this came out first in the Reincarnation Album of Persona 4, Golden includes the album into the game. There's also many Reincarnation mixes from Persona 3 and Persona 4 that didn't make it into the game, and all is a banger

I also love how the anime used it for their midseason climax

@@Amitlu ah yes, the showing off persona montage lmao

The use of this song in p4 golden made me cry ngl. The violin in this song is incredible

Playing Golden now, haven't heard this version yet.

I like songs that usually play once or twice because they are unique and leave more impact, especially if its like remix or something

@@kev1nno we must make this happen

I love how you explain Persona 3’s theme so perfectly. To me, Living with Determination embodies that theme to the fullest.

@@Exlegion19 Not a bad way to describe it XLegion. :D And I'm always happy to talk shop with another Persona User (fan lol).

It, along with The Fog, makes you feel the most badass person on earth.

No it’s actually from the reincarnation album

@@ZeldaGamer2005 you're both right

@@ZeldaGamer2005 But it does still play in the game, so

P3 is personally more rnb / hiphop (most memorable songs)

Idk what p3 you played but the one i did was more hiphop and rnb

Personaly my take Persona 3 = hiphop/ rnb with some slight rock and metal influence Persona 4 = mostly j-pop Peraona 5 = pure jazz

Yes its Marie's battle. I agree he should listen to the original and also the Golden remixes for the bosses.

Maya's theme 😐

SMT soundtrack is just 👌😩

Dds soundtrack is lit af

"Humans, Demons, and..." Is such a banger

The full version of Burn My Dread is still one of those songs that gives me chills down my spine. That and Kimi no Kioku (Memories of You) are two of the songs that just remind me that life is always worth living.

I don't think this song is underrated at all.. its universally considered one the best tracks in the whole series.

@@ZayIvory7 I don't see anywhere near as much discussion as many other popular songs in this series, even comparatively to other songs in p4 such as a new world fool or the almighty

@@jamescarrotcsl8 Discussion is subjective to what you see at the time. But overall "I'll Face Myself" is considered one of the best tracks in the Persona series. Don't compare what ppl in the comments are saying at the time, compare the views. A New World Fool = 1.1 Million The Almighty = 1.1 Million I'll Face Myself (this video in particular) = 3.4 Million Even combined they don't match up to I'll Face Myself. Ppl absolutely love this song, and for good reason.

And pursuing the truth

It also shares it's core melody with the games title screen and ending credits, A Corner of Memories, and Never More respectively. P4's core theme is self identity and accepting the good and bad about yourself, so I'll Face Myself is a very literal song. It plays when a character is forced to confront the truth of themselves.

Tho at least most of this particular version of the track was used for the marie fight. I dont think it includes the nevermore part, but the rest of its there

This is the Anime and Golden version, they put this in as a late game optional boss against somebody you'd only know in Golden

People have already said it but it's the cd arrangement version, which the anime uses and golden uses once too.

Persona 3 OST is not that dark and depressing. Most of the sadder tracks are more melancholic, and a lot of tracks are really bright in this game.

@@tastethecock5203 I view them as such but to each their own, thats the beauty of music aint it? One piece can make someone swell with sadness and another swell with pride

The rawness of the original is great but I definitely prefer this version, those great violins make this version a lot more emotional. Especially when the facing your shadow part of the track kicks in.

@@J2ojuiced95 This ver. is great, but when it comes to the game itself, it only plays once, it's an optional boss and has no story significance. So honestly, the original is just superior. In it's simplicity and importance.

@@Sekainoowaride Which is exactly what makes it better on a blind listen than the original. Within context, the original hits harder, but it's a simple battle loop, less suited for a blind listen imo. This version has it all, and really lets you experience the motifs of the game at their absolute peak, plus you don't have the context of the story moment more or less dragging it down.

@@NSDominator I have just listened to the original, haven't done that in awhile and Nope, Original is still better, because of it's simplicity not in spite of it. "Less is more". Reincarnation ver. was originally made for a special CD, it was never gonna be in the game till Golden came out, almost 5 years after P4. It's barely in the game. This ver. is nowhere near my Top 100 Fav Persona OST songs, it's not bad, it just tries to do too much. Same reason why EVERY remix of "When my Mother was there" from P5 SUCKS, they add too much.