Andy Bundy

Author: Mike Barrett

  • Music Monday – May 25, 2026 – “Reach Out To The Truth”

    “Is it really necessary to talk about a Persona soundtrack? Do they need an introduction?”

    Well, yes, kinda. See, if you’re not talking about Persona 5, then the soundtracks have never really cracked into the mainstream. Sure, people who played Persona 4 Golden (also known as the only reason to buy a PlayStation Vita) know about the “Oops, All Bangers” OST. And Atlas did cash in on the success of Persona 5 with a remake of Persona 3, feeding fans with yet more tasty beats to Dance in Moonlight

    “See, the music is so good there’s even a rhythm game spinoff. THREE OF THEM. You just referenced one!”

    Yeah, but people gotta know about one of the best battle game music songs ever made! No, I don’t mean Last Surprise in P5, I mean it’s predecessor in Persona 4 – Reach Out To The Truth

    It’s…discordant. Evocative. Chaotic and destructive, things one might say about some teenagers who picked up replica ninja daggers and golf clubs and started fighting with magic powers they just discovered.

    In short, it’s exactly the kind of music you’d expect for a psychedelic journey into Jungian concepts embedded deep into a small town murder mystery. These are kids doing giving their best punk rock spirit and handling everything the police can’t (spoiler: or perhaps ACAB is even MORE appropriate than normal). The harsh guitar riffs, the aggressive drums, too-cool-for-school vocals…this song will have you bopping your head in every fight. Best of all, the character seem to hop and thump right along with you as you make your choices in combat.

    They can hear it, too. This is the soundtrack to the Midnight Channel.

    So what do you think? Does Reach Out To The Truth take the top spot for Persona battle music? Where does it rank among your BGM preferences? Let me know!

    “Hey wait, what about the music for Persona 1 and 2? Don’t they-“

    Shh, we don’t talk about those

  • Music Monday – April 14, 2026 – “Someday the dream must end…”

    “Listen to my story. This may be our last chance.”

    The words that open Final Fantasy X are legendary, haunting every player who has ever stepped into Spira. But throughout the journey, you know how the story ends. You know where Tidus, Yuna, and the rest will end up. The game repeatedly tells you and makes no bones about it.

    Fate cannot be changed, only understood better by those doomed to witness it. Granted, there are twists, and you may not understand who will experience what part of the story, but this is a tragedy.

    So when the day finally comes that you enter that final area, marching onwards and hoping that you’re wrong, the music is the first assurance that this is, in fact, The End.

    A Fleeting Dream is unique among the tracks in Final Fantasy X in that it plays uninterrupted. Looping infinitely, it follows you from screen to screen, overworld to battles and back again, replacing all the other songs you’ve grown accustomed to. There’s no upbeat battle theme here, no jaunty tune to say “come on, there’s monsters to fight, let’s go!”

    You are marching forward towards fate. A long, slow journey that cannot be stopped, just like the music. You choose to keep going, despite everything that’s happened and that you know this will not be a happy ending. You keep going.

    But, like many FFX songs, there are multiple versions. When the HD Remaster came around, the entire OST was reworked, and while many of the songs are the same, many are not. Players remain divided on which soundtrack they prefer, with no clear winner among the two. For myself, I have grown fond of the Remaster instrumentation, the clearer, more dramatic crescendos.

    Do you have a preference? Have you made the long journey to see Yuna’s story to its end? Let us know in the comments!

  • Music Mondays – February 16, 2026

    Music Mondays – February 16, 2026

    Okay, I know this post is late. I also know that I’m not Andy. But just listen for a moment, he’s busy and he asked me to fill in (i.e. I bugged him until he said yes).

    Nothing makes an impact on a game in exactly the same way as a main menu. A game finally gets it’s chance to show you “hey, here I am, this is what I’m about.” The visuals, the music, the fonts (yes, the fonts) – everything is there to tell you exactly what you’re getting into and pull you deeper into the experience. So to say that the main menu themes carry a lot of weight is a bit of an understatement, IMO. Halo: Combat Evolved, Pokémon Red and Blue, Sonic the Hedgehog…these are just a few of the legendary main menu themes in the hallowed halls of video games

    I humbly submit that The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind’s main theme, Nerevar Rising, sits in that pantheon.

    Every part of this song exists to tell you about yourself and what you’re getting into:

    (the drums begin) You are small, a single person in a vast world.

    (the drums crowd out the quiet orchestra) That world is overwhelming, full of dangers, and will drown you out if you get a chance.

    (the orchestra grows louder, swelling and adding instruments) But time and persistence are on your side, and you will come to master this place as you gain skill and knowledge.

    (the drums fade into the background, the horns swell, the movement solely in the strings) You are the hero this place needs.

    Even the name, Nerevar Rising, is to remind you that you are the hero, Nerevar, reborn and returned to heal a blighted land as you adventure the island. The song continually reappears throughout your adventure as you traverse the game’s island, reminding you of the grandiosity of the adventure.

    Absolute chills.

    I can, and have, gone on forever about the importance of this game to a young Bookslap. How at the age of 14, I spent nearly the entire summer by myself, frittering away the days holed up in my den, playing Morrowind and only Morrowind. How it continues to shape my idea of what games can and should be to this day, including the haunting title theme. But honestly, the song speaks for itself. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!