The first thing that is strikingly different about the OST is the way the music is presented. Twelve of the thirty-three tracks were actually six sets of two songs, the original and a variant Second Movement. Hari-Hara begins slowly with light piano and moves into hard guitar, sliding back and forth between the two for three minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Hari-Hara- The Second Movement starts out with heavy drums and hard guitar and moves into ominous organ and strings, reminiscent of the recent related title Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. This is one of the few tracks that seem to maintain the mood of the other game OSTs of the same universe. Both Spider’s String tracks are long guitar instrumentals, and even the inclusion of the drums in the Second Movement wasn’t enough to make me like it. Unfortunately, the majority of the tracks, and even their variant Second Movements, remind me of Joe Satriani’s muzak-style guitar playing- pleasing enough to the ear but not something most people would want to listen to on a long drive.

There were a few tracks that I enjoyed, however. Sand Castle is little more than ambient noise laced with bells and chimes, with the occasional drum and string, and is both relaxing and sinister at the same time. Steel Coffin is ominous and slow, with light electronic noise accompanying, and its Second Movement is fast and dangerous, the only real techno track of the disc. Sadly, it is a mere one minute and thirty-two seconds.

Unfortunately, most of the tracks on this soundtrack reminded me of the Maken X OST, flashy but without any real emotion or significance attached. The tracks could blend into one another and without looking at my disc player I may not even notice. The generic layers of guitar and drum seemed without inspiration, much like Maxen’s techno sound, and it left me more than slightly annoyed. Ironically, the track I enjoy most from this game is the American version’s theme, Etro Anime’s “Danger,” and this does not even appear on the OST.

Being a big fan of Shin Megami Tensei, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. The US release of DDS: AT has not arrived at the time of this review, so most of these tracks cannot be placed in context with the visuals or game play of the title it belongs to. Hopefully, once I have the chance to play the game, the accompanying tracks will have more significance.