Yoshimi Kudo took over the Raiden series for this one and basically wrote a progressive rock opera disguised as a shmup soundtrack. Every track runs absurdly long, layering orchestral swells over crunching metal guitars and piano lines that have no business sounding this emotional in a bullet hell game.
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"Fatal Omen" shifts moods like three times before you even notice. "Fortress of Philosophy" builds this massive wall of sound that keeps escalating when you think it already peaked. Then there's "Quiet Resonance," just letting you breathe for a second.
If you want proof that shoot-em-ups can have genuinely ambitious scores, this is where you start.