What’s one of your favorite game soundtracks?
I recently started playing GTAV again and sometimes I’ll get in my car and let the radio stations play while I do house stuff. Favorite stations are the 80s one with Kenny Loggins, and West Coast Classics and Rock Radio.
Outer Wilds
I just break out into tears any time I hear the title menu theme.
Definetly one of the greats. We had an Outer Wilds group on vlemmy that was gaining traction, but the server dissapeared.
Aaand now I'm reliving that awesome existential crisis/awakening
I’ve been listening to the FTL soundtrack since high school!
Into the Breach’s soundtrack is also outstanding, by the same composer for the same developer.
I used to put this on to drift asleep to. Fantastic soundtrack.
I use it for programming!
Honestly love the Doom soundtrack.
Rip and tear until it is DONE.
Mick Gordon is amazing! I tweeted to him one time and he hearted my tweet. My friends and I played this soundtrack a ridiculous amount. Great pick.
I'm honestly a bigger fan of the classic DOOM I/II (199X) soundtracks. Despite being obvious parodies of existing rock/metal songs, they had a certain appeal. Especially when someone makes a very good cover.
I get why people like 2016's DOOM's more "metal" approach, but for me nothing beats an adrenaline-rush song when ripping and tearing those damned demons.
There are games with amazing music that sets the perfect atmosphere — Celeste, Hades, Zelda (especially BotW/TotK).
And then there are games soundtracks I would also happily just put on to listen to — FFXIV, Persona 5, one particular song from Hades (Eurydice).
And then just a lot of old nostalgia for NES games (Duck Tales, River City Ransom, TMNT, etc) and SNES/PS1 RPGs (Lufia, Super Mario RPG, Suikoden, Thousand Arms, etc)
But that main list contains the ones I either bought or downloaded because I loved the music so much.
The Chrono Trigger soundtrack is a goddamn masterpiece. I haven't played it for years and the songs still randomly pop into my head.
Agreed. I never even really played that game. I was a Genesis man back in the 16 bit days, and I've found I can't really play those old JRPGs without the nostalgia factor (and even that's lost its luster). But even with me not having played it, Chrono Trigger still has one of the best soundtracks ever.
Maaannn, the Tony Hawk games introduced me to so(!) many(!) great songs, bands, and genres of music! I'm so damn thankful for those games and their soundtracks. They definitely had a hand in shaping who I am today.
You can usually find playlists people have put together of the soundtracks for each game (at least the songs that are available on the platform) on YouTube and Spotify. I still listen to them! Naturally, they hold up really well.
Spotting Super Mario RPG in there, you might appreciate knowing some people actually recreated some songs with the original synths used by Yoko Shimomura herself.
My favorites, in no particular order:
Just like the other commenter, the Outer Wilds main motif (travelers) makes me emotional because of how good the game was. Disco Elysium also has had an amazing soundtrack, with the main BGM faintly using sounds from the final song, which made it really cathartic for me.
Ultrakill deserves a lot of praise, especially for the P-2 music (https://youtu.be/MG5L-1pI8bI). It works perfectly for how intense the level is, and it's absolutely nuts that the game still manages to up the ante after you've perfected every single other level. I've listened to this type of music quite often before, but I've never felt it in my blood and muscles before playing that level.
When judged on the music alone though, Hotline Miami (1) and Furi have to take the cake. Both soundtracks are just iconic, and easily stand out on their own.
You just mentioning the Outer Wilds' motif gave me goosebumps. That should tell you how well that game uses its music.
My favourite bit of music from that is (iirc) titled '14.3 Billion Years. I've listened to it hundreds of times and it still gets me every single time.
Fallout got me, a Metal Head, listening to 50s rock and lounge music.
Witcher 3 soundtrack. The exploration and combat wouldn't be the same without it.
Hollo knight. Especially the piano album
Fez
Disasterpeace is amazing. Also did the soundtrack for It Follows.
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines Deus Ex Hotline Miami Unreal Tournament Journey Cyberpunk 2077 The Witcher Jet Set Radio All the Silent Hill (even Downpour) Colony Wars
There is so many good ones....
Seriously, I might go make a massive playlist of everything everyone contributed. So many good ones in your list.
I have a Skyrim playlist I play through our Sonos network almost daily while my wife and I work, and when it ends, it always slips in Deus Ex, Cyberpunk, and Witcher tracks. So much good stuff from all of them.
Hollow Knight
Nier Automata and Nier Replicant, also Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. Id mention more but my other picks are probably already mentioned here.
This. I've played hundreds of games from many decades and nothing comes close to how amazing the Nier and Nier Automata soundtracks are.
Risk of Rain 2 with Celeste being a close second!
not to be a hater but GTAV Radio station songs are 'licensed music' not soundtracks, also you can just fire up spotify or youtube if you just wanna listen to them instead of running GTAV each time
The benefit to the radio stations in game is that you get the silly commercials and commentary too. I like the whole package together. Sometimes I’ll drive around while just listening too, which is fun.
I'm definitely going to have to say that Persona 5 Royal has one of the best Soundtracks of Gaming in general.
Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Cross are my absolute all time favorites. Ori and the Blind Forest is a more recent soundtrack that blew me away. The soundtrack for the Motorhead racing game is also a classic for me.
In no particular order:
Final Fantasy XIV and XVI (Soken is a genius)
Transistor
Nier Automata
Genshin Impact
Destiny 2
The World Ends With You
Persona 5
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1/2
Honestly though the FF series as a whole kinda deserves its own special mention. The games have always had stellar soundtracks.
Nier Automata has a great storyline and the ost just elevates that totally in nearly all occasions. It's an one of a game which just mesmerizes you in it's soundtrack while playing the game during any time.
Ugh yes, +1 for Final Fantasy and especially XIV. At this point I think I mostly run content for the music. Shadowbringers and Endwalker have some bangers.
Child of Light https://musique.coeurdepirate.com/album/child-of-light
Monkey Island 2 https://mdvhimself.bandcamp.com/album/monkey-island-2-lechuck-s-revenge
Colonization (reminded of this by the above page!) https://mdvhimself.bandcamp.com/album/colonization
Wing Commander https://thefatmanandteamfat.bandcamp.com/album/wing-commander-i-complete-original-soundtrack-mt-32-archival-edition
Honestly I'm shocked and surprised the Risk of Rain soundtrack hasn't come up. Both 1 and 2 are bangers. Chris Christodoulou (the lead composer) has a yt breaking down the soundtrack.
Stellaris' ost is also up there for memorable leitmotifs and just plain understanding the assignment.
I also quite like redout 1 and 2's soundtrack.
RimWorld has enough music to not feel repetitive over so many hours!
(and the youtube comments are full of stories about the colonies that people are reminded of by hearing the music again)
Hollow Knight and Spiritfarer.
Journey, and more recently Tunic, both had soundtracks that complemented their gameplay really well.
Tunic is such a masterpiece. I love all of the retro vibes and nods I get from it. I still have my old manual for Link and it’s fun to see the similarities side-by-side while playing Tunic.
Hyper Light Drifter really deserves a mention too!
The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour remain top-tier for me. The music was half the experience, turn it up and just enjoy that creepy vibe while solving puzzles. And they're all on The Fat Man's Bandcamp now!
Also, there's an industrial rock cover album on vinyl currently looking for funding on Kickstarter. I'm super excited!
My dad and I used to play 7th Guest together. What a classic! It’s been a long time since I played that one. Had it on CD-ROM. Now I need to go find the soundtrack.
The full soundtracks to both games are on the Fat Man's Bandcamp, which I linked up above. Also, the "greatest hits" collection album 7/11 is on Spotify. It's surprisingly easy to listen to these days!
Monkey island and grim fandango
Final Fantasy 7 has been the long-standing winner here, but Persona 5 has recently started to gain an edge.
I also recently started listening to some of the Trails soundtracks and they are all fire.
I'm very quickly about to stop having "a favorite" and start having a collection of faves. Which is a pretty great place to be.
Anything from the first four Sega Sonic mainline games. Also, Bastion and Transistor.
I'm surprised not to see any of the Monster Hunter games yet! Maybe that's because most MH soundtracks are more a collection of individual themes than a unified soundtrack for a world, but a lot of those tracks are pretty great.
I don't know whether it is considered polite to link to youtube recordings of tracks here. My particular favorites from World are all zone themes: "Rulers of the Wildspire", "Dancer in the Coral Highlands", "Roars across the Hinterlands". You hear these tunes a lot - whenever you're fighting something in that zone that doesn't have its own theme - so they'd better be good. Fortunately almost all of them live up to that standard!
Having finally finished Horizon Forbidden West last night, I've got to choose that. Instant favourite for me. Nostalgic moments when the theme kicked in in one of its altered versions, and the credits just completely floored me. Stuck around for the whole 30+ mins. Wonderful.
Away from that, Mass Effect always needs a mention!
Same, Forbidden West had an absolutely banger soundtrack. Atmospheric and exciting, I put it on sometimes when I'm working to make the tasks feel more adventurous
Any FromSoftware game soundtrack. Personally like Orphan of Kos.
The Bloodborne soundtrack is phenomenal but my absolute favorite track is the Abyss Watchers theme. It just makes me feel some typpa way.
Quite a few folks have mentioned Outer Wilds, so I'll add the DLC soundtrack. The titular song (Echoes of the Eye) that plays at the end of the DLC makes me burst into tears every time I hear it. But in a good way, haha.
Myth II: Soulblighter had some beautiful mournful music (also one of the few games available for Mac OS 9)
Classic arcade games:
And just for good measure: Lemmings
If we're going for classics, don't forget this one
I haven’t played Lemmings since like middle school! Time to go find the music for it.
Civilisation IVs Baba Yetu. Still gives me chills. I’ve seen it performed by a small choir and is just as good. https://youtu.be/IJiHDmyhE1A
Silent Hill 1,2 & 3 (and not just the OST's, in-game background music as well);
Castlevania: Symphony of the night,
Alundra,
Faxanadu,
practically any Zelda,
Castlevania 1, 2 & 3
For my second place Flubber Mountain from Mario RPG is a banger! https://youtu.be/FaAc87l3o3o
All the music from any Supergiant game is ridiculously good.
Chained Echoes
Witcher
Doom 2016
Chrono Trigger is an absolute classic. I'll listen to the full soundtrack often. When playing other games actually.
Amon Tobins Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory soundtrack is a solid ambient/electronic album that I keep returning to.
Madden 10 has an unusally stacked soundtrack list. it is honestly absurd the sheer amount of legendary bands in that game
mlb 2k6 also has a great soundtrack, has interpol, pavement, fall of troy, pretty girls make graves, cornelius
Planet coaster. Released on streaming, it’s just so relaxing.
Ace Combat, mainly Ace Combat 5 but all of them are well known for their soundtracks.
More recently WARNO has excellent music so far, even though most of it was licensed by Eugen from third parties so it doesn't really count as a soundtrack specific to the game.
Castelvania: Symphony of the Night
Command & Conquer: Red Alert https://youtube.com/watch?v=TrqQxl5o3eg&feature=share7
So many! Where even to start?
I really lime the Dark Souls 3 soundtrack. Elden Ring's is okay, but there's just something about it that isn't as cool.
Sekiro's is good in an entirely different reason. It's a different style so I wanted to mention it separately.
I also like what they did with Pokemon Black and White I and II. Driftveil City theme lives rent free in my mind.
Not OST but I really vibed with Fallout 3 radio. It was cool to learn about old songs from that game.
Assuming visual novels count as "games", probably one of the best soundtracks I've ever run across is the one for Everlasting Summer. Both Silent Owl (Sergey Eybog) and Between August and December did amazing work on it.