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What games have you played that have a "perfect fit" soundtrack?

Many games feature amazing music, but certain games take it beyond even that.

Games like DOOM are known for the "procedural" composition they use to marry gameplay and sound, and not only that, the way the music is a perfect tonal match to what is happening.

What games have you played that feature music that doesn't just make you notice it, but also pulls you further in?

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  • Can you tell me more about Katana Zero? I have one of this developers other games and looked at this the other day but opted out. I don't listen to audio when I look at trailers, so I didn't hear the music or anything.

    Also, YIIK has a great soundtrack even though everyone bombed the hell out of that game. I still listen to tracks from it. Inscryption, The Path, 2064: Read Only Memories, The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa, Going Under, games developed by Blaze Epic, Dicey Dungeons, Party Hard, Stray Cat Crossing, New Ice York, Beyond Galaxyland, JARS, Ladykiller in a Bind, Oxenfree, Dust Force, & Plants vs. Zombies (Laura Shigihara still has me bopping). Not including classic video game bangers - this is just stuff I pulled from a quick Steam-y glance.

    *Love has a banger of a soundtrack too. Kentucky Route Zero as well.

    • Askiisoft hasn't made any other widely known games. Of the three, only Katana Zero is on steam.

      Are you referring to the publisher? They just front the funding for the development, and handle distribution. In this case that's Devolver, who deals with a ton of small studios, and hence there's a very wide range of games under them. But they're all made by different people. A lot of Devolver projects are one-offs where the game is the only thing the particular studio has made, and will make.

      Katana ZERO marries gameplay, story, and sound, immaculately.

      The player character has the ability to see the future. The act of playing through a level (dying and re-trying), in universe, is Zero looking into the future and seeing what will work and what won't.

      This gets complicated once you run into opponents with the same ability, as they will actively use your previous attempts to beat them to predict what you'll try to do.

      It's as mix of puzzle and action. I won't say too much about the story, but it is worth engaging with the dialogue system, taking in the world building, and doing some thinking about what is going on. If you do, the story, and particularly the ending, is a lot more meaningful.

  • FTL and Celeste have basically the perfect soft background music; once you’re played them it is remarkable how many YouTube videos reuse one or the other for their turned-way-down background music

    That, and then Grand Poo World 2 has basically the best retro action game soundtrack I have ever heard. I for-real believe that the quality of the soundtrack is like 75% of why it comes across as more polished than any other romhack.

    • The artist behind Celeste's soundtrack Lena Raine is really good at that kind of music, her Bandcamp is good for listening

  • As spoiled by the picture I chose for the post, my pick is Katana Zero.

    Each stage has its own track, and it is not just background noise. Zero carries with him a walkman, and each level begins with him pulling it out at putting his earphones in, then starting the track as the name of the song appears on screen.

    Whenever Zero isn't himself listening to something, any music heard is environmental, like the soft background music of a hotel lobby, or the annoying low tones passing through the walls from a party at the neighbors.

    If you're a fan, and didn't know, there is an expansion coming to Katana Zero. It's been teased with a few gameplay clips, and a new OST track.

    • Yeah Katana Zero is crazy good, I've had Meat Grinder (Ludowic) on repeat for so long, that song is just perfect in terms of beats to focus to

  • Diablo 1. I have a hard time playing the game anymore, it's super clunky, but the guitar music from the overworld fucking slaps

    • Agreed. The Tristram theme has no business sounding as good as it does. I

  • Is it cheating to say Crypt of the Necrodancer?

    Must move to the music's beat, and the music itself is by Danny Baranowsky (other works include the original PCl soundtracks for Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac)

  • ULTRAKILL definitely has a perfectly fitting soundtrack

    To quote, "This shit sounds like how coke smells"

    • Really make you feel that you are a unstopabble force.

  • Tunic has unique soundtracks for the different areas that totally hit the right emotional chords in each area. And like how getting back to the main hub feels like a relief in every way (sound, colour, brightness, difficulty).

  • Wasteland 3's soundtrack is full of bangers. The ambient music and generic combat music is good, but the game has a lot of special tracks that play over specific combat moments. They are religious or nostalgic songs being covered by modern bands, giving the soundtrack a kind of distorted feel. It's very good.

    Early fight.

  • Literally any of the Ace Combat games! They have absolutely no business going as hard as they do in an arcade-y flight sim but good lord they are just incredible. I listen to the OSTs whilst I’m working all the time when I need pump up music - Zero is particularly good!

  • Demon's Souls. Sparse and somber and sad and like with this vibe of overwhelming (but not overly melodramatic) loss - just like the game (though it's a tad less restrained with the melodrama) haha

  • Breath of the Wild which also does dynamic music that shifts and changes as you play/encounter enemies

    • Most modern games do this. It's a little different depending on implementation, but usually there are short loops of music which can transition into one another, and the game attempts to detect what's going on and make smooth transition at the end of each loop into an appropriate new loop based on the situation, so that the music is seamless but still reactive to what's going on. When it's done well, it's basically invisible that anything special is even happening, which I'm sure is irritating if you're the one who had to do the ball-busting labor of getting it all to work.

      Fun fact, LucasArts was already doing this all the way back in 1991, back when video game sound beyond the bleeps and boops stage was still bleeding edge technology. One of a few different ways in which they were ahead of the curve by about 20-30 years if not more.

  • Wytchwood has a soundtrack that goes unnecessarily hard. Especially by the docks. Everything about that game is satisfying.

  • Animal Crossing. Each hour of the day has a different track and it really makes it feel special to play at every different time of day. When your playing and the song switches or makes you want to play more.

  • First one that comes to mind is wing commander prophecy. Opened my ears to new styles of metal and industrial music I had never heard before then. If I'm limiting to video game composers streets of rage, I still listen to it sometimes.

97 comments