Personally, I’m a huge fan of Hollow Knight, Ori and the (Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps), and Kingdom Hearts. Orchestral soundtracks are just something else…
You must log in or register to comment.
For focused work:
- Shenzhen IO
- Exapunks
- Opus Magnum
- Into the Breach
- Firewatch
- IXION
Other:
- Blue Archive Symphony
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Branched Remix
- Minecraft
- Stardew Valley
- Spelunky
- Helltaker
- Kirby
I really vibe with Minecraft. The nostalgia just hits different when I listen to it.
Undertale is my #1. Bully is my #2.
NieR: Automata
The Weight of the World
Japanese version!! Like dang the emotion the singer carried into the song and the director allowed it to go official. It bring tears to my old soul more than the story itself.
I love the Subnautica soundtrack that much I have it in my music library on my phone
They really succeeded in creating good ambience for all of the different areas!
The Subnautica dilemma™️ "Oh no, my Cyclops is on fire, do I
- Put out the fire Or
- Do I have a mini-rave to the soundtrack while my Cyclops disintegrates around me
Far too many to list, but Final Fantasy IX’s soundtrack is a tremendous work of art, and a perfect final bow for Nobuo Uematsu from the series. It’s always stuck with me among nearly ever other soundtrack.
Notable Mentions (in no order):
- Sonic 2 and 3&K
- Hotline Miami 1 & 2
- Street Fighter 2
- Nier Automata
- Castlevania (Whole Damn Series)
- Donkey Kong Country & 2
- Doom I & II
- Undertale
- Freedom Planet
- Golden Sun 1 & 2
- Hollow Knight
- Skyrim
- Kirby Series
- Mario Series
- MegaMan 2 & 3 (Shout-out to The Megas)
- Super Meat Boy
And so many others, but I’ll be here all day if I keep going.
Minecraft and Terraria, oh yeah also Hollow Knight
I am wondering why nobody said this yet, but Undertale! Also, the super smash series always had great osts too
There’s this french MMO i played as a kid called Dofus and that soundtrack still hits hard when I listen. I think part of it is nostalgia but also its just so beautiful
It’s weird how MMO have some of the best OST in the whole gaming world. For me it’s the Dragon ball Global online OST, played it as a kid with my older brother. It’s OST brings back one of my most cherished memories. Here’s the link if anyone’s interested
- Nanashi no Game
- Soma Bringer (only one song linked, there was no playlist available)
- Final Fantasy XIV
- The Last Guardian
FFXIV and Nanashi are notable as they’re by the same composer (latter game was done under a pseudonym) and even happen to share at least one song, in some form.
Soma Bringer has the most beautiful music of this list.
Last Guardian has the most inspiring music.
There are so many good game soundtracks listed in this tread!
Here are some of my favorites:
- Chrono Trigger
- Diablo II
- Elden Ring
- Final Fantasy <insert number> (and pretty much anything by Nobuo Uematsu)
- Hades (and all of the Supergiant Games soundtracks)
- NieR: Automata
- Witcher III
Jake Kaufman always does amazing work, here’s some of my favorites of his from the Shantae series: https://youtu.be/ovk4ygEzMCI
https://youtu.be/3OhJnSL4XWA
https://youtu.be/MZ7bCDjif9M
https://youtu.be/6wJmVxvJTEsCave Story has some great retro tracks. Some people prefer the originals but I played it with the arranged versions: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr5fTLogAd5tW_oPORRtgznxL-kUt9z7h
Little known PC game called Chenso Club has a pumping soundtrack by Knasibas: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nHBZFT82t4__lHXCD8bi3WhA98hQaSGuo&feature=share
Chris Christodoulou killed it with the Risk of Rain 2 soundtrack, personal favorite is The Rain Formally Known as Purple
Indie games in general have great OSTs, MGS:R and Persona (and SMT in general) are obvious popular picks.
The World Ends With You is less mainstream (with one of the few gripes being the lack of boss-specific themes, at least in the DS original I played - but it makes up with the diverse overworld and normal battle themes), as is Etrian Odyssey.
I think orchestra is mixed, it’s either the best fucking tracks ever (often when mixed with electric guitar or other modern instruments, but not necessarily), or they kind of blend with other orchestral tracks I know and don’t end up being unique enough to remember.
The World Ends With you has amazing OST, thanks for reminding me!
The world needs more TWEWY and Etrian Odyssey love. Great picks.
TWEWY is grossly underrated in general, but when it comes to the OST, that’s doubly true.
Make’s me wonder what they were thinking when they made the anime that was so sparse, even void at times, of all this amazing music they had to work with.
Eh, on one hand it’s overrated when people keep saying “it’s a better Persona, those fans just don’t play anything except Persona 5”, I think that’s stupid. TWEWY genuinely has a lot of flaws. A slightly too fast endgame, the second screen, etc.
But for me the gameplay is just so goddamn fun and well designed (making your own set of attacks, combining input methods, all the risk vs reward difficulty systems), and it has a few really good ideas that make me want to recommend it to anyone. I imagine you can beat the game in like, 10 hours on Easy without optional fights too, so, it’s not a big time investment. (Though actually getting the game is difficult. Switch I heard sucks at controls, phone version doesn’t seem to work on new ones, emulating the DS probably sucks too)
Legend of Dragoon soundtrack composed by Dennis Martin.
Bajo Kazooie soundtracks by Grant Kirkhope.
Donkey Kong soundtracks by David Wise.
Sly Cooper soundtrack (first game) by Ashif Hakik.
Ratchet and Clank soundtrack (first game) by David Bergeaud
Metroid soundtracks by Kenji Yamamoto.
All made insanely long lasting impressions where I could hear just a bit from one of the songs and instantly know what it is. Having played lots of video games, these seem to be the ones that have created the most lasting memory. They also absolutely slap as well.
The Legend of Zelda games BOTW and TOTK get mention here as well, though I don’t find it as memorable. the sound design in these games is just top notch though.
Tetris definitely deserves a shoutout.
LA Noire by Simon Hale is fantastic though it’s mostly just riffing off of Chinatown’s soundtrack and I wouldn’t say it really implants itself in the memory like the ones mentioned above.
Other honorable mentions
Vice City
Jet Set Radio – Hideki Naganuma
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
