I have lots of favourites but I feel like most will be suggested by others so I’ll go for one that isn’t as popular: Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine. The whole soundtrack is amazing start to finish. Some of the best piano tunes to ever be in a video game, and a super under-appreciated game. It should’ve been way bigger than it was. Unfortunately it’s being tainted by its less-than-stellar sequel which came out recently. Don’t play the sequel, but definitely play the original. It’s fun solo but it really shines co-op with a friend (or three). It supports up to four players and I’d definitely recommend co-op if you have the means. I used to play it on 360 with a friend of mine and it’s some of my most fond gaming memories. It’s not a difficult game to figure out but it’s not an easy game to get good at. But all that is to say, play the game, or if you can’t, absolutely listen to the soundtrack. It’s awesome.
Patient Gamers
A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.
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Halo 1, 2 Reach
Animal Crossing (personally Wild World and New Leaf)
Mario Kart DS, Wii, 7, 8(D)
Bionicle Heroes DS
Art of Balance
Ghostrunner 1 and 2
Midtown Madness 3
Pokemon (Any gen)
Bastion. It's Bastion. Holy shit the answer to this question is Bastion.
I'm assuming you know that Hades' soundtrack is fucking amazing, but before that came Bastion (from the same developer), and it has possibly the most powerful soundtrack I've ever experienced. The way it's integrated into the story genuinely blows my mind. Every track is a banger, but then you'll start to get used to it, and then you'll hear a song that's so different, and it's because something unexpected and beautiful is about to happen.
Then you'll get to the end and you'll have a choice to make. Except it won't feel like a choice, because you'll feel compelled to do exactly what the game wants you to do, and then you're rewarded with one of the most beautiful sequences I've ever seen in a game, accompanied by a haunting song that I still sing fourteen years later.
I can't stress this enough: if you want a game where the music is an essential part of the experience and is just so fucking amazing on its own that you'll want to play it on repeat, the answer is Bastion.
I also really loved the soundtrack to Baldur's Gate 3.
I prefered Transistor, but it is probably just because I played it first.
Yeah man, all of the track with vocals (Red / Ashley Barrett)
I'm honestly surprised no one has mentioned Chrono Trigger yet. Absolutely fantastic soundtrack.
Secret of mana 3 is also great. The track that comes to mind is "where angels fear to tread"
Recently,
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I think the soundtrack was the best part of the game.
All time,
Anything Final Fantasy or Elder Scrolls is timeless.
Celeste.
The synergy between the soundtrack, the gameplay and the mechanics is just unparalleled.
SUPER MARIO GALAXY. IT HAS SUCH A LEGENDARY SOUNDTRACK. If you wanna just try it out, first listen to "Gusty Garden Galaxy" Literally one of the most beautiful game soundtracks.
Bastion had a fantastic soundtrack. I still have songs from that game in rotation. There are a few perfectly timed music queues that made each song just hit hard.
Not seen mentioned yet, but Homeworld (1999).
The transition from the opening cutscene to the game proper scored to Agnus Dei (Adagio for Strings) by Samuel Barber really set the tone for the thing.
I don't remember much else about the soundtrack, but that one piece stuck with me.
Nobody has mentioned the Fallout games, but they always have a great radio station you can turn on for background music. Sometimes the soundtrack itself is pretty good too.
Ori and the Blind Forest/ Will of the Wisps Still the only two games that I've sought out and added the music to my playlists, although Skyrim and LoZ songs tend to be covered by artists in my daily rotations
Killer Instinct 2013
Mick Gordon... Hopefully he didn't get screwed on that one like he did with Doom. It is a wonderful soundtrack.
- Eternal Sonata
- Jet Set Radio
- Hades
- Burnout Revenge
JET SET RADIOOOOOOOOOOO
The soundtrack in Celeste is fantastic
Some which come to mind are:
- Bastion
- Lost Eden
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Flatout 2
- System Shock
- Arcanum ...
But there are probably a lot more which I have played and are great.
Absolute nonsense for this post to have 61 comments and none of them have mentioned Outer Wilds yet. Echoes of the Eye could be its own separate answer to this as well. Take a listen to this track, it is the essence of adventure in audio form
Earthbound/Mother (mainly Mother 3)
Zelda (especially Ocarina and Twilight Princess)
Ratchet & Clank (especially the first game had some bangers)
Half Life, surprisingly. It has very little music but Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar drops at the perfect moment and makes you feel like you're living in an action movie. 🤌
OFF by Mortis Ghost is similar. Mostly ambient tracks but the melodic ones hit different
Almost 200 comments and not one single mention of Disco Elysium? What are we doing here guys? It's one of the most fitting , most perfect and beautiful soundtracks I've heard. Captures the vibe so perfectly Robert Kurvitz personally convinced Sea Power to get on board, including - allegedly - by being the man inside the bear costume at one of their gigs.
Have listen: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n9enLNuLjWTn67qj2aXP6FuJbX239vQdI
Celest, little big planet
I got one I'm betting we won't find on here yet...
Alone in the Dark 5, an incredibly ambitious game that fell short, but had some great ideas.
One of which was how that incredible soundtrack by Oliver Deriviere drove this particular playable sequence, 59th Street .
The whole soundtrack done in conjunction with "The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices" is absolutely stunning for an action-horror title.
It was the best part of the game and an incredible example of meshing soundtrack with cinematic gameplay.
. . . actually? All the stuff he does is freaking awesome, so see/listen to his other titles like:
- Remember Me (Awesomely underrated!)
- Obscure
Other (lesser known / thought of?) good soundtracks off the top of my head:
- There Came an Echo (by Big Giant Circles. So good they used the theme in Stranger Things! Season..2?)
- Anything by Supergiant lol.
- Oni (bungie / rockstar)
- FTL
- Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, Metro: Exodus
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- X-COM: Enemy Unknown and X-COM 2.
- King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity
I'll probably add to this if I think of any more. :)
Quake, by Nine Inch Nails https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1SsBMsauvE Industrial / Ambient
In no particular order:
- Warhammer 40k Mechanicus
- Total Annihilation
- Doom 2016
- Hotline Miami
- Rome Total War
- Witcher 3
- Halo
- StarCraft
Outer Wilds - The way this game uses music and ambient sound to foster a sense of wonder, dread, excitement, sorrow, and much more is nothing short of incredible. Probably the best game I have ever played.
Subnautica - Equally impressive use of music as Outer Wilds, many of the same feelings, but a much much different vibe and genre.
Return of the Obra Dinn - A grim game where the soundtrack with church bells and heavy string instruments really underscore the mood.
I liker Cyberpunk 2077's soundtrack so much I incorporated that specific style of music in my general listening habits because of it.
pictionary nes. trust me. wave race 64 but slow it down to 56% speed. waterworld, platoon, alcahest, evergrace spiderman nes - first level, solar jetman, aerobiz supersonic, uncharted waters, dune msdos
i could go on
- Cave Story
- Chrono Trigger
- CrossCode
- Crypt of the Necrodancer
- F-Zero GX
- Guilty Gear
- Jet Set Radio
- Land Maker
- Lethal League
- Shatter
- Splatoon
- Them's Fightin' Herds
- Tower of Heaven
- Undertale/Deltarune
- VVVVVV
- The World Ends With You
World of Warcraft
Grim Fandango.
Seriously, it's one of the only games I consider to even HAVE a soundtrack. It's absolutely next-level.
Anything Xenoblade, but especially 1 and X.
I got bored of Undertale quickly, but the OST is an all-time great.
Shovel Knight is really good.
Anything by David Wise, especially Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2.
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest has the best music in the entire series, don't @ me.
The Grandia theme.
The Nier games have gorgeous music.
A lot of great ones have already been mentioned: (Old School) Runescape, Bastion, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Braid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Celeste, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Crypt of the NecroDancer, Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex (2000), Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, Doom 2016, Earthbound, F-Zero GX, FTL, Hades, Halo, Hi Fi Rush, Hotline Miami, Jet Set Radio and JSR Future, Kirby (any of them), Legend of Mana, Mother 3, Neotokyo, Nier: Automata, Pizza Tower, Quake, Ratchet & Clank (any of them), Risk of Rain 1 and 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Shantae (any of them), Shatter, Shovel Knight, SimCity 3000, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic CD (Japan), Sonic Mania, Sonic Rush, Stardew Valley, Tower of Heaven, Transistor, Trine, and VVVVVV
Here's some that haven't been mentioned yet:
Ape Escape
- PS1 game, soundtrack by icon of the 90s era Japanese House music scene, Soichi Terada. All of his tracks are bangers. I've seen the soundtrack described as House, Jungle, and DnB. Probably my favorite game soundtrack ever, but that's probably nostalgia talking.
- Soundtrack: Game Rip, Fan Remastered or Originape Soundtrack/Official Soundtrack CD (Note: Terada has released his own remastered tracks in the 2020s since the Originape CD, but they are split over multiple albums and I'm too lazy to track them down at the moment)
- Standout tracks: Peak Point Matrix/Galaxy Monkey, Primordial Ooze, Thick Jungle- Woods, Dark Ruins, Crumbling Castle, Specter's Factory- Outside, Time Station
Final Fantasy Legends III / SaGa 3 Jikū no Hasha: Shadow or Light
- Originally on Gameboy, Japan only remake on DS (fan translation patch exists). This is really a game in the SaGa series, but was released under the Final Fantasy name internationally for marketing purposes. Characters don't have levels, their stats change based on what they do. Enemies also drop meat and parts that you can apply to a character to change their class, with some unique mechanics for different types. Features a time traveling stealth bomber, THE TALON, that may possibly be the only airship in gaming with a working toilet. DS Remake is generally better, but it kills overworld exploration by turning it into "select an adjacent POI" instead of free roam.
- Soundtrack: Gameboy, unfortunately I can't find this version with track names. DS Remake
- Standout Tracks: Setting off into the future, Holy Ruins (a criminally underused track in game), Oasis (has some odd animal sfx added in the middle in this remake version), Stronghold (imo, one of the best dungeon themes in gaming), THE MOTHERFUCKING TALON THEME (this is the GB version, as the DS remake loses the countermelody which imo weakens the track)
Ghost Trick
- Originally for DS, has been remade for just about everything now. It's effectively a VN with fancy gameplay segments, and the music really helps carry the whole thing. Beautifully done sprite animation too.
- Soundtrack: DS, 2023 Remaster
- Standouts: Ghost Trick, Lynne- Red-Headed Target, Awakening, The Mystery Surges Ahead, Cabanela - Lanky and Loose Lawman, Jowd- Fated Jailbird
Gunpoint
- Old indie sidescrolling noir stealth game. The main gameplay revolves around puzzle solving by hacking buildings' electrical systems. Hook that lightswitch up to the secure door lock. Rig that motion sensor up to short out a power plug and take out a guard instead of it just turning on the lights. Delightful jazz soundtrack.
- Soundtrack
- Standouts: Security, Circuitry and You, Subterfuge Shuffle, Cold Halls and Footfalls, The Five-Floor Goodbye
Megaman ZX
- DS sequel to the Megaman Zero series for GBA, but now with a Metroidvania twist.
- Soundtrack: ZX Tunes- Official remix/rearrange soundtrack
- Standouts: Innocence- 90s style anime opening, Green Grass Gradation, Rockin' On, Brilliant Show Window, Cinq Ville - C`est Notre Espoir, Gauntlet
And I've spent way too much time on this comment. Here's more not mentioned so far that I don't have time to do a writeup for: Skies of Arcadia, Super Meat Boy, Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Returns, Uplink, XCOM (Original), XCOM (Reboot), XCOM 2 (Reboot)
Just comented this in another thread, but Amon Tobin's soundtrack for Splinter Cell Chaos Theory goes fucking hard.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nphWymI_0f4SxcEak39sDr0k0CxujIOws
Night in the Woods
Hollow Knight
CrossCode
Minecraft
Cult of the Lamb
Chicory (Lena Raine is goated with the sauce)
Kirby's Dream Course
Gen 3 and 4 Pokemon games
Anything Toby Fox touches
Later Alligator
Stardew Valley
Guitar Hero: Modern Hits for the DS baybee
Pretty much any Nintendo game since the NES
The answer is always Chrono Trigger.
30 years later, and still nothing has topped it. No game even comes close.
Megaman 2 still reigns supreme IMO. The most consistent soundtrack for any video game ever. Bangers end-to-end.
Sexy Parodius is also fantastic. It's a demented mix of jacked up, synthesized classical and folk tunes. This is probably my favorite track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlRO9Q0dbQA&list=PLAdIErLpAnQCc5Mk19_MAyeV5bMGsFRpG&index=24 The synth-sax is incredible!
OST ones:
- Pizza tower
- Jet Set Radio/Future
- Doom 2016
- Psychonauts 1 and 2
- The Binding of Isaac Rebirth and DLC
With licensed music:
- Pretty much any GTA
- THPS series
- NFS Series from 2 SE up until Most Wanted 2005