What it says on the tin, what are some of your all time favorite video game soundtracks?
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What it says on the tin, what are some of your all time favorite video game soundtracks?
Nier and Nier Automata have some of the most beautiful pieces of music I have heard in a video game in some time. The emotional connection the games forge with you, especially in Automata, kinda just cement some of that music in your brain forever.
I suppose to take my own advice, the soundtrack of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is absolutely phenomenal. It captures every part of the game, every narrative beat, so beautifully. Whether you're excitedly exploring Seiren Island with Sunshine Coastline blaring, climbing the giant mountain in the middle while listening to Gens D'Armes, learning about an ancient civilization through Yesterday in Eternia, wandering around in it as The Sibylline Road plays, or enjoying a grand final boss fight with A-to-Z reminding you of everything you've been through, or even heading back into *that* optional dungeon and slowly coming to terms with the game ending with Vanishing Trail.
It never fails to deliver and all of it is incredibly memorable. Makes me want to replay the game right away, ngl.
-Pretty much all the Lucasart adventure games, from the early MIDI soundtracks (great with a soundfont) to the live instrument tracks on games like Curse of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango.
-Psychonauts - bet the sequel's OST will be great.
-Bully
-Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and 3
-Earthbound series, Mother 3 in particular
-Honorable Mentions: Voodoo Vince, Morrowind, Fable, The Sims, Shenmue series, some of the tracks from Katamari Damacy. I also like a good amount of P4 and 5's OSTs but a few of the tracks don't gel with me. Of course goes without saying most the music in Uematsu's FF OSTs is great, and I like Mitsuda's stuff in the Chrono series. Also I think the incidental music in the KOTOR games and Jade Empire is pretty solid.
Ar Tonelico 2 - still probably my all-time favorite, very memorable and when I hear it, I can immediately make the connection between the music and what scene/area it played in, including the feelings associated with those scenes.
Other Ar Tonelico/Ar nosurge games have this too, but with 2 I felt the strongest about it.
Trails of Cold Steel 4 - With the caveat that it's not quite as great as a stand-alone OST, what makes it greater to me is the callbacks and connections to previous games in the music. The game's like the capstone of 9 games and some of the music definitely gives you that feeling.
Beyond that, Falcom games in general have great music (including Ys VIII as Karifean mentioned).
Xenoblade Chronicles has an amazing OST. I invested over 160 hours in that game over the last six months so had plenty of chance to admire the score.