What's your favorite game through the ears of Original Soundtrack?

Stardew Valley. I find myself humming the songs through the day all the time, they are so relaxing and whimsical.

Mine are Subnautica, I've put myself in danger in that game just for the music. Honorable mentions include horizon (zero dawn specifically, but I am currently playing through forbidden West for the first time, so I still might prefer it), Halo(CE), and Skyrim for me as well.

Journey !

The soundtrack of the game is amazing !

I am absolutely floored that nobody has said any Legend of Zelda games, but Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time for sure.

A close third would be the first Ace Attorney game. Every song is a banger.

Absolute favourite game soundtrack? Frostpunk's OST. The soundtrack really brings home the desperation and harshness of survival in the cold. When the storm is coming and the music swells up... goosebumps. Every single time.

Divinity 2: Original Sin has a great soundtrack too. Kinda surprised I couldn't find it in the comments. Minecraft as well. It's very soothing and calming.

Aside from that, some smaller titles with great music: GRIS, What Remains of Edith Finch, and FAR: Lone Sails.

Metroid Prime. All the music fits so perfectly to the environment, especially Phendrana drifts when you first discover the location.

Persona 4 / 5. So many bops.

Reminder that every day’s great at your Junes

I'm surprised no one has said Undertale yet, so I will.

Unreal Tournament and Deus Ex both come to mind. Alexander Brandon was involved in both and his work is absolutely amazing.

If we talk specific singles, though, it's Morrowind (Nerevar Rising), Control (Take Control), and, recently, Baldur's Gate 3 (Raphael's Final Act). Morrowind's tune is so ingrained in my mind that it's my to-go whenever I get my hands on a keyboard.

Doom 2016

Halo!

The CE soundtrack was so distinctive and awesome!

Doom 2017

Total Annihilation - if you put the CD on a player it played!

Red Alert

GTA 3 Vice City

Mass Effect

Some favorites of mine:

Sonic (just about every game in the series): even during the "dark age of Sonic" ('06 through Unleashed) and in flops like Forces, the one thing the series has consistently gotten right is the music. Jun Senoe will rarely steer you wrong.

Ace Attorney (also the whole series): has it all - some fun melodies, tracks that fit the mood whatever it might be, great character themes, and just about every Pursuit theme is an awesome hype track.

Octopath Traveler (the original): I love the instrumentation, more wonderful themes for characters as well as locations, and the Battle II music has to be my favorite battle music in any JRPG ever. I'm a sucker for good string music.

Can't believe no one has said Risk of Rain 2 here yet. Amazing music, masterful composition

Final Fantasy IX

Melodies of Life is the first time I ever heard an original song with lyrics for a video game

Skyrim's a nice choice.

If I had to pick one... Katana ZERO. Nice mix of genres, really emotional soundtrack, lots of synthwave type electronic, all of the artists who contributed songs really put work and passion in there, they work excellently for the game, and are awesome to listen to in their own right outside of the game.

Love it too! One that has been my top listen count for years is The Witcher 3 OST. The use of some slav traditional instruments was nothing I've ever heard like before, and it resonated a lot with the story. Special mention to:

• The Wolf and The Swallow for giving me the chills everytime I listen to it
• Hail To Caranthir also has something special to it.

Although neither tracks are part of the published albums :/

Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Mega Man X

Ouff, that's a tough one.

But I think Persona 5 wins this one, owing to:

• Rivers in the Desert
• Life will Change
• Phantom, it's menu background music
• The spin-off Strikers has the absolutely brain-infecting Love te Wonderland

However, I've recently finished Cassette Beasts, and it's a really really strong contender. Imagine creating an OST piece as amazing as Same Old Story, then going back and adding lyrics for it for when you are fused. And then there's the even more phenomenal Shot in the Dark (only linking the lyrics version here).

Shadow of the Colossus.

Such an epic OST. Beautiful and a bit sad. Just like the game.

Example here: https://youtu.be/bvYmAfGcgF8?feature=shared

Might be nostalgia, but Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, specifically because of Dire Dire Docks and the Gerudo Valley theme.

Hades, hands down

The Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts series have my absolute favourite soundtracks

Others that stay rent free in my head are Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in World of Illusion, halo 3, odst and reach, theme hospital, sonic 1, 2, Ape Escape and Gain Ground

Portal 2. I can listen to the soundtrack and visualize my journey through the game. It's a goddamn masterpiece.

Always enjoyed Skyrim's soundtrack, but while I love it, I still enjoy and prefer Oblivions soundtrack more.

Oblivion was my introduction to the Elder Scrolls universe and the music from that game has kinda become embedded in my mind. Just my general go to music for fantasy environments including for DND or Pathfinder sessions.

I love Morrowinds music too, but if I had played Morrowind back when it first came out, I would have ranked it's soundtrack higher than Oblivions.

Nier: Automata, Guilty Gear and Skyrim have top tier soundtracks.

There are a few games with killer soundtracks that are overlooked, RuneScape and Pumpkin Jack come to mind.

My favorites are ffxiv, because the music is very closely woven into the story with motifs and stuff, so it brings me back to it. Its also just pretty as fuck, they do a lot of weaving other songs and musical themes into other songs, so a lot of the time you'll be in a boss fight and recognize a theme from earlier, mixed in with the boss music. Some context is spoilers, so I won't go into it, but the Endwalker final boss has the music shifting from each previous expansions themes, morphing and shifting to fit the overarching boss theme, and its fucking glorious.

Ffxiv examples:
https://youtu.be/NBIRYjP1NNM?si=YdjJPyqtXYIX1BEE
https://youtu.be/6ugtWT_iNqw?si=ZbpCcY4ysC_C8Xti

Also, the ace combat games have the most insane music, its basically a meme that "everyone's a badass until the sky starts singing latin at you" Its this really cool mix of operatic vocals and rock/synth music and its so fucking good.

Ace combat Examples:
https://youtu.be/80XAJKqRU9k?si=Iyns3Y8dyGXZbneo
https://youtu.be/-kVdCaczLE8?si=a6MiBUoXJZffMBVv

For songs with lyrics, it's Contrast and Fallout 4. And for songs without lyrics it's Oblivion and then Minecraft.

Deus Ex

System Shock 2

Hotline Miami 1 & 2

Telltales Sam & Max games

Megaman 2

Just gonna list a few.

Xenoblade Chronicles (1 & X): haven't gotten around to the others yet.

Final Fantasy XIV & XVI: Soken is a god

Mass Effect

Legend of Dragoon

Wow... so many choices. Skyrim is a great shout.

I remember hearing the Halo soundtrack for the first time was incredible so feel I have to go with that.

Other worthy mentions:

• Street Fighter II
• Civilization (theme tune to be fair)
• Horizon

Mega Man 2. Every song on every level is an absolute banger. EVERY SINGLE ONE. I’ll die on that hill.

Shoutout to Control though for that one song in that one level (if you know, you know).

Ninja edit to add River City Girls 1 &2, both are excellent.

I am floored no one mentioned the original Ratchet and Clank

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxLlSv5mvIa1WGSK3wH3o2Y9I4D-rqFi

David Bergeaud did such a standout job with it, it's so varied but cohesive, it's engaging and synthy but real and groovy.

It MAKES the environment just as much as graphics.

In no particular order:
Witcher 3
Trails/Kiseki series
Mass Effect series
Outer Wilds
Doom 2016

I feel like Payday 2s sound track is underappreciated in general conversations about game music.

It has gotten a driving beat to it and instills both anxiety and courage. Not to mention how they have a system similar to the L4D2 Director system where the gameplay is perfectly matched and foreshadowed by the music.

My personel favs are : GTA VC, Hades and TLOU. I listen those OSTs for years and they still hit hard.

As an Asian and a fan of Doom Eternal, I really enjoyed Shadow Warrior 3's soundtrack.

I've always enjoyed the music in The World Ends With You

Little Big Planet. Every level's music track brilliantly fit both the aesthetic and tempo. The sequels never cam close to capturing that same magic as the first one.

Sim City 3000

Great Gianna Sisters on the C64

OG StarCraft. Terran theme is an absolute classic.

Also, BFG Division from Doom.

• Frostpunk (epic)
• Citizen Sleeper (cozy and heartfelt)
• Wildermyth (cozy and heartfelt)
• Borderlands 2 (ambient and intense)
• Hotline Miami (ambient and intense)

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lichking soundtrack is fire

I really dug the music in CP2077 (and, especially, Phantom Liberty). The use of leitmotifs lifted the score. More so than in a similar game (GTA5), I really enjoyed the radio stations, too.

I also fondly recall the soundtrack of RDR2.

Does all the great music in Fallout4 count?

Mine is One Must Fall 2097.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Such an epic soundtrack. Listened to it countless times. Micheal McCann did an amazing job.

I can't believe nobody has said Furi! That game lives through its soundtrack. The game is a series of intense boss fights, but during production they sent concept art and fight details to the artists so the music better matched the scenario, and it all came together beautifully.

Also hotline Miami

Sword & Sworcery

Homeworld. Really effective soundtrack, heightened tension and the feeling of being out in empty space.

As a teen, I used to fall asleep listening to Might and Magic VI. You could literally put the disc in a player because the soundtrack was saved as wav files.

Ragnarok Online. I love you, SoundTEMP.

Subnautica. Because people get addicted to music by their emotions/feelings. And emotions/feelings in this game are WOW.

Doom Eternal

I enjoyed the AC: Valhalla Soundtrack much more than the game itself

Hyper Light Drifter or Fez for modern games. Pokémon Red for OG GameBoy for retro. :D

I was literally thinking about this the other day, and my top 5 (it was fcking hard to choose not gonna lie.)

• #5 Witcher 3

• #4 Warhammer 40k Darktide

• #3 Cyberpunk 2077

• #2 Bloodborne

• #1 Warhammer 40k Mechanicus

Honorable mention: Ghostrunner (havent played it, but that OST is fire)

Redout! It's so good at getting that feeling of speed across

Dark Souls 2. I spent a lot of time standing in Majula just soaking in that music. So comforting yet melancholy, like sitting in front of a quiet fire, knowing in a minute you have to walk through a blizzard.

starfield has some incredible music, love the bars that play death metal

though i dont think anything could beat skyrim, jeremy soule did such a fantastic job

Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga. Kirill made the most fantastic OST...

Second place is for Megaman Zero series I think. I still listen to those tracks to this day while running.

Not sure about my absolute favorite, but the first games to come to mind when thinking about OSTs is Battlefield 1 and V. The music in those games is amazing.

Johan Söderqvist and Patrik Andrén are great!

I also like the Ace Combat series in general.

Einhander and Rise of the Triad have some of the greatest music to have ever been packed with a video game, hands down.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2, by a wide margin. Skyrim/Morrowind are in the top 5.

I started so many games in Morrowind the music in Sends Neen is imprinted upon me forever.

Carmaggedon 1 and TDR, Darksiders 2 and 3, Bastion, Flatout, Plague Tale, Devil May Cry

Original Doom. Best Doom.