I recently started playing GTAV again and sometimes I’ll get in my car and let the radio stations play while I do house stuff. Favorite stations are the 80s one with Kenny Loggins, and West Coast Classics and Rock Radio.
Outer Wilds
I just break out into tears any time I hear the title menu theme.
Aaand now I’m reliving that awesome existential crisis/awakening
I’ve been listening to the FTL soundtrack since high school!
Into the Breach’s soundtrack is also outstanding, by the same composer for the same developer.
I used to put this on to drift asleep to. Fantastic soundtrack.
I use it for programming!
Honestly love the Doom soundtrack.
Rip and tear until it is DONE.
Mick Gordon is amazing! I tweeted to him one time and he hearted my tweet. My friends and I played this soundtrack a ridiculous amount. Great pick.
I’m honestly a bigger fan of the classic DOOM I/II (199X) soundtracks. Despite being obvious parodies of existing rock/metal songs, they had a certain appeal. Especially when someone makes a very good cover.
I get why people like 2016’s DOOM’s more “metal” approach, but for me nothing beats an adrenaline-rush song when ripping and tearing those damned demons.
There are games with amazing music that sets the perfect atmosphere — Celeste, Hades, Zelda (especially BotW/TotK).
And then there are games soundtracks I would also happily just put on to listen to — FFXIV, Persona 5, one particular song from Hades (Eurydice).
- Bastion
- Castlevania (series, special mention for Symphony of the Night)
- Chrono Trigger/Cross
- Dead Cells
- Destiny 1/2
- Dragon’s Dogma (mainly Into Free, but still…)
- Final Fantasy (series, but special mention for XI and XIV)
- Persona 4/5
- Portal 1/2
- River City Girls (probably 2 as well, but still waiting on my LRG copy)
- Scott Pilgrim vs the World (the game (the soundtrack))
- Tony Hawk (series); a bit of a cop out, as they’re all licensed songs
- Zelda (series, special mention for the Cadence of Hyrule soundtrack)
And then just a lot of old nostalgia for NES games (Duck Tales, River City Ransom, TMNT, etc) and SNES/PS1 RPGs (Lufia, Super Mario RPG, Suikoden, Thousand Arms, etc)
But that main list contains the ones I either bought or downloaded because I loved the music so much.
The Chrono Trigger soundtrack is a goddamn masterpiece. I haven’t played it for years and the songs still randomly pop into my head.
Agreed. I never even really played that game. I was a Genesis man back in the 16 bit days, and I’ve found I can’t really play those old JRPGs without the nostalgia factor (and even that’s lost its luster). But even with me not having played it, Chrono Trigger still has one of the best soundtracks ever.
Maaannn, the Tony Hawk games introduced me to so(!) many(!) great songs, bands, and genres of music! I’m so damn thankful for those games and their soundtracks. They definitely had a hand in shaping who I am today.
You can usually find playlists people have put together of the soundtracks for each game (at least the songs that are available on the platform) on YouTube and Spotify. I still listen to them! Naturally, they hold up really well.
Spotting Super Mario RPG in there, you might appreciate knowing some people actually recreated some songs with the original synths used by Yoko Shimomura herself.
My favorites, in no particular order:
Just like the other commenter, the Outer Wilds main motif (travelers) makes me emotional because of how good the game was. Disco Elysium also has had an amazing soundtrack, with the main BGM faintly using sounds from the final song, which made it really cathartic for me.
Ultrakill deserves a lot of praise, especially for the P-2 music (https://youtu.be/MG5L-1pI8bI). It works perfectly for how intense the level is, and it’s absolutely nuts that the game still manages to up the ante after you’ve perfected every single other level. I’ve listened to this type of music quite often before, but I’ve never felt it in my blood and muscles before playing that level.
When judged on the music alone though, Hotline Miami (1) and Furi have to take the cake. Both soundtracks are just iconic, and easily stand out on their own.
You just mentioning the Outer Wilds’ motif gave me goosebumps. That should tell you how well that game uses its music.
My favourite bit of music from that is (iirc) titled '14.3 Billion Years. I’ve listened to it hundreds of times and it still gets me every single time.
Fallout got me, a Metal Head, listening to 50s rock and lounge music.
Hollo knight. Especially the piano album
Nier Automata and Nier Replicant, also Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. Id mention more but my other picks are probably already mentioned here.
This. I’ve played hundreds of games from many decades and nothing comes close to how amazing the Nier and Nier Automata soundtracks are.
Fez
Disasterpeace is amazing. Also did the soundtrack for It Follows.
Witcher 3 soundtrack. The exploration and combat wouldn’t be the same without it.
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines Deus Ex Hotline Miami Unreal Tournament Journey Cyberpunk 2077 The Witcher Jet Set Radio All the Silent Hill (even Downpour) Colony Wars
There is so many good ones…
Seriously, I might go make a massive playlist of everything everyone contributed. So many good ones in your list.
I have a Skyrim playlist I play through our Sonos network almost daily while my wife and I work, and when it ends, it always slips in Deus Ex, Cyberpunk, and Witcher tracks. So much good stuff from all of them.
Risk of Rain 2 with Celeste being a close second!
I’m definitely going to have to say that Persona 5 Royal has one of the best Soundtracks of Gaming in general.
