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…
Outer Wilds. Yeah it’s one of the greatest games ever made, but would it be so good without that soundtrack? Debatable.
I petitioned to play something from it at my actual wedding (sadly was overruled), and I know I’m not the only one.
Was looking for someone to mention Outer Wilds. I love when games weave music into storytelling and its perfect here.
I know! It’s such a good ost! I think one of my favorite songs for it, although not from the ost, is Andrew Prahlow’s Outer Wild - Reprise single. It’s got aspects of all different main themes and is just overall an amazing piece
I can barely make it 30 seconds into that one without tearing up and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
TUNIC, FEZ, Nier Automata, Outer Wilds.
I also have a soft spot for Paper Mario and TTYD, those soundtracks are full of bops
Outer Wilds is my number 1 all time fave OST. It makes me feel things.
I need to go back and play FEZ again. Tunic was an awesome experience that felt like I was playing a Zelda game made by Phil Fish.
Hollow Knight
Omori
Doom 2016 and eternal
Mario odyssey
Terraria
Resident evil 4
Deathloop
Bloodborne
Nier Automata
Spectre tourment
Crypt of the necrodancer
Amnesia a machine for pigs
Metroid prime
Persona 5
Guilty gear strive
Undertale
Cuphead
These are all of my favorites personally. Omori or hollow knight being the best.
Fantastic choices here… based on the quality of the list… I gotta listen to the ones on your list that I haven’t heard yet: Deathloop, here we go.
As for
Spectre tourment
, is that Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment OST?I second Omori so damn much. One of the only games that could bring me to tears.
Final Fantasy VIII holds a special place in my heart for sure.
same here first Final Fantasy and hearing the Soundtrack live at an Orchestra just cemented it into my all time favs
NieR: Automata
The Weight of the World
Ori and the Blind Forest’s ost is phenomenal.
I think all of the Supergiant Games have great soundtrack. Transistor was what got me into their games, and it was the soundtrack that caught my attention first.
The Nier Automata OST is perfection. Almost every single track is memorable and lovable, I often relisten the whole ost just for fun
I went to see the orchestral tour live in Chicago, it was amazing! Really fantastic soundtracks.
I also recommend the Risk of Rain 1&2 ost. Especially Coalescence in 1. It still sends chills down my spine to this day!
Outer wilds Subnautica Subnautica Below zero FTL and into the breach are some of my favorites personally
Ben Prunty goes hard for sure. Every soundtrack he’s done is a banger.
I like epic, intense soundtracks so, Darkest Dungeon and Frostpunk. Monster Train is pretty good too.
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)
In fact, I thought the OST would be the overrated thing, since its style might not be for everyone. Especially Twister, I think it took some time getting used to.
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
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy 6 (the opera aria was played at my wedding)
Castlevania 3, specifically the six channel Famicom version
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
I’m old, if you couldn’t tell
Chrono Trigger
Finally, a man of culture and taste. I used to just let Magus’ theme play on repeat back in mid 90s.
All the soundtracks Darren Korb makes for Supergiant. Hades resonates more with me as it’s the one I’ve played the most, but I’m also a huge fan of Transistor’s.
Pyre is a sleeper hit, soundtrack included. The way the credits song dynamically adapts to your decisions is incredible.
Persona 5 Royal. Close 2nd is Nier: Automata. Both amazing OSTs
P5R had an excellent soundtrack
My main wish after P5R soundtrack was released… is that I wish there was a definitive playlist of the order once both soundtracks are merged. As of right now, there is a set list for P5 and then a separate one for P5R…
Maybe I need to keep looking, or generate it myself (it’s harder than it seems though).
Is the P5R soundtrack missing music that was in the original P5? I never played the original, but I absolutely loved P5R.
Yeah, it basically includes the new intro, ending theme, and the music for the added story.
P5 OST has 110 songs P5R OST has 30
So to get the full P5R soundtrack you’d need to add both, and zipper up the list somehow. :)
Check out J-music Ensemble’s Persona 5 cover album Metagroove! It’s really well made, I couldn’t go back to listening the vanilla soundtrack without thinking of it.