Feel free to post multiple suggestions for different genres. For example, atmospheric, sci-fi, adventure-like, etc.
Every Supergiant game should be on this list,
NieR:Automata
FFVII (especially the 10 minute FFVII remake of One-Winged Angel)
Cyberpunk 2077 had some good ones. I’m digging I Really Want to Stay at Your House
Hades
Kingdom Hearts (Wave of Darkness is pretty great)
It’s not my normal thing, but Doom’s soundtrack really gets the juices flowing and fits beautifully with fast paced frantic gameplay.
Edit: 2016 Mick Gordon
If you like DOOM’s OST, have you looked at ULTRAKILL? It’s similarly stupid high energy (though maybe less metal and more breakcore) for a similarly stupidly fast pace bloody shooter set in Hell
GTA Vice City
Chrono Trigger, of course. Some legendary tracks in there that transcend their limitations. The Deadbolt OST, Katana ZERO’s OST. Nier Automata, Street Fighter V.
Oblivion and Skyrim as well. Really there are too many excellent game soundtracks to possibly list in a comment
Came here to say Skyrim. God that soundtrack along with the gorgeous visuals from the game was breathtaking.
Don’t leave out Chrono Cross. Burning Orphanage still haunts me.
Hotline Miami. God damn, so good.
Hotline Miami is great. Have you tried Katana Zero? My favorite ost from it is probably Chinatown and Sneaky driver
I totally agree. I actually played the game after hearing the soundtrack. I had to see what sort of game would have music this sick. Careful listening to it while driving though. You’ll get busted for speeding.
Glad to see somebody else mention this. Hotline Miami 1 and 2 have some seriously great music. I listen to it for background music all the time.
In the same vein as Hotline Miami: Try the game RUINER. Also love the soundtrack for it.
Bloodborne has an amazing soundtrack. Here’s an example of one of the epic songs:
I swear every fromsoft game has a 10/10 soundtrack
Here are my personal favorites:
AI War / AI War 2 - Pablo Vega
Dragon Quest series - Koichi Sugiyama
Final Fantasy VII - Nobuo Uematsu
Final Fantasy XI - Nobuo Uematsu and others
The Last of Us - Gustavo Santaolalla
Medal of Honor - Michael Giacchino
Offworld Trading Company - Christopher Tin
Stellaris - Andreas Waldetoft (I didn’t notice that this game was just an idle clicker for a long time because the music was so damn good)
Tidalis - Pablo Vega (especially the piano versions)
A Valley Without Wind - Pablo VegaStellaris is an idle clicker?
Yeah wth, are the standards for idle clickers now so high that people start calling actual games idle clickers? I don’t want it
Persona 5 and 4. The soundtracks can stand on their own as just great music.
Agreed on Persona 5, and I really need to play Persona 4 (it’s on my list but stupid life gets in the way).
Two other picks:
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The original Lunar: The Silver Star on SegaCD. I never played the remakes on other systems but I know they changed significant parts of the soundtrack in those games, while the SegaCD version just hit perfectly for me.
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Final Fantasy Tactics. One of the few soundtrack CDs I imported when those were a thing and could listen to and instantly recall fond memories of playing the game.
Omg! I had Lunar on Sega CD too. It’s the game that got me into RPG’s.
Same here! I’d played some Genesis ones like Landstalker and Shining Force but it was Lunar that was the first game I absolutely loved. Working Designs was the shit back in those days.
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- Battleblock Theater (goat main menu track)
- Hades (amazing combat music)
- Hollow Knight (most atmospheric)
- Undertale + Deltarune (great range, captures a lot of emotions throughout the story)
Donkey Kong Country. Good Jams!
The legend of Zelda always had the most iconic themes (personal favorite is Dragonroost island from Wind waker, but they really all have some amazing music).
I also listen to the Chrono Trigger and Octopath traveler OSTs on my free time.
TotK is absolutely insane tho, it’s better than many Hollywood productions
Cyberpunk 2077,Doom 2016, Doom Eternal, Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, Zelda Breath of the Wild, and the Metal Gear Series.
For licensed tracks, Burnout 3 Takedown wins it for me. Great driving music (obvs) and generally just a blast of uplifting pop punk.
Sonic Mania is one I always fall back on, the tracks are fun as hell and I don’t think there’s a single one I don’t like. Shoutout to the Studiopolis act 1, Studiopolis act 2, and Press Garden act 2 tracks.
Good picks! Studiopolis 1 and Metallic Madness 2 would be my favourites. Sonic CD (jp) is a really solid soundtrack too. Wish Mania 2 would be released with hopefully more CD remixes.
+1 for Sonic Mania - added it to my vinyl collection a month or two back!