Gaming

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.

TUNIC, FEZ, Nier Automata, Outer Wilds.

I also have a soft spot for Paper Mario and TTYD, those soundtracks are full of bops

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.

I like epic, intense soundtracks so, Darkest Dungeon and Frostpunk. Monster Train is pretty good too.

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

I've been listening to some choice tracks from Final Fantasy XIV, mostly from the big epic finales. I probably should be excited for XVI, but I just reaaally don't trust the action JRPG setup.

However, an even better soundtrack to me is Ori and the Blind Forest, as you mentioned - it has some epic bangers to it, but it's also an incredible soundtrack even for the calm, peaceful tracks playing while exploring.

Credit to Nier Automata for what it's worth...there's some tracks I really like in there on their own, but...I honestly feel like those really good tracks just don't often fit the gameplay. They have some hard-hitting vocal tracks playing while 2B is wandering the city or standing around, and it really warps the feel of the pacing. I mention it because it's just an interesting example to me of "good music" not actually fitting as a soundtrack.

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.

OST's are my JAM!

Ori is a classic. - It's equal parts haunting and jubilant.

Death Stranding - Don't be so serious. Every song is a masterpiece.

Overwatch - It's just good fun

Witcher 3 - hey lele lelele lele lele ley!

Cyberpunk - Dark, broody, and invigorating

Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 - Absolute fantasy. If you want a VGM OST to plan your d&d session to, this is a great option

Red Dead Redemption 2 - Maybe it's partly because Arthur Morgan's story is so incredible but this soundtrack gives me the shivers. "May I stand unshaken... Amid, amidst a crash of the world?" omggg give it to me D'Angelo

There's tons more I'm missing here. But these ones stand out to me.

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, 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 Nier Automata OST is perfection. Almost every single track is memorable and lovable, I often relisten the whole ost just for fun

• Doom 2016
• Outer Wilds

Endless Space 2. The best OST I have ever come across in 20+ years of gaming. Several hundred hours in and I'm still not sick of any of the tracks.

Final Fantasy VIII holds a special place in my heart for sure.

Transistor

Katamari Damacy

Stardew Valley

Donkey Kong Country 2

Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal have amazing soundtracks!

Mass Effect 3 OST has seen it's fair share of play time as well though that might be just as much because I love the game so much.

Oh! Cyberpunk 2077 is amazing as well. Especially the songs from the radio stations in the game.

Literally any Final Fantasy for me. Nobuo Uematsu is just an incredible composer.

Dragon Quest series too, although Koichi Sugiyama was a…not great person.

Monkey Island 2 holds a special place for me because it introduced iMUSE and dynamically altering the music with the environment which was years ahead of its time.

Halo CE has some real bangers (Devils...Monsters, On A Pale Horse, Covenant Dance, Under Cover of Night). Blow Me Away from Halo 2 has some amazing guitar riffs. The Starcraft: Mass Recall mod adds a lot of great music from other games/artists to its cutscenes. Starcraft Terran 1 goes METAL is probably my favorite out of those.

Pyre's both my favorite game w/ my favorite OST. The tracks are layered in a way that they can change on the fly - and the instruments of certain characters kick in during the magical superbowl theme in really satisfying ways. Here's a couple examples:

The Dissidents's theme: Thrash Pack

Final showdown theme versus Dissidents: Never to Return

The Essence's theme: Sky Dance

Final Showdown theme versus Essence: Never to Return

Favorite tracks gotta be Path to Glory, though.

I like OST that goes hard (bass heavy) and I didn't see any here. My personal favorites are:

• Hotline Miami (1 & 2)
• Furi
• Katana Zero
• My Friend Pedro
• Haven

I have probably forgotten some games and I will be happy to discover others as it is quite niche.

While there's no correct answer here, I think the most widely beloved OSTs of all time probably belong to the Final Fantasy, Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario IPs.

C418 - Minecraft Volume Alpha

Just in case some of you don't know...

https://downloads.khinsider.com/

It is a website with gamerips of soundtracks. There are ways to download albums without making accounts, so don't go signing up for this.

Enjoy!

Halo ODST

Hollow Knight

Journey

Monument Valley 2 <- especially this one

Shout out to Touhou.

Several OSTs that have stuck with me through the years:

• Frozen Synapse
• Dustforce
• Bastion
• Nitronic Rush
• FTL

One of my favourite soundtracks of all time was the haunting soundscapes from Anarchy Online. Timeless and haunting whilst travelling the wastelands of the planet Rubi-Ka.

I can’t froth at the mouth about game music, without mentioning Dear Esther. The arty solo exploreable story in a rugged haunting Hebridean landscape. The piano and cello move together in deep tones, and build up to ascending anthems of emotion. Composer Jessica Curry is simply a genius, and I can easily be moved to tears with this soundtrack. My favourite track is “I have begun my ascent”.

Also Supergiant Games soundtracks to Transistor and Pyre are emotive and catchy as any non-soundtrack album.

Persona 5 Royal. Close 2nd is Nier: Automata. Both amazing OSTs

All-timer has to go to Chrono Trigger. Absolutely incredible soundtrack from start to finish.

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

One that I love (in addition to Ori and Hollow Knight) is Spiritfarer. Beautiful all the way through with lovely orchestration and colorful melodies.

Disasterpeace is an AMAZING composer and has done some stellar work in both video games and film as well. Here's a couple of my favorites from video games:

• Fez
• Hyper Light Drifter

Please check out some of his other work here: http://disasterpeace.com/music

The Hollow Knight soundtrack is great. A slightly more obscure favorite of mine is Jamestown, the music in that game goes incredibly well with the gameplay and gets me hyped.

Mass Effect has banger tracks pretty much throughout the entire trilogy. I also quite often go back to the Bastion soundtrack. The tracks are great on their own already but how they used the songs within the game was brilliant.

I also want to mention the Gothic soundtrack because I get nostalgic every time I hear it. The main theme just transports me back into that world instantly. Even though it's been like 10 years since I last played these games.

Far too many to list, but Final Fantasy IX's soundtrack is a tremendous work of art, and a perfect final bow for Nobuo Uematsu from the series. It's always stuck with me among nearly ever other soundtrack.

Notable Mentions (in no order):

• Sonic 2 and 3&K
• Hotline Miami 1 & 2
• Street Fighter 2
• Nier Automata
• Castlevania (Whole Damn Series)
• Donkey Kong Country & 2
• Doom I & II
• Undertale
• Freedom Planet
• Golden Sun 1 & 2
• Hollow Knight
• Skyrim
• Kirby Series
• Mario Series
• MegaMan 2 & 3 (Shout-out to The Megas)
• Super Meat Boy

And so many others, but I'll be here all day if I keep going.

Doom Eternal, Destiny and Halo

Jet Set Radio

Celeste

Citizen Sleeper

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.

Minecraft and Terraria

The soundtracks from NieR:Automata and NieR Replicant are definitely my favorite of all time.

Halo: Reach and Halo 3: ODST are also very good.

Both the Nier games have amazing soundtracks that I listen to frequently.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is also great although I don't really listen to it on its own. It really makes the game feel much more impactful while playing.

I definitely love hollow Knight's, if it wasn't obvious by my pfp.

I also love mother 3 / earthbound

kingdom hearts

most persona games

outer wilds

celeste

Chrono trigger

Ff7

Ace attorney

Paper Mario

I could go on and on tbh

Super Mario Galaxy is the one that stuck with me. Also, I love Stardew Valley's and Ori's off the top of my head.

Shadow of the Colossus by Kow Otani

Freedom Fighters by Jesper Kyd

probably Doom Eternal. Just tuned to perfection.

-Persona 4 & 5

-Paradise Killer

-Celeste

-Hotline Miami

-Signalis

-Oxenfree

-Coffee Talk

are all in my normal album rotation

Doom 2016, Mirror's Edge, Metal Gear Rising, Nier Automata, ah so many options... probably a bit of recency bias, but I think I'll say Neon White.

When it comes to licensed soundtracks, DiRT 2's soundtrack is perfection.

SSX 3 solid tunes and loved how the music changed as you went doown the slopes.

Also, Mass Effect and GTA San Andreas