Gaming

TUNIC, FEZ, Nier Automata, Outer Wilds.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Outer wilds Subnautica Subnautica Below zero FTL and into the breach are some of my favorites personally

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 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.

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
• Undertale
• Hades
• 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

probably Doom Eternal. Just tuned to perfection.

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

I love the Subnautica soundtrack that much I have it in my music library on my phone

Bastion and Hades have just cool soundtracks you can listen to anytime. When pure adrenaline is needed the DOOM soundtrack.

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.

Celeste really gets me.

Transistor

Katamari Damacy

Stardew Valley

Doom 2016 on some days, Pillars of Eternity on others

Need for Speed Carbon especially the electronic music is underrated

I love Amplitude Studios soundtracks (Endless Legend, Endless Space 1&2, Humankind). They're great background music while thinking about stuff (like at work). Though maybe I just got Pavlov'd into thinking that since they're strategy games 😅

Also, Persona 4! The soundtrack is so nostalgic and reminds me of my childhood somehow.

As a metalhead Doom 2016 has a place in my heart (same as Duke Nukem 3D). Also, the opening credits to both Silent Hill 1&2.

Edit: let's not forget that one track in Wolfenstein: The New Order by Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah

Pyre's both my favorite game and has 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' 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.

Outer Wilds

Journey

Flower

Abzu

Shadow of the Colossus

The last Guardian

Mass effect

Metal Gear Solid

Undertale

Thomas Was Alone

What Remains of Edith Finch

Dear Esther

Firewatch

No Man's Sky

Death Stranding

I really like video game soundtracks :)

Oh gosh where do I even start. I have a massive list of VGM soundtracks that I listen to but if I had to pick some favs currently:

• Gran Turismo 5/6 - been playing these games recently through the PS3 emulator and the vibe and feel these games go for is so much more amplified with the soundtrack, lots of chill jazz and downtempo music mixed with other genres like Dance and Rock.
• Pokémon (really any of them) - I've always loved the Pokémon soundtrack in all the mainline games, my favourite games in the series are HGSS so probably that soundtrack if I had to pick one.
• A Hat in Time - Soundtrack is so fun and upbeat, really regret buying this game on 2 separate platforms and then not playing through either of them.
• Celeste - Trans girl climbs gay mountain simulator with Lena Raine's simply amazing piano and synth soundtrack is so damn good I can't give it enough praise <3 (also all her other work on games like Minecraft and Chicory is super good too!)

Doom Eternal, Destiny and Halo

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

Man this question isn't even fair there are so many fantastic soundtracks in gaming I could literally go on for hours about them.

Doom, Mass Effect, Halo, Skyrim, Ratchet and Clank, Assassin's creed(3 especially), Divinity original sin 2, pathfinder: wrath of the righteous, monster hunter, league of legends(all of riot games really), darktide, sonic, payday, witcher, Spiderman, Zelda, cyberpunk, megaman, final fantasy, Devil may cry, metal gear, undertale

that's just what I think of off the top of my head, there could easily be an entire sub just dedicated to the topic

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.

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.

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.

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.

I really vibe with Minecraft. The nostalgia just hits different when I listen to it.

I haven't finished the game yet, but Journey's OST is simply amazing.

Can't believe noone has mentioned Doom 2016, one of my favorites!

Chrono Trigger

Eve Online

Stellaris, Crypt of the Necrodancer, FTL, Invisible Inc, and basically any Supergiant game

Donkey Kong Country 2

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

Chrono Cross remains my fave even after all those years.

Shout out to Touhou.

Jet Set Radio Celeste Citizen Sleeper

I would say Factorio, the music fits both the atmosphere of an alien planet and a gigantic factory polluting the landscape

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.

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.

There are so many :)

• Diablo 1 and 2
• Warcraft 2 and 3
• Starcraft 1
• Legend of Zelda (most of them anyway)
• Red Alert 1 & 2
• Tiberian Sun
• Doom 2016
• Oblivion and Skyrim
• Fallout 3 and New Vegas