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…
Legend of Dragoon soundtrack composed by Dennis Martin.
Bajo Kazooie soundtracks by Grant Kirkhope.
Donkey Kong soundtracks by David Wise.
Sly Cooper soundtrack (first game) by Ashif Hakik
Metroid soundtracks by Kenji Yamamoto.
All made insanely long lasting impressions where I could hear just a bit from one of the songs and instantly know what it is. Having played lots of video games, these seem to be the ones that have created the most lasting memory. They also absolutely slap as well.
The Legend of Zelda games BOTW and TOTK get mention here as well, though I don’t find it as memorable. the sound design in these games is just top notch though.
Tetris definitely deserves a shoutout.
LA Noire by Simon Hale is fantastic though it’s mostly just riffing off of Chinatown’s soundtrack and I wouldn’t say it really implants itself in the memory like the ones mentioned above.
Other honorable mentions
Vice City
Jet Set Radio – Hideki Naganuma
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
- Nanashi no Game
- Soma Bringer (only one song linked, there was no playlist available)
- Final Fantasy XIV
- The Last Guardian
FFXIV and Nanashi are notable as they’re by the same composer (latter game was done under a pseudonym) and even happen to share at least one song, in some form.
Soma Bringer has the most beautiful music of this list.
Last Guardian has the most inspiring music.
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
BLOODBORNE
Doom 2016
There’s this french MMO i played as a kid called Dofus and that soundtrack still hits hard when I listen. I think part of it is nostalgia but also its just so beautiful
It’s weird how MMO have some of the best OST in the whole gaming world. For me it’s the Dragon ball Global online OST, played it as a kid with my older brother. It’s OST brings back one of my most cherished memories. Here’s the link if anyone’s interested
Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross will always bring me to tears. 💙 Also Robo’s Theme is a banger!
I used to fall asleep to a Morrowind OST CD.
Vanilla WoW, Celeste, and Mirrors Edge all makes me feel like when I played the games for the first time as soon as I hear them. Fantastic evocative soundtrack.
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus
TUNIC, FEZ, Nier Automata, Outer Wilds.
I also have a soft spot for Paper Mario and TTYD, those soundtracks are full of bops
Primarily a mix of Old School RPGs (FFVI, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger) and some current RPGs (Persona 5, NieR: Automata)
nobody has mentioned disco elysium? legendary soudtrack immo
This is going way back, but the 7th Guest soundtrack had lived in my head since the first time I saw the game. Really great atmosphere, equal parts creepy and playful, perfect mood for a haunted mansion filled with puzzles.
I just made a community for the T7G series!
The haunted jazz aesthetic of the soundtrack is so enjoyable!
I just made a community for the T7G series!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a megaman track I don’t like
Wild for me to scroll through a thread like this without seeing Halo: ODST mentioned.