Title says it, basically. Other than games about music, are there any games you love just because of the soundtrack?
For me, it's One Must Fall 2097 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvlVaQl7kEk]. I normally can't stand either fighting games or techno music, but OMF is the exception.
Got to throw in Saints Row games here, although I don't just pay them for the music I do find my self just cursing around the city listening to the radio. I find it relaxing.
Not 'love' or 'play' exactly. I don't think any soundtrack could convince me to play a bad game by itself... but the soundtrack to Mega Man X 6 is actually one of the best in the Blue Bomber's entire legacy, which is really saying something. Shame about the rest of the game, but my favourite tracks would probably be in Infinity Mijinion, Blizzard Wolfang and Blaze Heatnix's stages. I listen to them all the time.
The latest Pixels and Bits article is currently reviewing Secret of Mana and pointing out all the things it was missing that make it only a good game, not a great one, but a good soundtrack is not one of them. I'll play it and fight Dark Lich and the Mana Beast again just to listen to their awesome themes.
Hotline Miami 1+2. I'm not really into these games but bought them for the soundtrack.
Also I bought Gearcrack Arena for the soundtrack. Best 19 cents I ever spent on Steam. And I even got 24 cents back in trading cards.
I don't know if there are any games that I continue to play just to listen to the soundtrack, but hearing the music first definitely has a big influence on whether I check out a game I've never heard of. Mostly RPG battle themes and sometimes stage music. You find a lot of really cool old console games this way. Other than that a lot of older pre-IBM PC games have really great soundtracks but due to the limitations of the processing power the games themselves are kind of lacking. Doujin games also tend to have great music, and you start to notice that a lot of the musicians worked for places like Namco or Konami during the glory days. Yuji Takenouchi worked on a couple of really obscure Konami games that I've never played, for example.
As other already said, Hotline Miami has the throne.
That being said, I really liked the music in Strike Suit Zero. It very nicely managed to catch this feeling of charging towards enemy capital ships that are firing everything they have in your direction.
No. But music has been the reason why I tolerated a lot of flaws in some games. So even though I don't play any game just for the soundtrack, without the music it would be hard to justify playing some games.
For me, the Metroid Prime series has amazing music, especially the boss fights. My favorite boss music is the Rundas theme without a doubt. It has a tribal type of beat to it and it is also very chilling. Which is appropriate since Rundas has ice powers.
The background music is also very beautiful and perfect for the world or area you're in.
I also listen to remix albums and the Harmony of a Hunter and Harmony of a Hunter 101% Run, are absolutely amazing. They are also free to download.
On a serious note, the Tony Hawk games were like this for me growing up. Nowadays, before I found where Steam would install OSTs that came with games you bought, I would sometimes start up Endless Space and just let it sit and play music if I needed to focus on something.
I've always been an advocate of the Half-Life series and its music as being one of the most under appreciated in the industry. Aside from it being spot on in tone, it's amazing how almost all of the series' title tracks have been composed to fit into the highs and lows of each encounter. Beginning at just the right moment, picking up right as you begin shooting, the bridge when things begin to slow down and ending as the dust settles.
Bastion was another game that handled its music implementation and timing amazingly well on top of having an amazing soundtrack.
I doubt I have ever played a game just for the soundtrack aside from the obvious plinky ponky plastic instruments games. I do boot up MGS Rising at random to play a few boss fights to hear the perfectly well executed dynamic soundtrack cuts though.
[sub][sub]RULES OF NATURE[/sub][/sub]
Some games are vastly improved by their soundtrack though, the Visual Novel called Devil on The G-String (which I heavily recommend if you like mystery by the way) has every single song on the 73 song long soundtrack bar basically 2 songs (and one of those is the opening) be an instrumental based on many different pieces of classical music. Not just remixes or covers, they are all genuinely good songs in their own right but you can clearly see the inspiration in the song if you look up the pieces they are all based on. My favourite being what's probably the most impactful song used in the game called simply The Devil, dropped during perfect plot twist moments and they're all the best plot twists I have ever witnessed to boot, every one of them being an "oh god that was so obvious in hindsight" moment like all good reveals in a mystery story are. It's based on Franz Schubert's Erlkönig which is the perfect song to base it on.
The point being that they could have just made some generic soundtrack involving violins and other classical instruments and make it still work but they took it much further. I think it's the best game soundtrack there is just by how much thought was put into it and I don't even usually like classical music.
I can't say I've ever played a game I didn't like just to listen to it's music. If I want to listen to a video game soundtrack, there are far better ways to do so than to suffer the sub-par game it might be attached to.
Guitar Hero, Theatrhythm and, Curtain Call. I came to the realization a few days ago that the actual game part of those games is simple button matching. Guitar Hero at least gives you a neat faux-instrument or two but Theathrythm is just tapping or holding or, sliding depending on button prompts. Compared to something like Project Diva it seems like Theatrhythm and Guitar Hero are...not mindless but the gameplay is really simple and if it wasn't for the music available, dissatisfying. The soundtracks get me through though: I can get through lackluster gameplay if they at least give me Metallica to listen to...or the fight themes from Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
Not to suggest that Hitman Blood Money has poor gameplay, but its soundtrack goes with gameplay so well that its worth replaying the levels just to experience the gameplay and music working together.
I'll second Hotline Miami 1 and 2, would have given up on those games if it wasn't for that amazing soundtrack, especially the second game.
There was a game I would save up 12 quarters for only to let it sit and listen to one song. I don't think the game was Tetrisphere, but it was a 3D Tetris-like.
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