Poll: Video Game Soundtracks

[Sonicron]

Nowadays soundtracks (though not exclusively from the gaming domain) are my main port of call when I'm in the mood for some music. While I've noticed I have a preference for 'epic'-sounding orchestral music, I can enjoy most music if it fits the game it accompanies.

I own a whole bunch of game soundtracks, such as
- Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War II
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Assassin's Creed II
- Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
- Darksiders II
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Hotline Miami
- To the Moon
- Botanicula
- Braid
- Bastion
- Civilization IV
- Civilization V
- Trine II
- NieR
and several others I can't think of right now. I listen to many of them frequently, and I especially like using them as background music for when my pen & paper roleplaying friends come to my house for our weekly gaming session.

While I don't want to restrict myself to saying I prefer music from a particular game genre, there's no denying my preferences are coloured by the genres of games I typically play. I'd say I particularly enjoy music from action adventures, hack-and-slashers and a few select shooters, but there are a few rare and rewarding forays into strategy too, and the indie game boom of recent years has produced a lot of great stuff as well. I'm generally not averse to taking a peek outside my comfort zone, because it usually leads to the discovery of something good, and quite often the music is a big part of that.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I thought this through and I've realized I only seem to like Japanese composers.

Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill all the way up to Shattered Memories)
Shoji Meguro (the Persona 4 intro alone is excellent!)
Yoko Shimomura (yep, the lady behind Kingdom Hearts)
Koh Otani (I've only listened to his work in Shadow of the Colossus but... wow)
Masafumi Takada (God Hand! Killer7!)
Masami Ueda (Resident Evil 1-3, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe 1-2, Okami, Bayonetta!)
Motoi Sakuraba (one of the blokes from Tales of the Abyss, forget the other guy's name)
Also the bloke from Dragon Quest, whose name I forget.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

I do looove me some game music. Especially the ones that know how to compliment an atmosphere and are used well in how much they should come to the foreground or blend into the background.

Not all game soundtracks are good, but a good soundtrack can come from anywhere. From JRPGs like Shadow Hearts and Final Fantasy, to action games like Devil May Cry and Red Faction. From American games like Spyro The Dragon, to Japanese games like Shin Megami Tensei and European games like TimeSplitters.

In fact, if the execution of blending the audio with the gameplay and visuals is good enough, you could even start appreciating music styles you'd normally hate. Prime example for this would be techno music in Rez.

 

[OncomingTraffic]

Overall I prefer Japanese composers, such as:
Koji Kondo (you know - Mario, Zelda, Star Fox)
Motoi Sakuraba ('Tales Of' series, Golden Sun, Dark Souls, Star Ocean, Resonance of Fate)
Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy, Lost Odyssey)

Aside from that I found the music to be really good in Morrowind, Halo, and in the TimeSplitters series.

 

[Auninteligentname]

I love game sountracks. I may hate the game or at least not be a big fan of the game, but in most cases, I can still say that the soundtrack is good. I'm currently playing trough Super brothers: Sword and Sworcery, and so far, with my 27%, I can say I'm not a big fan yet, but the sountrack will bring me back to it later. I also find listening to game sountracks a good way to get myself hyped on a game I would've never played or heard of otherwise.

I only buy a CD if I like every song on it. I own two CDs. The Bastion soundtrack and Zelda 25th anniversary CD (this one is almost cheating, as I got it with Skyward sword).

 

[aguspal]

Rarely listen to game music.

9 times out of 10 when i'm sat on a game I have it muted with my own music on or the TV.

Oh wow.

I kind of feel sorry for you now.


You are missing so much buddy...

But if you like playing that way, more power to you.


Oh and by the way, a question, how the **** do I have 551 posts... this forum post counter is obviously confused or something.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

Love them. Utterly and completly love them.

Spoiler: From the awesome and heroic,

"She said that to me once. About being a machine."​

"Maria... this is what you wanted right? This is the promise I made to you."​

Spoiler: to the threatening and dark,

"Look at all these lawless people! Anarchy reigns!"​

"You're an impressive specimen. Now, let the expirements begin!"​

Spoiler: to the mournful and serene.

"We can't go back no more. But I suppose we could go... wherever we please."​

"May it never change."​

But my favourite ever has got to be Dearly Beloved.

Spoiler: And I don't think there are that many people that disagree with me.

Thinking of you wherever you are.

We pray for our sorrows to end,
and hope that our hearts will blend.
Now I will step forward to realize this wish.

And who knows;
Starting a new journey may not be so hard,
or maybe it's already begun.

There are many worlds
but they share the same sky
one sky one destiny.​

 

[Euryalus]

I love me some music from video games, and I'm listening to some right now actually.

I doesn't really matter to me where it comes from or what genre it is since if it's good then I will get it. If I know that a certain composer that I'm a fan of did a OST then I'm getting it because I just love their stuff.

I've never turned off the music in a game though since I know how hard they worked on trying to get the music to fit, and I feel like if I do then what they did was in vain.

What game?

Of what I was listening to earlier?

The first inFamous OST, and then after that it was Beyond Good and Evil's OST.

My friend keeps talking about Infamous and has mentioned the OST a couple of times. Is it any good? *Is too lazy to youtube search*

What genre is it?

EDIT: This seems kind of dumb the way I asked it XD

Presumably you're listening to it because you think it's good. I more mean why/how do you like it.

 

[Fenra]

All depends on the game but I do own a fair number of game soundtracks, most of which end up on my mp3 player which I'll listen to at work, instrumental game music makes great "working to" music for me somehow

A strange thing I've noticed though with some games, mostly MMO's, taking WoW as an example, I'll rarely listen to the music in game while playing WoW, hearing the same zone music for long periods of time while questing bugs me, but owning all the soundtracks from the collectors editions I've bought over the years, I'll listen to those on repeat for hours when doing something completely unrelated and love it, its bizzare

A few examples of my favorite game tracks to throw out there

Spoiler

ok I'll stop at 5, I could go on all day!

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I love me some music from video games, and I'm listening to some right now actually.

I doesn't really matter to me where it comes from or what genre it is since if it's good then I will get it. If I know that a certain composer that I'm a fan of did a OST then I'm getting it because I just love their stuff.

I've never turned off the music in a game though since I know how hard they worked on trying to get the music to fit, and I feel like if I do then what they did was in vain.

What game?

Of what I was listening to earlier?

The first inFamous OST, and then after that it was Beyond Good and Evil's OST.

My friend keeps talking about Infamous and has mentioned the OST a couple of times. Is it any good? *Is too lazy to youtube search*

What genre is it?

EDIT: This seems kind of dumb the way I asked it XD

Presumably you're listening to it because you think it's good. I more mean why/how do you like it.

I wouldn't know how to classify inFamous's OST to be honest, I guess it's like Nu-Jazz and with some really good groove and rhythm parts. The ending credits song is some type of rock, but with a lot of groove to it. That's the best that I can describe it, but if you know who Amon Tobin is and his style of music then you have a pretty good idea on what the music is like for the game.

Like this...


I think the style of music fits the game and what the game was trying to do. I like that style of music when I'm going work or just relaxing and I don't want anything too heavy.

 

[lorrdmatt]

Fantastic! I'm so pleased to have had this many responses, thank you all. What I've noticed reading here is that most people enjoy video game music, both in and out of game. Could I ask if any of you think if there are any differences between music in Western and Eastern developed games? (I know those are both very broad terms, but I just use them for the sake of clarity and brevity). Thanks again for your thoughts, looking forward to hearing more from people.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Fantastic! I'm so pleased to have had this many responses, thank you all. What I've noticed reading here is that most people enjoy video game music, both in and out of game. Could I ask if any of you think if there are any differences between music in Western and Eastern developed games? (I know those are both very broad terms, but I just use them for the sake of clarity and brevity). Thanks again for your thoughts, looking forward to hearing more from people.

I suppose for me the difference is that Western music tends to be more orchestral in their delivery and have a big sound, and Eastern music is more Jazz and dance oriented. If that makes sense.

Which, if you think about it, shows their philosophy on how they make their games, and their music caters to that style. Eastern music also does atmosphere subtly that fits the game, and Western music does that too but it shows when you just listen to a certain piece of music where you can tell it is video game music. Not so much with Eastern music for the most part.

That's just my two cents on that anyways.

 

[bigfatcarp93]

I like game soundtracks very much when they complement the game they're in.

 

[drzoidbergmd]

I own the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack (which is my favorite game soundtrack ever), I love a lot of other ones, but I hit a streak with Frozen Synapse, A Virus Named Tom, Journey, and FTL: Faster Than Light.