1. Beyond Good and Evil. - It was just so diverse and wild... it really shouldn't have worked at all, yet... every track fits the moment its attached to perfectly. Hell, even the basic exploration themes for the levels are great to listen to.
2. The Binding of Isaac. -Another one that shouldn't work but... kind of does. The main reason it isn't on the number one slot is... well... some of it is just too plain weird even for the general level of 'fucked up' that the rest of the game was going for.
3. Planescape Torment/Fallout 1/Fallout 2/Fallout New Vegas/Most stuff that the folks at Obsidian have ever done. Generally good listens on their own, but... they all really work with the atmosphere that they're going for in all four games I mentioned.
4. Mass Effect 2 - again, all great to listen to, but... there wasn't a whole lot of variation there. It was all pretty much instrumental synth. Sounded really nice, but... there wasn't a whole lot of variety.
4. Dear Esther (the remake) - yeah, I'm putting this at a tie with ME2. Its... just absolutely beautiful, though it does kind of repeat itself a fair bit. Intentional though, and it does vary it up enough in subtle, yet noticeable ways. Plus, it all sounds amazing (even the stranger tracks) on its own.
5. Deus Ex Human Revolution - this is one of the things that the devs nailed perfectly. The only trouble is... very few of the tracks have memorable beats aside from the Icarus theme. And well... there just aren't that many of them. While the music is great, its such a shame that more money hadn't been put into it, and so... there are a lot of quiet moments... which is fine at times, to build atmosphere... but that doesn't always work for the game in my opinion.
6. Shadowrun Returns - generally more varied than my number 3 slot, and while most songs on this one are fun to listen to on their own... I don't think that many of the tracks quite fit the moments they are attached to. They DO fit the universe they're set in, but... not the world.
7. Kentucky Route Zero - not every song on this one is that great to listen to, but a few are, and all of them build on the Deep South/ghost story atmosphere that they were going for. A cool feature of the game is that when there's an actual song in the background... as in, people are actually singing in it... if you look hard enough, you can find the band playing it somewhere in the scene. As if they're following you... which again, adds to the subtle creepiness.
8. Silent Hill 2 - Absolutely NONE of the tracks in this one sound good on their own, but all of them fit the depressed mood, and the unnerving and hostile tone that the game is going for perfectly. They're... also kind of varied, but... its hard to tell because... umm... they all sound very, very strange. And of course, they aren't very memorable, though to be honest, you kind of don't want to hear these tracks stuck in your head... they just wouldn't work outside of the game. Unless you're a serial killer.
9. To The Moon - barely a game, and hell, barely even a visual novel for that matter, but... the music fits perfectly, and is very memorable. Almost too memorable. Not catchy per se, but... the beats are far too recognizable, and this isn't exactly a good thing because they are, for the most part, slight variations on the same few notes repeated over and over again. But... I can forgive that to a degree because its tied into the game's ticking clock. Sort of. And... only a few of the tracks really sound different enough to be enjoyable on their own. The rest... are too derivative of each other to really be much fun to listen to in a row.
10. Portal 1 - Only one memorable song that felt truly unique to it. You all know what it is, but its still pretty damn awesome. The rest of the soundtrack though... I don't know if it was entirely recycled from Half-Life 2 or its episodes... but... I bet you could easily put most of these tracks into HL2 and you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
2. The Binding of Isaac. -Another one that shouldn't work but... kind of does. The main reason it isn't on the number one slot is... well... some of it is just too plain weird even for the general level of 'fucked up' that the rest of the game was going for.
3. Planescape Torment/Fallout 1/Fallout 2/Fallout New Vegas/Most stuff that the folks at Obsidian have ever done. Generally good listens on their own, but... they all really work with the atmosphere that they're going for in all four games I mentioned.
4. Mass Effect 2 - again, all great to listen to, but... there wasn't a whole lot of variation there. It was all pretty much instrumental synth. Sounded really nice, but... there wasn't a whole lot of variety.
4. Dear Esther (the remake) - yeah, I'm putting this at a tie with ME2. Its... just absolutely beautiful, though it does kind of repeat itself a fair bit. Intentional though, and it does vary it up enough in subtle, yet noticeable ways. Plus, it all sounds amazing (even the stranger tracks) on its own.
5. Deus Ex Human Revolution - this is one of the things that the devs nailed perfectly. The only trouble is... very few of the tracks have memorable beats aside from the Icarus theme. And well... there just aren't that many of them. While the music is great, its such a shame that more money hadn't been put into it, and so... there are a lot of quiet moments... which is fine at times, to build atmosphere... but that doesn't always work for the game in my opinion.
6. Shadowrun Returns - generally more varied than my number 3 slot, and while most songs on this one are fun to listen to on their own... I don't think that many of the tracks quite fit the moments they are attached to. They DO fit the universe they're set in, but... not the world.
7. Kentucky Route Zero - not every song on this one is that great to listen to, but a few are, and all of them build on the Deep South/ghost story atmosphere that they were going for. A cool feature of the game is that when there's an actual song in the background... as in, people are actually singing in it... if you look hard enough, you can find the band playing it somewhere in the scene. As if they're following you... which again, adds to the subtle creepiness.
8. Silent Hill 2 - Absolutely NONE of the tracks in this one sound good on their own, but all of them fit the depressed mood, and the unnerving and hostile tone that the game is going for perfectly. They're... also kind of varied, but... its hard to tell because... umm... they all sound very, very strange. And of course, they aren't very memorable, though to be honest, you kind of don't want to hear these tracks stuck in your head... they just wouldn't work outside of the game. Unless you're a serial killer.
9. To The Moon - barely a game, and hell, barely even a visual novel for that matter, but... the music fits perfectly, and is very memorable. Almost too memorable. Not catchy per se, but... the beats are far too recognizable, and this isn't exactly a good thing because they are, for the most part, slight variations on the same few notes repeated over and over again. But... I can forgive that to a degree because its tied into the game's ticking clock. Sort of. And... only a few of the tracks really sound different enough to be enjoyable on their own. The rest... are too derivative of each other to really be much fun to listen to in a row.
10. Portal 1 - Only one memorable song that felt truly unique to it. You all know what it is, but its still pretty damn awesome. The rest of the soundtrack though... I don't know if it was entirely recycled from Half-Life 2 or its episodes... but... I bet you could easily put most of these tracks into HL2 and you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
