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…
TUNIC, FEZ, Nier Automata, Outer Wilds.
I also have a soft spot for Paper Mario and TTYD, those soundtracks are full of bops
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.
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.
I know! It’s such a good ost! I think one of my favorite songs for it, although not from the ost, is Andrew Prahlow’s Outer Wild - Reprise single. It’s got aspects of all different main themes and is just overall an amazing piece
I can barely make it 30 seconds into that one without tearing up and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
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
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.
I second Omori so damn much. One of the only games that could bring me to tears.
Fantastic choices here… based on the quality of the list… I gotta listen to the ones on your list that I haven’t heard yet: Deathloop, here we go.
As for
Spectre tourment
, is that Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment OST?Yeah Shovel Knight Spectre of Torment ost is it. Insane how much better it is than the base game.
The Nier Automata OST is perfection. Almost every single track is memorable and lovable, I often relisten the whole ost just for fun
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.
I think orchestra is mixed, it’s either the best fucking tracks ever (often when mixed with electric guitar, but not necessarily), or they kind of blend with other orchestral tracks I know and don’t end up being unique enough to remember.
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.
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.
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.
Just in case some of you don’t know…
https://downloads.khinsider.com/
It is a website with gamerips of soundtracks. There are ways to download albums without making accounts, so don’t go signing up for this.
Enjoy!
Great link. I stumbled across this website myself a few months ago.
- Doom 2016
- Outer Wilds
I really vibe with Minecraft. The nostalgia just hits different when I listen to it.
Final Fantasy VIII holds a special place in my heart for sure.
same here first Final Fantasy and hearing the Soundtrack live at an Orchestra just cemented it into my all time favs