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.
Was looking for someone to mention Outer Wilds. I love when games weave music into storytelling and its perfect here.
NieR: Automata
The Weight of the World
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.
Nier automata has a great soundtrack, i haven’t played the newer one yet, but Drakengard 3 has some great songs on it, if you haven’t played it its meant to come before nier world lore wise.
Also gotta give a shoutout to World of Warcraft, got some massive nostalgia from that soundtrack
I actually got Drakenguard 3 running on my steam deck recently, it runs surprisingly well. I could immediately tell the game was gonna have great music based on the opening animation.
I find Nier replicant is good only after you make it past the first one or two hours. Too many fetch quests for me.
I will say drakengard 3 was one of the grindiest games ive played haha, dont wanna spoil anything though so thats all ill say. But its worth it the story is good if you like yoko taros type of storytelling. Theres a 60 fps patch i used but idk if steam deck is good enough for that, my old pc could barely handle it at 60fps with an i5-6600k and rx480
I’ve been listening to some choice tracks from Final Fantasy XIV, mostly from the big epic finales. I probably should be excited for XVI, but I just reaaally don’t trust the action JRPG setup.
However, an even better soundtrack to me is Ori and the Blind Forest, as you mentioned - it has some epic bangers to it, but it’s also an incredible soundtrack even for the calm, peaceful tracks playing while exploring.
Credit to Nier Automata for what it’s worth…there’s some tracks I really like in there on their own, but…I honestly feel like those really good tracks just don’t often fit the gameplay. They have some hard-hitting vocal tracks playing while 2B is wandering the city or standing around, and it really warps the feel of the pacing. I mention it because it’s just an interesting example to me of “good music” not actually fitting as a soundtrack.
Final Fantasy VIII holds a special place in my heart for sure.
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.
OST’s are my JAM!
Ori is a classic. - It’s equal parts haunting and jubilant. Death Stranding - Don’t be so serious. Every song is a masterpiece. Overwatch - It’s just good fun Witcher 3 - hey lele lelele lele lele ley! Cyberpunk - Dark, broody, and invigorating Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 - Absolute fantasy. If you want a VGM OST to plan your d&d session to, this is a great option Red Dead Redemption 2 - Maybe it’s partly because Arthur Morgan’s story is so incredible but this soundtrack gives me the shivers. “May I stand unshaken… Amid, amidst a crash of the world?” omggg give it to me D’Angelo
There’s tons more I’m missing here. But these ones stand out to me.
Witcher 3
🎶PAM PA RAM…🎶
Red Dead Redemption 2
I finished that game for the first time over a year ago, and still can’t listen to ‘That’s The Way It Is’ without feeling like I’ll never be happy again.
Need to queue up the house building theme after that one
Or just play That’s The Way It Is over and over and over and over again until the world is a small, bleak place full of sadness and disappointment.
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.
Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal have amazing soundtracks!
Mass Effect 3 OST has seen it’s fair share of play time as well though that might be just as much because I love the game so much.
Oh! Cyberpunk 2077 is amazing as well. Especially the songs from the radio stations in the game.
I like epic, intense soundtracks so, Darkest Dungeon and Frostpunk. Monster Train is pretty good too.
Far too many to list, but Final Fantasy IX’s soundtrack is a tremendous work of art, and a perfect final bow for Nobuo Uematsu from the series. It’s always stuck with me among nearly ever other soundtrack.
Notable Mentions (in no order):
- Sonic 2 and 3&K
- Hotline Miami 1 & 2
- Street Fighter 2
- Nier Automata
- Castlevania (Whole Damn Series)
- Donkey Kong Country & 2
- Doom I & II
- Undertale
- Freedom Planet
- Golden Sun 1 & 2
- Hollow Knight
- Skyrim
- Kirby Series
- Mario Series
- MegaMan 2 & 3 (Shout-out to The Megas)
- Super Meat Boy
And so many others, but I’ll be here all day if I keep going.
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.