Video Game Music - Share the <3

[Limp]

Because isn't it mandatory to have a topic about the music in this beloved part of media?

·What are your favorite tunes and soundtracks overall?
·Which composers moves you the most?
·What are the most important aspects of a tune in a game?
·Is it fair to judge how "good" the music itself is even when taken out of context?

... Or just about anything that has to do with this. You know, everything goes!

- - -

To get it started, I want to share my favorite video-game track of 2014: -->Ransacked<-- from Wolfenstein: The New Order. It's just a plain great tune. Sure, in context it fits really well, but that is not what makes it great. No, it's the instruments and the melodies. I simply love the way it is put together.

[James Closs]

Ahhh, it's kinda unfair because the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack is my hands down favorite.  I could listen to the whole thing without skipping a track and enjoy all of them. 

Taking that, and a lot of other great Final Fantasy music (Including Tactics, of course), and all those famous Nintendo numbers off the table:  "Still Alive" from Mirror's Edge (I put it on a mix CD for a friend, and she said it was her "Life Song" for about a week), Time's Scar and Radical Dreamers from Chrono Cross, Jet Set Radio Future soundtrack, Silent Hill's main theme, Laura's Theme from Silent hill 2, the songs Melissa Williamson sings in Silent Hill 3 (Letter - From the Lost Days, You're Not Here, I Want Love (Studio Mix) ), Startropics soundtrack, Los Abysmos aka the music CHASM used for their trailer, "The Dawn Will Come" and a track titled "The Lost Temple" from Dragon Age: Inquisition and several of the bard's songs, "I Am the One (High & Dark Fantasy Versions)" from Dragon Age: Origins, I really enjoy the FTL title screen music, Halo Theme (Even though it's super cliche now), The Road of Trials from Journey, Baba Yetu from Civilization IV (Which, I realize is not exclusively from that, but...), Still Alive from Portal (But, who doesn't??), The whole Myst soundtrack (Though especially the Telescope theme and main Myst theme), Song of Mana from Legend of Mana, Small Two of Pieces and Star of Tears from Xenogears (Yeah they're sappy, so sue me!), Metal Gear Solid 2's main theme and "Snake Eater" from Metal Gear Solid 3, Tetris (You know the one), "The Venerable Forest" from Star Ocean The Second Story......  Geez, this long.  Ummmm....  I'll just leave it there.....  Wait, WAIT, "The Poet and The Muse" from Alan Wake.  It's a great song AND a crucial plot element.  More on that below.

I think that the most important aspect of a game tune is....  Being a fit with the setting.  For example, I just recently (read, yesterday) was playing Fortune's Tavern and they have a classical soundtrack which is....  Nice?  But it doesn't fit the setting the majority of the time.  I mean, Super Hexagon has a better fitting soundtrack, and I would therefore say is a better game soundtrack.  It may not be objectively better music, but it is a better set of game tunes.

And I would say that, like a movie soundtrack, most of the tracks are not entirely fair to judge out of context of the game.  Some songs, Let's say "Eyes on Me" from Final Fantasy VIII for example, could easily be played out of context.  However, the aforementioned "The Poet and The Muse" by The Old Gods of Asgard (A rock group IN the Alan Wake game world) is a nice story song on its own, but IN the context of the game it's amazing because it reveals sooo much about the plot and a crucial clue that the hero needs to complete his task, which I'm gonna go ahead and claim is something that hasn't been done before or since (Clues and important lore elements in conjunction)

[Malek Deneith]

So do we, for purposes of this topic, only count official soundtracks, or do fan made remixes count as well?

Because if remixes count, Touhou fandom pretty much wins this by sheer numbers alone. Like, seriously.
By variety probably too, but that might not be represented enough in my personal picks.

As for original soundtracks I think Bastion and Transistor set the bar quite high.

Edit: So SMF now automatically embeds youtube vids if the full URL is used, even if it shouldn't? No me gusta

[Limp]

Yeah, the problem with judging music out of context is just that: it's there to set the tone. I for one, when I talk about my favorite tracks, tend to go for the tunes that I find catchy even outside the games themselves.

Example: Forest Temple from Ocarina of Time. Sets the exact right mood in game, but just doesn't do it for me when I'm not playing, whereas something like Tomahawk Man's stage from MM6 certainly is an enjoyable listen even on its own.

And then there's stuff like Storm and City of Radiant Ruin from Etrian Odyssey IV. I haven't even PLAYED that game, but holy muffins, is the music just outstanding!

So do we, for purposes of this topic, only count official soundtracks, or do fan made remixes count as well?

Well, just video game music in general, so remixes are certainly OK.

[Malek Deneith]

And then there's stuff like Storm and City of Radiant Ruin from Etrian Odyssey IV. I haven't even PLAYED that game, but holy muffins, is the music just outstanding!

[offtopic]Etrian Odyssey series is amazing if you like old school dungeon crawlers (think Wizardry, Eye of the Beholder). Much reccomend [/offtopic]

Gaming music tax: Yesterday's Opponents are Today's Ingredients from Atelier Ayesha. For a series that is rather lighthearted and relaxed this is surprisingly intense piece of music.