The Video Game Music Thread

[Satori (original)]

This can't be omitted either - Blade Runner music by Frank Klepacki:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbXYknkhjQc

I'm pretty sure everyone who's played that has done this, just soaking up the atmosphere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3vboyAMWlI

 

[deuxhero]

Alexander Brandon is pretty good at this.


Meguro I associate more with his rock based battle themes (much cooler than the orchestral crap we get from most folk). The nearest thing to atmosphere I can recall are the Strange Journey dungeon tracks, which are more ominous (chanting Jack Frosts) than atmosphere.


Professor Layton and the Curious Village (prehaps the other games too) had some neat stuff, but I can't find good quality versions on youtube.

 

[kingcomrade]

Here are two songs I actually listen to

Moathouse Exterior from ToEE-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MOvDv_Gr_o

Self Esteem Fund from Portal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9nocjg2OLI
That one was my favorite song for a long time.

 

[Aldebaran]

Fucking Metroid Prime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mziw3FQkZYg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbbUv1hz6mE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLjibR_c4Q

No game's menu theme has given me such an eargasm since:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLE_PvJ5mY&feature=related

I would die to defend the glory of Metroid Prime. I would crawl through a shifting river of rusty HIV needles just to breathe AIDS onto its enemies.

It may just be a combination of nostalgia (Metroid for the NES was the first console game I played) and my, at the time, dread of the idea of a first person Metroid (many other Metroid fans suffered from this, and some still do).

 

[Gosling]

This can't be omitted either - Blade Runner music by Frank Klepacki:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbXYknkhjQc

I'm pretty sure everyone who's played that has done this, just soaking up the atmosphere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3vboyAMWlI

Yes, numerous times.

It's Vangelis's movie version though. Funny, I thought it was Klepacki's rethinking of the original theme, turns out they just left it unaltered.

 

[CorpseZeb]

Wow. Many great tunes get mentioned here. My addition will be the Portal soundtrack (by Jonathan Coulton), and no, I'm taking not only about end tune "still alive", but great pieces of soundtrack like - "android hell" or "self esteem fund".

 

[Carrion]

DOOM & DOOM II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffl2ShaW ... re=related

That's some evil shit right there. The PS:T soundtrack is probably my favorite, though.

 

[Sceptic]

DOOM & DOOM II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffl2ShaW ... re=related

Proper recordings with a Sound Canvas!

There are some insanely atmospheric pieces in there. E1M2, E2M2, E2M5, E2M8... Bobby Prince was good at what he did. Hard to believe the guy did everything sound-related on Doom, both sound effects and music. CGW had a really cool article/interview on this circa 1994.

 

[Kawaii Theurgist]

Hey bro's,

Been loving the Diablo OST. Such beautiful music, tis orgasmic. I need you to recommend me some other games with really great atmospheric music.

Pathologic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKqKgagoqew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao91HN1dZWk



The Void.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZowmVEYAi8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3Sp1L66v5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ft0kPzZe0



LSD Dream Emulator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VflggOv2bWw



Demon's Souls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK9td2Fpek0



Hellsinker's is kind of atmospheric, or at least some songs are, though given the atmosphere of Hellsinker is about kicking a metric ton of butt while evading colorful bullets it isn't ambient or anything like that. It's just music that says to you This is epic boss and leaves no room for doubt, and gets you pumped to hell and back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWFtgYRZtw



Guwange, the only shmup that managed to have an actual atmosphere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynRn3nrwR3c



And there's Folksoul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0slP2Eo0FmY

 

[DraQ]

For some reason I failed to mention LoL when I first posted in this thread.
Rectifying now...

PST, Anachronox, Witcher, Divinity II, Deus Ex, Diablo 1 (doesn't really qualify, but so does Anox), Lands of Lore (Frank fucking Klepacki, for fuck's sake), to a lesser degree Daggerfall.

There, fixed.

 

[deuxhero]

While a jRPG, Baten Kaitos has great music out of Sakuraba.

Flowing Through The Rays of the Morning Sun is a great example of an town track for the game

True Mirror is one of the few battle themes that doesn't get grating by the end (though the low number of fights and 60 hour length is more behind that)



It's also not afraid to use unconventional music choices, and they work in the actual event.

Chaotic Dance plays during the battles against the guy that killed the main character's grandfather and brother when he is fought. This shouldn't work in any conceivable way, but it DOES.

 

[laclongquan]

King of Dragon Pass soundtracks. I luv me a parcel of Scot-irish sounds.

 

[Majestic47]

If they can remake Betrayal in Krondor with graphic facelift and remastered soundtrack, I'd be damn happy

 

[purpleworm]

I really liked the music to levels 1+2 of Dark Spire

 

[Nael]

I was always fond of Daggerfall and the Mechwarrior 2 soundtrack. The KOTOR games were good too by default too considering I'm a fag for Star Wars.

 

[eric__s]

King of Dragon Pass soundtracks. I luv me a parcel of Scot-irish sounds.

Yeah, one of the best soundtracks ever.

Ishar 3 didn't have much music and it didn't play it that often either, but what it had was pretty cool.

Ishar 3 - Title Theme

Ambermoon also had a really charming soundtrack and it was pretty amazing how it could shift from being cold and spacey to warm without even changing instruments. It was also cool how it was simultaneously ambient music that had strong lead melodies.

Ambermoon - Ship

Star Trail had a really strong soundtrack, maybe my favorite, although I like the MIDI version a little better. I couldn't find it anywhere.

Star Trail - Dialog

It sucks how composers rarely use strong melodies anymore. It's tuneless background sounds or orchestras playing epic and sort of cartoonish songs without any character at all. I can only think of one or two recent symphonic soundtracks that got it right, but Gothic 3 was definitely one of them. I don't even think strong melodies and symphonies are mutually exclusive or anything, it's just that most of these symphonic soundtracks are so heavy handed and dull. Take a few cues from Basil Poledouris please.

 

[attackfighter]

Arcanum Main Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftvpi-6Z6qw

Arcanum Combat Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC5RwR9-3aQ

Vergen by Night (The Witcher 2):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a-DmxpXhQE

Skyrim Exploration Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI3NoFllvaM

I've got more but I don't want to bloat this post. Also sorry if any of these have been posted before, I'm posting before I read the thread

 

[Outlander]

Fallout's 2 Car theme

 

[halflingbarbarian]

Fallout's 2 Car theme

 

[made]

It sucks how composers rarely use strong melodies anymore. It's tuneless background sounds or orchestras playing epic and sort of cartoonish songs without any character at all. I can only think of one or two recent symphonic soundtracks that got it right, but Gothic 3 was definitely one of them. I don't even think strong melodies and symphonies are mutually exclusive or anything, it's just that most of these symphonic soundtracks are so heavy handed and dull. Take a few cues from Basil Poledouris please.

The LOTRO soundtrack reminds me heavily of Conan. Some personal highlights:

Everyone's favorite Lament for Oakenshield

Down Down to Goblin Town

Home from the Hunt

War Pipes

 

[hoopy]

It sucks how composers rarely use strong melodies anymore. It's tuneless background sounds or orchestras playing epic and sort of cartoonish songs without any character at all. I can only think of one or two recent symphonic soundtracks that got it right, but Gothic 3 was definitely one of them. I don't even think strong melodies and symphonies are mutually exclusive or anything, it's just that most of these symphonic soundtracks are so heavy handed and dull. Take a few cues from Basil Poledouris please.

I hardly even noticed there was music in Skyrim, it was just so bland. This town theme is one of the better ones, but it's still very nondescript compared to, say, Skeleton of a Town from Icewind Dale II. Or this one from Eternal Sonata.

I think generic nothingness and generic bombasticness (if that's even a word) are popular in Western movie and game soundtracks right now.

 

[deuxhero]

^ Sakuraba (who did the Eternal Sonata tunes that weren't remixes of the star's actual work) does a lot of good town themes that give each town a feeling. Baten Kaitos (as mentioned above) stands out and while he does a lot of stuff with actual instruments (or replications) he has some fairly good chiptunes and the instruments have a clear purpose instead of just generic bleh.

Another example of good town themes has to be Pokemon Colosseum. Each town has it's own genre to its BGM. Pheanc has a light piano and violin peace for it's oasis city not completely screwed over stats. Pyrite has a jazz piece for its gang infested rusted made of junk town with a dry mine. The game's choice to use harmonica as one of its most prominent instruments is something I truely love, making it stand out quite a bit among other tracks and reinforcing it's pesudo western stats. Miror B's theme is also another great example of a soundtrack willing to lighten up for a fight, being a funky salsa tune (though Mirror B, a Pokeball afro wearing dancer in a gold jumpsuit is a LOT less serious than Giacomo)

 

[sea]

Skyrim Exploration Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI3NoFllvaM

I've got more but I don't want to bloat this post. Also sorry if any of these have been posted before, I'm posting before I read the thread

Isn't that Skyrim song from Oblivion?

Come to think of it, has anyone figured out how much music is reused directly, and how much is re-recorded and re-arranged?

 

[CrazyLoon]

I think Gothic 1 has some decent tracks. Shame Gothic 2 didn't keep the same dark, spooky atmosphere, since PB decided to go full medieval Europe.

Old Camp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JVtVyfAHNc

Wilderness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v0vw11taUM

 

[attackfighter]

Skyrim Exploration Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI3NoFllvaM

I've got more but I don't want to bloat this post. Also sorry if any of these have been posted before, I'm posting before I read the thread

Isn't that Skyrim song from Oblivion?

Come to think of it, has anyone figured out how much music is reused directly, and how much is re-recorded and re-arranged?

Yeah I'm pretty sure it was. There's also at least one clip from Morrowind. I can't make a guess at how much music is reused though, because frankly I can barely remember the soundtrack at all :/