Gaming

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.

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.

Outer Wilds

Journey

Flower

Abzu

Shadow of the Colossus

The last Guardian

Mass effect

Metal Gear Solid

Undertale

Thomas Was Alone

What Remains of Edith Finch

Dear Esther

Firewatch

No Man's Sky

Death Stranding

I really like video game soundtracks :)

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.

NieR: Automata

The Weight of the World

Chrono Trigger

Final Fantasy 6 (the opera aria was played at my wedding)

Castlevania 3, specifically the six channel Famicom version

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

I'm old, if you couldn't tell

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 really vibe with Minecraft. The nostalgia just hits different when I listen to it.

The Nier Automata OST is perfection. Almost every single track is memorable and lovable, I often relisten the whole ost just for fun

Bastion and Hades have just cool soundtracks you can listen to anytime. When pure adrenaline is needed the DOOM soundtrack.

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 (even more so mixed with electric guitar), or they kind of blend with other orchestral tracks I know and don't end up being unique enough.

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.

Persona 5 Royal. Close 2nd is Nier: Automata. Both amazing OSTs

Halo ODST

Hollow Knight

Journey

Monument Valley 2 <- especially this one

Donkey Kong Country 2

I love the Subnautica soundtrack that much I have it in my music library on my phone

Chrono Trigger

Eve Online

• Doom 2016
• Outer Wilds

Several OSTs that have stuck with me through the years:

• Frozen Synapse
• Dustforce
• Bastion
• Nitronic Rush
• FTL

Undertale is my #1. Bully is my #2.

Endless Space 2. The best OST I have ever come across in 20+ years of gaming. Several hundred hours in and I'm still not sick of any of the tracks.

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.

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

Outer wilds Subnautica Subnautica Below zero FTL and into the breach are some of my favorites personally

Halo 1-3 and probably reach too. There is just something about those strings that hit differently. The music perfectly portrays the feeling of loneliness and being the "last" spartan trying your best to save the human race from extinction.

While there's no correct answer here, I think the most widely beloved OSTs of all time probably belong to the Final Fantasy, Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario IPs.

All the soundtracks Darren Korb makes for Supergiant. Hades resonates more with me as it's the one I've played the most, but I'm also a huge fan of Transistor's.

I haven't finished the game yet, but Journey's OST is simply amazing.

Jet Set Radio

Celeste

Citizen Sleeper

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.

I like epic, intense soundtracks so, Darkest Dungeon and Frostpunk. Monster Train is pretty good too.

Final Fantasy VIII holds a special place in my heart for sure.

Transistor

Katamari Damacy

Stardew Valley

Oh man, quite a few actually:

• Dusk
• Most of the Command and Conquer games
• Simcity 4
• Team Fortress 2
• Touhou
• Nier Automata

I could go on but i wanna keep this somewhat brief lol

All three Splatoon games have really solid OSTs. I am also a huge fan of Hollow Knight. Deep Rock Galactic is amazing as well.

I love so many OSTs. They really make a game/movie/show

Zelda: Twilight Princess is probably my all time favorite. Midna's theme is so delightfully haunting in its several variations.

Doom 2016 on some days, Pillars of Eternity on others

Doom 2016, Mirror's Edge, Metal Gear Rising, Nier Automata, ah so many options... probably a bit of recency bias, but I think I'll say Neon White.

When it comes to licensed soundtracks, DiRT 2's soundtrack is perfection.

Pyre's both my favorite game and has my favorite OST. The tracks are layered in a way that they can change on the fly - and the instruments of certain characters kick in during the magical superbowl theme in really satisfying ways. Here's a couple examples:

The Dissidents' theme: Thrash Pack

Final showdown theme versus Dissidents: Never to Return

The Essence's theme: Sky Dance

Final Showdown theme versus Essence: Never to Return

Favorite tracks gotta be Path to Glory, though.

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.

Doom Eternal, Destiny and Halo

SSX 3 solid tunes and loved how the music changed as you went doown the slopes.

Also, Mass Effect and GTA San Andreas

Oh gosh where do I even start. I have a massive list of VGM soundtracks that I listen to but if I had to pick some favs currently:

• Gran Turismo 5/6 - been playing these games recently through the PS3 emulator and the vibe and feel these games go for is so much more amplified with the soundtrack, lots of chill jazz and downtempo music mixed with other genres like Dance and Rock.
• Pokémon (really any of them) - I've always loved the Pokémon soundtrack in all the mainline games, my favourite games in the series are HGSS so probably that soundtrack if I had to pick one.
• A Hat in Time - Soundtrack is so fun and upbeat, really regret buying this game on 2 separate platforms and then not playing through either of them.
• Celeste - Trans girl climbs gay mountain simulator with Lena Raine's simply amazing piano and synth soundtrack is so damn good I can't give it enough praise <3 (also all her other work on games like Minecraft and Chicory is super good too!)

Stellaris, Crypt of the Necrodancer, FTL, Invisible Inc, and basically any Supergiant game

Chrono Cross remains my fave even after all those years.