Many games feature amazing music, but certain games take it beyond even that.
Games like DOOM are known for the “procedural” composition they use to marry gameplay and sound, and not only that, the way the music is a perfect tonal match to what is happening.
What games have you played that feature music that doesn’t just make you notice it, but also pulls you further in?
The original Doom comes to mind for me.
Risk of Rain 2!!!
so true… most songs build up over the course of the stage (just like the difficulty usually), then when you hit the tp to start the boss it plays an epic boss song
my only issue with it is that after the tp there’s no music, and I often run around after the tp to minmax items, so I have to sit there in silence :(
Doom 2016
Oh. Just actually read the body of your post!
I mean it’s a damn good pick.
Man, just fucking everything by Nobuo Uematsu. Such a GOAT
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. That game is damn near flawless.
Castlevania music is a style of its own. Love that stuff.
Myth II Soulblighter.
RimWorld - see the YouTube comments for people telling stories of what each song reminds them of.
Shoutout to ‘simple’ music that works well in a game - Project Highrise, Shapez, or Outbound for example.
Terraria and Stardew Valley
My day gets 200% better whenever I hear that summer song
Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
Rain World.
Super Metroid.Nier Automata. There aren’t even any words in the lyrics, it’s amazing.
Except for the “final” track, “Weight of the World”, which is just amazing and chilling, especially in the context of the game and lore if you make it to the end of true ending e. Apparently the Japanese version uses a take where the vocalist started crying during it, and in the English version you can hear the vocalist struggling towards the end.
And there’s the one track that’s name escapes me with the robots chanting “become as gods”.
A lot of the other tracks have chanting, but it’s intentionally not in any language, despite every track having a pretty heavy emotional feel to it.
I know it’s cheating since the game is basically a playable soundtrack but “Hi-fi-Rush” brought me immense joy. On of the only games where I was actually vibing at my desk and rocking my head around to the beat.
You have no idea how hyped I got as the beginning notes of “Invaders Must Die” played.
RIP Tango Gameworks.
The closure of tango and the IP in Microsofts hands is a tragedy
As spoiled by the picture I chose for the post, my pick is Katana Zero.
Each stage has it’s own track, and it is not just background noise. Zero carries with him a walkman, and each level begins with him pulling it out at putting his earphone in, then starting the track as the name of the song appears on screen.
Whenever Zero isn’t himself listening to something, any music heard is environmental, like the soft background music of a hotel lobby, or the annoying low tones passing through the walls from a party at the neighbors.
If you’re a fan, and didn’t know, there is an expansion coming to Katana Zero. It’s been teased with a few gameplay clips, and a new OST track.
Yeah Katana Zero is crazy good, I’ve had Meat Grinder (Ludowic) on repeat for so long, that song is just perfect in terms of beats to focus to
Diablo 2. The music fit that game perfectly.
The SFX are pristine, too.
Also username checks out.
Katamari Damacy
NAAAAAAAA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NANA-N’NA-NA-NA-NAAAAAA
“BATMAAAN!”
The king is very displeased that this was so far down the list. You need to work on rolling up more points.
Hollow Knight and Celeste are the two that come to mind for me.
Both n64 TLoZ and Diablo II are great
FTL and Celeste have basically the perfect soft background music; once you’re played them it is remarkable how many YouTube videos reuse one or the other for their turned-way-down background music
That, and then Grand Poo World 2 has basically the best retro action game soundtrack I have ever heard
The artist behind Celeste’s soundtrack Lena Raine is really good at that kind of music, her Bandcamp is good for listening
