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Vgm (video game music)

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What soundtracks from a game really get the creative juices flowing? Could be an OST that you put on TO think or a soundtrack that inspired you to pursue what you do. Name as many as you want!
Try to explain the sound aswell if you can.
Mine:

- Silent Hill 2 (2001) ( the dank lofi hiphop elements and dream-like horror ambience really gives the OST a unique flavour)

- DOOM 2016 (Mick Gordon is a legend. This OST is just brutal, 8 string guitars, obscure russian synths from the 60 all distorted and the high energy of modern metal and electronic music is just chaotic!)

-Crash Bandicoot 2 (97) (very bouncy and fun! Each "zone" has a unique feel to it and the music is as colourful as the environments. If crash is surfing up a stream in the jungle, close your eyes and you will know, if hes in a cold, snowy place filled with crazy Aztec obstacles, close your eyes and you will know)
 
Lets see... there are so many.

- Obviously everything by Austin Wintory (So I wont list them again)

- The Last Guardian (My absolute favorite at the moment)



- Everquest II (The original one, when they still used a real orchestra, I remember those Woodwinds super often)



- The Dark Void (By Bear McCreary, awesome Strings and Drums)



- Outcast (one of the first games to use a live orchestral soundtrack, still brilliant stuff)



There is another soundtrack I like very much, but is a bit of an odd choice:
Rimworld! It's just so fitting to the game. And when you sink ...300h into a game that is very important.



I did not really like the soundtracks to the Witcher 3 / God of War, not because they are bad, but because I can't remember a thing. Those are game I played a long time, but are just not memorable to me. Meanwhile I can hum and play everything from Jeremy Soule up and down my piano.
 
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As I'm into VGM as well, I make sure to cycle through soundtracks every few weeks so I keep receiving new information.

That said, the soundtrack to Persona 5 hasn't left my playlist since the game came out. So much swing. So much jazz. So much lounge. So much awesome.




I am also a huge fan of Darren Korb, who made the soundtracks to Bastion and Transistor. The way he uses his experience as a guitar player in his soundtracks is amazing.






Finally, during my current 'OST cycle' I got very much inspired by the music of Kirby and Phoenix Wright and as such my playlist has expanded with the aniversary concerts by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. I really like the groove and old-school vibe of Phoenix Wright and the whimsical nature of Kirby.






EDIT:

I also second Rimworld and Silent Hill II as great, inspiring soundtracks.
 
I also am a fan of the Transistor Soundtrack, but not crazy about Darren Korb's other stuff. I'm actually kind of puzzled why I like Transistor so much. Maybe the way it connected with the game which I really enjoyed? Love Journey, and also the soundtrack to Dear Esther, by Jessica Curry. I also really like Mirror's Edge by Solar Fields.
 
So many! But a choice few would be:

Soul Calibur 3 (2005/2006, Alot of what sounded like early VSL patches, Gigastudio libs + live musicians throughout whole soundtrack, always loved the sound and writing for the entire score)-

Starfox 64 (1997, this is the soundtrack that inspired me to first take up writing music, even with the now very dated sound MIDI)-

Sonic Adventure (1998/1999, Tons of cool rock/pop tracks throughout, heavily inspired my rock writing through today)-

Mario 64 (1996, very first 3D title I've played, very fun and memorable music-
 
My go-to game soundtrack to remind myself why I love this job is Jeremy Soule's Total Annihilation soundtrack.
 
If you like dark lo-fi and ambient, I've always had a soft spot for Vampire: the Masquerade soundtrack:
Other ones I like:

Deus Ex Human Revolution & Mankind Divided by Michael McCann

Horizon Zero Dawn by Joris de Man & The Flight

Divide by Chris Tilton

Mirror's Edge by Solar Fields

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture by Jessica Curry

Journey & ABZÚ both by Austin Wintory

Surely there's plenty of others too :)
 
- DOOM 2016 (Mick Gordon is a legend. This OST is just brutal, 8 string guitars, obscure russian synths from the 60 all distorted and the high energy of modern metal and electronic music is just chaotic!)
Did you see his talk from a couple of years ago about writing the Doom music? His Doom array is awesome.



From World of Warcraft I love Pride of the Seas.



Which then inspired me to pull up Albion One to do this:

 
Ok, I'll bite.
There has been mention of Jeremy Soule, but the biggest influence on me was his KOTOR-Score.
I mean check it, that is an orchestral Star Wars score with unique themes:

As far as I can tell all samples. In 2003! And also some super weird electronic diegetic music.

And then this follow up score by Mark Griskey, now with live recordings:

Man! I love it!
Listening to it now makes me realize how many of my preferences in harmonic development derived from listening to this score and playing this game over and over.

Not to mention that I consider this game and the sequel to be more original and creative in it's storytelling and the building of the star wars universe than any of the movies combined.
Obviously that plays a role in my nostalgic perception of the music.​
 
The already mentioned Outcast was probably the first game that had a soundtrack I listened to regularly even when not playing the game as I realized I could listen to the music straight from the game CD when I fired up Winamp.

The other one was Halo, which released its main theme as a free download as part of the pre-release marketing, man that theme was (is!) cool. O'Donnell is certainly one of my heroes, and I still have mixed feelings about Destiny because how Bungie treated him when they parted ways.

Jeremy Soule, Austin Wintory, Jack Wall etc. have gotten all the love they deserve already, but I'd like to point out a game which recently totally surprised me by the the sheer quality and genius of its soundtrack, and that was Xenoblade Chronicles 2, composed by industry veteran Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu and Manami Kiyota. Especially the themes by ACE are really bloody great, and the music fits soooo well with the game and the emotional themes it carries.





 
Bloodborne (there's some cool metal covers on YouTube as well)


This trailer convinced me to get my first From Software game.

Ori and the Blind Forest


Bloodborne has become one of my favorites. I'm building a huge template and I've listened through the OST more times than I care to count. The music is so good.
 
Outcast. I played a demo of the game (remember when they used to put demos in PC mags?). The music put me in a trance. I bought the game a few days later.

Oh, and Commodore 64's Fantasy World Dizzy + Rastan. Anyone remember those?! I was about 4 when my brother used to play those games, and I can still remember the music.
 
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