Music In Games

[AwakenTheDemon]

So I've decided that I wanted to go back and replay one of my favorite RPGs of all time, Chrono Cross. Before even getting to choose "New Game", the opening music caused all of my memories of the game to come back. It's reminded me of how integral and almost game changing a great sound track can be to a game. Sure, many people will remember a breathtaking FMV cutscene or a well done set piece. But a perfectly fitting song can make a world of difference and etch itself into someone's memory even better.

Okay, enough of my rambling. To all of us gamers here, what game soundtracks are still fond to you? That is, if we have any gamers here who enjoy a good soundtrack.

For me, I'd have to say...
Chrono Cross
Shadow Hearts
Final Fantasy X
Red Dead Redemption (set the mood and environment perfectly)
Radiant Historia
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (I'm a sucker for 80's music)
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Persona 3

[theFRANCHISE]

Suikoden 1 & 2
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Catherine
Final Fantasy VII and VIII
Street Fighter II
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Tekken 2 & 3
Wipeout

Now, as for licensed soundtracks, the Grand Theft Auto series is great. I won't include music games like Rock Band, but the majority of those games are pretty good.

[AwakenTheDemon]

Konami did a great job on the music for the Suikoden series. I can't believe that slipped my mind considering I've been playing the first game on PSN lol

[theFRANCHISE]

Suikoden 2's soundtrack gets me every time. Part of it is the nostalgia of having played it at a young age, but there's also a lot of memorable songs from memorable setpieces.

Suikoden 2 will always hold a special place in my heart because my childhood best friend and I both loved it as kids and we replayed it endlessly. The storyline of the two best friends was something that resonated with our friendship, and the music brilliantly punctuated the emotion of each significant plot twist.

A great example is the opening credits, which come after the initial sequence of the game where the protagonist is separated from his best friend after an ambush: ([url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WLyjRex0ac"]LINK[/url])

I'd argue that sequence is about as effective as the movie [i]Up[/i] in telling a story without words.

[kagejb]

Portal 2's Exile Vilify with a touch of rain.

http://rain.nxe7.com

[TheRavenouseD2008]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkvyn2MNl18&feature=related"]Grandia 2[/url] had a good one, honestly the Mass Effect Series has an Excellent Score cant wait to see what they do with part 3.. the final fantasy games were good. honestly the best one from the way back when era was Rock'N'Roll racing on the SNES

here is the ending credits song for [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gISlB1IdUjI"]M[/url][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gISlB1IdUjI"]E 1 [/url]

[Purple Punishment]

greatest score I ever heard for an RPG is on PSP. Crisis Core FFVII

youtube the name of the game and the song is called "the burdened"

[AwakenTheDemon]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' timestamp='1314577864' post='769695']
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkvyn2MNl18&feature=related"]Grandia 2[/url] had a good one, honestly the Mass Effect Series has an Excellent Score cant wait to see what they do with part 3.. the final fantasy games were good. honestly the best one from the way back when era was Rock'N'Roll racing on the SNES

here is the ending credits song for [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gISlB1IdUjI"]M[/url][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gISlB1IdUjI"]E 1 [/url]
[/quote]

Grandia 2 is one of my favorite games ever. I remember playing it on the Dreamcast yeeeaaars ago. Shame I don't have my DC anymore, so many great games and memories. I keep meaning to get the PS2 version of Grandia 2, but never have gotten around to it.

[TheRavenouseD2008]

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' timestamp='1314906046' post='772676']
Grandia 2 is one of my favorite games ever. I remember playing it on the Dreamcast yeeeaaars ago. Shame I don't have my DC anymore, so many great games and memories. I keep meaning to get the PS2 version of Grandia 2, but never have gotten around to it.
[/quote]
yeah that and Skies of Arcadia rocked on DC , both had realy good scores as far as the time surprised no one had [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-_Did76LXQ"]this listed from FF8 [/url]. one of my favorite songs from a Game . Considering the FF series later became more of a Playable Manga you can compare thier music to that of popular animes . heres a link for [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3kYqIui_Xc"]Rock'N'Roll Racing[/url]

[AwakenTheDemon]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' timestamp='1314914088' post='772812']
yeah that and Skies of Arcadia rocked on DC , both had realy good scores as far as the time surprised no one had [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-_Did76LXQ"]this listed from FF8 [/url]. one of my favorite songs from a Game . Considering the FF series later became more of a Playable Manga you can compare thier music to that of popular animes . heres a link for [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3kYqIui_Xc"]Rock'N'Roll Racing[/url]
[/quote]

Skies is one of the best RPGs that never got the real recognition it deserved. I've been praying for a sequel for years [img]http://content.boards.baltimoreravens.com//public/style_emoticons/default/sad.png[/img]

And I knew you had linked Eyes on Me before I even clicked it lol Maybe it's because I'm one of the fourteen people who loved FF8. Every PSone/PS2 Final Fantasy really had one score that every fan remembers.


VIII - Eyes on Me
IX - Melodies of Life
X - Suteki de Na

[latenighthero]

What do you guys think about the music in madden 12?

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='latenighthero' timestamp='1314943906' post='774038']
What do you guys think about the music in madden 12?
[/quote]
It's alright. I'm not a big fan of licensed music on game soundtracks unless it's done right. The Grand Theft Auto series is a great example of the right song choices, as each song not only fits the themed station, but they also fit elements of the game. GTA does a great job of using music to help immerse you into each game's world.

Madden, on the other hand, has been [i]very[/i] inconsistent the past few years. In many cases, I sometimes think that EA Sports just throws money at quasi-popular songs and artists and blindly hopes that people will like the music.

[Otterpelt]

I agree on the music in Madden not being too good. I always just connect my zune to my xbox and go from there.

As far as my favorite soundtracks, Konami has done a great job with their titles IMO.

Metal Gear Solid 1&2
Silent Hill 1&3

[kagejb]

i immediately recognized the Inception music in the intro of this years Madden. I love it. The others, I'm not too fond of them.

[TheRavenouseD2008]

honestly I wish I could just run the music on my HD on my 360

[Otterpelt]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' timestamp='1315232662' post='777706']
honestly I wish I could just run the music on my HD on my 360
[/quote]

You should be able to. Xbox guide button (the middle guy), right to media, and "select music".

Forgive me if i missed any steps/sarcasm

[Ed_Reed20]

I don't check out the video game forum enough and I just stumbled upon this ancient thread. Love me some video game music. Here are some of my favorite video game OSTs:

 

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike

Marvel vs. Capcom I & II

Capcom vs. SNK 2

X-Men vs. Street Fighter

Street Fighter Alpha 3

X.G.R.A.: Extreme G-Racing Association

Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

Love me some video game music as well.

 

Here's some tracks off the top of my head. 

 

Xenoblade Chronicles- Mechonis Field

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p45gdP2OKmU

 

Freedom Fighters- March of the Empire

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDx2gIlme3w

 

Metal Gear Solid 3- Snake Eater 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CbFAZ2ztlE

 

Persona 4- Heaven

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=463Us587Z9o

 

Persona 4- The Almighty 

 

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

 

I'd be here all day even between just the games I named. lol 

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

Oh the nostalgia.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N6L3miF6Ho

[Ed_Reed20]

More nostalgia:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYBJrTQO0gU

[RavensAllTheWay]

-OoT and Majora's Mask 

 

-Star Fox 64

 

-Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

 

-A bunch of other Mario games, particularly from the Mario Party series.

 

 

There's a whole bunch of good music from those games.  More nostalgia, lol.

[Corvus]

So I've decided that I wanted to go back and replay one of my favorite RPGs of all time, Chrono Cross. Before even getting to choose "New Game", the opening music caused all of my memories of the game to come back. It's reminded me of how integral and almost game changing a great sound track can be to a game. Sure, many people will remember a breathtaking FMV cutscene or a well done set piece. But a perfectly fitting song can make a world of difference and etch itself into someone's memory even better.

Okay, enough of my rambling. To all of us gamers here, what game soundtracks are still fond to you? That is, if we have any gamers here who enjoy a good soundtrack.

For me, I'd have to say...
Chrono Cross
Shadow Hearts
Final Fantasy X
Red Dead Redemption (set the mood and environment perfectly)
Radiant Historia
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (I'm a sucker for 80's music)
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Persona 3

I received a free download code for the Red Dead soundtrack and can also attest to its awesomeness. In fact, I had been using the tracks Horseplay and Triggernometry as recently as a few weeks ago as custom ringtones, haha. A lot of great original compositions in there that really fit the game flawlessly as you said. Most of the Final Fantasy games Ive played are very good as well (VII stands out in my head simply due to major nostalgia here, and I should throw in Square's underrated Vagrant Story in there as well) the same guy does most of it I think. Some other series I've played where the music really stood out: God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect, Uncharted, Castlevania, Portal, Silent Hill. LA Noire had some very cool pieces that fit its '40s era setting very well and the Transformers third person shooter that came out last year: Fall of Cybertron had some pretty epic music as well. Obviously I've loved all of GTA's liscenced music, Rockstar does a good job of assembling a great variety of stuff in most cases. I was always a fan of the first few Megaman games back on the original Nintendo, some great "8 bit music" in those.

Its true that music and sound sort of get brushed aside at times when people talk about games but a great soundtrack as far as music and effects are usually a big part of any really good game.

[Ed_Reed20]

More nostalgia...

 

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

[Cville-Raven]

Halo: ODST

Medal of Honor Allied Assault

Battlefield 1942

[5superbowlsandproud!]

NBA 2k11 was great, even though most of the songs were licensed.

[Cville-Raven]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8p3MRhvpOI

[Guest nflfan123]

GTA San Andreas times had the best music

[Cville-Raven]

GTA San Andreas times had the best music

I personally liked the east coast rap from 4 more. 

[Guest nflfan123]

I personally liked the east coast rap from 4 more. 

I can see that. I liked the SA soundtrack better though

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

I can see that. I liked the SA soundtrack better though

I agree. Loved SA's soundtrack.