# Video Game Favorite Scores



## Huilunsoittaja

Hello everyone! Been a long time since I've posted, let alone made a thread. In fact, been a long time since I regularly talked to anyone about classical music. I barely listen to it anymore, it's kinda sad. What came in its place is rather surprising, at least for me. I have been obsessed with a single soundtrack (roughly 2 hours of official music, and couple hours unofficial stuff)

Ghost of Tsushima has a score mainly combining western orchestral aesthetic with Japanese folk tradition. You will find majority of its main titles as a mixture, but you'll have some all-out taiko or shamisen consorts for certain combat settings. One of the most important instruments is the shakuhachi, which the title protagonist plays himself at several points in the game, even in the main story.

This track below is considered perhaps the highlight of the whole game, this story moment (the ending). Otherwise, the feature title song of the game "Way of the Ghost" is the definitive track, that which defines the whole aesthetic, themes, and expression this game bears for its audience.

(If you click the track you'll obviously see a bunch of spoiler comments and people weeping and stuff, it's great but just be warned lol. You might also find a top comment from a "Flutist"   )





The score has been nominated a couple times among various game awards, but I think it only one once somewhere. Otherwise seems to have been dismissed as simple music, which technically it is because it's based on folk music. Honestly the themes are super solid and well-made, and a lot of it is used in leitmotivic ways in the game, for various dialogues and events.

For those who enjoy video game soundtracks, especially true symphonic ones, this is _definitely _recommended. I hope you enjoy the whole thing, if not play the game for yourself!

I got plenty of other video game scores I could talk about but I'll settle just with this one, this has been running through my brain ever since the game came out in July 2020.

FUN FACT! This game will be adapted into a movie in a few years, and if they borrow from the score, then obviously it's gonna gain a level of fame that it only has among fans right now.


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## Huilunsoittaja

I posted this a couple weeks ago, I'm surprised no one had anything to add? Don't you guys know Video Game Scores? There are some phenomenal ones out there, all different styles. And there are dozens of orchestral scores if you're not much into other genres.

Lucasfilm has acquired a couple really good composers that write very authentically like John Williams for their star wars video games. For Jedi Fallen Order, they got the London Symphony Orchestra to perform their score. Here's one favorite that definitely has that Williams vibe:


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## Red Terror

*God of War OST (Bear McCreary - Overture)*


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## JB Henson

=)


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## Phil loves classical

Played quite a few MMO games. I found much of the music unremarkable, but LOTRO has some nice moody stuff I thought. I compiled an album of the music for my afternoon naps (whenever I can take them).


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## perempe

Forbidden Forest (C64)


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## DeepR

To me, one video game soundtrack stands lonely at the top: *Super Castlevania IV* (SNES, 1991)

Has fantastic, catchy and moody music throughout the game and saves the best for last. It really builds towards a climax, both the game and its music.
I played it as a kid sometimes just to hear the music. So this is also nostalgia talking of course. 

My favorite tracks:

0:29 Theme of Simon
3:40 Forest of Monsters
7:02 The Cave
16:31 Rotating Room
27:38 Chandeliers
45:08 Bloody Tears
47:23 Vampire Killer
48:30 Beginning
50:25 Room of Close Associates
53:05 Dracula Battle
57:27 Ending


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## MarChant

The Dragon Quest games all have beautiful symphonic music. There are several Suites on YouTube.





The one I am most familiar with is Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the cursed King
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFF48874738197D15

Beatiful music and I would love to play some of these tunes, but that'll probably never happen...


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## pkoi

I've been lately listening a lot of the score of CD Project Red's Cyberpunk 2077. The score is composed by Marcin Przybyłowicz, P.T. Adamczyk, and Paul Leonard-Morgan. The score is a wonderful mixture of industrial music, heavy metal (to some degree), ambient and perhaps electronic film scoring in the vein of Blade Runner's soundtrack by Vangelis. I think the music fits to the general mood of the game perfectly. Some of my favourites from the score:


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## Forster

Astro's Playroom for the PS5 continues the tradition of irritatingly catchy dinky tunes. One sounded like a copy of Starlight by Muse. Fun game though.

My favourite ever was for Ecco the Dolphin on the Sega. Highly atmospheric.


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## pkoi

Another favourite of mine is from my childhood. I absolutely loved the soundtrack of EA's Dos/Windows 95-version of NHL96 back when it was released, and I still do. Even 25 years later, I still find myself occasionally installing the game via dosbox on my computer and just listening to the excellent music heard in the intro and the menus of the game. The score for the game was created by Jeff van Dyck, who was also responsible for other early-mid 90s EA-games scores, such as Need for Speed.

Just have a listen of the brilliant music heard at the intro of the game. The video is also very cool.






The menu music is also great:


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## mr bob

Phil loves classical said:


> Played quite a few MMO games. I found much of the music unremarkable, but LOTRO has some nice moody stuff I thought.


Lotro has some great stuff that's true!

Another example of good music:


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