The 25 Best Video Game Soundtracks Ever
Video game soundtracks have come a long way from the bleeps and bloops of yesteryear to the orchestral medleys, licensed tracks, and vaporwave beats of today. When we talk about how effective a game is at what it's trying to do, music often plays a key role.
The epic chorus chants in Skyrim pump you up to fight a dragon, the lonely piano melody in Breath of the Wild helps sell the quiet isolation of Hyrule, and the folksy instrumentals of The Witcher 3 make you feel at home ambling around the Continent.
It's also worth considering how well the soundtrack holds up on its own, removed from the action on-screen. There's certainly a difference between a toe-tapping symphony and a forgettable cacophony. If we can cut away the nostalgic favoritism for a moment and focus on the musical achievement, here are our picks for the best video game soundtracks. Start streaming and enjoy.
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One of the coolest things about video game music is that it doesn't have to be predetermined—designers can make it reactive to the action or other elements. One of the first experiments with changing soundtracks in-game came with Lucasfilm Game's future-sports title Ballblazer. Using a unique algorithm, the main melody "Song of the Grid" plays through millions of unique combinations. This would just be a corny novelty if the end results didn't absolutely slap, but they do.
Bastion(Opens in a new window) was a strong debut from Supergiant Games, but it's the impressive soundtrack that people look back on most fondly. Composer Darren Korb developed a unique acoustic hip hop sound by using sampled beats along with an acoustic guitar. The game's soundtrack was given a separate release, including additional songs not included in the game, and
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