Let's Sperg Best video game soundtrack -

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

I found Nier: Automata soundtrack to be sublime and I want to get Replicant because I've heard that score is just as good, perhaps better. I don't think I've ever heard a bad version of Song of the Ancients.

 

[gaystoner]

The game itself was fun but obviously departed from the OG point of the series. That being said Mass Effect 3 made it feel like you were playing a movie the whole time. This song in particular captures what Interstellars Hans Zimmer eventually would.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I like the Minecraft soundtrack because I can put it on in the background while reading or whatever and forget about it.

Also, all of DOOM (2016)'s OST fucks hard and it's fun to listen to:

 

[Just Dont]

For me is the 90's early 00' games that have the best soundtrack. I'm a sucker for orchestra and I believe that the best OST has to be Soul Reaver. The orchestra and sound composition is amazing and unrivaled by today standards of just synth and studio effects.

It has this dark gothic atmosphere that today games can't compare too.

I also really really enjoyed a very obscure Konami game called OZ (Sword of Etheria)

This is when Konami was at its prime and developed their games with passion and care, and it shows on the soundtrack which is magnificent.

Also someone here already pointed SH OST so I'm going to leave my favorite track of it which it was unreleased but came in the OST of the fourth game (I believe)

 

[a mask of my own face]

hotline Miami

Star control 2

advance wars 2

 

[Skylands]

Definitely Journey for me.

 

[Considered HARMful]

Tyrian, made by no other than Alexander Brandon.

And Diablo 1, of course.

 

[BananaSplit]

Spoiler: Gitaroo Man Lives!

Spoiler: MAD RAT DEAD

Spoiler: Katamari Damacy Forever

 

[Battlecruiser3000ad]

I kinda liked the game, but love the OST.

 

[JamesFargo]

I was a very big fan of Jesper Kyd's Hitman soundtracks and I've never understood why they never brought him back after Blood Money.

Too atmospheric, I wager. It's not something you'd see yourself listening to for fun.

But I prefer his unnerving music to the bombast of WoA.

Best soundtrack: The golden age of JRPGs produced the best songs. Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Lufia II, World of Mana, Legend of Dragoon, Megaten... you just can't top it. Even Skies of Arcadia, which came out at the tail end.

Putting those aside...

The 'best' soundtrack might be MGS2, particularly the plant chapter. It's not a soundtrack which draws a lot of attention to itself. It's set in New York, so you have these weirdly funky, Pink Panther-type instruments and clanking pipes (reminiscent of GoldenEye) as Raiden prowls around. It's suspenseful, without taking itself very seriously. MGS1 sounded like a funeral dirge. (Which is perfect for Snake, but not this story.)

Favorite soundtrack: Even I'm surprised at how often I go back to the early SNES titles, particularly since I owned a Genesis. I guess it reminds me of a more naive time. My favorites are Pilotwings and SimCity.

 

[Drain Todger]

A lot of my favorite game OSTs are from older games, generally. Late 90s through about 2012 was a golden era in game soundtracks. A lot of newer ones are pretty boring and unmemorable, with a few exceptions (Jet Lancer has a fantastic soundtrack, and so do RDR2, Cyberpunk 2077, and Stellaris, to name a few).

Spoiler: Armored Core

Spoiler: Ace Combat

Spoiler: Valkyria Chronicles

Spoiler: Rise of Nations

Spoiler: Supreme Commander

Spoiler: Jet Set Radio

Spoiler: Half-Life

Spoiler: Halo

 

[Arm_of_the_Lord]

I was a very big fan of Jesper Kyd's Hitman soundtracks and I've never understood why they never brought him back after Blood Money.

Crazy to think it's been 15 years since there was a Jesper Kyd Hitman soundtrack.

I'd unironically say that he's the best video game composer, his range and skill for creating atmosphere is unsurpassed.

 

[Derpman123]

Doom

 

[Wingnut]

I found Nier: Automata soundtrack to be sublime and I want to get Replicant because I've heard that score is just as good, perhaps better. I don't think I've ever heard a bad version of Song of the Ancients.

I second the nomination for Nier Automata, soundtrack is absolutely beautiful.

Ace Combat 7 has a fantastic soundtrack:

Fire Emblem Three Houses has some absolute bangers too:

 

[Massively Strong Greed]

Donkey Kong Country 2
Super Smash Bros. Melee

 

[JektheDumbass]

Crono Trigger, this part exactly. You slogged through the longest dungeon of the game up to that point, fought the quirky miniboss squad, and finally made it to Demon King Piccolo Magus' inner sanctum. You are then treated to this sequence:

My first time I got my ass handed to me. I still get chills and to me, this is when Crono Trigger got real.

 

[TFT-A9]

Just Shapes & Beats

Ultrakill

DOOM Eternal

Dusk

MechWarrior 2

Emperor: Battle for Dune

Hotline: Miami 2

Total Annihilation

Killer Instinct (the new one, the old one has some good stuff too)

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

These are just individual samplings - the rest of their OSTs are typically amazing as well and the artists responsible for these are fucking great (Mick Gordon, Frank Klepacki, Jeremy Soule, Andrew Hulshult, David Arkenstone, Gregory Alper and Jeehun Hwang are names that should be in a VGM Hall of Fame if they ever make one)

 

[AbyssStarer]

Etrian Odyssey franchise has some of my favourite soundtrack, I remember how the music blindsided me when I played the game for the first time. It's not what I was expecting from such a weeb looking dunngeon crawler, but it was a welcomed surprise.

And unlike other franchises, the music just kept getting better and better.

Etrian Odyssey does have amazing music, but even Yuzo Koshiro said in the artbook for V that he ran out of ideas for that game. It has a lot less great tracks than all the others.
One of my faves from the series

The Tales series doesn't have great music across the board but the older games were much better than they are now. AFAIK the upper managers tell the composers to make more generic music.

Meme or not, I love the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.

 

[Xenomorph]

MGS: Snake Eater
Red Dead Redemption
Max Payne
TES: Morrowind
TES: Oblivion

 

[Toolbox]

Since people are nominating 2000s shit here's Penny Racers/Gadget Racers for PS2. An obscure little game made to advertise a toy line has some of the most soul of any game I've ever played. Both gameplay wise and the soundtrack.

Incredibly varied soundtrack especially for the game's budget. Seems to mostly be done with MIDI.
One of the best ones.