5 Beautiful Gaming Soundtracks to Bless Your Ears

Below I will list a handful of my personal favourite game soundtracks and follow them up with 3 tracks that I adore and think you should listen to. As much as you should also play these games, if you don’t want to, their music is absolutely worth hearing.

Octopath Traveler II

Now, addressing this first, Octopath Traveler also has some brilliant music, but the sequel? The sequel’s music is phenomenal. Octopath Traveler as a game does a wonderful job of telling multiple stories at once, and a good chunk of them are very dark stories, but when it’s developed by giant Square Enix, you can of course expect an outstanding soundtrack.

Octopath Traveler II never falls short of grandeur when the music plays, from the battle and character themes to exploration and town tracks; every step you take is accompanied by a stellar song.

Since the game has a lot of dark tones, you feel that sense of dread and despair, but in its joyous moments, you also feel the happiness and love through the music. Boss battles feel more dire, plot twists feel more shocking, and towns and cities feel more alive… I’m not really sure what kind of concoction the composer put into this game, but I love it.

• Boss Battle! (Critical Clash II)
• Osvald, the Scholar
• Heart’s Lament

Super Mario Galaxy

Let’s be real, Mario games in general have awesome soundtracks, but Super Mario Galaxy holds a special place in my heart. It takes me back to when I was 12 years old, excited for this to finally come out. It was plastered all over video game stores, with countdowns and merchandise, and anytime I listen to the music I immediately get brought back to playing it as a kid.

Looking back now, I didn’t appreciate video game music then as I do now, and this game has such colourful tracks, which is why it sprang to mind. This game’s music does a fantastic job of making you feel the joy and whimsy of a Super Mario game, and provides that “outer-space” feeling of the game’s setting; it’s almost like you can hear the twinkle of stars in a lot of the tracks.

It’s full of wonderful light-hearted tunes and bouncy melodies, which pair very well when you’re using a sling star to fly across various planets. It has its sombre songs with Rosalina and absolute banger tracks when facing Bowser and Bowser Jr. It’s one of those soundtracks you listen to with a big smile on your face.

• Gusty Garden Galaxy
• Space Junk Road
• Enter Bowser Jr.!

Persona 5

Persona 5 not being in my recommendations would be a crime. If you’re looking for music to jam to, this is the game. Track after track of non-stop amazing music, the battle themes, the overworld themes, the main theme, even the damn hangout themes, the list goes on.

The game thrives on its use of jazz and pop-rock music, and it works so well with what a Persona game is. Striking rock music when you first unleash your Persona makes for amazing cutscenes, and the stealth-like tracks when infiltrating the palaces match perfectly with a phantom thief.

I never fail to sing along or bob my head whenever a track plays from this game; it’s that kind of music that gets your body moving and puts you in a good mood.

• Rivers in the Desert
• Last Surprise
• Awakening

Dark Chronicle

Also known as Dark Cloud 2, this game really had me in a chokehold for a long time with its soundtrack. I was obsessed with its tracks because they worked so beautifully with the story, and I’d spend hours on YouTube listening to extended versions of multiple tracks because they were that good.

Each location provided such wonderful music and paired well with its surroundings. Entering the forest, you hear this sombre melodic track play, and the same can be said when entering the valley; the flute works amazingly here. Again, the flute is played alongside a guitar to create the perfect track for the beach.

My love for this game’s music easily comes down to its locations; it could just be down to nostalgia, because whenever I listen to them, I’m brought right back to the exact location, with the characters and story I love so much.

This soundtrack is one I’d specifically recommend if you wanted something to relax to; it does have grander tracks, but most are just tracks you can truly appreciate and enjoy while you’re busy with work, doing chores, anything.

• Kazarov Stonehenge
• Time is Changing
• Balance Valley

Final Fantasy Series

I wouldn’t call myself a die-hard fan; I’ve only played from Final Fantasy X onwards (minus XI and XIV), but look into any of the soundtracks for those games, and you’ve got hours of ear pleasure.

It’s very hard to come by a bad track within this series; I’m sure there are, but you’d have to dig pretty deep. Basically, if you’re looking for every kind of emotion you could possibly feel, it can be found in a Final Fantasy soundtrack.

My 3 for this one will instead be from 3 games I’ve played since I want to shine light on multiple games in this series rather than just one.

• To Zanarkand (Final Fantasy X)
• Noel’s Theme (Final Fantasy XIII-2)
• The Sunleth Waterscape (Final Fantasy XIII)

Growing up and being more appreciative of video game music has made me enjoy my games significantly more, but looking further than that, you don’t even need to play the games; so many soundtracks are masterpieces on their own and genuine inspirations.