Sound Tracks

How important is music to video games in your opinion? Are there any soundtracks you particularly enjoy?

Soundtrack is a crucial part of why I enjoy a game. Some of the few things I listen to nowadays are high quality video game rips, usually from Bravely Default, Mega Man, Pokémon, Kirby, Xenoblade, 7 GRAND DAD and perhaps a few other franchises.

Video game music is also the reason we have such high-quality memes.

Important. Very important.
The mood it sets immerses me in the game. That, in turn, will help me enjoy the game better.

Soundtrack is more important to me in a video game than anything else. A good soundtrack can make me overlook gameplay or a story that is absolutely terrible, and bad soundtrack will completely ruin a game for me regardless of how much I might enjoy it otherwise. I NEED a good OST to immerse myself in a video game: it sets the mood, draws me into the world and the story, and more than anything else provides an immersive experience. You cannot have a good video game without good soundtrack. It is essential.

Good VGM...I could go on and on here. NieR (the original, although Automata is a close second) stands without peer, but Xenoblade Chronicles (JUST the original; 2 has by and large a mediocre OST and Sawano is very hit-and-miss with X's score), the Castlevania, Monster Hunter, and Etrian Odyssey franchises, and Bayonetta 2, all stand out to me right now as examples of good video game soundtrack.

A good soundtrack isn't essential for me, but I still enjoy it if it's there.

I like every boss theme from Paper Mario, and so far in Chrono Trigger, I've liked the themes in almost all the areas.

Breaking the trend of saying soundtrack is important...even though i never tried it for like 6 years or so if i turn off the volume for my game then i dont think there would be any difference. An amazing game with bad music is better than a bad game with amazing music. If I dont like the music for the game then i would just turn off the volume like i said earlier. Though it is a good thing if a game had good music. Just my 2 cents.

I would not say they are very important to me in the sense that there are many games I love but don't necessarily find the soundtrack amazing or anything, but a great soundtrack certainly helps push a great game over the top for me - I love it when a soundtrack really meshes with the game and the mood of each area/scene.

So I don't really know if a great game makes the soundtrack more memorable for me or vice versa, to be honest, but I find that soundtracks always stick out more to me if the game itself already had a strong emotional impact on me, few examples being:

- The Last of Us
- Undertale
- Crisis Core (+lots of Final Fantasy soundtracks in general, lbr)
- To the Moon

A soundtrack doesn't make the game but it can certainly separate it from others like it. Some Franchises with exceptional soundtracks include Zelda(Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, Windwaker, A Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild. Seriously pick a Zelda title and you got an exceptional soundtrack that is so good that they made a Symphony out of it), X-Wing(Star Wars is known for two things: Exceptional Action and Soundtrack(John Williams is best modern composer imo). Although it's 93 version was meh, it's remastered 95 version is what makes it standout) and Twisted Metal(This car demolition franchise had some memorable soundtracks that made blowing up other people even more fun to do). Even Super Mario and Sonic wouldn't be what they are without the Soundtrack to go with it.

I wouldn't say "important". As someone who like to multitask and play mostly on handheld console, I often play without any music. Don't get me wrong, when I do play with music, and headphones, I wonder why I don't do this more often. But for some reasons, I don't.

I use the soundtracks on youtube when I need to study, or just for fun. It's not like I've never listen a song while playing, many songs have great meanings and memories for me. But I enjoy a soundtrack more while I study or I don't play.

My favorite are Minecraft (both Beta and Alpha version) and Ori and the Blind Forest. Pokemon and Zelda has a lot of great songs too.

Not very. So long as it accents it fine, it can be forgettable but it does its job.

But if it goes above and beyond, the music not only heightens the game, but becomes its own thing too. Thinking Persona 5 on that.

Most of my favorite games tend to include OSTs that I love. So I'd say they play a huge role in my overall enjoyment of a game. There are games that I might not necessarily consider some of my favorites but have soundtracks that I will listen to from time to time. (Animal Crossing series, Undertale, various JRPGs I might not have finished.)

I tend to agree that whilst an amazing soundtrack isn't required, and isn't going to cover for a bad game,it can be a big part in elevating an already good game to the next level.

Soundtracks can make a game for me, but never break. I mean if the soundtrack is bad I can always put on a playlist of my own and the experience will be just fine. If the soundtrack is stunningly amazing however the experience for me will be a lot more enjoyable. DOOM 2016 for instance has a great OST that mixes in so well with the game and during certain moments within the game aswell.