For me definitely The world ends with you. It completely shaped my modern taste in funk, pop, rap and hip hop. That and Jet set radio.
FFX back in the PS2 day’s was when I discovered I really love heavy metal.
The 3D zelda games.
That was the point where I prefered soundtracks over singing. I still have the Twilight Princess trailer mp3 I cut almost 20 years ago on my running playlist.
That and the score for Battle for Wesnoth. Classic freeware, peak 2006.
Skate and Destroy, Tony Hawks Pro Skater, GTA 3/Vice City/SA.
Also numerous PSX games are the reason I still listen to that old school drum & bass.
Later, Guitar Hero games.
Need for Speed Underground 2!! All songs were awesome, my favorites were the Riders on the Storm with Snoop and Nobody by Skindred
I think it was one of the Sim City games… I’m not sure if Sim City 2000 or Sim City DS which really woke me up to certain music genres.
Anyway, yeah, The World Ends With You was truly something with its soundtrack. Was such a cool surprise when I first played it on the NDS.
Guitar hero literally got me into real guitar so probably that one
SuperTux
Tony Hawks proskater.
Xenoblade 2, Silent Hill 2
Dave Mirra’s Freestyle BMX
Broo…you just unlocked a core memory dudeeeee
As a kid I would play this asia grinder MMO flyff. Not a good game, but the OST is great, especially the music that would play during login.
Kid me would hear this a lot because I kept forgetting my password…
Test Drive 5 and Hades. Two musical awakenings about 25 years apart.
Both have fantastic sound tracks, but also wildly different.
Myst and Riven. Became homework music for a long time
Not an awakening per se but Splinter Cell Chaos Theory introduced me to Amon Tobin and the world of weird, experimental electronic music.
Symphony of the night of course, bust before that also games like streets of rage (1,2) and thunder force 4.
I don’t know if it was necessarily an awakening, but I’ve had the music from Super Mario Brothers in my head for 40 years. It’s so damn catchy.
