I’ll start it off - Legend of Dragoon has my heart with this one
Morrowind, hands down
Kingdom Hearts main menu theme. It’s absolutely a nostalgia hit for me. That game was one of my “get-away” games while in a rough situation. Hearing that music always makes me feel a little safer, like I’m just one step away from a completely different life.
Dearly Beloved and the variations on it are the best. I’m partial to the version for Kingdom Hearts 2 but they’re all great
Skyrim, by a longshot. That theme never failed to get me cranked to get my Nordic adventuring on.
Civ 4: Baba Yetu
Such a fantastic song. Not at all surprising that it was the first piece of music from a video game to not only be nominated for but to win a Grammy.
I like this video with it.
For me it’s Civ 5’s theme, always gives me chills
Pretty much any halo has the best menu music to me (I haven’t played 5 though).
There’s a lot of variety between them all too
I’ll go with Mass Effect, the music in the first 3 games is incredible. Especially in the first game I think. This particular piece is called Vigil.
Dude, I only just played the games for the very first time earlier this year and I absolutely feel what you mean. It’s the very first piece of music you hear when you start the game, is used throughout the trilogy in pivotal moments, and is the very last theme that plays in the third game. So awesome
Oh yeah. Leitmotifs are very effective at tying a story together and really help add some punch to those emotional moments.
I absolutely adore Mass Effect. It’s probably my favorite game ever. Top 3 at least.
I do see that the narrative and the gameplay have some flaws, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the games and the ~100h it took me to finish the trilogy. The Citadel DLC was probably my favourite part of the entire series. I’d also probably put the games in my top x favourite games.
Someone: Doesn’t like Mass Effect
Me: “WEAKENING THEIR INTEGRITY!!!”
Eclipse Vanguard 💀
Probably Metroid Prime. Both the Title Theme and the Menu Theme are fantastic.
Xenoblade games also have brilliant title themes. Here’s the one for the first game.
Now, for some spice, let’s branch into a type of game I think most people here won’t have played - Visual Novels often have great title themes.
- Muv-Luv Alternative’s “Crash” is pure hype
- Both Steins;Gate’s “Gate of Steiner” and Steins;Gate 0’s “Messenger” are great themes too.
- I also love VA-11 HALL-A’s “Hopes and Dreams”.
I cannot get over how good the Metroid Prime menu theme is. It’s both chill vibes and an absolute banger at the same time.
Liquid cooled nighttime shades vibe juice for your ears.
Payday 2 really sets the mood with it’s music
Unreal Tournament 2004:
It wasn’t great. It was just good in sense of it’s time. Some of those music still instantly wakes me up and turns into hunting machine
I have the entire soundtrack in my music library, Hyperblast 2 Redeux is awesome.
I also regularly play UT2004 online, DM-Deck17 is my favourite original map, amazing flow, it just goes hard.
My favourite forever will be Gerudo valley remix from one of the custom games
But i know more song from original soundtrack
Skyrim for sure, nothing gets you more prepared to start a new adventure than that.
Honorable mention to the Last of Us after you’ve completed the game and are just sitting there, staring at the screen and wondering what to do next.
Definitely the original main menu music for Dragon’s Dogma.
I remember booting it up on the PS3 back in the day and was like “Wha-?” but after playing the game so many times it’s definitely become a favorite. Both for how out of place it is but also how perfect it fits after all the context of the game.
Sad they replaced it for the Dark Arisen version but luckily there is a mod for PC that restores it in all its glory. :P
Literally the first thing that came to kind. Any time I go to start anything im excited about my brain just starts up the piano.
Skyrim and RuneScape 2 (pre-audio update) are both pretty damn iconic
At my wedding we had the DJ play Skyrim and Witcher 3 music during dinner and it worked way better than it had any business working
Some the Witcher 3 combat music is actually wedding music I believe, so that checks out.