I am a connoisseur of Video Game OSTs. I have for 30 hours of video game music on my computer, and I'd have more if I downloaded it more actively.
Here are some recommendations from my favorite sousdtracks to both bring back nostalgia of video gaming days gone by and stimulate the mind with beautiful music:
Nobuo Uematsu - FINAL FANTASY This man is nothing short of a genius. His soundtracks for Final Fantasy VI and VII are very good, but his music for Final Fantasy IX and X are nothing short of iconic. Uematsu said that IX was the work he was most proud of, and he traveled all over Europe looking for inspiration. The X soundtrack is immersive and beautiful; it pulls you into the world of Spira, which is totally different than any FF setting to date (although XIII is also pretty unique).
Final Fantasy XIII also has a good soundtrack, although Uematsu was not the composer, and the composer left shortly after finishing his work.
Martin O'Donnel - HALO If you've played Halo: CE and 2 like I have, then returning to the music in these games will be a pleasant trip. The Halo 3 soundtrack is also very good. O'Donnel composes his work as a series of 'suites,' which each have their own distinct feel based on the level they represent. Some familiar elements and motifs are constantly re-used in keeping with the game's returning to familiar territory each time through (i.e. discovering Installation 04, discovering Installation 05, discovering Installation 00).
Koji Kondo - LEGEND OF ZELDA The soundtracks for Ocarina and Majora's Mask are wonderful, as is the music for Twilight Princess (although it may be a different composer).
Vangelis - Blade Runner OST Hans Zimmer - The Last Samurai OST Tan-Dun - Hero OST The Chemical Brothers - Hanna OST Daft Punk - Tron Legacy OST 28 Days Later OST The Dust Brothers - Fight Club OST Mark Snow - The X Files Soundtrack Volume 1 Pink Floyd - The Wall Matrix OST Saturday Night Fever OST Trainspotting OST Daft Punk - Interstella 555 OST - well it is basically their 'Discovery' album but anyways Underworld & John Williams - Sunshine OST The Assassin Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford OST by Nick Cave & some dude Thomas Bangalter - Irreversible OST Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill OST Akira OST Ghost In The Shell OST (the movie OST, the Stand alone comples OSTs are great as well)
Gonna bump this with another OST Watched last night Seven Pounds and it had a good OST, if you like piano and strings Also, Where The Wild Things Are OST Oldboy OST Winged Migration OST Everything by Angelo Badalamenti, Fabio Frizzi and Goblin Barry Lyndon OST
This song always gives me chills, it's really well composed in my opinion. You can really feel the emotion.
Chilling song, so awesome. Can't go wrong with Secret of Mana!
Tales of Symphonia 1's intro, excellent game, excellent song.
Terrible game, but I've always loved the intro.
Anything from squaresoft/squareenix/enix is amazing, ANYTHING. Final Fantasy, Tactics, Ogre Battle, Chrono Trigger/Cross. Namco's music is normally spot on for the Tales games too, so any of them have my recommendation as well!
EPT
