The results from NeoGAF's Game Soundtracks of the Year 2016 vote are below. Enjoy! Additionally thanks to Earthpainting for helping to count up the votes and making the archive. Thanks to Noi for helping me out with the thread creation again. Also to Xander Cage and Aeana for administrative stuff (mostly the stickying and unstickying).
Results
1.
Final Fantasy XV – 302 points, 28 honorable mentions
Composers: Yoko Shimomura, Yoshitaka Suzuki, Tetsuya Shibata, Yoshino Aoki, Shota Nakama
Hellfire
Apocalypsis Noctis
Valse di Fantastica
The battle themes, stand your ground, veiled in black and the exploration themes like wanderlust and valse di fantastica are beautiful and fit right in with the high quality of the other themes from the series. I just wish the fantastica theme would stick around a bit longer. Ardyn's theme perfectly fits his characters and the change when things go down is really well done. There's such a large amount of what's there that is great, the variations on the battle theme throughout are epic, the Somnus theme is just as effective as it was when it was first announced that long ago, the Cape Caem theme is just so peaceful to listen to feels like it is from a different game altogether and although in that area to seem like a rest bite in-between the two segments of the story and I also really liked the hammerhead remix towards the end of the game and the other tracks contained in the last 8 or so that play out the soundtrack are just brilliant. Apocalypsis Noctis is up there with my favourites from the series also just helps convey the aspects of the game that were done well when it plays. I also enjoyed having samples of the other entries soundtracks available while traveling long distances, felt like a nod to previous entries done right for me.
Final Fantasy XV's OST's greatest strengths is how it confidently blends a sheer breadth of musical styles while still living up to the grandiose nature of the series' musical legacy.Safe Haven's calming nature only highlights the vivid passion of Valse di Fantastica. Tracks in towns like Hammerhead convey a slow laid back nature perfectly. Relax and Reflect help round out the OST by adding something playful. When combat ensues, combat themes such as Up for the Challenge perfectly encapsulates a riveting battle anthem which borders on the daring while reveling in excitement. It's all these differing styles and compositions that create an engrossing soundtrack that manages to elicit great emotions in the listener.
The soundtrack of Final Fantasy XV is the only one from 2016 that I feel will be cherished years from now. It is full of home run hits and has a surprising amount of variety in both style and instrumentation. Some of these tracks are instant classics and rival some of the best that the Final Fantasy franchise and the gaming industry as a whole have to offer.
2.
DOOM – 261 points, 23 honorable mentions
Composers: Mick Gordon, Bobby Prince, Chris Hite
BFG Division
Rip and Tear
Flesh & Metal
1. Doom : Most people didn't expect the game to be this good, and the OST even less. It could have been some basic remixes, or just some original composition that wasn't memorable or particularly remarkable, but instead we got one of the best heavy soundtracks in years. Some remixes are there, but sometimes well hidden, or really modernized so much it is like a brand new track.
Without falling into the nostalgia of old Doom, Mick Gordon managed to create a soundtrack harsh and hypnotic completely fitting the classic Doom universe, and leading to some synaesthesia moments during gameplay, where the beats sync up perfectly with the gore attacks, with Doomguy flying from a demon to another, all while making the player sweating to avoid damage. Bloody fantastic!
I typically fucking hate djent and even I love BFG Division. Doom's soundtrack works for the same reason Doom's story does: it has a sense of humor. The music in this game is so ridiculous you can't help but smile and play along. This isn't the metal video game soundtrack I want, but I'm still stoked to see people on here and on Twitter and whatnot getting excited about this score. I can only hope it acts as a gateway metal album for many.
I don't really like djent metal on a personal level, but in DOOM it's used to perfection. It fits the game unbelievably well, and it contributes greatly to the feel of constant power and pure badassery the game instills in every corner of its design. Mick Gordon's 8-string guitars provide a feeling of raw brutality that accurately encapsulates what DOOM is all about. When the metal begins, your own song and dance of death and destruction follows soon after.
3.
The Last Guardian – 173 points, 9 honorable mentions
Composer: Takeshi Furukawa
Overture: Lore
Epilogue
Flashback
Furukawa's restraint occasionally gives way to bombast, and those moments are cathartic. Though it must have been difficult to compose in the shadow of the legendary Shadow of the Colossus OST, Furukawa impresses with an intimate set of tracks befitting of the relationship between Trico and the boy. Like the game, the soundtrack can be playful and serious, curious and determined, and melancholy and uplifting. The six or so note main hook that props up throughout the OST is an ear worm.
Finished this recently and it became my game of the year and the soundtrack has grown on me quite a lot. Its beautiful, the way it swoops into moments in the game is really effective similar to the previous games. Its very traditional when compared to those games, Michiru Oshima's incredibly beautiful ambient soundtrack for Ico and Ko Otani had an epic collection of tracks for Sotc filled with interesting instrumentation. Takeshi Furukawa traditional/ classical music for this works perfectly for what this game is trying to achieve like the others did for those. The way it builds especially in those end segments of the game is brilliant and those specific moments when the music kicks in such as the forest track when you reach that enclosure outside or the victorious music that plays as Trico knocks about the knights fits the moments really well. Definitely will play through it again so it will probably continue to grow on me even more than it already has with subsequent play throughs and listens like with Ico and Sotc soundtracks.
4.
Furi – 141 points, 11 honorable mentions
Composers: Carpenter Brut, Danger, Waveshaper, Lorn, The Toxic Avenger, Scattle, Kn1ght
Make This Right (
remix)
My Only Chance
Danger 6:24
You know, considering the love the Hotline Miami soundtacks get I'm surprised more aren't talking about the similar synth fuelled Furi and its 80's nostagia kick. Themes often fall comfortably into two categories, music for slow walking towards the next boss and music for fucking up said boss. Bringing together a host of various artists, I think the music this time around by the likes of say Scattle may have been made for the game as opposed to plucked from their existing musical library ala Hotline Miami but don't trust me on that.
Every track's tempo and movement was styled to capture every boss's movement, every boss's trick, and how they wanted to deal with you. Parts of every track is composed in such a way that it loops and changes during phase changes of the fight, or when various attacks are going to happen. In that essence, the pacing of every piece of music is dictated by you, the player. You have the agency to turn the tide of every fight, and you have the agency to thus change how the melody is being played. While other soundtracks of 2016 tried to capture the essence of dynamics, a lot of it is left up to environmental influences or where you are in the town, or if it does happen in a boss fight it only happens after you whittle the boss down to x HP or the music changes outright. With Furi's soundtrack, it's amazing how even the littlest things change with your input. That's the truest piece of player agency I can ask for. Even when you pause the game, it'll tell you who did which song you're listening to in the game at the time.
5.
Dark Souls 3 – 97 points, 12 honorable mentions
Composers: Yuka Kitamura, Tsukasa Saitoh, Motoi Sakuraba, Nobuyoshi Suzuki
Secret Betrayal
Abyss Watchers
Iudex Gundyr
This is the first Souls soundtrack composed primarily by Yuka Kitamura, and she did a great job taking things in a slightly different direction. I was initially a little cool on this soundtrack since it's generally more subdued and less bombastic than a typical Souls game, but is does a great job capturing the game's theme of inevitability and has some real standout tracks. Plus, Sakuraba contributed a few tracks of his own to round things out with his usual bombast.
Easy winner. All the Souls games have fantastic, consistently amazing OSTs after all. And is that main menu / title screen too epic for its own good or what?
6.
Pokemon Sun & Moon – 78 points, 12 honorable mentions
Composers: Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, Minako Adachi, Hitomi Sato, Tomoaki Oga, Hideaki Kuroda
Battle! (Team Skull Admin)
Vs Red & Blue
Battle! (Elite Four)
Sure, it's another Pokémon soundtrack. But oh, what a Pokémon soundtrack it is. Series highlights abound in most categories, with the game boasting the best Legendary battle theme, some of the best town music in the series, and, in the form of Team Skull's various themes, the finest, funniest tracks to be found in any game this year. Pokémon as a series has some of the best soundtracks in gaming, and I feel it's only right to reward the best in the series with the highest marks here.
When I first heard Ten Carat Hill in the demo, I knew this was going to be a good one. I'm not particularly eloquent at this, so Bewear with me for a while, there's Swalot to cover and I'm feeling enthusiastic... While the main series is no stranger to utilizing leitmotif, Sun & Moon takes the concept to much greater lengths than any of the prior games and uses it in some interesting ways... For me personally, Sun & Moon has surpassed Diamond & Pearl, Black & White/2 and Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire and taken the spot as my favorite Pokemon soundtrack.
7.
Fire Emblem: Fates – 74 points, 8 honorable mentions
Composers: Hiroki Morishita, Takeru Kanazaki, Rei Kondoh, Masato Kouda, Yasuhisa Baba
Alight (Calm/Storm)
Boss C1
Map F
I love how the music is integrated with the game's design, giving each side its own distinct instrumentation; you can instantly tell a Hoshidan track from a Nohrian one. Even the third route has its own distinct soundscape. I didn't think it was possible for a leitmotif to be more tightly woven into a soundtrack than Awakening's Id, but Lost In Thoughts All Alone shows up everywhere.
Fire Emblem narrowly takes the top, surprisingly due to Lost in Thoughts, All Alone. You would think I would get bored with it after 60+ hours of it, but it all pays off when End of All starts over the final battle and Rena Strober's voice fills your headphones (which you should be using cause the music is amazing). The Hoshido tracks also add a new feel to Fire Emblem, with Okami's Rei Kondoh bringing in his amazing compositions. Finally, you get to hear Matthew Mercer sing, which is great by itself.
8.
VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action – 51 points, 5 honorable mentions
Composer: Michael Kelly (Garoad)
Every Day is Night
All Systems Go
March of the White Knights
I can go on, but the majority of VA-11 HALL-A's soundtrack feels like a step back in time in a good way. I feel like I'm playing something on a PC-88 or Sega CD all over again, or even an old Shin Megami Tensei game. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the absolute quality of the samples used on this soundtrack, every theme's tempo, the way each piece progresses, and how each piece works so well in tandem with the game they were produced for. Nothing's obnoxiously loud and stands head and shoulders above the rest and tips the scale in its favour, the pieces don't run together because they don't sound alike, and every piece was composed to suit a steampunk era filled with different subgenres of music. The soundtrack fit the game like a perfect glove. I absolutely enjoyed this soundtrack from beginning to end, and it made, and still makes my playthroughs a pleasure to bartend. I'm looking forward to hearing more from Michael Kelly in the future.
I feel like a lot of games lately are falling victim to this very popular grim, too-serious cyberpunk style and while this game dabbles in a lot of that, it provides a spotlight to something much more unique in the cyberpunk genre and that shows up in spades with the soundtrack. I was expecting a lot of the tracks for this soundtrack to have a much darker vibe but there is just this constant bright and colorful atmosphere to so many songs here that I can't help but fall in love with. It all feels very methodical and nearly every key and every synth displayed never feels like it needs to be more or less than what it needs to be in the context of this game's narrative.
9.
Hyper Light Drifter – 48 points, 10 honorable mentions
Composer: Disasterpeace
The Sentients
The Midnight Wood
The Refiner's Fire
I actually bounced off this game pretty hard (keep in mind, I played before the 60fps patch) but the soundtrack kept me going. The music here did a far better job of wordless storytelling than the messy pixel art paintings ever did, with a pervasive sense of melancholy and wonder. It often reminds me of G A S or early Aphex Twin. The album is still in heavy rotation at home.
Probably my favourite thing Disasterpeace has done yet, building on the chiptune-y take on something like Boards of Canada that has defined his sound. Goes a long way to portraying that game's unique vision of the post-apocalypse with some amazingly atmospheric ambient synth work with a distorted, lo-fi, analog twist.
10.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – 47 points, 11 honorable mentions
Composer: Henry Jackman
The Twelve Towers
Cut to the Chase
A Thief's End
It might not have as much instrument diversity as the previous uncharted games but something about this soundtrack stuck with me far more than the all the others. The music elevates each of the battle sequences with my favourites being "Cut to the Chase", "The Twelve Towers", "New Devon" ,"Brother's Keep " which are kind of fast paced and lively which really helps with my enjoyment. I also liked the more subtle, quieter music like "A normal life" which was really great especially used in the driving sections later on when Elena and Nathan are together.
Sends the series off on precisely the sort of swashbuckling, high-adventure note it needed. The Uncharted series has a proud history of fine scores to match its derring-do, and Uncharted 4 boasts probably the best of the bunch.
11.
World of Final Fantasy – 37 points, 5 honorable mentions
Composers: Masashi Hamauzu, Shingo Kataoka, Hayata Takeda, Ryo Yamazaki, Ryo Shirasawa, Ryusuke Fujioka, Mitsuto Suzuki
World of Nine Woods Hills
Prismelody: Blinded By Light
Labyrinth of Lights
Overall I really love this soundtrack. It's about half and half new stuff /old stuff, with the old stuff being arrangements that are absolutely on point. I love how the culmination of Hamauzu's style over the past few years and influences from his other recent works can so easily be heard in the OST. It's such a solidly made soundtrack, and when you factor in the arrangements it's really is apparent that it's a large work of love that's consistent throughout. The way the aesthetic is kept consistent throughout the game is also really impressive when you consider the sheer number of original tracks and arrangements. I find that it worked its way into my daily listening while at work, and it never fails to absorb me. I love that despite being a fantastic game soundtrack, it's also just phenomenal music on its own. Even when I was in grad school, I was bringing piano reductions of a lot of his works to my composition and piano lessons. Heck, I even dedicated part of my graduate thesis to presenting analysis of his works since they hold up very well in even the academic space. Easily the best soundtrack for a game with Final Fantasy in the title this year by light-years.
12.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt – Blood & Wine – 32 points, 4 honorable mentions
13.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II – 31 points, 1 honorable mention
Composers: Falcom Sound Team jdk (Hayato Sonoda, Takahiro Unisuga)
Awakening
Blue Destination
Transcend Beat
Overall, the approach to this OST fits the game perfectly. Cold Steel 2 has a much more serious, determined tone to it, with the hint of a somber cloud overshadowing almost everything. The situation of this game is pretty dire for the country, and really dire for the main cast. I feel like this mood is conveyed properly through the music, and it really elevates the experience. The title screen music really helps convey the tone of the game immediately. From the lighter colors of music from the first game, there's a much darker, warmer tone present that I found to be sonorously rich. I sat on the title screen for almost a half hour when I started up the game because I loved the title screen track so much. They encapsulated the feeling of the tone of the game so much, just like the first game's title music did.
14.
No Man's Sky – 30 points, 9 honorable mentions
Composers: 65daysofstatic
Supermoon
Heliosphere
Escape Velocity
Say what you will about the game itself, but No Man's Sky has an epic soundtrack. 65daysofstatic, the math rock band behind the game's music, did a stellar job at creating a soundscape that helps define No Man's Sky's tone. A special tool was developed to dynamically generate what you hear in-game in real-time, based on random combinations of musical elements. As a result, you won't be able to find the exact track you hear in-game in the official soundtrack, but you will certainly hear pieces of the soundtrack in-game.
15.
Oxenfree – 29 points, 9 honorable mentions
Composers: scntfc
Epiphany Fields
Beacon Beach
Lost Prologue
Oxenfree was one of my most memorable gaming experiences from the last few years. It's a clever game with charismatic characters and phenomenal art direction, with an almost palpable atmosphere thanks to scntfc/Andrew Rohrmann's incredible score. Half of the soundtrack is charming and relaxing, but with a constant ominous and relentless undertone. The other half is, well, hair-raising. I'm always in awe of soundtracks that have a perfect synergy with the games they were written for, and my top three gaming soundtracks for 2016 encompass this well. Oxenfree does steal the show in this department, and there are very few soundtracks that enhance both the pacing of the game and the art direction with the score alone. Oxenfree would be a wonderful game without its soundtrack, but Rohrmann takes it to another level, and the two feel irrevocably intertwined in both a beautiful and deeply uncomfortable experience.
