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NeoGAF's Official Game Soundtracks of the Year 2016: Voting Ends January 15th

1). Final Fantasy XV

2). Uncharted 4

3). The Last Guardian

As for tracks, I like all of the songs on each soundtrack. FFXV is exceptional, however and easily tops the list.
 
D

Deleted member 98878

Unconfirmed Member
1. Mafia III
2. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
3. Oxenfree

Honourable Mentions: Battlefield 1
 

Andrew J.

Member
1. Fire Emblem Fates. 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.

My personal favorite tracks are the big climactic battle themes: Alight (Storm), A Dark Fall (Fire), and Glory/Ruin (Deeds).

2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice. Each Ace Attorney's Pursuit/ Cornered theme is usually the highlight, and this one is no exception, but there's also one other track that avoids being totally outshined, The Last Rites Prosecutor.

3. Pokemon Sun and Moon. The environmental music contributes a lot to Alola's distinctive sense of place. The battle themes are excellent as well; the regular vs. Trainer music is the best in the series, I love the leitmotifs in the Team Skull and Aether Foundation tracks, and there are tons of great one-offs. My personal picks are vs. Solgaleo/Lunala and vs. Tapu, which sounds like the game is chanting a haka at you.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
wowzers, we're getting more votes than we have in a while. I'm so happy. ;A;

It's been a while since these voting threads (including the Generation threads in this assessment) went past two pages so I'm happy.

I just finished Furi last night (which is a lock for me; man that soundtrack had everything I wanted out of it), and I'm going to start Va-11 Hall-A soon to finally hear that soundtrack in context. It's weird not having a Falcom soundtrack on my own list for once.

Anyway, I'll update the archive a bit later. Holidays are super-busy and stressful for me since I do all the stuff for it so didn't get to look at this thread until now.

While there's nothing this year that blew me away, this has still been a very solid year for soundtracks. 2017 looks incredibly promising, too. Here's to good music in games!
Nice to see you again!! :D

Great writeup! I feel the same way about XV, though. Thoraxes and Xander Cage would agree, too.
 
The power of the sticky, surprised it took this long for the "of the year" threads to get this treatment.

It's so easy to miss the part where Phenac city just changes tone since it requires a fair amount of uninterrupted lingering, I remember it catching me by surprise when I first heard it go all jaunty.

It's weird not having a Falcom soundtrack on my own list for once.
I'm shook over here.
 

XDDX

Member
1. Fire Emblem Fates

This is the one I keep coming back to even after finishing the game. Lots of variety here and it has a feel that I haven't felt in a lot of other games. There are a bunch of amazing battle themes and an iconic main theme. It's a perfect fit for the game which I also enjoyed a lot.

Road Taken
Alight (Storm)
Path of the Hero King

2. Pokemon Sun and Moon

Great overall but it has a few really standout tracks that I didn't expect. Feels really different in comparison to older Pokemon games and that's something I like.

Vast Poni Canyon
Ten Carat Hill
Guzma Battle Theme

3. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

It's a game about music and idols, it has to have a great soundtrack to go with it, and it does! Probably my favorite normal battle theme in recent memory, great vocal tracks and some really relaxing area themes.


Normal Battle

Beastie Game
Shibuya

Honorable Mentions:

Just going to highlight some outstanding tracks from a few other games in no particular order.


Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hope Ster

Final Fantasy XV - Invidia
Pokken Tournament - Magikarp Festival

Uncharted 4 - Cut to the Chase

Fast Racing Neo DLC - Mori Park
Monster Hunter Generations - Mizutsune Theme
Paper Mario Color Splash - Port Prisma
Street Fighter V - Rashid Theme
Killer Instinct Season 3 - The Dragon Spirit
 

Jucksalbe

Banned
This turned out to be a rather messy post. Sorry that I technically didn't write anything proper about the games, but at least the formatting should be up to standards.
Also, I'm glad to see turnout seems to be better this time. Keep the votes coming!

1. Atelier Sophie

Composed by Kazuki Yanagawa, Daisuke Achiwa, Tatsuya Yano, Hayato Asano, Ryudai Abe, Yu Shimoda, Miyoko Kobayashi, RURUTIA

I always love the Atelier games' mix of upbeat and kinda melancholic music with its folk influences. And I hardly ever get to mention them, because I'm usually way behind on the series and didn't yet play the most recent game. Not this year!

Campanella of Sun Through Trees # Scenery of the Town ~Morning~ # It's Oskar
An Odd Couple # Cliffhanger # La Coccinelle
Low Blow Battle # Pure Wind # Whispers of Trees ~Night~
Juno # Sorrow

2. Gotta Protectors

Composed by Yuzo Koshiro, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Shinji Hosoe, OguraHisayoshiOngaSeisakushow, Motoaki Furukawa

Yeah, this is gonna be a bit different. I could only find the two tracks listed below on YouTube, it seems nobody bothered to upload much of this. NicoNico is a nightmare to find anything on if you don't speak Japanese (if they even allow game music on there, I don't know). It's a real shame. This is a game that really focussed on its music as one of its major selling points. It even has additional (paid) DLC with FM sound versions of all the soundtrack, something they later did again with Etrian Odyssey V. Which is nice, it feels like game music is treated with the respect it deserves. Each song even gets its own fake "CD cover" in-game (see above). Anyway, the music is great, the game's great. Give it a chance. And to that one person who knows how to do it: please upload the soundtrack to YouTube! The only downside tp this OST is that there aren't all that many tracks in the game. But then again, it's just a small eShop game.

Endless Squall
Theme Song
(also check out "Retro Nitro Girl" and "8-bit Memories")


3. Nights of Azure

Composed by Hayato Asano, Kazuki Yanagawa, Daisuke Achiwa, Toshiharu Yamanishi

Could have sworn I've read almost all of those names in this post before. Ah well, this is a rather different beast in style from the Atelier series. It varies from softer pieces (often using a piano) for the emotional scenes to rock (or metal) tracks for the fighting areas and boss fights and jazzy music for everything around your hub. Most of it is pretty awesome, but everything that has this "bar music" jazz style always reminds me of Tales of Xillia 2 and that's not a good thing.

Eve on Piano # Lady Crimson # Malicious Roses
Goliath Z # The Night, Servans and I # Rusty Trail
Waltzing Gallop # Vivace # Sad Vampire (Ver. MMXV) (though, apparently this is originally from Atelier Elie)
Slumber # desire # Edge of Apocalypse
Bloody Blue

x. World of Final Fantasy

Composed by Masashi Hamauzu, Shingo Kataoka, Hayata Takeda, Nobuo Uematsu, Kumi Tanioka, Ryo Yamazaki, Ryo Shirasawa, Ryusuke Fujioka

Plenty of arrangements of classic Final Fantasy (and some other games') tracks coupled with some new ones. At least I think there's a good chunk of new ones, could be I just missed the reference in many of them. Decided to "only" give this an honorable mention since it relies so much on old tracks, but it's definitely worth checking out. I hear there was another Final Fantasy game this year, but I might not be able to properly give that one a try before the deadline. I can still edit this post if for some reason this ends up being relevant for this vote.

Boss Battle Theme # Battle Theme #1
Warrior of Light Summon # Cloud Summon # Yuna Summon
The Girl's Tearoom # Saronia Docks # Sunken Temple


LTTP. Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence

Composed by Masako Otsuka

This surprised me, it was the first game I played in this series apart from a short try of the SNES game, so I didn't expect much in terms of game music. Strategy games, in my experience, very often have only servicable music that you'd probably mute after a short while. To be honest, I still haven't played much of the game, it's rather hard to get into, but that doesn't mean I can't still appreciate its music.

Wing of Hope # Crimson Obsession # Rising Pulse
Unseen Shadow # Bided Time # Follow the Light
Faint Light # Floating Petals


There's a few games I didn't get to play yet that I expect to have a great OST, especially the new SMT game. But isn't it always like this? Next year's LTTP spot needs some candidates, too.
 

MrBadger

Member
1. Rhythm Heaven Megamix

A collection of all the best music from the Rhythm Heaven series. It gets my vote because the vast majority of the original music is fantastic

Kitties
Sumo Brothers
First Contact
Second Contact
Honeybee Remix

2. Kirby Planet Robobot

The first stage music has been stuck in my head since I first played it. It's the usual Kirby stuff with all the familiar remixes, but it's great stuff as always

Patched Plains
Robobot Theme
Obligatory King Dedede Remix
Rhythm Route
VS Star Dream
PROGRAM
True Arena

3. Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice

Some fantastic remixes of existing tracks and some really good original stuff too. I remembered it being underwhelming when I was playing it, but re-listening to it all while making this list has changed my mind. It's some good shit. Only reason it's 3 and not 1 is because the Khurain stuff's a bit lame and Phoenix's objection theme is yet again his boring T&T/DD theme. Pales in comparison to Apollo and Athena's majestic theme music

A Cornered Heart
A New Chapter of Trials 2016
Courtroom Revolution 2016
Cross Examination 2016
It's Show Time
The Masked Magician
Sad Monk - The Last Rites Prosecutor
Pursuit - Cornering Together
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD2reihH1E8

Honorable Mentions:
Paper Mario Colour Splash, which I never played past the beginning, but I listened to the music on Youtube and it's some strong stuff
Final Fantasy XV. I'm too scared to give the soundtrack a proper listen because then Youtube will start recommending me spoilers. What I've heard is great and I look forward to hearing more in the game
Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero, which will probably take spot number 3 is Rhythm Heaven ends up being an ineligible pick (I'm half awake right now and reading rules properly is hard)
Pokken Tournament, which I totally forgot about before reading another vote for it but the soundtrack was so good. Neos City Night is my jam

LTTP:
Sonic After the Sequel

If Sonic Twitter is cool with fan games, I hope Gaf is too because I finally got round to trying this game out earlier this year and the soundtrack really is as good as everyone said it'd be. It's gotten me excited to buy Spark the Electric Jester next year, which as I understand, features the same pool of composers. I'd really like to give it a mention

Ascent to Madness
Freefall
Memories
The Schizophrenic Tower
Turquoise Paradise

It's only the LTTP vote but If this game's nature as a fan game disqualifies it, just pretend I posted a bunch of tracks from Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door or Danganronpa 2 - Goodbye Despair.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Plenty of arrangements of classic Final Fantasy (and some other games') tracks coupled with some new ones. At least I think there's a good chunk of new ones, could be I just missed the reference in many of them. Decided to "only" give this an honorable mention since it relies so much on old tracks, but it's definitely worth checking out. I hear there was another Final Fantasy game this year, but I might not be able to properly give that one a try before the deadline. I can still edit this post if for some reason this ends up being relevant for this vote.

A little over half of the OST was all original work, like 95% of that stuff was Hamauzu.

In my playtime however, I think i've heard much more of the original stuff than the remixes, but i'm only about 25 hours in so far.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
It's only the LTTP vote but If this game's nature as a fan game disqualifies it, just pretend I posted a bunch of tracks from Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door or Danganronpa 2 - Goodbye Despair.
Nah that's fine. I used to throw in stuff like Sonic Before/After the Sequel or fan patch mods for soundtracks as a separate "category" for fun years ago but I don't mind these being LTTP at all.

Oh for those new to these threads (or new to me lol)... I like reading posts! If you wanted to write about a soundtrack that doesn't fit into any category, please write your thoughts if you'd like! I might write my thoughts of the new FFXIV Duality remix soundtrack if I have the time, for example. I used to write these kinds of posts all the time when I was in university and had more time; an example is here. Feel free to write whatever you'd like. There are people who aren't me who like reading what people want to say about any games music.

Song of the Duality album for me, actually: Oblivion: Never Let it Go Version
 
Nah that's fine. I used to throw in stuff like Sonic Before/After the Sequel or fan patch mods for soundtracks as a separate "category" for fun years ago but I don't mind these being LTTP at all.

Oh for those new to these threads (or new to me lol)... I like reading posts! If you wanted to write about a soundtrack that doesn't fit into any category, please write your thoughts if you'd like! I might write my thoughts of the new FFXIV Duality remix soundtrack if I have the time, for example. I used to write these kinds of posts all the time when I was in university and had more time; an example is here. Feel free to write whatever you'd like. There are people who aren't me who like reading what people want to say about any games music.

And I wanna hear purty music like this one from games I ain't played to fill out my HM list. Link!
 

wamberz1

Member
1. Furi
Because I'm contractually obligated to vote for any game that has carpenter brut's music in it. Naw Jk, every single damn track in this game is incredible, and if it doesn't win it will be a damn shame.

You're Mine
Somethig Memorable
8:02

2. DOOM
This is kind of weird since I haven't actually played it yet, but from what I've heard combined with my knowledge of Mick Gordan I'd say it probably deserves this spot.

3. FFXIV Patch 3.4: Soul Surrender
FFXIV Continues to have the best music in the MMO business with every track added. The way the combat syncs to the music is really incredible and works in subtle ways. Each boss theme really gives the fights a lot more weight, like: "this isn't just some encounter, this guy is totally unique and overcoming them will be a challenge."

Rise
Forward and baExponential Entropy
Equilibrium
 

K.Sabot

Member
1. Fire Emblem if

The best. Dual layered compositions, brilliantly intersected with gameplay tempos. Toppest tier composition.

2. World of Final Fantasy - Brilliant OST, incredibly dense with great tracks. Hamauzu's style is so distinct yet he manages to wow me with his versatility. I don't hear a lot of repeated themes between this and last year's Legend of Legacy OST, a ton of great tracks with new ideas always keeping me surprised.

3.The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
I list this as it includes a ton of CS1's music I was didn't get to list last year, so consider this an accolade for the first game as well. Otherwise, the new, not reused music from the first game is all pretty okay to pretty great.

Honorable Mentions:

Let It Die
Dual threat OST, very high tier Akira Yamaoka OST in the dungeon, and very very strong licensed soundtrack while chillin' in the waiting room. I used this game as a jukebox by sitting in the waiting room with my speakers turned up.

Guilty Gear XRD -REVELATOR-
The new songs are great, there's just not enough of them.

An aside, Zelda BOTW's mystery composer is still a mystery, so I'm putting my guess on one of the FEif composers, as the instrumentation is very similar between the two games (so far). If I had to choose one of the big two from if, It'd probably be Morishita.
 

Phatcorns

Member
1. Final Fantasy XV
2. World of Final Fantasy

I actually don't have a #3, but man, these two games. Some of the best music I've ever heard and continuing the tradition of Square Enix producing music that shapes me as a human being.

LTTP - Rocket League. Holy bajeezus some of these tracks are slammin.
 
1. The Last Guardian ; Ending soundtrack.
2. Dark Souls 3 ; The Twin Princes theme.

Dishonorable mention:
- Uncharted 4 ; extremely disappointing after 3 straight games with phenomenal soundtrack.

Waaaaaaaaaah? Uncharted 4 with a dissappointing sound track? Nah...
 

Robot Pants

Member
A lot of y'all gonna need to read that OP for proper formatting. Or the Last Guardian is gonna lose due to all these votes not counting


edit: oops wrong thread
 
And here I thought I could be the unique guy to point out Konikoni City night is some weird yet oddly catchy stuff.

I know, right?! Well, I'm pretty sure we're the only two who like Konikoni City -- we can share it together!

Nice to see you again!! :D

Great writeup! I feel the same way about XV, though. Thoraxes and Xander Cage would agree, too.

Great to see you again too Schala! Nice to see all the familiar faces. Looking forward to reading your writeup!

Is Xander a gaffer? Would love to see his picks, unless he's already posted and I'm just in the dark about it.
 
ABZÛ

Wonderfully moving, exhilarating, relaxing, exciting, and memorable.

https://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/abz


euic.png
 

Zetta

Member
1. Furi - This ost has been on my playlist since day one, just amazing.
My Only Chance - Loved this song since it is so different from the usual.
What We Fight For - When it hits that 2:50 mark I'm in love.

2. Dark Souls 3 - Same old good shit
The Abyss Watchers - My favorite fight in the game.
Lorian, Elder Prince & Lothric, Younger Prince - I hate/love these two bastards.

3. The King of Fighters XIV - In this for that Terry Bogard goodness.
Departure from South Town - Such a fitting song for that stage.
tachi bou ke (Athena VS Kensou Fateful Battle Theme) OST - It ain't no Psycho Ball but I still love it.
 
Jucksalbe giving me the Atelier music fix (as hinted earlier), each year I'm almost convinced to finally try one of the games due to the OST voting but it never happens.
 

Skyrender10

Neo Member
1. Final fantasy XV best battle themes in a while
2. Hyperlight drifter great ambience music
3. World of FF: i have not finished the game but solid soundtrack so far


Honorable mentions:
Fury
Pokémon moon
 

Thretau

Member
1. Doom: Just the type of music I like and I'm constantly listening to the songs while at work and at home.
2. Furi: Great songs from likes of Carpent Brut
3. Firewatch: Made the mood of the game great. Created some memorable small moments.
 

DashReindeer

Lead Community Manager, Outpost Games
1. Furi
2. Stardew Valley
3. DOOM

Super hard just to choose three. Just started Furi today, but it already rocketed to the top of my list. Only bought it because of all the votes I saw for it in this very thread. Stardew Valley is on there simply because it was some of the most pleasing chiptunes I have heard in a long time, and it was done by the same guy who did everything else on that game. Really incredible. DOOM is obvious.
 

Zalman

Member
1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
Ace Attorney always nails it when it comes to music, and this game is no exception.
A Cornered Heart
Investigation ~ Core 2016

2. Steins;Gate 0
I recently finished this game and I can't get enough of its music. Fits the mood of the game perfectly.
Amadeus
Messenger

3. Fire Emblem Fates
A contender from earlier in the year. I actually bought the soundtrack physically. In my opinion the best soundtrack of the series.
Hitori Omou
Final Elites
 

Moofers

Member
1) Doom (PS4/PC/XOne)
Rip and Tear
BFG Division

2) Killing Floor 2 (PS4/PC) (use time links in "more info")
Death Machine
I Have Seen Where It Grows
Bitter End


3) Stranger of Sword City (Vita/PC/XOne)
This game came out internationally for the first time in 2016. Not sure if it is somehow DQ'd because it came out in Japan two years ago?
War Song of the Strangers -SO GOOD!
Labyrinth Under The Moonlight
One With the Souls

LTTP/Honorable Mentions

Persona 4 Golden -I started playing this a month ago and it'd be my game of the year had it come out this year. Everything about it is pretty incredible but the soundtrack in particular is super catchy and memorable.

King of Fighters XIV -There are lot of awesome tracks in this game. It was really REALLY hard to leave it out of the top 3.

Life Is Strange -Again, another really good one that made excellent use of its songs. It was a very competitive year and this one stood out.

Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel -Say what you want about the Super Sonico song but the character select, partner select, and stage music are all outstanding guitar-driven stuff that is the exact kind of music I'd want to hear in a game like this.

Killer Instinct Season 3 -Rash and Mira are enough to earn this one an honorable mention.
 

mrmickfran

Member
1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice (3DS)
Cross-Examination ~ Moderato 2016
Cross-Examination ~ Allegro 2016
Athena Cykes ~ Courtroom Révolutionnaire 2016

2. Final Fantasy XV (PS4/Xbone)
Somnus
Fishing Theme
Stand Your Ground

3. Dark Souls III (PS4/Xbone/PC)
Soul of Cinder
Lorian, Elder Prince & Lothric, Younger Prince
Abyss Watchers

Honorable Mentions:

Tokyo Mirage Sessions (Wii U)
Battle Theme
Mid Boss Battle

Street Fighter V (PS4/PC)
Rashid's Theme

LTTP Vote:
Bloodborne (PS4)
Ludwig, The Holy Blade
Father Gascoigne, The Hunter
Laurence, The First Vicar
 

NESpowerhouse

Perhaps he's wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane.
1. Final Fantasy XV - In the top 3 for Final Fantasy soundtracks for me. Everything about it is incredible.
2. Doom - This one honestly surprised me. Mick Gordons remixes and original pieces had the same intense and visceral feel as the game itself.
3. Pokemon Sun and Moon - A nice change of pace in terms of overall sound to the Pokemon series.
 
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