Game Soundtracks - Worth the Money?

Inzigna

So... I've recently browsed through some game soundtracks, and have come to the uncomfortable realisation that they are expensive as hell. Alot of people find some gaming soundtracks to be epic and soothing, to be just beautiful, but...

But are they worth the bling?

I'm looking at Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy XII soundtrack (both of which would cost about 70 USD together), so before I bring down the cash, I'd like to know if you guys think they're worth the while; and more importantly.

What are your favourite gaming soundtracks?

Were they worth your money?

Cowbomb

I have both the Halo OSTs and they're glorious.

soapofdurden

The Final Fantasy Piano Collections are awesome.

Noray

There's a lot of game music I like but there is no single OST that I think is worth the money it takes to buy them, simply because a lot of game music is inherently ambient/complimentary. Every OST has a bunch of songs I'd skip. The best OST's as a whole, taken outside of their game's context, imo, are Soul Calibur and Guilty Gear X simply because it's awesome metal.

Oh I'd make exceptions for stuff like The Black Mages and Phoenix Wright orchestrated CD's, because they aren't technically OST's, and incredibly awesome.

azurice

I have the FFIX soundtrack and it was worth the bling I had to fork out for it. Mostly because I love FFIX and stuff. I also reccommend the piano soundtracks.

Favourite soundtracks? I'm waiting on my Psychonauts soundtrack to arrive and it's gonna be totally rad. :P I also love the fact that Disgaea 2 came with a soundtrack CD, as I would've bought it anyway. And Final Fantasy IX pretty much has one of my favourite game music of all time.

Dirk2112

I don't think any of them are worth the price.

The best 8-bit soundtrack of all time is the one for Megaman 2.

SilkyNumNuts

The FFIX soundtrack I didn't find was really worth it, but the FFIX piano collection is so orgasmic I exploded when I got it.

True story.

Also, I decided to buy the piano score to it. Alas, I'm not quite up to the challenge yet.

NickTheNewbie

Most CDs in japan, including game soundtracks, have bootleg versions produced in china or HK. These versions are virtual identical to the original in both sound and packaging, and are a fraction of the cost. Some big name bootleg brands are everanime and SM.

revolve

Bling isn't money. Sorry, pet peeve.

But to answer your question, few game soundtracks are worth the money, but some "collections" of video game music are greatness. Like the Black Mages, or any symphonic version of Final Fantasy's music.

cj iwakura

Chrono Cross, Digital Devil Saga(either the ones Atlus USA made, or the ridiculously huge Integrals), Nocturne, Final Fantasy VI / VII / VIII / IX, Phantom Brave, Xenogears(I can't stress how amazing this game's music is enough)... I'll go a little broader and say pretty much any soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Tenpai Sato(pretty much any Disgaea-esque SRPG), Noriyuki Iwadare(Lunar/Grandia), Shoji Meguro(Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, Trauma Center), and Yoko Shinomura(Parasite Eve/Kingdom Hearts), and you're guaranteed awesome listening.

FFIX has a 'budget' single-disc version that Tokyopop put out called Uematsu's Best Selection, which really does have the very best songs from the game.

The most I've ever paid for one was $30 for Chrono Cross, and it was extremely worth it. Some of the most beautiful music ever.

jclast

I've got FFT, and a couple of collections. The Final Fantasy Tactics one was worth the $30 or so that I paid for it.

The collections I have are Final Fantasy N Generation, S Generation, and a single-disc for FFX. All are good listens.

I've also got a single-disc best-of Zelda from LoZ through WW. Not a bad song on the disc.

This, however, is what I really want. But not at $40. Maybe I'll drop $20 on one from the Marketplace.

Sheep

Some of them, yeah. I think it all depends on your musical tastes, though. I don't see myself buying a Final Fantasy soundtrack anytime soon. Not a big fan of bombast and flashy orchestration.

I am, however, thinking about getting the Oblivion soundtrack, as well as the one for Civilization 4. However, Oblivion isn't available in a concrete form, only digital download. That bothers an album collector such as myself, and I don't even think there is a release for Civ 4, but then again, I can probably find the MP3 files on the disc itself.

My next purchase, though, is gonna be the Panzer Dragoon Saga OST. It's simply amazing, and compared to other game soundtracks at the time, very avantgarde.

I bought that Twilight Princess OST from Target, but was disappointed at the lack of music on it.

Hotlead Junkie

Resident Evil 6 disk collection
God Hand/Tracks
Metal Gear Solid 3
Streets of Rage 2
Halo
Smash Bros Melle


All these soundtracks are worth paying money for

Noray

Basically I don't think most game OST's are worth the money because there's too much filler, but if Orchestrations and stuff like Black Mages were easily available at a decent price (not 30$ off some website) I'd probably have a whole bunch.

Smash Bros Melee also has a pretty damn good orchestrated album. Oh! And Phoenix Wright/Gyakuten Saiban too.

Hotlead Junkie

Noray wrote: »

Basically I don't think most game OST's are worth the money because there's too much filler, but if Orchestrations and stuff like Black Mages were easily available at a decent price (not 30$ off some website) I'd probably have a whole bunch.

Smash Bros Melee also has a pretty damn good orchestrated album. Oh! And Phoenix Wright/Gyakuten Saiban too.

I'v listened to my selection of OSTs countless times so I'd definatley say I got a lot out of them. They are great ambient background music to work to for example

taeric

I have my fair share of FF soundtracks in addition to Shadow of the Collosus. The FF soundtracks usually have a TON of filler music that is easy to ignore, but I happen to like that. It makes for very good background "work" music. SotC is just filled with some very emotional music that always reminds me of an epic journey/battle.

Of course, I also have several of the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks, as well. So.... I don't think my oppinion really counts towards wise spending of money.

Xagarath

The only soundtrack I've spent money on was the American Mcgee's Alice OST, easily the finest game soundtrack ever.
I have the free Disgaea 2 one, though.

Hotlead Junkie

taeric wrote: »

I have my fair share of FF soundtracks in addition to Shadow of the Collosus. The FF soundtracks usually have a TON of filler music that is easy to ignore, but I happen to like that. It makes for very good background "work" music. SotC is just filled with some very emotional music that always reminds me of an epic journey/battle.

Of course, I also have several of the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks, as well. So.... I don't think my oppinion really counts towards wise spending of money.

Knew I had forgotten one I had, I reccomend the SotC OST too, plus, I don't know if it counts but I listen to the Doom/2 soundtrack regularly, plus the Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure 2 ones. Sonic Heroes has a nice soundtrack but nothing I'd spend money on.

Neo Rasa

cj iwakura

If by that you mean Last Blade, then yes.

Steev

Freedom Fighters had an excellent soundtrack and I believe it only cost me $13. Unfortunately, it still had a lot of ambient filler.

Vyolynce

We own the Gitaroo-Man soundtrack and FF:CC 2-disc set, plus several OSTs that were free from Nintendo Power (including Banjo Kazooie, the Zelda TP disc, and the Smashing Hits Live CD).

EDIT: Plus the Soul Calibur II OST that came with the strategy guide.

TetraNitroCubane

I currently possess a few game soundtracks. Most of them set me back quite a bit of money, but I fully enjoy them enough to endorse them all. The trick is to make sure you really, really like the music before you buy it. I'll never buy anything I'm 'meh' about, or only want one track from. When I find myself plugging my consoles into my PC 'line in' jack, that's when I realize it's time to buy the OST.

Among my favorites:

Jet Set Radio
SSX Tricky / 3
Jet Set Radio
Halo
Jet Set Radio Future
Command & Conquer: Red Alert / Red Alert 2
[size=+2]Jet Set Radio[/size]

Seriously. Jet Set Radio. It's distilled, pure awesome.

Johannen

Grand Theft Auto Vice City soundtrack > worth it.

BTP

What about F-Zero GX?

Edit: A question so demanding needs to be de-bottomed on the next page!

Hedgethorn

My favorite game soundtrack (in a loose sense) is Chrono Symphonic: a 2-CD freely available remix of the Chrono Trigger soundtrack.
http://chrono.ocremix.org/

Seriously, I play these CDs on my home stereo. Even my non-gamer wife likes them.

Johannen

The Nobuo Uematsu FF soundtracks are normally worth a stab. Although, i've found the FFXII music, so far, to be pretty shit.

cj iwakura

Uematsu wasn't involved in XII, so that might explain it. I think the person who did it was the composer for FFT though, so I'd think he'd be capable of doing some pretty good music...

I still haven't played XII yet, though, so I don't know what to expect.

BTP

What about F-Zero GX?

(Yeah, I know, I asked on the previous page. Just making sure it wasn't skipped due to a bottoming.)

Moridan

I want a Gears of War soundtrack.
In fact, I'd say they've really dropped the ball on GOW merchandise.

Masonite

I Katamari Fortissimo Damacy

BTP

Moridan wrote: »

I want a Gears of War soundtrack.
In fact, I'd say they've really dropped the ball on GOW merchandise.

I know I want some Gears of War Monopoly, complete with a Cole Train game piece.

Valee

I'd say Soul Calibur 1 has one of the best game soundtrack. And Namco was kind enough to offer the different fighting stage music for download.

Vargas Prime

By far and long, my favorite game soundtracks are

Guilty Gear X2 (and the Guilty Gear Sound Alive! live recording by ASH is pretty awesome)
Suikoden (1 and 2)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

I also dig Chrono Trigger/Cross, and most of the FF soundtracks.

Burtletoy

In my opinion not, not unless you consider This a game soundtrack. I say that because the band is called Final Fantasy, and it might be better than the games.

043

Soundtracks I keep around:

The FF Piano collections (VII, VIII, IX, X).
Halo 1, 2 (both volumes).
Silent Hill 1-4.
The Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time soundtracks.
Shadow of the Colossus: Roar of the Earth.

APZonerunner

Anecodtal Advice: There's been games that I've purchased OSTs to where the music in game sounded... for some reason, far, far better than it did standalone. Standalone it was very drab and boring and... it felt like money unwisely spent. (FF12, for example - perfect for the atmosphere of the game, but it really felt soulless on it's own, and you could see how much it was missing Uematsu. I really regretted buying that OST, and, after hearing it on an Online Radio Station, wished I'd bought the Blue Dragon one instead. I remedied that later.

What I'm saying is, listen to what you're getting first. OUTSIDE of the game. There's lots of game music internet radio stations, (I listen to an FF one a lot) and lots of sites have 30 second samplers. There's other, less legal ways for you to sample OSTs too, but I'm sure you all know about those.

Point being: try stuff out. It might sound stupid, but context can change a lot. Don Davis' music in The Matrix is awesome and meshes with the action perfectly in the movie, but it's not anything I'd want to sit and listen to for an extended period of time. Neither are most of the iconic themes (Except some of the slower themes ) from Star Wars. But, Indiana Jones? Yeah, throw those soundtracks my way for casual listening. Just a matter of taste. Same with games; FF12 has been shelved and is unlikely to be seen again, but FF6, 7, 8 and 9 will be on my playlist pretty much forever.

Try before you buy. Do it. It is a lot of money to throw down for these things.

FreddyD

The Quake 2, Total Annihilation and Interstate 76 soundtracks came with free games.

The soundtracks played off the game disc.

I wish I had bought the Myth soundtrack before the price went up.

MikeRyu

I've ordered the Hyrule Symphony CD because orchestrated OoT music is good.

RickRussellTX

Inzigna wrote: »

What are your favourite gaming soundtracks?
Were they worth your money?

I've purchased "collector's edition" versions of some games that came with soundtracks: Morrowind and Icewind Dale. Both by Jeremy Soule.

My other favorite soundtrack is Beyond Good and Evil, where much of the music stands entirely on its own without reference to in-game action. It's the "lushest" music I've ever heard in a video game. This OC Remix captures some really fine pieces of it:

http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01189/

And I have some advice for aspiring game programmers and movie makers out there:

RUN, DO NOT WALK, RUN TO CHRISTOPHE HERAL AND BEG HIM TO WRITE YOUR SOUNDTRACK.

I'm done.

MJ

Masonite wrote: »

I Katamari Fortissimo Damacy

This one plus Chrono Cross, Shadow of the Collossus, and Gyakuten Meets Orchestra are the only ones worth purchasing for me. They don't have any filler songs like taeric mentioned, and they can sooth all manner of moods.
Most others you can easily find all over the internet through various means.
As for the FFXII soundtrack. I don't think it was as good after hearing it ingame. The FFIX OST is a good decision though.