My Favorite Video Game Music of 2016
by majormitch
Has it really been a full year already? It feels like just last week I was listening to 2015’s best in effort to assemble a list of my favorite video game music from last year . And yet here I am, doing the same for 2016. Fortunately for me, as a big fan of video game music, it’s a process I greatly enjoy; I don’t need much of an excuse to go re-listen to a lot of video game music. In some ways...
Has it really been a full year already? It feels like just last week I was listening to 2015’s best in effort to assemble a list of my favorite video game music from last year. And yet here I am, doing the same for 2016. Fortunately for me, as a big fan of video game music, it’s a process I greatly enjoy; I don’t need much of an excuse to go re-listen to a lot of video game music. In some ways, I may enjoy making this list more than my actual GOTY list (still working on that one, which is very competitive this year). Not only do I enjoy listening to this music again, but it’s also a chance to highlight an aspect of games that doesn’t always receive proper recognition. Music is an incredibly important part of video games, and can contribute greatly to a game’s overall quality, tone, and impact. This list, then, is my own small way of giving props to some of the wonderful music in games each year.
As for 2016 in video game music, it’s made me realize more than ever how spoiled we’ve been in that department recently. When I first started pondering 2016’s selection of music, I thought it might be a step down compared to the past few years. But now I realize that’s in no way an indictment of 2016’s musical quality, as I first thought it might be. 2016 has seen tons of great video game music, covering an impressive variety of styles, and any step down would only be because the past few years have been truly incredible. We remain in a golden age of sorts for the medium; there’s never been a better time to listen to video game music.
So here are the 10 video game soundtracks that stood out to me most among the games I played in 2016 (keeping in mind that I can’t play everything; Final Fantasy XV is probably the biggest omission in that respect). I picked a representative song from each game, and they are ordered by original US release date, not by preference. Thanks for listening, and share any favorites of yours I overlooked!
Oxenfree
Featured Track: Beacon Beach (by scntfc)
Firewatch
Featured Track: Prologue (by Chris Remo)
Hyper Light Drifter
Featured Track: Panacea (by Disasterpiece)
Dark Souls III
Featured Track: Soul of Cinder (by Yuka Kitamura)
The Banner Saga 2
Featured Track: Our Steps, To the Night (by Austin Wintory)
Doom
Featured Track: BFG Division (by Mick Gordon)
Furi
Featured Track: Make This Right (by The Toxic Avenger)
Abzu
Featured Track: Delphinus Delphis (by Austin Wintory)
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Featured Track: Main Theme (by Ryota Kozuka)
Owlboy
Featured Track: Tropos (Day) (by Jonathan Geer)