That Moment When...

So, for me, I like music.

I've always liked symphonic music, but I prefer for it to connect to something a little more directly in my head; as much as I like the style, I am rarely able to attribute to it emotional content without a memory to pair with it.

I also like video games.

Some of you may have figured that out before now.

So, of course, it's a natural thing for me to delve into the weird world of video game soundtracks.

Some of which are obvious in their source, of course; but now that technology has caught up, games have been coming out that have more directly orchestral soundtracks.

No more of the old Squaresoft days, when a game soundtrack would be composed for the symphony, rendered down into 8- and 16-bit bleeps and bloops, and then resold in its original symphonic form later; no, games started coming out that had the full-fledged symphonic treatment right from the get-go.

Some of which were, of course, more distinguished than others.

A few standouts for me were Max Payne 1 & 2; Ico, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and then...

Well, something happened.

See, I hit a phase recently where I've been listening to primarily instrumental music for quite a while, in large part thanks to Lindsey Stirling's awesome second album. (It's called "Shatter Me." If you don't listen to it, you're really missing out.) 

As part of that, I started thinking; which games really stood out for me? (Don't worry, I will provide examples.)

Which games - regardless of any other factors - just blew me away with the soundtrack?

The Elder Scrolls games, obviously. Ever since Morrowind and Oblivion, the soundtracks have been goddamn amazing, and seriously, who bought Skyrim and hasn't listened to the Dovahkiin song all the way through at least once, just letting it sit on the menu and play away?

Knights of the Old Republic.

Guild Wars. (And GW2, because daaaaaaaaamn.)

Dawn of War.

Actually, several Warhammer games... Dawn of War 2, Chaos Rising, Retribution, Mark of Chaos...

Neverwinter Nights.

Icewind Dale.

Dungeon Siege 2.

And then I noticed something.

...All of those soundtracks have one thing in common.

A gentleman named Jeremy Soule.

I'm serious, I had no idea. Apparently, about 60% of the games whose soundtracks I've really enjoyed over the last 15 years or so have been composed in whole or in part by Mr. Soule.

That's... badass, actually.

I mean, even in a world that has the absolutely sublime soundtracks to Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, the games I listed above have fucking spectacular soundtracks.

So, there you go. Hopefully you find something you enjoy in all those links!