It’s a bit of a shame, but 2019 didn’t seem to be as standout in terms of videogame music to me as I was hoping it would be. Still, there were some amazing tunes that need to be mentioned and given their due. As usual, I’m not covering the music to the titles I’ve not played and don’t know much about, but will mention several soundtracks to games that I’ve not yet played but plan to when I have more time. I know, you know, everybody everyone let’s go.
Now, first of all, I need to mention DUSK which I’ve only played in 2019 but which would’ve otherwise been in my 2018 list and praised beyond reason. Give it a good listen. DO IT.
This out of the way, let’s mention some games released last year that I have not played yet myself, yet I’ve sampled their soundtracks and was positively impressed: Borderlands 3 and The Outer Worlds both sound really beautiful and Outer Wilds sounds really interesting, even if a tad too country-flavour for my taste. Another special mention goes to The Sinking City, which has a lot of rather boring filler ambient, but when the music kicks in, it’s absolutely amazing. I am somewhat biased though due to working with the people who made the game. And finally, I do need to mention the new Resident Evil 2 which had a super disappointing soundtrack even without comparing it to the eternally memorable original game, yet at the same time had some of the best tracks in the franchise history when it bothered to play music.
Now as for games released in 2019 that I have played and liked soundtrack a lot, the list is, sadly, pretty small and less impressive overall compared to last year.
NEW GAMES RELEASED IN 2019:
Disco Elysium by British Sea Power: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1233220/Disco_Elysium_Soundtrack/
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night by Michiru Yamane and Ippo Yamada: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1101300/Bloodstained_Ritual_of_the_Night__Soundtrack/
Darksiders Genesis by Gareth Coker: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203440/Darksiders_Genesis__Digital_Extras/
RE-RELEASES/COMPLETE VERSION RELEASES OF 2019:
Grim Dawn (and expansions) by Steve Pardo: https://stevepardo.bandcamp.com/album/grim-dawn-original-soundtrack
Blaster Master Zero by Ippo Yamada, Aoi Takeda, Kotaro Yamada, Hiroaki Sano, Naoki Kodaka: https://www.fangamer.com/products/blaster-master-zero-ost
…
Yeah, okay even with the previous year categories the list is too short :c. Let’s also talk about a couple of titles that were released earlier but which I’ve played and enjoyed last year.
SPECIAL INVENTED CATEGORY SO WE HAVE MORE COOL GAME MUSIC:
Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age by Hitoshi Sakimoto.
Katamari Damacy REROLL by Yuu Miyake et al.
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition by Mark Morgan: https://store.steampowered.com/app/613230/Planescape_Torment_Enhanced_Edition_Official_Soundtrack/
And there we have it. It’s a shame 2019 felt so limited on really memorable good soundtracks. I can only hope that 2020 will have more than just Mick Gordon pulling all the weight with the new DOOM Eternal soundtrack and I will have more awesome videogame music to talk about next year.