Game Talk

Game soundtracks that are better than they had any right to be

As a session musician I listen to game scores very differently from most people, and some of the best writing I've heard in the last 20 years is in games. A few I keep going back to:

Austin Wintory's Journey: a cello concerto that reacts to how you play. Mick Gordon's Doom (2016): metal built from synths, chugging guitars on 9-string, and some mischievous hidden details. Hollow Knight by Christopher Larkin: tiny chamber ensemble, enormous mood. And Nier: Automata, which uses invented-language vocals and changes arrangement layers live as you move between areas.

What's the score you'd defend to a classically trained snob?