When the soundtrack is better than the game, we all benefit

polygon.com:

As a proud member of the Having to Listen to Just the Right Music When I Work Club, soundtracks are my ally — but video game soundtracks are my best friend. And sometimes, a game soundtrack slaps so hard on its own that it makes me ask that pivotal question: If I’m here for the music… do I need to play the game?

There are quintessential examples of video game music backing up all-time games. “Simple and Clean,” for Kingdom Hearts. “One Winged Angel,” for Final Fantasy 7. The pause music from GoldenEye on N64. The main themes of the Halo, Zelda, Mario, Chrono Trigger, or Castlevania franchises. The whole soundtracks to games like Shadow of the Colossus, Journey, or Donkey Kong Country.

But not all great video game soundtracks are lucky enough to be attached to all-time games. I’ve discovered that sometimes, a truly banger soundtrack or musical theme belongs to a game that, for one reason or another, nobody I know would recommend. Sometimes, a game that is just OK has a soundtrack that beggars belief.

So I polled some coworkers, and today, we pay tribute to these games that we can’t recommend to everyone, but that have music we’d recommend to anyone.

I have never played Advent Rising, but I’ve been a big fan of Video Games Live ever since catching its act at the first PAX East, and the group’s “Advent Rising Suite” paints a gothic soundscape of driving percussion and a whole choir singing psalms in Latin. What’s not to like?

Will I play it? I asked a video game colleague if I should try playing Advent Rising and he answered with a swift and unequivocal “No.” So, instead of adding it to my gaming backlog, I will be enjoying it exclusively through the movies I make up in my head to go along with this track.

I admit I let Spotify take the wheel on most of my soundtrack listening, which is how I was introduced to this jaunty little number of synth flutes, drums, and violins. Little did I know it was part of a whole album of percussion-forward tracks belonging to Val