Here’s our selection of video game soundtracks released in October 2021.
This is a non-exhaustive list without any classification hierarchy. We invite you to discover new soundtracks that will brighten up your day! 🙂
Halloween is behind us but Christmas is very soon… In the meantime, new games have been released with their OST.
Evertried, Dance Melodies and a Catchy Rhythm
Composers: Moonsailor
Genre: 8-Bit/Chiptune
Evertried is a game developed by Lunic Games and published by DANGEN Entertainment This rogue-lite tells the story of a soul seeking to know the reason for its coming to the afterlife. The player will have to try to restore the memory of the hero by climbing a mysterious tower. One of the peculiarities of the game is that the enemies will move at the same time as the choice of direction of the players. It will therefore be necessary to find the right strategy in order to overcome them.
To give the “it factor” to the journey of this lost soul, the Brazilian studio Moonsailor is taking care of the game’s soundtrack. A clever mix of 8-bit electro/Chiptune will accompany the player during their journey.
The melodies are pleasant to listen to and there’s a lot of them. We’re easily carried away by certain songs whose rhythm makes the foot start tapping all by itself.
We are particularly fond of the title “Seeker of Fortunes (Bargain B)“, which perfectly sums up the album of the game, dance melodies and a catchy rhythm.
To buy/listen the album
They Always Run Propels you Into a Crazy Action Scene
Composer: Deallry
Genre: Multiple Styles of Music are on this Soundtrack
They Always Run is the new 2D platform game from the studio Alwar Premium. Here we play Aiden, a 3-armed bounty hunter mutant. In the world of They Always Run, crime is on the rise and fulfilling the contracts to hunt down and kill these criminals is a great way to make money.
During our journey through the galaxy in Space Cowboy Bebop/Western mode, we will have the chance to listen to the compositions of Deallry with mainly electronic sound compositions. The album takes us through several different atmospheres, sometimes going as far as folk or almost, to a more dark and cyberpunk atmosphere, we will even recognize a harmonica in certain country tracks. Also note that 2 tracks of the album are composed by A. Lednik.
The soundtrack can reach calm heights like with the track, “Arctur-7” or on the contrary, propel you into a crazy action scene like in “They Always Run”.
To listen/buy the album
Inscryption: A Final Rendering that is as Disturbing as it is Poignant
Composer: Jonah Senzel
Genre: Ambient/Sound Design & 8-Bit
After Pony Island and The Hex, Inscryption is the new game from Daniel Mullins and his team. It is very difficult to talk about this game without spoiling its many surprises, so we will just present it as a card game, mixed with notions of rogue-like and escape-room, all wrapped in a particularly heavy horrific atmosphere.
In the meantime, the music of Jonah Senzel (who has already worked on the studio’s previous games) tries to materialize the horrific atmosphere and succeeds brilliantly. Since the author of these songs is especially sensitive to dark rooms and other children’s dolls, we can assure you that the horrific atmosphere is particularly well transcribed in this soundtrack! We’ll hear a lot of ambient music, mixed with sound design that may even make you uncomfortable. The sounds of horror, crackles, twists, bloody impacts, and metals are superimposed on the synth layers. Creating a final result that is as disturbing as it is poignant, without a doubt.
As we continue listening, we discover 8-bit sounds where the synths take a more substantial place. Once again, insecurity will quickly be felt through the triturations of Jonah Senzel, who plays with us by deconstructing certain musical themes in increasingly fragmented versions.
The rest of the soundtrack, just like the game, still has plenty of surprises in store for you. We will select the track “Long Forgotten Monuments” which in addition to surprising us by being one of the first 8-bit tracks of the soundtrack, is a welcome breath of fresh air in the middle of the album.
To buy/listen the album
Guardians of the Galaxy, An Absolutely Awesome 80’s Soundtrack!
Composers: Richard Jacques / Star-Lord Band (Steve Szczepkowski & Yohann Boudreault)
Genre: Rock & 80’s
After the first 2 films directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy is back in a new exclusive video game adventure. And as you might expect, the sound team at Eidos-Montreal studios went all out and put together an absolutely awesome 80’s soundtrack!
The music of the Guardians of the Galaxy is divided into several parts. First of all, there’s a playlist of licensed music (meaning it exists outside of the game) with the top hits of the 80’s. The selection is effective and obviously works great in the game, but the most interesting part is yet to come.
The soundtrack (composed exclusively for the game) comes to life in the form of 2 albums: The fictional group “Star-Lord Band”, where we find Steve Szczepkowski (Senior Audio Director of Eidos-Montreal) and Yohann Boudreault (composer, sound designer and director), was created to compose an original album of 10 perfect 80’s rock songs! Obviously they are resolutely energetic songs to accompany the adventures of our troop through the galaxy.
The second part of the soundtrack is an orchestral album composed by Richard Jacques who offers us a more conventional vision of the Marvel universe, but just as enjoyable. A full orchestra performs compositions closer to how we imagine Marvel’s work, more focused on the epic and the tension of situations. Richard Jacques brings a different and necessary touch, the heavier atmosphere is present, emphasizing that the guardians are not just here to have fun. You will also find some surprises like the boss theme “The Matriarch” whose use of vocals and backing vocals bring an unusual tone.
To buy/listen the OST
Spotify, an awesome playlist gathering the whole soundtrack!
Voice of Cards : The Isle Dragon Roars is no exception
Composers: Keiichi Okabe / Shotaro Seo / Oliver Good
Genre: Orchestral
As with each release of a new project by the duo Yoko Taro (Creative Director) and Keiichi Okabe (Musical Director and Composer), it is difficult to miss their original soundtracks. And this latest project, again published by Square Enix, is no exception to the rule.
In Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, we discover a more discreet soundtrack than what we heard in the NieR or Drakengard series. The orchestration is more acoustic with fewer instruments and a overall lighter intention. Though the soundtrack also has some more epic and tragic moments in store for us. As Keiichi Okabe himself puts it on the official Square Enix site “[…] we wanted an easy-going style that people won’t get tired of hearing while they play.”. And we can feel it, the card games can last quite a long time and are quite repetitive, so the music leaves a lot of room for reflection, doing its best not to get boring.
In the compositions we also find Shotaro Seo and Oliver Good, who already participated in the soundtrack of NieR Replicant (released last April) as programmer and arranger. This time they are credited with the composition of the soundtrack. The soundtrack maintains total consistency throughout the album but we notice the small touches made by each of the composers.
We also note that there’s less of a presence of voices in the album, which are only present in the main theme “Pursuing the Dragon – Voice of Journey’s Beginnings” and “Twin Recollections”, performed by Saki Nakae, in addition to a few male choirs on other tracks.
In conclusion, if you liked the previous compositions from this studio, this new soundtrack will find a place in your choice playlists.
To listen/buy the OST
Apple Music / The soundtrack will be available in physical edition later.