Firstly I just want to agree about the Rabbids soundtrack. When the DKC music pops in during that boss it brings a smile to my face every single time.

I've not gotten round to Night in the Woods yet, and Hollow Knight sounds great. (I'm waiting for the Switch version)

I guess I fall into the camp that wishes Zelda had a little more music. Every single time the jazzy Hinox music kicks in or the incredible castle music starts up I get that little burst of determination. I felt like I could stand around in the Rito village for hours just letting that calming music play... I'm undecided if day or night is better though.

I also feel like there must be something wrong with me. I've been told for years how good the Persona music is and it kinda does nothing for me at all. P5 was my first Persona and I thought it was generally OK. I never hated it, but only really paid attention to the heist music you posted, although I like the version without the vocals more. I think with how long that game is there needs to be much, much more music. I was sick of a lot of it by the end.

Nier has a lot of really good tracks. I love the music from the intro that gives off Kenji Kawai vibes, but I think my favourite track is Copied City.

I love the Lake Kingdom music in Mario, it reminds me of the music in Escaflowne (ugh anime) for some reason, but I definitely love some of the weirder electronic stuff like when New Donk is all rainy and Bayonetta-y. And that finale song... just... it's something.

There's something about Wolfenstein 2's music that just doesn't have the same punch as The New Order. It never felt like it demanded my attention or punctuated the action scenes as well as the music from the first game.

Sorry, lots of words.

Things I liked a lot.

Sonic Mania, I think Studiopolis 2 is the best new music in the game and I kinda love how Press Garden 1 sounds like it's from Guardian heroes on the Saturn, Press Garden 2 sounds like it's from a Shinobi game, and the remix from Lava Reef 2 sounds like something from Astal, also on the Saturn.

There's a really beautiful atmospheric track as the end of Little Nightmares called Beneath the Waves.

I love the remade tracks for Fire Emblem. I've listened to the older versions and it's incredible how grand they made them sound. I love March to Deliverance, The Sacrifice and the Saint, and Twilight of the Gods.

The secretly great orchestral score of 2017 goes to Knack 2... really. I adore the music in that game, it gives off Jerry Goldsmith vibes in places.

And then there's possibly one of the best soundtracks ever. Oh man Xenoblade 2 has blown me away consistently. I love how effortlessly if flips back and forth between multiple genres without ever sounding disjointed. I adore Awakening, Mor Adain - Roaming the Wastes and Leftherian Archipelago. (both day and night versions) There's a high possibility that there's more that I've not heard because I think I'm only about half way through the game.

Again. Sorry for all the words.

@gunstarred: Thanks! And don't worry about posting too many words, I like hearing about your favorites too :)

I think the moments of silence in Zelda, for me, made the moments with music stand out more. The castle music you mention (which really is incredible) is an example that I think is more powerful due to music rarely being that prominent throughout the game. I also think the minimal music let me get lost in the gorgeous world more, but I can understand where that may not be for everyone.

Nier was really hard to pick just one track for, so many good songs like you said!

I should have gotten more tired of Persona 5's music than I did, because you're right it's a long game. But somehow it was the right combination of catchy, and I think the lyrics were very powerful for that game's narrative, that I never did. Even things like Last Surprise (the battle theme) and Beneath the Mask, which are ones you hear a LOT, I was still happily singing along with in the late game.

The games you mention that aren't on my list are all ones I haven't played; half the reason I post these things every year is so folks like you can point out good music I may not be aware of :) I've always liked the Xenoblade music, even if I don't like the games enough to play them, so it's good to have a few tracks pointed out (and these do sounds pretty great). Likewise for Sonic.

I want to play Fire Emblem Echoes at some point, just haven't had time for it yet. Excited to hear they did a good job remastering the music!

It was a great year for game soundtracks.

@gannon16: Dare I say, there's never been a better time to listen to video game music :)

@majormitch: I didn't really like any game I played this year but I'd say almost every game I've played or watched had a good soundtrack. Probably the best year for game soundtracks in a good while.

@majormitch: One of the greatest user traditions on this site. :)

Great list as always Mitch!

I noticed a lot of your selections were the main theme or the intro song. Have you noticed as you've been doing this, that the best songs of a game tend to be those?

I remember very distinctly when playing Shovel Knight, that Strike the Earth was heads and shoulders above the rest. At least I felt so. Kinda been thinking about this ever since.

Looking at achievement data and how few people even get halfway through most games, I guess it might make sense for a game to put its best foot forward so to speak given that's what the overwhelmingly majority of people will experience. Seems like if it is true, it could have been true all the way back to the Arcade days (e.g. 1-1 from SUper mario Bros.)

I would like to nominate Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus for "WORST END CREDITS SONG," because HOT DAMN is that cover of "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Veilröth just the worst thing I have heard in a good long time.

Great list. I think I've purchased more gaming soundtracks this year than any previous one, which speaks to how quality of a year it was for gaming music. There is certainly a parallel as you alluded to between games you'd nominate for Best Styyyyyyyle this year and games in this same category, most notably Cuphead and Persona 5. It also speaks to the great diversity of music featured in this list as well.

I'm pretty sure "Rivers in the Desert" btw is my most listened to song this year even outside of gaming.

@slag: Thanks!! Picking songs that are main themes or from early levels is kind of intentional. It's not a hard and fast rule that I follow, but I'm more trying to pick songs that are iconic or representative of the game's music, rather than explicitly trying to pick the "best" or even my favorite. That said, thinking about it now, those two groups match up more regularly than I would have guessed; a lot of these songs are both good early representatives AND my favorites. So I think you might be right that in a lot of cases the best music occurs pretty early on in a game, which is I think a good way for a game to set the tone right up front. That's probably what I'd do if I was making a game.

Also, totally agree on Shovel Knight, that's my favorite song from that game too. In fact, out of curiosity I went back and looked, and it's the song I picked for that game back on my 2014 list! :)

@zombiepie: WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT

It's funny, I had a friend finish that game a few days ago, and the first thing he said to me about it was how terrible the credits music is.

@cav829: Thanks! I've purchased a lot of soundtracks this year too. Not only the quality, but also the variety of soundtracks this year was very high as you mention. So good stuff all around. And I think in a lot of cases a game's music contributes to its style just as much, or maybe even more than its art and animation.

Rivers in the Desert is a great song, one of the many that make that soundtrack so amazing :)

@majormitch: hah cool! I didn't remember you picked Strike the Earth. Guess I picked the right song for my question then :)

Make sense why you'd do that way. I thought maybe you were also picking early songs to avoid musical spoilers. That's why I asked.

fwiw Skyrim was the other one I considered in place of Shovel Knight as emblematic of this phenomenon I've witnessed, cuz man the absolutely iconic theme seems 200% of what else I've heard of that soundtrack

but I haven't played a tremendous amount of Skyrim, so decided not to risk it since I could be wrong.

and hey plus jake kaufman deserves more love. The guy is underutilized in games. His stuff was my favorite part of Double Dragon Neon

I honestly thought he'd be everywhere now after SK and DDN.