Sad video game music

[blackboxme]

Please list sad songs from games, or overall sad soundtracks. I'm not opposed to sad songs outside video games too. I'm trying to create a sad music playlist, because I heard that sad feelings make you more detail oriented, which would help while programming and what not.

[Noyb]

Beyond Good & Evil, "

Peyj's Death

" was heartbreaking the first time I heard it in-game:

(There's a major spoiler in the video title, so I won't embed it)

Mother 3 had some really bittersweet songs. Here's one of them:

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Terry Cavanagh's flash game Don't Look Back has a melancholy synth string soundtrack that turns uplifting by the time it hits the last track: http://distractionware.com/blog/?p=690

Outside of games, The Mountain Goats' album Get Lonely is a quintessential sad album.

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[syntheticgerbil]

Shit!

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[Kolzig]

Holy crap that Sonic CD game over theme is freaky.

Completely different from the rest.

[Ben X]

Cannon Fodder Boot Hill Theme -

Edited August 2, 2015 by Ben X

[Thrik]

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And if you want to whip out the big guns (coupled with the actual scene that goes with this is some sad shit):

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[baconian]

Please list sad songs from games, or overall sad soundtracks. I'm not opposed to sad songs outside video games too. I'm trying to create a sad music playlist, because I heard that sad feelings make you more detail oriented, which would help while programming and what not.

Be careful what you ask for:

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Symphony+No+3+Op+36+1976+Sorrowful+Songs+I+Lento+Sostenuto+Tranquillo+Ma+Cantabile/2SEuWq

(this starts really quiet but give it a chance. And put on the next 2 songs from the album after.)

In video game music I found some of the call of duty stuff to be very emotional in-game:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=call+of+duty+2+soundtrack&aq=f

I didn't get the same reaction from the modern warfare soundtrack and I haven't played modern warfare 2 at all, but I assume it's not the same sort of vibe as the first two games, which for me was still some of the best audio ever in games.

Cannon Fodder Boot Hill Theme -

Edited August 16, 2010 by baconian

[Lu]

Does not listening to music and just focusing on programming make you more detail oriented?

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Ballad of the Wind Fish!

[Nachimir]

Harps are super-melancholy:

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[elmuerte]

TLJ music is quite sad in general

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Or Syberia's music

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Daggerfall is also a bundle of joy

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[syntheticgerbil]

Ahaha, I was about to make fun of people posting regular tracks and say like, "Sanspoof dead, game over," but then I realized I had been reading the title of this thread as "Sad GAME OVER music." I guess obviously all game over music is sad (Except Daytona). Now I am the fool.

[tm_drummer]

Harps are super-melancholy:

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I love that track...

[Cigol]

Valkyria Chronicles;

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*same as above without the vocals.

[Denial]

The whole of the Dear Esther soundtrack, by Jessica Curry, is pretty sad. Pretty and sad, rather. The soundtrack is downloadable from ModDB

/v/pys-y0APGNY?fs=1&hl=en_US

Edited August 16, 2010 by Denial
UBBCode

[Drath]

Wow, I was also going to mention Daggerfall... there's many somber tracks in it to be sure.

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There's some great pieces in the Ultima series too. (uggggh nostalgia!)

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Shadowrun on the SNES:

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[tm_drummer]

Music from Shadow of the Beast is great....

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The track inside the tree is my favorite...

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and here's a (very slightly) different version (the difference being - the soundtracks are from different gaming platforms, of course...)

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and so on...

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and the game over sequence track:

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Edited August 16, 2010 by tm_drummer

[Quanta]

I've compiled a little collection and uploaded it to hotfile. It contains high quality mp3 files from lossless sources.

Link: blackboxme.7z

Password: blackboxme

The collection includes tracks of two of my favourite Video game soundtracks:

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(It's the theme of Okasankaar actually)

for this thread!

Edited August 16, 2010 by Quanta

[Udvarnoky]

My contributions:

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(Really any of the music from any of the NES ports of the MacVenture series would fit the bill)

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While there's unfortunately no convenient way to hear it, Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island has a piece worthy of this thread that you can listen to by going to the official site, clicking Media, clicking Musik and clicking Track 3.

And as far as I'm concerned, no Game Over ditty tops this one from the perspective of Degree Udvarnoky's Impressionable Four-year-old Self Was Deeply Freaked Out (which, let's face it, is the real baseline here):

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[RoutineMachine]

Most of the Secret of Mana tracks are in a Minor key.

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[Defenestrated]

When I'm in the mood for some pensive background music, the Nick Cave & Warren Ellis soundtrack to the movie "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" never ever disappoints me. I haven't even seen the movie, but I adore the soundtrack. Nothing overly elaborate, but it is sleek and desolate and beautiful.

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Ellis' strings just have this wounded sound to them that I adore.

[DrWaffles]

Not of video game origin (not sure if this vocal arrangement was recorded for the game or licensed/whatevered from the choir that sung it), but this specific performance of this song provided a big enough impact in the opening mission of Homeworld that quite a few people now associate the song with the game.

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The original piece is just as sad!

[syntheticgerbil]

And as far as I'm concerned, no Game Over ditty tops this one from the perspective of Degree Udvarnoky's Impressionable Four-year-old Self Was Deeply Freaked Out (which, let's face it, is the real baseline here)

Huh? That ended up being nothing like I was expecting.

Now that you mention it, that Majora's Mask song is really great. I forgot most of that game only having finished it once.

Here's my real contribution to the thread involving songs that hurt so good. My favorite type of music is sad or melancholy but it's not something I often put on. So really this thread has been a treat.

First up is super fucking short, but I could listen to it forever:

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In some ways, a lot of Full Throttle's atmosphere felt like growing up, or leaving childhood behind as I eventually played it every year since the first grade. Things in the game made more since. Things got sadder. You felt for the characters more. Too much of this game really still leaves an impact on me for all it's bad ass and comedy nature. It's a strange mixture I love. Maureen's theme here is like the crown upon all of that feeling.

I feel like this is a strange choice for another sad game song that has left an impact:

http://www.scummbar.com/mi2/MI4-CD2/34%20-%20Meeting%20a%20Monkey%20in%20the%20Woods.mp3

Problem is, it's in the worst Monkey Island game, at a part which is arbitrary, you might not even be around long enough to hear the song. But even though a lot of the music in EMI is top notch, I think it gets overlooked just because the game is not top notch, or something people look forward to playing again. This song simply, "Meeting a Monkey in the Woods" is kind of upbeat, but seems so down on it's luck. I immediately noticed it playing the first time and it's a theme I would love to be reused elsewhere in Monkey Island instead of confined to this small spot in the game. It's just that good and different. Such a shame.

This last one I only know of a direct link:

http://imuse.mixnmojo.com/media/fan/underg.mp3

Just the best Underground Tunnels version I've ever heard from Monkey Island 2. Not exactly sad, but the melancholy is definitely there.

I guess I can only contribute LucasArts games to this because those games mean the most to me out of any others for their abilities to evoke a wide range of emotions. I'd say Grim Fandango hit that special sad nerve the most, but I can't think of any song that really goes along with that, since most of the music is much more upbeat or swanky, not to mention danceable. The sad Sanspoof song makes me laugh just because of where it appears in the game.

Also I just realized this is not a spoiler because that never actually happens:

Beyond Good & Evil, "

Peyj's Death

" was heartbreaking the first time I heard it in-game:

(There's a major spoiler in the video title, so I won't embed it)

Beyond Good and Evil had some sad parts and was good and all, but I guess I think of the soundtrack more as a fun time with some great tunes rather than for it's sorrowful parts. That could be also because the soundtrack rip I have has people talking over it on some points. Is there a soundtrack rip not like this?

[Noyb]

Beyond Good and Evil had some sad parts and was good and all, but I guess I think of the soundtrack more as a fun time with some great tunes rather than for it's sorrowful parts. That could be also because the soundtrack rip I have has people talking over it on some points. Is there a soundtrack rip not like this?

As a point of reference, the soundtrack I have from Good Old Games has in-game dialogue on it for a few songs. Must be a better version somewhere.

[blackboxme]

Thanks for all the responses! This is really cool.

I'll do one as well. I love listening to the Jin Roh soundtrack while playing counterstrike:

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[blackboxme]

Not of video game origin (not sure if this vocal arrangement was recorded for the game or licensed/whatevered from the choir that sung it), but this specific performance of this song provided a big enough impact in the opening mission of Homeworld that quite a few people now associate the song with the game.

The original piece is just as sad!

Dang, that's a really cool version of the song