My Top 5 Gaming OSTs
There are multiple people who play games and enjoy the original soundtrack brimming from within the game. This is demonstrated in any game, in any genre, but like anyone else, there are specific ones that are my favourite and would recommend for others to listen to. Below, you will find my top 5 video game soundtrack from different genres (although most of them are from my three favourite series Fire Emblem, Persona, and Ace Attorney.)
These are no particular order
You can click on the links to get to the soundtrack.
*This blog post may contain spoilers for you as I introduce the background behind each OST.
#1 Rivers in the Desert (Persona 5)
Rivers in the Desert is a special boss theme that plays during different battles such as the velvet room attendants (plus Jose), Shadow Masayoshi Shido, and The Holy Grail. The title symbolizes how the adventure that the Phantom Thieves go through is difficult as they are considered to be the rivers and the public/society the desert. When this song plays, the Phantom Thieves are fighting the impossible or the toughest of the tough as this is for special bosses. This song introduces us with a little pop and rock, giving us a great time on the battlefield.
Similar OSTs to Rivers in the Desert that you may like…
Life Will Change: Persona 5 OST 04 – Life Will Change – YouTube
Blooming Villain: Persona 5 OST 26 – Blooming Villain – YouTube
Throw Away your Mask: Throw Away Your Mask – YouTube
#2 Gina Lestrade – Lost Messenger of the Slums / Gunshot from the Downtown (Ace Attorney)
‘You got it! Good, innit? Inspector Lestrade! Sounds like somefin’ out of a book, eh?’ – Gina Lestrade in The Return of the Great Departed Soul.
This special piece is played for the one and only Gina Lestrade (she is a reference to Inspector Lestrade from Sherlock Holmes as Great Ace Attorney has lots of references to Sherlock) which showcases Gina’s tomboyish personality. In the beginning, she seemed like a grumpy young pickpocket who didn’t trust anyone, including the protagonist, Ryunosuke Naruhodo and his entourage, with her defense when she gets arrested in the final case in the first Great Ace Attorney (Adventures). She actually didn’t trust anyone as she only thought of herself first due to her being a pickpocket living on the street. She is considered to be a tsundere type of character. Gina is also my fav character as she gets loads of character development in where she grows up and changes in the second Great Ace Attorney game.
Similar OSTs to Gina Lestrade – Lost Messenger of the Slums/Gunshot from the Downtown that you may like…
Herlock Sholmes – Great Detective of the Foggy Town: Sherlock Holmes ~ Detective of the Foggy Town – Dai Gyakuten Saiban Music Extended – YouTube
Tobias Gregson – The Enemy of the Great Detective/Rival of the Great Detective: 48 | Tobias Gregson: The Enemy of Great Detective (Dai Gyakuten Saiban Soundtrack) – YouTube
#3 Lost in Thoughts All Alone / Hitori Omou (Fire Emblem)
‘You are the ocean’s gray waves…’ -Azura singing Lost in Thoughts All Alone
This, also known as Azura’s theme at times, is a slow, melancholic song, which a character named Azura is known to sing from time to time in Fire Emblem Fates. This is the full version of this song and what I really like about it is how it incorporates the different paths from Fates (Birthright, Conquest and Revelation) which are the three choices that the main character, Corrin, can pick from. Corrin (there is both a male and female option and you can also change the name but Corrin is the placeholder name) is split between both nations, Hoshido and Nohr after realizing that they have blood related siblings in Hoshido but have lived their whole life in Nohr. The lyrics are beautifully crafted from the sadness of Anankos (Corrin father). This song plays during the credits of the game.
English – Lost in Thoughts All Alone
Japanese – Hitori Omou
A small sections of the song in game (ENG and JP)
Similar OSTs to Lost in Thoughts All Alone/Hitori Omou that you may like…
Edge of Dawn (Seasons of Warfare) : Fire Emblem Three Houses
JP Version – Edge of Dawn (Seasons of Warfare) (JP) – Fire Emblem: Three Houses – YouTube
ENG Version – FE Three Houses OST – 4. The Edge of Dawn (Seasons of Warfare) (English) – YouTube
Heritors of Arcadia: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
JP Version – The Heritors of Arcadia [Japanese Version] – Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Extended – YouTube
ENG Version – Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (OST) – The Heritors of Arcadia (English Credits Theme) – YouTube
#4 Tiki’s Themes (Fire emblem)
‘I know that to love another, I must watch the world move past him. But such short years make an eternity worth living’ – Tiki’s S-Support with Male Robin
Tiki’s themes hold some of the most depressing yet mysterious pieces of music in the Fire emblem series. With Tiki appearing in many games, her theme has been remixed quite a bit, but the melancholic melody never makes the player forget the sadness that Tiki went through due to her being a manakete which means she lives for a long time. Tiki had to see her friends die throughout her 3000 years of living in Fire Emblem Awakening but passes the wisdom and stories from her journeys to Nah, a young half-manakete, and talks about her adventures when she lived alongside Marth. Even in the title of theme in Awakening, ‘You have Power… Like Mine’ shows how she is still struggling with her immortality. She has to live longer than her friends who are mostly humans and doesn’t have any friends who are manakete or that can live long. When she says that to Robin, she realizes that they are going to struggle with outliving all of their friends too.
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem: Legend of the Divine Dragon – Old Saga
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem – Legend of the Divine Dragon – New Saga
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon- The Little Divine Dragon
Fire Emblem 7/Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade – Legend of the Dragon God
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem – Divine Child, White Sage
Fire Emblem: Awakening – You have Power…like mine
There was a battle remix for the theme in Fire Emblem Warriors titled The World Tree.
Similar OSTs to Tiki’s themes that you may like…
The Poem for Everyone’s Souls/Aria of the Soul/Hymn of the Soul – Persona Series: Persona 5 OST 08 – The Poem of Everyone’s Souls – YouTube
AI Heart – Persona 5 Strikers : AI Heart – Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers – YouTube
All of Ace Attorney’s Reminiscence themes: Ace Attorney: All Reminiscence Themes 2021 (contains spoilers) – YouTube
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Justice for All – Cross Examination (Moderate): Examination ~ Moderate 2002 Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Justice for All Music Extended – YouTube
#5 Ema Skye’s themes
‘Yes! Isn’t it amazing? Ah, the power of science. It’s my life.’ -Ema Skye in Turnabout Corner (Apollo Justice Ace Attorney)
Like Tiki, Ema has multiple themes and I enjoy listening to all of them from the musical retro beats in Ema Skye – Turnabout Sisters Theme to Ema’s more grumpy melancholy style in Apollo Justice to the happy version of Spirit of Justice’s. These different versions of Ema’s OST show Ema’s growth throughout the series with her just being a amateur high school student in the first game to her being what she always wanted to be, a forensic scientist in the latest release, Spirit of Justice. It is really hard to pick a favourite since Ema is one of my favourite characters in Ace Attorney (alongside Gina who I mentioned above. I somewhat have a thing for detectives.)
Ema Skye – Turnabout Sister’s Theme
Played in Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney and Miles Edgeworth Investigations 1+2
Ema Skye – Scientific Detective
Played in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Ema Skye – Forensic Scientist
Played in Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice
Similar OSTs to Ema Skye’s themes that you may like…
All detective themes from Ace Attorney: Ace Attorney: All Detective Themes 2021 – YouTube
All of the Fey’s turnabout Sisters themes: Ace Attorney: All Fey Turnabout Sisters’ Variations 2016 – YouTube
It was hard choosing my top 5 gaming as I enjoy playing and listening to multiple different type of soundtracks and all of the games I like are from series. I have multiple other favourites, so I put an honourable mentions section below. Enjoy!
Honourable Mentions
Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There (Original Persona 5’s opening): Persona 5 OST 01 – Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There – YouTube
Mass Destruction (Persona 3): Persona 3 OST – Mass Destruction – YouTube
Kazuma Asogi – Samurai with a Mission (The Great Ace Attorney Duology) : Asougi Kazuma ~ Samurai with a Mission – Dai Gyakuten Saiban Music Extended – YouTube
Professor Layton theme: PLvsAA OST – 1-15 – Professor Layton’s Theme ~ VS Arrange ver. 1 – YouTube and Professor Layton’s theme [Extended] – YouTube