Basically this. I have just realized that as a guy whos teens where in the 00’s, my musical ear has been groomed by awesome videogames with great soundtracks, like Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Gran Turismo, later Need For Speed and some FIFA. But what’s the equivalent in today’s time?
I’ve bought a FIFA and a NFS recently, but the soundtracks are… OK-ish, I guess? I enjoyed the some Rocket League’s season, though.
In addition to the Octopath mention, the Xenoblade Chronicles games have some absolutely stellar soundtracks.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a night theme and day theme for each individual large area, and there are a lot of them, alongside a variety of battle music, insert tracks, and more. Each of the night/day themes share overlapping motifs, alongside motifs reflective of the larger music work as a whole.
If you like more orchestral music checkout the soundtrack for Nier Automata. It came out a couple years ago and I find it great to listen to while working.
