The end of the year tends to bring a lot of work. Lots of articles to write, lots of games to gossip about. And one of the fun ones every year is the countdown to the best music game of the year. We’ll go over what we felt were the top ten soundtracks to get a PlayStation console in 2020.
Okay, so we’re cheating right from the gate, here, but the scores in question are good for the same reason. We all know what Star Wars sounds like; I’ve heard it a thousand times. So how do you evolve this formula? This is the question for which these composers composed. Gordy Haab gives us a brilliant basic theme for Squadrons that is used throughout the score. Meanwhile, Wilbert Roget II and Cris Velasco gave Vader Immortal a lot of new and brilliant songs. For something with such a definite sound, this year we got a lot of great new music for Star Wars.
A lot of the news I’ve heard about Cyberpunk 2077 these days isn’t exactly positive. It was a blunder after the next one at the launch of the title. Although it’s safe to assume that the title will eventually look like the CD Projekt RED game promised to fans, one area that is already spectacular is the music. With a brilliant original score from a lot of composers, Cyerbpunk 2077 also has a huge number of pieces by fictional groups. These even include contributions from artists as well Grimes and Run the jewelry.
A bizarre, totally unique experience from Thunder Lotus Games, Spiritfarer sees you transporting the dead to the next plane of existence, and the game has perfect soundtrack for such a task. An emotional experience, often tearful, the music is able to match the incredible hit play for hit. Max LL returns after scoring both previous Thunder Lotus, Sundered and Jotun titles. The Spiritfarer score is a new high bar, with this infinitely exciting meditative score for one of the most curious titles of the year.
The PS5 pack-in game from Sony’s newest mascot, Astro’s Playroom, is probably the most infectious soundtrack on this list. Both able to get into the head as well as play to the game’s strengths, Kenny Young’s score for this PlayStation story is magnificent. While music does a great job of giving each world in the game a unique sound, GPU Jungle master the bed, with a brilliant disco-inspired song that won’t leave your head once you hear it.
With an unparalleled dedication to authenticity, Cuphead has one of the most memorable and unique aesthetics a game has ever had. So it should come as no surprise that music is as magnetic as the game itself. The impressive success of Studio MDHR took a little longer to reach the hands of PlayStation players, but both the game and the crazy jazz / ragtime music of Kristoffer Madigan were worth the wait.
Perhaps the biggest surprise when you put this list together, the full remake of the first Mafia title has an amazingly incredible score. While the original title already has a great soundtrack, composer Jesse Harlin somehow manages to raise things to an absurd level, offering one of the most film scores I’ve experienced in a game in a very long time.
Music is a powerful tool for setting the tone in games. And maybe nowhere is this better proven than the surreal masterpiece of Cardboard Computer. The impossible locations, the mysteries laden with anxiety, the alarmingly banal locations. All of this is largely defined by Ben Babbitt’s music. Between Babbitt, as well as the collaborators of The Bedquilt Ramblers and the band from the Junebug game, there is a huge mix of sounds. This allows the game to excel on many fronts, offering beautiful covers of traditional folk numbers, stunning ambient pieces that are more textured than melodies, and even some surprisingly excellent synthpop.
The first of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic titles has one of the highest game scores of all time, an act quite difficult to follow. Fortunately, the returning composer Gustavo Santaolalla and the newcomer Mac Quayle were more than handy. While adding a new voice to the soundtrack makes it less and less uneven than the first game, The Last of Us: Part II still has an incredible score. Both composers seem to focus on different areas of the game, which allows for a much wider soundscape than the first title had.
Sucker Punch’s open world samurai game is just the experience. With such incredible dedication to his vision, the game excels at almost everything he has tried. Amazingly beautiful, the game is one of the most beautiful games on the PS4, period. One of those keys to capturing that vision comes from music. A beautiful, impressive and largely unique score, Ghost of Tsushima offers a soundscape that we do not often hear in games, and composers Ilan Eshkeri and Shigeru Umebayashi do it flawlessly.
How many times this composer has appeared on these lists of ours is amazing, but that’s it how well Austin Wintory’s music is. With a versatile set of instruments and an impressive range of divergent sounds for his name, Wintory returns the book on what to expect from him. Joining Giant Squid once again – after getting an incredible score for ABZÛ – we will hear a greater emphasis on percussion and, both surprisingly and uniquely, singing in our throats. The soundtrack for The Pathless is quite different from anything I’ve heard so far, and the final music for the boss fight is incredible.
And, of course, it should be taken for granted, this is just a slice of all the incredible soundtracks released this year, so to squeak in the last few scores worth mentioning, here are just a few of the final cuts that have been made. for the list: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Demon’s Souls, Persona 5 Royal, Doom Eternal, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Bugsnax, Hunt: Showdown, and the list goes on …
What do you think about the music of the games this year? Do you agree with our options? Which would you have preferred to see making the cut? Tell us in the comments, if it’s not about NieR: Automatic again. I heard him.