10 Beautiful Video Game Songs

Music is an integral part of the how we experience video games, often pushing the player towards feeling a certain way in a manner that's just as important as any visual element. While what can be judged as beautiful is extremely subjective, there's no denying the effect that it can bring.

Whether drumming up the pace of a chase, combat scene or rubbing salt in the wound after an intensely emotional scene, music - or its absence - can make or break a moment.

Therefore, selecting music for a game is an arduous process. The wrong track can lead to players being rudely thrown out of the scene, while the right piece can deepen the immersion, bringing with it more investment in the characters and the story, and therefore an overall desire to play on.

Chances are, many of your favourite video game moments have specific scores or songs attached, and whilst there are many that stand out as works of art in their own right, many elevate their games through cleverly chosen lyrics or the style and function of the game itself.

The origins of the main themes of both Oblivion and Skyrim can be found in this epic score. The beating drums at the beginning can be found in Skyrim's Dragonborn, and the emphasis on strings has carried into Oblivion's Reign of the Septims, but the climax of Morrowind's main theme wipes both away with an orchestral score that conveys the sheer openness of the game.

The main problem with Dragonborn was that, while epic during the battles with the dragons or fus-ro-dah-ing someone off a cliff, it couldn't really capture the vast expanse of the world. It made for a stirring combat theme, but not an awful lot more.

Whether dungeon delving or jaunting through Morrowind's beautiful landscape, Nerevar Rising makes the player feel like they want to explore the whole world with this song at their back, which is exactly how an open-world game's soundtrack should make a gamer feel.