2. FTL: Faster Than Light (2012)
Composer(s): Ben Prunty If you ever find yourself lying awake into the night, reflecting on your day or thinking about what the future may hold: this is the soundtrack for you. Composed by Ben Prunty, the music from FTL: Faster Than Light is a great example of something that manages that crucial balance between tonal despondency and emotional invigoration, blending a sense of isolation with feelings of adventure and possibility. It can be chilling at times, relying on nothing but a low mechanical hum to hammer home feelings of remoteness - Deepspace (Explore) - or it can be cautiously enthusiastic, employing lighter sounding electronics to appeal to the listeners curiosity and sense of wonder Milkyway (Explore). Either way, the soundtrack to FTL is a great example of music from a video game that appeals to easily relatable emotions and familiar concepts like loneliness, optimism and endless possibility. In that way, regardless as to whether or not you've played the game, you can enjoy the soundtrack as a separate entity entirely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygH9VcV7IBg Further Listening: The soundtrack to Starbound (2013) captures that same sense of lonely wonder pretty sincerely, and the soundtrack to Mass Effect (2007) is decent too.