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[Jaroof]

What impressed me most is with the Japanese version of "Weight of the World". Normally, when they record a song and if flaws are present, they re-record it so everything is without error. With Nier Automata though, near the end of the aforementioned song, the singer (Marina Kowano) actually begins to cry mid-song. They keep all of that in the final recording, which surprised me when I imported the OST and sat down to give it a listen. It adds a lot of feeling to it, which is great to see. Really happy they did that

Damn it, thank you for pointing this out. I didn't even realize. Listened to it just now, and got so many chills.
Yeah, this team is incredibly talented. The two NieR games definitely hold a special place in my heart, as there aren't too many games that make me go back to their soundtrack outside of the game.

Another favorite of mine from the original: City of Commerce.

 

[Perona]

I see this thread as I'm literally humming along to the village song.

 

[Theswweet]

I am so glad I imported the OST. Dat pre-order bonus CD with the Hacking Tracks.

 

[Philippo]

Easily OST of the Gen.

Weight of the World (especially Japanese and

Spoiler

End of YoRHa

versions) is the best vocal theme of the gen for sure.

 

[Tubie]

I get goosebumps listening to some of these tracks again and thinking back on the game.

It's really incredible how good this OST is and how well it's implemented in game.

 

[Revolutionary]

Yeah it's pretty amazing. When I was playing Persona 5 I kept thinking "if Nier hadn't come out this year, this would be soundtrack of the year". But alas, Nier DID come out this year so soundtrack of the year goes to Automata.

 

[Moonkid]

First game had stronger motifs for me, though N:A didn't really try to do the same thing to the same extent anyway, and is overall better imo but the second game is quality through and through nonetheless. Memories of Dust, Tower, Possessed by a Disease, all top-Nier tracks.

 

[Espada]

Yeah it's pretty amazing. When I was playing Persona 5 I kept thinking "if Nier hadn't come out this year, this would be soundtrack of the year". But alas, Nier DID come out this year so soundtrack of the year goes to Automata.

Yup, playing through Persona I realize the game has great music. But goddamn, Nier: Automata just has an absurdly strong OST from start to finish. The tracks are great on their own, they're great in the context of the game and they're chosen and delivered perfectly what what the scene demands.

Most game soundtracks are forgettable, but my god did my ears perk up every time I went into a new place and heard a new track. Going to the desert and hearing Memories of Dust for the first time. Oh man...

 

[charlequin]

I haven't finished Automata yet, but so far I'm inclined to agree with opinions I've read elsewhere that the first game had the better soundtrack. So if you thought Automata's OST is good...

This is how I felt most of the way through the game -- I'd heard tracks I loved in N:A, and was impressed immediately at how it fit into the game, but the original was just so emotionally burned into my brain that I didn't think I could dislodge it. But then as I kept playing, I kept encountering new tracks in the tiniest corners (like all the unique songs just for completing certain sidequests), and hearing the way each ending's scoring played off of the previous ones, and hearing tracks and themes recontextualized right alongside the rest of the story, and noticing how N:A takes what the first game did with Emi Evans' vocals and repeats it, but also takes it to another level with the other two vocalists J'nique Nicole and Nami Nakagawa... And then after the ending I went back and listened to the whole OST end to end a few times in a row... and yeah, even with as much as I adore the first game's soundtrack I think I have to say the sequel even surpasses it now.

(plus the single best track in the original

Spoiler

Kainé Salvation

actually shows up in Automata, in an absolutely heartrending context)

I'm glad more people are waking up to Okabe and MONACA. Automata has the some of the best implementation of a soundtrack into a game ever, and actually loses a bit of it's charm if you just listen to it outside the game. The way the music blends with the action in the game, and is an intergral part of the final ending, it wouldn't have worked in any other media.

Yep. But then conversely, actually listening to it alone after you've finished the whole game draws out so many subtleties you don't catch in-game (plus the mastering is far, far better on the soundtrack album than in the game itself.)

Yeah it's pretty amazing. When I was playing Persona 5 I kept thinking "if Nier hadn't come out this year, this would be soundtrack of the year". But alas, Nier DID come out this year so soundtrack of the year goes to Automata.

This was my almost exact mental conversation with myself re: P5 and Nier, about both soundtrack and game of the year.

 

[LotusHD]

Listening to the Amusement Park track now, it's been far too long...

This was my almost exact mental conversation with myself re: P5 and Nier, about both soundtrack and game of the year.

Lol, like I knew I'd love this game when I first saw it, but I didn't think I'd casually put it above highly anticipated games like BoTW and (likely) P5.

 

[Ferr986]

Yeah, Nier Automata (and the original Nier) are two of the best gaming OST's of all-time. I don't know how, but they made Nier Automata's OST even better than the original. Every song is amazing and filled with such emotion (especially if you know the events present in the game).

What impressed me most is with the Japanese version of "Weight of the World". Normally, when they record a song and if flaws are present, they re-record it so everything is without error. With Nier Automata though, near the end of the aforementioned song, the singer (Marina Kowano) actually begins to cry mid-song. They keep all of that in the final recording, which surprised me when I imported the OST and sat down to give it a listen. It adds a lot of feeling to it, which is great to see. Really happy they did that.

Good thing for her she didn't had to sing Ashes of dreams then lol

 

[BocoDragon]

I think the soundtrack is fantastic. I find Memories of Dust, combined with the desert city, such a haunting environment.

I do think it's a little odd that the OP singles it out like it's the only game with a sublime soundtrack, though.

For me it just goes somewhere on my top 30.

 

[febLey]

Imported the japanese 3 Disc Soundtrack for 60 Euros, totally worth it!

 

[Out_Of_Ammo]

I imported the 3 disc OST + bonus CD from amazon.jp and I usually never buy music on physical media. It's just that good. I like it even better than the original Nier's.

 

[LotusHD]

I really need to get to buying it myself, it's so different from how it is in the game lol

 

[Earthpainting]

There's no doubt in my mind that NieR:Automata will be heavily represented in this year's Soundtrack of the Year thread, even with all the stiff competition this year. It has a sound that sounds out from most other games, covers a nice range of moods, and is expertly integrated into the game itself.

The final credits song

Spoiler

alternating between the different language versions felt especially powerful to me, as my screen slightly started being covered my messages from people all over the world. This interplay gave the systems, audiovisual spectacle and lyrics that little bit extra that NieR:Automata is so good at providing.

He songbombed that song into some important story/gameplay bits in my game xd was hilarious tho:
(late game spoilers ahead)

Spoiler

when the twins assisted 9S at the tower he rushed in lol and when i came with a2 there and wanted to talk with one of the dying twins he came racing in again xd

Something similar happened to me a few hours before that.

Spoiler

I saw the memory-wiped Pascal back in his village, and saw what he was doing. Feels all around, but as I left, Emil's tacky car salesman songs about good deals were blasting throughout the vicinity. It was such a gross and uncomfortable moment, I assumed his presence was scripted to make you feel even worse than you already did. I guess the truth is that the game has plenty of opportunities to make that song sting, so it doesn't need to script anything.

 

[chrono01]

Damn it, thank you for pointing this out. I didn't even realize. Listened to it just now, and got so many chills.
Yeah, this team is incredibly talented. The two NieR games definitely hold a special place in my heart, as there aren't too many games that make me go back to their soundtrack outside of the game.

Another favorite of mine from the original: City of Commerce.

No worries man.

Both Nier titles definitely hold a place within my top gaming soundtracks of all-time. Just impressive works all-around.

Yeah it's pretty amazing. When I was playing Persona 5 I kept thinking "if Nier hadn't come out this year, this would be soundtrack of the year". But alas, Nier DID come out this year so soundtrack of the year goes to Automata.

I still need to import the Persona 5 OST. Maybe I'll get around to doing it next month. >_<

I'm currently playing through P5 myself, and while the music is great...it doesn't beat Nier Automata for me. I know, it might be crazy to say, but that's just how amazing these two OST's are.

Great year for music so far, that's for sure.

Good thing for her she didn't had to sing Ashes of dreams then lol

;_; everywhere.

I really need to get to buying it myself, it's so different from how it is in the game lol

You really need to!

 

[Revolutionary]

Also, let's not forget that there's a chiptune version of nearly every track in the game that flawlessly transitions in when you start hacking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edGehafCgxM Song of the Ancients 8-bit

 

[Yohane]

Best Video Game soundtrack since the first Bravely Default

 

[sanstesy]

I heavily prefer the first NieR soundtrack but it's still really good!

'A Beautiful Song' is the best song of the year atm!

 

[Blobbers]

the castle theme though

it is as they say, chest magnifique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4JywzbKfdM

 

[jackie jorp jomp]

I love it, and MONACA's other soundtracks. The drakengard 3 one has a few too many fight sequence tunes that don't work out of context, but I loved the ambient songs and their take on exhaustion, which is a drakengard staple.

The automata soundtrack might just be tied with the NIER one for me, it's so easy to get lost in.

 

[Ferr986]

Gotta say I missed some of the 8 bit remixes to have downgraded vocals like the Ashes in dreams 8 bits version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvz0UdoTdLw

It would fit sooooo well in this game.

 

[Moon_frogger]

So does....every single piece of music have vocals? Cause honestly that is a huge turnoff for me. I don't mind it once in a while but I really don't want to listen to someone singing the entire time I'm playing a video game. Maybe I'm weird. Music is one of the most important parts of a story driven game for me and I find the presence of vocals to be extremely distracting...music should be a mood enhancer, not front and center and vocals kind of Ruin that.

Otherwise, yes what I've heard is gorgeous and I can't wait to play this game

 

[Razmos]

So does....every single piece of music have vocals? Cause honestly that is a huge turnoff for me. I don't mind it once in a while but I really don't want to listen to someone singing the entire time I'm playing a video game. Maybe I'm weird. Music is one of the most important parts of a story driven game for me and I find the presence of vocals to be extremely distracting...music should be a mood enhancer, not front and center and vocals kind of Ruin that.

Otherwise, yes what I've heard is gorgeous and I can't wait to play this game

The music is dynamic, it changes depending on your location within an area and what part of the game you are at.

For example the desert theme does not have vocals, until you enter the ruined apartment complex where the music seamlessly transitions to include vocals, This happens in the amusement park too off the top of my head, where the entry square has vocals that fade out into background music as you progress deeper into the park.

The majority of the time when exploring there are no vocals, but there usually is in towns

 

[Moonkid]

So does....every single piece of music have vocals? Cause honestly that is a huge turnoff for me. I don't mind it once in a while but I really don't want to listen to someone singing the entire time I'm playing a video game. Maybe I'm weird. Music is one of the most important parts of a story driven game for me and I find the presence of vocals to be extremely distracting...music should be a mood enhancer, not front and center and vocals kind of Ruin that.

Otherwise, yes what I've heard is gorgeous and I can't wait to play this game

Contrary to how some, if not all, of these linked songs are structured the game's music changes arrangement dynamically, often dipping in and out of vocals depending on what's happening. It's one of the game's strengths! You'll hear pretty much every zone-track without vocals at some point and if someone starts singing it'll be because you're entering a new area or you're in a fight etc.

Interesting you mention that music should be a mood enhancer and not front and center since that's how I've read a few people characterise western, more ambient music as. In any case I hope you enjoy it, ideally it'd let you appreciate music in a different light outside of your particular norm.

 

[Zakalwe]

Really great soundtrack that adds tonnes of charm and personalty to the game.

Pascal's Village track is my favourite. Cute and charming s hell.

 

[Lain]

I want to buy this OST, but SE EU wants to charge me more for shipping it from the UK to Italy than what they charge for the actual OST so I'll just have to do without it.

 

[SaniOYOYOY]

So does....every single piece of music have vocals? Cause honestly that is a huge turnoff for me. I don't mind it once in a while but I really don't want to listen to someone singing the entire time I'm playing a video game. Maybe I'm weird. Music is one of the most important parts of a story driven game for me and I find the presence of vocals to be extremely distracting...music should be a mood enhancer, not front and center and vocals kind of Ruin that.

Otherwise, yes what I've heard is gorgeous and I can't wait to play this game

how about this, vocal here is not as a 'base' like in songs normally are, but rather as an instruments along with other, all of which elevate the gameplay itself as the ''base'. not like you will understand the lyric either.

If a soundtrack is meant to enhance the game, then how it's implemented and used is just about as important as the music itself.

Nier really excels at both aspects.

exactly as he said. on top of the music at themself are godlike awesome, the way they incorporated them into the game is another achievement on their own

 

[Kthulhu]

Ending credits for ending E theme is &#128016; status.

 

[MrS]

Peaceful Sleep is my jam. It's a beautiful piece of music.

 

[Hektor]

The color of depression makes me wanna have a horror game with Okabe's music

 

[vato_loco]

GF would sit next to me and watch me play N:A or maybe be in the computer while I was playing, and she would say that the music was annoying and bizarre.

Then she started actually playing the game. She told me it was amazing how every track fit perfectly with the place and the action. She absolutely fell in love with both the game and the soundtrack.

Man, this game is such GoaT material.

 

[Moon_frogger]

The music is dynamic, it changes depending on your location within an area and what part of the game you are at.

For example the desert theme does not have vocals, until you enter the ruined apartment complex where the music seamlessly transitions to include vocals, This happens in the amusement park too off the top of my head, where the entry square has vocals that fade out into background music as you progress deeper into the park.

The majority of the time when exploring there are no vocals, but there usually is in towns

Well then it's not even an issue, in fact this just makes the whole thing that much cooler!

 

[Jintor]

the dynamicness of the music actually hurts my listening experience on the albums in some indefinable way, haha.

 

[watdaeff4]

Yeah, this game's soundtrack is easily my favorite overall. There are other's that rival it at times, primarily boss fights in the Soulsborne games, or some classic themes I really enjoy (Zelda's primary), but this soundtrack just frickin delivers in all aspects and the fact it flows so well with the gameplay etc makes it GOAT.

 

[Ferr986]

the dynamicness of the music actually hurts my listening experience on the albums in some indefinable way, haha.

Listen to the actual OST versions, not game rips. They are better structured.

 

[Jintor]

Listen to the actual OST versions, not game rips. They are better structured.

I have it actually... i just haven't had the chance to listen properly to it yet beyond categorising it onto my playlists (put too much time into P5)

I will say I miss that they didn't bake the machine vocals into the songs I think? But probably for the best.

 

[DrunkShogun]

It really has a stellar soundtrack that enhances the world. Only direct comparisons I can make is the original Nier game. Only franchise other than persona where vocal songs are actually a plus and not a negative.

 

[zombieshavebrains]

Yup, best music in a soundtrack i've heard in a long time. Like it has new things in music I haven't heard. The transition from areas means the previous song might be in the background until you go to the new area. When you go into hacking it's the same song in a chiptune. Pascal really kinda captures the innocence of the robots who are cut off form the network.

I think I enjoyed the OST more then the game, and I liked the game a lot.

 

[spiritfox]

Yep. But then conversely, actually listening to it alone after you've finished the whole game draws out so many subtleties you don't catch in-game (plus the mastering is far, far better on the soundtrack album than in the game itself.)

Oh the album tracks are great. I love how they managed to make the dynamism of the tracks work in a static format, and the quality is so much better than in game.

 

[tiebreaker]

love the village and desert soundtracks

 

[galvenize]

I feel the first game was superior in that regard. Best ones from automata are the re arrangements of some of the previous themes.

 

[hamchan]

It's such a shoe-in for OST of the year and like the first game will probably be OST of the generation too.

 

[Karamsoul]

I like that when you complete certain optional quests, they have their own unique songs. Very cool.

 

[Ferr986]

I feel the first game was superior in that regard. Best ones from automata are the re arrangements of some of the previous themes.

To be fair I think some of the new remixes from OG Nier are a bit meh..... but all is worth it when we got a friggin Dispossession version sung by Emi.

But I agree Nier 1 still wins. I think part of it it's the awesome boss tracks from Nier 1. I mean, Opera boss track is amazing but that's pretty much it, I miss something like God bouds by rules, and nothing comes close to the Shadowlord theme.

 

[DPB]

I never played the original, so I'm really surprised how much I liked it since I normally can't stand vocal numbers in Japanese RPGs. This was a lot more subtle without resorting to the usual caterwauling.

 

[True Fire]

I've listened to the soundtrack multiple times, and the song that always gets a rise out of me is Vague Hope - Spring Rain.

 

[Arkeband]

What impressed me most is with the Japanese version of "Weight of the World". Normally, when they record a song and if flaws are present, they re-record it so everything is without error. With Nier Automata though, near the end of the aforementioned song, the singer (Marina Kowano) actually begins to cry mid-song. They keep all of that in the final recording, which surprised me when I imported the OST and sat down to give it a listen. It adds a lot of feeling to it, which is great to see. Really happy they did that.

I never noticed this, thanks for pointing this out!

When does the Japanese version play, is it ending C? I think chaos language was A, English was B?

edit: A is English, B is Japanese, C/D is chaos/etc~

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

I have it actually... i just haven't had the chance to listen properly to it yet beyond categorising it onto my playlists (put too much time into P5)

I will say I miss that they didn't bake the machine vocals into the songs I think? But probably for the best.

I've been in a constant state of disappointment with my OST CDs for not having those versions of the tracks nor Emil's english theme. It just feels incomplete.