A new Final Fantasy game and a Legend of Zelda, and you’d expect them to rule a list like this, and yet only one of those games made it onto our list. Instead, we have a fantastic mix of games whose scores and original soundtracks added to the cinematic quality of their games, helped add mood to your dice rolling actions, invented a song and dance in a genre you’d have never expected, and even a rhythm-based action game.

Here are our picks for the best original video game scores or soundtracks from 2023.

5. Hi-Fi Rush (Kayla Brown, The Glass Pyramids, John Johanas, Shuichi Kobori, REO, Masatoshi Yanagi)

In this world of licensing and DMCAs, it has become very rare for games to include popular music. Hi-Fi Rush stands out because of this, with its varied score of popular music featuring bands such as Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys and The Prodigy, to name a few. The rhythm-based adventure game uses these tracks seamlessly throughout its boss fights alongside the original score that players crash and bash along with as Chai fights his way through the legions of robots.

– Ciaran

4. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (John Paesano)

With this being the third entry in the Playstation Spider-Man universe, the major themes for Peter and Miles are set, but John Paesano does a great job of mixing the two together as the two Spider-Men work in tandem. The score rises and swells perfectly with what is going on in the moment, enhancing each superhero moment and giving the true Spider-Man. experience.

– Ashley

3. Alan Wake 2 (Petri Alanko, RAKEL, Jaimes, Mougleta, Jean Castel, Old Gods of Asgard, Paleface, ROO + BERG, PJ Harvey, Poe, Poets of the Fall)

The big musical performance for Herald of Darkness, which was the highlight of The Game Awards 2023, is just part of the reason that Alan Wake 2’s soundtrack is so good. However, there is more to the game, with both a superb original score from regular Remedy composer Petri Alanko and original songs created for the game from  RAKEL, Jean Castel, Mougleta, Paleface, ROOS+BERG, Jaimes, Old Gods of Asgard, Poets of the Fall, Poe, Martti Suosalo, PJ Harvey and Sami ‘Haxx’ Hakala. It’s a wild mix of music, especially if you add in the licensed songs that don’t make their way onto the official soundtracks but are featured in the game. The varied styles and combination of creepy score and credit songs work perfectly with the cliffhanger pacing of the game. What am I saying? It’s all about the Herald of Darkness and that dance. 

– Dylan

2. Final Fantasy XVI (Masayoshi Soken)

Final Fantasy XVI ended up being a game with many varied perspectives on the overall package. However, one thing that most could agree on is the excellence of its soundtrack, which is to be expected of a Final Fantasy release. Composed of over 200 songs in its soundtrack, the music of Final Fantasy XVI creates so much mood, tension and atmosphere to underpin the journey through Valisthea. Primarily composed by Masayoshi Soken, the soundtrack uses a full orchestral suite and accompanying vocal tracks to create the epic feeling for the game’s largest moments. Though the soundtrack also excels in some of the smaller moments and tracks, with tracks like Idylls of the Empire standing out for its beautiful simplicity. 

– Wil

1. Baldur’s Gate 3 (Borislav Slavov)

If you want your players to play your game for an incredible amount of hours, you need to have a score that they are happy to listen to for that time, which is another thing that Baldur’s Gate 3 delivers. There are hours of wonderful orchestral melodies to listen to you as you explore the world and run errands, but when the action kicks off, there a numerous powerful battle songs to make this fight feel like the most important thing happening right now. How Borislav Slavov makes the turn-based battles feel like epic encounters is truly a form of wizardly magic.

– Ashley