Awesome songs in games that barely get played

[Rotobit]

Sometimes you hear a song in a game that is so incredibly awesome you're anticipating hearing it again, but it turns out it only plays in a very specific circumstance, whether it be a town you visit briefly, a combat encounter that's rare, or anything in between.

As an example, Yakuza 0 has Trouble Shooting Star, which became one of my favorite songs in the entire soundtrack after first hearing it during one of the initial English trailers. In-game it plays during business-related fights that are almost always over before the song gets hype.




Any similar examples of great songs barely getting any time in the spotlight?

 

[VZ_Blade]

Plays only once (not even looped during the battle) throughout the entire game. Hopefully XCDE can find ways to put this song into more scenes.

 

[YellowBara]

If I recall correctly, this song plays in an optional area of Gran Pulse that is really out of the way and only ever plays there.

EDIT: Turns out I'm wrong on that lol.

 

[Rotobit]

Another example I just remembered, the Animal Crossing GameCube island theme probably wasn't heard by the majority of players considering you needed a GBA link cable to even head there




On the same note there's the 1 a.m. thru 5 a.m. tracks I imagine weren't heard by many kids back in the day.

 

[Mr.Fletcher]

 

[Tyaren]

Many of Yoko Shimomura big, epic tracks for FFXV. What you hear 90% of the time in the game is car music of older FFs, boring town and gas station music and occasionally the one or other track while exploring the field, it gets quickly cut off when you engage in a battle though.

 

[erd]

Final Fantasy XIV has a ton of songs like that. The game has a massive soundtrack and gives pretty much every dungeon and boss fight its own theme. Which is mostly awesome since those themes all tend to be great and make the dungeons/bosses much more memorable, but it also means there's a lot of great music you rarely get to hear in-game.

Apart from that, there's also several songs that only play during very specific moments and nowhere else. I love this combat theme, for example:


but as far as I can tell, it only plays during two short, optional fights.

There's also this combat music from Uematsu that only plays in a challenge arena thing locked to a single class that most people completely ignore:



And worst of all, there's stuff that's technically in the game but never plays at all, like this string-quartet version of a very memorable boss fight track:


The only way to hear this in-game is to buy it of the cash shop and play it in a player-owned house/apartment.

 

[Open Wound]

One of my favorite tracks of Cold Steel III, and it plays exactly 3 times in the entire game. Much like the theme "Sword of the Biting Gale", it's used when allies come to the rescue of our heroes, but that theme is also a combat theme and gets much more use throught the game. I'm not complaining, it's a great theme, but it's a shame this theme gets so little usage.

 

[Squid Bunny]

Does Totaka's Song count? It's normally an easter egg in a lot of games.

 

[Instant Vintage]

Not only does it play only once under a very certain circumstance, it only plays once IN THE ENTIRE SERIES. A series that tunes are reused and remade constantly, this is the only one that isn't.

I thought that SFV would've offered it as a stage tune to buy, but of course they didn't. SMH. Literally one of the best songs in SF history.

 

[ubercheez]

One of the best songs in Okami only gets played briefly, and only in the final act of the game.

Many of Yoko Shimomura big, epic tracks for FFXV. What you hear 90% of the time in the game is car music of older FFs, boring town and gas station music and occasionally the one or other track while exploring the field, it gets quickly cut off when you engage in a battle though.

Click to shrink...

Agreed. Terrible misuse of a great soundtrack.

 

[terminaljeremy]

This is Exile Vilify by The National which plays through a specific radio in Portal 2, which I've never found.

 

[Pyro]

The Staff Roll of Metal Force for the PC-9801



Sure it doesn't played enough because it's the credits but this song is still damn good.

 

[Dlanor A. Knox]

These only play like once or twice in a 150+ hours long visual novel

 

[mclem]

I think you can probably argue for the vocal version of Lament of the Highborne from WoW



There is a non-vocal version which crops up in a variety of places, and the core theme is reused a few times, but the vocal version isn't used often; once in a diegetic form as a quest reward on the Horde side, and in a music box toy that is non-trivial to get hold of. And it's beautiful.

 

[sensui-tomo]

most people didnt get the game or get to the point where this happens.

 

[HiroTSK5]

Before the Re Mind DLC I don't think this song even gets to go a full loop before a different song starts playing

 

[hyouko]

Deltarune's not a finished game, so maybe this will get more play in the final version:



For now, it only plays in one scene - the scene where Susie is beating seven shades of shit out of Lancer - and you can basically skip right over it without hearing it through. It's one of my favorites from the soundtrack, though.

 

[Another]

Not even used at all. Hidden away in the options menu in the jukebox.

 

[Shining Star]

This song plays for about 15 seconds and it's so epic.

 

[behOemoth]

The Vision Fades in MGSV. It's optional and only composed for one scene.


The First Person by Akihisa Yamaguchi in Gran Turismo 5 & 6. It occurs very rarely in the menus somewhere.

 

[Minastepes]

Legend of heroes : Trails in the sky 3rd.

I first thought it was the main battle theme, but no ...

 

[Rotobit]

Many of Yoko Shimomura big, epic tracks for FFXV. What you hear 90% of the time in the game is car music of older FFs, boring town and gas station music and occasionally the one or other track while exploring the field, it gets quickly cut off when you engage in a battle though.

Click to shrink...

Probably my least favorite thing about FFXV is the way the "tension" and battle themes overwrite whatever music was playing, even if you're going up against enemies that are extremely weak compared to you. You can't even play the old FF battle music on your MP3 player during actual battles!

This song plays for about 15 seconds and it's so epic.

Click to shrink...

I've always wondered if they scrapped a Super Sonic stage of the final boss, because this song is in-line with the His World and Endless Possibilities orchestral covers from the two previous games

 

[Deleted member 7883]

nah this one is played in it's entirety it doesn't count. move along folks.

 

[Claire Delune]

Perhaps not quite in the spirit of the OP, but I feel like a lot (if not most) of the songs in Sayonara Wild Hearts end too soon just as they start to get going.

 

[Deleted member 26156]

Pokémon Sword & Shield has 19 different battle tracks across the entirety of the game. More than half of those play for one, maybe two, during the span from when you reach the final city, Wyndon, and beat the champion, which is like 3-5 hours max.

Now, you can play the themes during online battles/in the battle tower. Its just really funny how much effort they disproportionately put into the final part of the game, music-wise.

 

[Santos]

Only plays during exams (Persona 5) but I love this song. The bass is just so sick.