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The 10 best songs in PC gamesThey’re all someone’s jam
They’re all someone’s jam
Good Riddance -Hades
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You stumble across Eurydice, musician and collateral damage of Greek tragedy, as you wander through the underworld. She’ll be singing this sorrowful number alone in her chamber. It’s a song about death, rest and letting go, all tinged with a sense of bitterness. Because anyone who knows their myths knows that Eurydice was left behind in the underworld after her lover and fellow poet Orpheus fluffed the chance to free her from the dead realm. That means, hey, this is also a breakup song. Worry not, you can reunite these lovers in the game, and the reward isa harmonious duet of the same song.
Karaoke song -Disco Elysium
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A growling, existentialist lament from a drink-dependent Detective. It’s more spoken word than outright song but it’s a sombre, wistful bunch of lyrics dedicated to the decrepit beauty of Revachol city. A sweet moment for a guy who has spent the last few days fumbling through that city, trying to solve a murder case with the melancholy knowledge that his life is one big joke. Of course, the joke might keep going if you fail the skill check to sing it, in which caseyou’ll perform this version.
Bakamitai -Yakuza 0
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A song so good it is worth belting out in a karaoke parlour, completely alone.
Ode To Somewhere -Deathloop
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Yes, this is on a radio that you stumble across, so I’m breaking my own rules. But a) it’s implied that antagonist musician Ramblin' Frank Spicer performed the songs you hear in-universe. And b) it is a total croon tune. A 60s-inspired love song with lyrics that, on closer inspection, bring to mind the broken relationship of two of the game’s characters. Just listen to those strings kick in halfway through. In fact, damn, all Frank’s songs are good. From the energetic oo-oos ofThe Revenantto the bitter twangs ofNo Class, your old drinking buddy has style. You might not know it to hear his Tom Waitsy growls over the loudspeaker in his Fristad Rock hideout, but he is an angry rockstar with “the voice of an angel”, as his doctor tells him at one point (before adding he also has the internal organs of a geriatric).
Dva Concerto -Botanicula
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You find yourself whooshed into a genie’s lamp at one point in this psychedelic point and click adventure, where two important contributors to the game manifest as blobulent larvae. Larvae with trumpets. Worms with drums. This isDva, the musical duo that developers Amanita Design worked with to help fill out the clicky sound japes of both Botanicula and follow-upChuchel. What language do these larval performers sing in? Nobody knows. They made it up.
God Only Knows -BioShock Infinite
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The Wolven Storm -The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
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There’s something unconvincing about how CD Project Red animated all the characters to cry and glance meaningfully around, as if they weren’t confident the audience would understand the concept of “sad song in minor key”. But hey, it’s a nice song. Can’t take that away from them.
The Wind and Rain -Her Story
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Eyes On Me -Final Fantasy VIII
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Pam-Pa-Ram -The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
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I don’t need to explain myself to you.
One Off The List from… the 10 steamiest trains
Last time we stayed on-track with the10 best trains in PC games. But one of these locomotives needs to be decommissioned. It’s…
The whistling summon with an ugly mug and a steamy temper has been sent to the scrappers on a technicality. “The Doomtrain shouldn’t count,” says list inspector ‘icarussc’, kicking the wheels and feeling no resistance. “Because it isn’t a train, it’s a ghost. Duh.”
The goblins have spoken. The cult of the listpocalypse continues marching ever forward. Will there be no end to the cataloguing of seemingly random things as related to video games? The answer is no. We move with anticipation towards the omni-list, goblins. Nobody can stop us.
