Five Best Video Game Soundtracks to Listen to When Studying
As an academically driven student, I found myself early on in my schooling career looking for ways to help enhance my study routine. Quickly, I learned one of my favorite things to do was to put on some soft music in the background to help tune out other distractions and keep me focused. While I started with the normal classical music and lo-fi playlists, after listening to a couple, I felt like I had listened to them all. They still worked for me and I still put them on from time to time, but overall, I started to get bored with them. That’s when I saw one person mention they had added a couple of their favorite songs from video games they loved into their study playlist. I immediately fell in love with this idea and have never turned back since.
As someone who grew up playing video games, this idea seemed perfect. The soundtracks are incredibly long so I could put one on for my entire study session and not have to think too hard about what to play next. Also, I found the variety that was really missing for me in regular classical playlists in these soundtracks. As video games tell narratives, you have some songs that are naturally slower and some that are faster and more energetic, and as you listen you get natural energy shifts along with them which helps keep you engaged instead of the slow and steady pace that always lulled me to sleep. I have even heard the argument that game music is composed to help keep people engaged and some people swear it keeps their concentration sharper for longer. While I’m not so sure about the science behind it, I know it’s something that really helped me and is one of my favorite study tips to give. So, here are five of my top playlists to put on while studying:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Growing up, The Legend of Zelda was one of my favorite game series so naturally, I adore the soundtracks. The whole soundtrack comes in at a whopping six hours and five minutes so this is one I put on when I know I have a long night ahead of me. (It even got me through an entire economics paper in one night.) During the whole thing though, there’s not one point where I feel like I’ve been listening to something for too long. As the setting changes throughout the game there are significant tone and instrumentation shifts in the soundtrack so as I move through the different sections of my night, I feel like my music is too. The composition of this soundtrack is also most similar to some classical pieces so I think this might be a good beginner gaming soundtrack to introduce you to some of the quirks game music can bring.
2. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Taking place in 1920s London for most of the game, this is the soundtrack for our vintage lovers out there. The instrumentation has a European influence so along with your basic strings you’ll hear some really cool solos on saxophones, pianos, trumpets, and even an accordion once or twice. Right from the opening track, this game has a lot of energy and can help me push through when I’m feeling especially tired one night. It has almost a jazzy feel to some of their songs and like it would fit right into a Sherlock Holmes novel. It’s a shorter one at around an hour and fifteen minutes so this is one that is good for when you need to get something done quickly.
3. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky
One of the only things as cute as Pokemon is Pokemon music This is another long one at six hours and twenty minutes start to finish and is synthesized so it has that classic video game sound to it. This can make it so that if you’ve never really listened to something like this before, it might be a little distracting. I highly recommend listening through a little though because once you’re used to it, I find it really helpful and one of my go-to’s. Because the soundtrack is synthesized it sounds almost 8bit in nature which makes it simple to listen to. This means that when I have something really complicated I’m doing that night, this soundtrack isn’t so layered and complex it distracts me. Similar to lo-fi playlists, those little plinks and plunks over and over again can help me tune out anything else and keeps my focus laser-sharp.
4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
One of the best things to happen to 2020 was the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game was a simple piece of the wholesomeness the world seemed to lack, and the music fits that theme perfectly. These songs are the ideal backing to any task you might be doing, and no matter how simple it may be, makes you appreciate it a little more. There are few pieces as joyful as the opening track and I always find myself putting this one on after a particularly hard day when I just need a hug. As the game is set in a town simulator type, the tracks have a rhythm to them that is a constant gentle push forward that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other until I finish what I need to. At five hours and eighteen minutes it’s long enough to put on and keep on for as long as you need, but similar to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, is still complex and engaging enough where it doesn’t feel monotonous. No matter what type of games you’ve played in the past this music is just simple fun that anyone would like.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Finally, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is to this day, my favorite video game soundtrack of all time. As the first video game I ever played, I may be a little biased towards it, but everyone I’ve shown it too has agreed there is something about it. As the second installment of The Legend of Zelda franchise on this list, it shares a lot of the same qualities as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, but brings it down to a simpler level. The game has a lot of difference in its action and resting sections so this is one I highly recommend to those that need something that keeps the back of your mind engaged. As a fantasy-action game, I feel a lot of curious and hopeful energy from the songs which helps me stay inquisitive and on track. This one is also a shorter one at two hours and eleven minutes so I find it a perfect middle of the road length where I can sit down and get a lot done while listening to it, but nothing that takes my whole night.
Video games are becoming a larger and larger part of media as we know it and music is one of the best facets of storytelling that comes from it. I find that the music composed for games always has a clearer mood and intent because the ebb and flow is contained throughout the entire work versus other pieces that try and fit a wide range of emotions into one song. This mood though is so important for me when I’m studying because, at the end of the day, school is stressful. Even as someone who loves academics, I don’t always love studying and so putting on music that has such a clear tone of happiness and energy helps me shift my own feelings. It’s something really simple that can help me completely turn my mood around which lets me get a lot more done than I otherwise would. So the next time you’re in a rut and nothing seems to be working, go back to some of your favorite games and give yourself a little piece of that joy to take with you.