Top 10 Best Enchanting Video Game Themes

While unfortunately not included on the official soundtrack for the original PS3 version of Demon’s Souls, the menu theme “Character Creation (Souls of Mist)” would eventually be included on the soundtrack released for the game’s later PS5 remake – albeit, notably rearranged and retitled “Hero Creation.” Both iterations of the track are fairly minimalistic in structure and ponderous in tone, with a repeating four-note melody presenting a paradoxically enchanting but mysterious aura that will give players a very early taste of the game’s gloomy setting (and largely nebulous storytelling).

9. Peace of Mind (Resident Evil, 1996 / 2002)

Thankfully, with this entry, the original PS1 version and later GameCube remake of Resident Evil‘s iconic (and very calming) save room theme “Peace of Mind” was included on the official soundtracks released for both games, with each presenting notably different “takes” on the same melody. In the original version’s case, the track is understandably very synthesized due to the then-relatively limited sound capabilities of the PS1; however, in the later remake’s case, the track – now just titled “Save Theme” – features actual chords in place of the former’s synth (as also backed by ethereal “singing”).

8. Resting Comfortably (SH4: The Room, 2004)

I only really mentioned this particular theme in passing within another article I wrote on what I thought were the best tracks from each of the mainline Silent Hill games, but “Resting Comfortably” is a genuinely well-crafted piece of music in the otherwise divisive SH4: The Room. Featuring an odd sound that’s simultaneously relaxing and unnerving, this fairly short (but also highly moody) track only plays at a particular set of in-game locations, adding a further elusiveness to its overall quality.

7. The Night Falls (Shenmue, 2000)

Used throughout the entirety of the original Shenmue during cutscenes signaling nighttime in the game’s overworld (a depiction of Yokosuka in the late 1980s), the track “The Night Falls” is a very enchanting theme with something of a somber undertone to its sound. Despite how these cutscenes frequently interrupt the flow of players’ progress, its accompanying theme – which actually sounds quite different when heard in-game – really plays up the simple beauty of a suburban town at night.

6. Untamed Heart (Klonoa: DtP, 1998)

Serving as the theme for Klonoa: Door to Phantomile‘s second-to-last stage preceding the final set of boss battles, “Untamed Heart” is an undeniably enchanting and dreamy piece of music that greatly enhances the area’s majestic setting (an ancient lunar palace). While the track is incredibly serene and mesmerizingly gorgeous (using genuinely soothing bell chimes in its opening), there’s also an undertone of melancholy to remind players that they still need to stop the main antagonist’s world-ending ambitions: with heightened urgency in the following stage’s track, “The Closing Encounter.”

5. Grassy Plains of Illusion (Grandia Xtreme, 2002)

Featured in the bizarre subterranean “Illusory Meadow” area in the latter half of Grandia Xtreme, “Grassy Plains of Illusions” is a heartachingly beautiful track including what might be the loveliest, most soul-stirring use of violin I’ve ever heard in any piece of video game music. Even though the track is very enchanting and pleasant-sounding, it also serves to reinforce the abstract placement of a sunlit (yet monster-infested) garden existing so deep underground; of further note is the piece’s structural and tonal similarity to the theme “The Sandy Beach of Ganbo” from the original Grandia.

4. The Best Is Yet to Come (MGS, 1998)

To finally take on a full-fledged vocal piece for this list, the track “The Best Is Yet to Come” – as played during the credits of Metal Gear Solid – is another heartachingly beautiful theme that I actually get misty-eyed listening to sometimes: it’s just that good, and it’s an exceedingly fitting choice for the game’s bittersweet conclusion (especially seeing where the series ends). The piece’s lyrics, which are sung gorgeously in Gaelic by Irish musician Aoife Ní Fhearraigh, lament the forgotten joys of life and love while also pondering the harsher realities of conflict and sadness.

3. Zelda’s Lullaby (The Legend of Zelda [Multiple])

Since it’s hard for me to pick a specifically “favorite” version of this recurring (and extremely iconic) theme, I’ll just say that I like it in general and appreciate hearing it played in just about every Legend of Zelda game following its original implementation in A Link to the Past. Overall, “Zelda’s Lullaby” is just a tender and heartfelt piece of music that’s used strategically throughout the series to add emotional weight to scenes it’s prominently featured in (of course, concerning Princess Zelda). A perfect, enchanting tune for this list.

2. Name Entry / Password Theme (TBoO, 1990)

For the last two entries, I’d like to highlight a couple of selections that I’d argue are genuinely well-crafted and enchanting themes featured in much older games for the NES that might not have been seen as such when compared to many of the other pieces I’ve listed above. Serving as the main theme for the name entry and password menu of The Battle of Olympus, this piece (sometimes called “Name of a Hero) is a surprisingly alluring and emotionally sounding track that really sells the game’s timelessly adventurous – even slightly romantic – overtones, referencing its partial basis in Greek mythology.

1. Ending (Mega Man 3, 1990)

Used in the short epilogue preceding Mega Man 3‘s staff roll, this theme – simply titled “Ending” on official Japanese soundtrack collections – has a notably somber and wistful-sounding quality to it that makes the reveal of Break Man‘s secret connection to Mega Man all the more moving and enchanting. Likewise, as many in the Mega Man fandom have pointed out, this epilogue was the first of three back-to-back “downer” endings lasting until Mega Man 6 (and briefly resumed in the pyrrhic conclusion of MM7).