RPGFan Music of the Year 2024 Editors’ Favorites: Rob White

2024 was a year absolutely stacked with great new RPG releases, many of which contained music that I enjoyed. Persona 3 Reload and Granblue Fantasy: Relink were two early 2024 releases that came packed with strong gameplay and OSTs to match. I revisit music from both of these now, even when I’m not actively playing them. Persona 3 Reload bringing that cool Persona vibe with its city pop and jazz stylings; Granblue delivering a more classic and traditional fantasy RPG sound, but of the highest order and with nostalgic nods to games of the past. However, I’m here today to talk about a different game. An OST that came out of the blue and took me by surprise with its quality, experimentation and general awesomeness. My 2024 Music of the Year is Stellar Blade. 

Stellar Blade Original Soundtrack

Now, I won’t talk too much about Stellar Blade’s soundtrack here, because you may have seen my glowing review already (if you haven’t then go check it out!), but I’ll summarise why this is my OST of the year and also one of the best I’ve heard in quite some time.

I went into the soundtrack, and the game itself to be honest, expecting a not-as-good copy of NieR: Automata. I expect many other people probably went in with the same impression, particularly with regards to the music. A small number of tracks certainly do sound heavily influenced by Automata, which shouldn’t be surprising considering some composer crossover, but this OST (and indeed, the game) has so much more to offer than just those influences. Even the tracks that do borrow from Automata’s sound at first glance — “Shelter (Title),” “Star Descent,” and “Flooded Commercial Sector,” for example, contain much more depth and a wider range of other sonic inspirations that reveal themselves when giving these pieces more time.

The Stellar Blade OST is over ten hours long, but the amount of variety in its tracks is astonishing. The fact that I wasn’t bored once during that time is testament to the group of composers’ dedication to crafting a body of work that sounds both unified and full of elements drawn from many contemporary music genres. Fans of electronic and ambient music especially will find much to love here, but don’t let that suggest that those are the only sounds you’ll hear. “Clock Tower” fuses subtle electronics with acoustic guitar, “Roxanne” could be a track lifted straight out of Persona 3 Reload, and “Lyle’s Variety Store” features an accordion on lead. Each environment theme and its accompanying battle version are unique and set the tone for each location well. The very modern, fresh sound to these tracks is sometimes at odds with the game’s post-apocalyptic setting, but I find that contrast works well with the familiarity of the music offering an anchor to the player and driving home the message that this is the world you know, just in a different state.

The inspirations and genres explored within the Stellar Blade OST are what set it much apart from NieR: Automata and give it its own strong identity. The comparisons to Automata’s music are base level at best, and I implore any fan of video game music to check this soundtrack out for its experimentation, range, contemporary sensibilities, and passion to deliver something new and exciting.

Highlighted track: “Raven”