[Phod]

Music has always been my driving force behind total immersion into an adventure game experience. To me it's even more important than the graphics. Effective music will heighten my emotional experience with the game, which in turn gets me into the story and characters -- the main reason I enjoy adventure games.

For this list, let's focus on one specific game instead of a series.

10. The Legend of Kyrandia: The game's soundtrack was a perfect fit for its fairy tale storyline. Kyrandia has some of the catchiest riffs that, despite repeating over and over again, never seem to get old. Made great use of different themes for different areas of the game.

Kyrandia samples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5tmM2dS5vc

9. Shivers 2: Given the storyline focused on a lost band, it wasn't surprising the music played an integral role in the game -- including songs that offered puzzle clues. The ambient themes for each area of the game fit well and the Trip Cyclone band music wasn't that bad. This example song below was one I long remembered after I had completed the game.

Shivers 2 sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRDDvSpsSwM

8. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey 2: An epic soundtrack to fit an epic game. Dreamfall had sweeping character themes as well as location specific music to place your mind right in the game's location.

Dreamfall samples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9dPU-pooB8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v65YSbgh-Y

7. The Pandora Directive: The three FMV Tex Murphy games all featured great Noir themes that really put you in the mood for some detective work. Although you probably won't remember any particular pieces as classics, it's because the music wasn't overly intrusive that it worked so well. With that said, Pandora Directive also had "Tex's Lament", shown below:

Pandora Directive sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMHNCpQpUog

6. Zork Nemesis: The "Myst-clone" of the Zork game era had incredibly subtle ambient music with specific themes for each area of the game. I could just stop playing for a moment and marvel at the surroundings while listening to the music. It was meshed well enough into the gameworld that you really felt transported there.

Zork Nemesis sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWbITrziil0

5. The 7th Guest: Although you can debate the merits of The 7th Guest as an adventure game, it has a fantastic soundtrack and one of the more recognizable themes. Solving unrelated puzzles didn't really do much for sucking you into a thin story but the music did wonders for putting you in that house.

7th Guest sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r3C5F_L1UA

4. The Dig: This flawed masterpiece does have one perfect aspect: the soundtrack. While the gameplay slumped at times, the beautiful orchestrial soundtrack fit the game perfectly and managed to keep a player interested despite some shortcomings. Absolutely gorgeous.

The Dig sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7RDhKMCHIQ

3. The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time: A great mix of haunting themes for each area, particularly the Chateau Gaillard and Chichen Itza exterior areas of the game. If anyone has this soundtrack online somewhere, please let me know

Buried in Time sample (briefly at start): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BofxbIIQ68s

2. Myst: This is basically a perfect soundtrack. Wonderfully mysterious music tied to specific areas of the game. The original Myst's music was quite subdued but extremely effective. I must have went back to certain areas of the game a dozen times just to hear the theme music some more; plus, I loved the variations on the main theme for Sirrus and Achenar.

Myst sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuz8rHq1BaE

1. Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within: The Gabriel Knight theme introduced in Sins of the Father is a classic piece of music and The Beast Within made excellent use of the theme. It's Gabriel Knight 2's score, which could rival most motion pictures, that I choose as my all-time favorite. I probably watched the Chapter 1 end movie a few dozen times just to listen to the "Hunt Club" track and I certainly admit to putting the soundtrack tracks on the I-Pod.

Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqQRbcBZc48

[AndreaDraco83]

Oh, another Top 10! I'm happy and this time around I'll surprise you with a not-all-Sierra-titles ranking!

10 - The Secret of Monkey Island - Behold! I'm putting a LA game But, seriously, the main theme is awesome!
09 - Syberia I
08 - Torin's Passage
07 - King's Quest V (The Girl in the Tower)
06 - Police Quest III
05 - Conquests of Camelot
04 - Gabriel Knight I: Sins of the Fathers (The closing theme)
03 - Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
02 - Gabriel Knight III: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. This piece is my favorite (from 5:15).
01 - Gabriel Knight II: The Beast Within. And I think that this one says it all.

[DustyShinigami]

Eep! Don't think i can manage 10. More like 15!

Again in no particular order (moreso than before):

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within
Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
The Secret of Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
The Curse of Monkey Island
Escape from Monkey Island
Simon the Sorcerer
Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe
Simon the Sorcerer 3D - game's a huge disappointment but the music is one of the good things about it.
The Longest Journey
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

[Fien]

Samples to be found at www.bysmitty.com or youtube.

10. Discworld 2 : Death Song... why not simply lie back and rot...
9. Obsidian. Many people don't care for the Dolby music, but I feel it fits the mood of the game perfectly.
8. Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon. One of the few recent games where I didn't turn of constant background music.
7. Comer. One-man job, both game and music. I'm glad I bought the soundtrack before the developer disappeared into thin air.
6. Full Throttle. Rocks!
5. Discworld Noir. Snazzy jazzy.
4. Riven. Classic.
3. Myst Exile. Even better than Riven. Such a nostalgic and sad intro.
2. The Last Express. Of course.
1. The Neverhood. Feeling blue? Play the Neverhood Songs.

[Jelena]

My Top-10 game music list:

10. Gabriel Knight- The Beast Within opera theme. Magnificent!
9. Aura - Surprisingly good music from a mediocre game.
8. The Curse of Monkey Island opening theme.- Very atmospheric.
7. Dreamfall - The music in the hospital comes to my mind most of all.
6. Myst Revelation - Atmospheric!
5. Zork Nemesis - The end game I think it was has a great theme.
4. Discworld Noir - So cool and laid back!
3. Faust Seven Games of the Soul - a great variety of music including
Nat King Cole's Nature Boy.
2. Myst Exil - Majestic!
1. The music from the Gallery in URU Ages Beyond Myst - The
most beautiful game music I've ever heard.

[colpet]

10 - Alida
9 - Beyond Atlantis
8 - Uru
7 - Neverhood
6 - Shivers 2
5 - Faust
4 - Myst
3 - Riddle of the Sphinx
2 - Riven
1 - Gabriel Knight 3 Blood of the Sacred

[Phod]

Hey Alucard, is it possible to give an approximate order? I can't compile an Adventure Gamers' top ten unless I can rank each selection. Unless you just want me to rank your order for you Thanks!

[veruncheek]

1. Atlantis: The Lost Tales
2. The Last Express (though I listen more often to César Franck´s concert)
3. Neverhood
4. Scratches
5. Grim Fandango

I listen to Scratches soundtrack now, wow, it brings me back to my attempts to play the game and then quit just because I was too much frightened...

EDIT: Atlantis rules!

[Squinky]

I have a heavily jazz-influenced bias on my list, but here goes.

10. The Last Express
9. Full Throttle
8. Monkey Island series
7. Phoenix Wright series
6. Hotel Dusk
5. Sam & Max Hit the Road
4. Sam & Max Seasons 1 and 2
3. The Neverhood
2. Grim Fandango
1. Discworld Noir

I know it says not to group series together, but I did so anyway, except in the case of Sam & Max, because different composers were involved with the LucasArts and Telltale games. If you really need to separate the individual games, consider mine to be ranked equally. (e.g. SMI, MI2, CMI, and EMI all have a tied ranking of 8.)

[JackVanian]

1.Gabriel Knight II
2.Gabriel Knight I
3.Gabriel Knight III
4.Tex Murphy Overseer
5.Pandora Directive
6.Dracula Unleashed CD-Version
-Not really a good game, but the intro and outrotracks are perfect and what could be more dramatic for a vampire game than Fortuna Plango Vulnera (i bemoan the wounds of fortune) http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Xkv5...eature=related Too bad the DVD version that came out 8 years later didn´t have the two Fortuna tracks, as they were the best thing about the game.-
7.Phantasmagoria
8.Quest for Glory 4
9.Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
10.Harvester http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=PCwvrhfOMMI

The next candidates probably would have been The Dig, Memento Mori and Dracula 3.

[DustyShinigami]

Originally Posted by Phod

Hey Alucard, is it possible to give an approximate order? I can't compile an Adventure Gamers' top ten unless I can rank each selection. Unless you just want me to rank your order for you Thanks!

Sorry, i'm really not sure what order to number them. I'll give it a whirl though.

10. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
9. Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe
8. The Secret of Monkey Island
7. The Curse of Monkey Island
6. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
5. Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
4. Simon the Sorcerer
3. Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
2. Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within
1. Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

Honourable mentions:

10. Sam & Max Hit the Road
9. Sam & Max - Season One
8. Simon the Sorcerer 3D
7. Discworld Noir
6. Full Throttle
5. The Longest Journey
4. Escape from Monkey Island
3. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
2. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
1. Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

I'm afraid these really aren't acurate orders. I've no idea which game soundtrack i prefer the most or even the least. I love 'em all. And i'm not even sure if the 'honourable mentions' belong in my actual list or not.

[cwapitm]

1. Dreamfall-This score has a really cinematic quality to it. It reminds me much of John Williams. It is truly superior and blows me away.
2. The Curse of Monkey Island-You get to hear the new version of the classic Monkey Island theme. That particular bit is probably one of the most memorable pieces of music of any adventure game ever. I enjoy humming it on occasion. The other tracks are also very nice, like the Goodsoup hotel theme, and who could forget the song "A Pirate I Was Meant to Be"?
3. Grim Fandango-Oh what an amazing soundtrack this game has. It is beautiful and wonderfully implemented.
4. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars-The music in this game is very nice really. I especially love the piano playing in the Hotel Ubu. I could probably listen to that forever.
5. Day of the Tentacle-This is a soundtrack that tends to stand out to me for some reason. It's very well done and the music for each different time period is very fitting.
6. The Hand of Fate-I included the second game of this series because it's the one I'm most familiar with. The soundtrack is truly excellent and unforgettable. My favorite track is the one in Volcania with the dinosaurs.
7. Syberia-Beautiful beautiful score. The opera song in the middle of the game is also amazing.
8. The Longest Journey-Admittedly I preferred Dreamfall's soundtrack over this one, but it still has a beautiful score.
9. The Journeyman Project 3: The Legacy of Time-I'm probably going to be biased here because I'm currently playing this for the first time in a while. I can't believe I forgot how great the music in this is. It really makes you feel as though you are there back in ancient times.
10. The Dig-The score for this game gives an air of mystery. It fits well with the game's concept of discovering a new planet.

Like my other list of course this is still inconclusive.

[Kazmajik]

10. Longest Journey
9. Grim Fandango
8. Leisure Suit Larry 3
7. Curse of Monkey Island
6. Quest for Glory IV
5. King's Quest VI
4. King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity
3. Gabriel Knight 1
2. Gabriel Knight 2
1. Gabriel Knight 3

[Twizman]

Music is vital to me too, and gives me great happiness.

I'm not sure of the names for many of these tunes.

10. Mordack's Castle (KQV)

9. Mr. Frustration Man (Grim Fandango) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqyYSmAuN0

8. King's Quest V Opening Scenes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRYKV...eature=related

7. Lord of the Dead (KQVI)

6. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers opening theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upV8y...eature=related

5. The Secret of Monkey Island opening theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeSFd...eature=related

4. Nightingale (KQVI)

3. Debut of the Chron-O-John (DOTT) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcb5UWObY10

2. Sam & Max: Hit the Road main theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8rcEtjBbSQ

1. Inherit the Earth Overworld theme

[Ariel Type]

10. Sam & Max Hit the Road - crazy, jazzy and simply outstanding
9. Dreamweb - dark, moody and cruel, just like the game itself. Can't wish a better future
8. Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - the idea of rewarding the player for solving puzzles with music is fantastic
7. Gabriel Knight 3 - not as many memorable tracks as in the first one, but sometimes VERY emotional
6. The Legend of Kyrandia - it has some of the most breathtaking themes
5. The Neverhood - along with Skullmonkeys features the craziest music pieces in gaming history
4. Scratches - a perfect soundtrack for a classical horror, hands down
3. Monkey Island 2 - all tracks are great, but the one on the Scabb Island that changes slightly as you enter houses.. ahh
2. Zork: Nemesis - sometimes I just play the game for the sake of its music, it's very immersive
1. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - had a hard time remembering music from games, but this is the only one I love to listen apart from the original

[DaveyB]

10. Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars
9. Moment of Silence
8. Syberia
7. Curse of Monkey Island
6. Fahrenheit - Some of it's a bit cliched, but the opening music is haunting and memorable.
5. Longest Journey
4. Gabriel Knight 1
3. Gabriel Knight 3
2. Dreamfall - There are 2 games/series for me where the music instantly stands out - Gaby & Dreamfall. Trying the decide where to put Dreamfall compare the GK1, 2 and 3 was virtually impossible.
1. Gabriel Knight 2 - Similarly, to be confident of my "Gaby order", I think I'd have to play all three together one after another. But bits of the music of GK2 still stay clearly with me with particular scenes - the intro, the end on the Neuschwanstein bridge, various scenes at the hunt club, and of course the opera (even though I'm no opera fan myself), that I think it's gotta be GK2 at number 1.

[MakeMonroe]

1 Gabriel Knight II - My favorite piece from that game was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeDG7e3pJJ4 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoOXC...eature=related
(but the whole game is full of great music, my all time favorite vg soundtrack).

2 Gabriel Knight III - this piece especially http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUSSa8aHAMk

3 Gabriel Knight I

4 Dreamfall

5 The Dig

6 Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

7 Phoenix Wright Series

8 Curse of the Monkey Island

9 Syberia

10 Broken Sword 1

[Phod]

Here's an updated top ten from all the responses so far!

#10 - Riven

#9 - Zork Nemesis

#8 - The Curse of Monkey Island

#7 - Grim Fandango

#6 - Discworld Noir

#5 - The Neverhood

#4 - Dreamfall

#3 - Gabriel Knight 1

#2 - Gabriel Knight 3

#1 - Gabriel Knight 2

The top three, all Gabriel Knight games, are separated by just four points overall. Very close! It's been back and forth after each response. They are securely ahead but there are a lot of games on the edge of the top ten, including The Last Express, Myst, Faust, The Dig, Sam & Max Hit the Road, and Myst 3.

Thanks for the responses!

[Fantasysci5]

Ooh, Top Tens. I'll try my best.

8. Faust: Seven Games of th Soul-I love the song from Presence, Far Away From My Hear, and the other oldies on there.
7. Barrow Hill
6. Myst 3: Such a haunting track!!
5. Dark Fall: The Journal-I LOVED the music soundtracks you can find on the computer, and play for your own amusement.
5. Indigo Prophecy-Go Theory of a Deadman!!
4. Riven
3. The Longest Journey
2. Dark Fall: Lights Out-with the boat and the poem...*drool*
1. Dreamfall-the most moving soundtrack, and wonderfulness from Magnet.

[HandsFree]

I'm not sure if the same list would come out if I listened to all this music again, but this is how I remember it:

10. Leisure Suit Larry Theme - over 10 years since I played a Larry game and that theme is still in my head.
9. Murder on the Orient Express
8. Kings Quest 5 - maybe because it was the first AG I played, but stil...
7. Discworld Noir
6. Secret of Monkey Island - somehow they managed to make those computer bleeps sound better than the orchestral sequels.
5. Legend of the Prophet and the Assasin - the most colourful exotic gamescore I know.
4. Sam & Max Season 1 - just love that old -yet modern- bigband sound
3. Shivers - from the melancholic cello in the bedroom to the nerve wrecking mazemusic, every scene is spot on.
2. Voyage - the opposite to Shivers. Amazing how many different things can be done while sticking to the same themes, instruments and sounds. A lot of attention to detail went into this one.
1. Gabriel Knight 1 - not sure if I will be doing many GK nominations, but I can't get around the music. This is the only game where I kept hanging around in locations, just to wait till the music had finished. Even kept staring at that New Orleans map.