I have listened to Rimworld, Disco Elysium, and EVE Online's soundtrack while working. Though it's probably my emotional attachment to EVE more than anything lol
The Eve Symphonic Orchestra is so good though.
Everything by Jeremy Soule. Especially Guild Wars 2 and Skyrim.
Crysis 2
Overwatch
A Hat In Time
Total Annihilation
ATM I love the soundtracks of:
Doesn't look like anyone listed the Ori soundtracks by Gareth Coker yet, they're amazing. Also can't go wrong with WoW if you're looking for more classic fantasy style.
Persona 3/4/5 (not all tracks are instrumentals, but most of them are and they are straight bangers)
Katana Zero Danganronpa 1, 2, V3 Silent Hill 1, 2, 3 (all I can vouch for, but I hear the later games still have banging soundtracks) Crosscode Kingdom Hearts 1/2 Nier Automata Minecraft Donkey Kong Country 1/2 VA-11 HALL-A Catherine Full Body Deadbolt Risk of Rain 1/2
Some of these you'd have to sift through, like Silent Hill is one part industrial creepy noise, and one part absolutely incredible hip hop and rock
That nobody mentioned Transport Tycoon Deluxe is criminal. I recommend the live-action version recorded for the mobile release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuJy9oCdUns
Diablo 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Mass Effect 1
Minecraft
Psychonauts 2. Peter McConnell only got better as the years went by.
Not a game, but you can't go wrong with most of the Ocean's Eleven-Thirteen soundtracks, if you like funky jazzy stuff.
Total Annihilation
How is there not a Single mention of celeste? It is one of the few things that can keep me focussed for hours.
Non-game instrumental artists:
Rise of Nations soundtrack is fantastic sandis the only "video game music" that I semi-regularly listen to.
Especially check out "High Strung" that would always play in multiplayer whenever a player dropped a nuke on another player.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL829D6AF91A5C465E&si=yvPeVG9kuDx71mZb
My favorite soundtrack ever, of course, is that of The Secret of Monkey Island (MT-32) by Michael Land. A lot of nostalgia there.
I also very much like the soundtrack to Dune by Stephane Picq. There's an edition that combines the Adlib, Adlib Gold, and MT-32 versions which is "chef's kiss". Alternatively, I can recommend the Space Opera edition.
Strike Commander by Nenad Vugrinec on MT-32 is also great.
For chiptunes, I really liked Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 by Alex Mauer.
Or, for a real classic, Earthbound by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka.
Yes, I have a bit of a thing for retro sounds. 😁
Wh40k: Mechanicus has some amazing music.
Offworld Trading Company. Haven't played the game but it's a great sci-fi soundtrack by Christopher Tin of Civ IV fame.
Child of light
Ultrakill has some bangers, didn't even play the game Injust stumbled on the OST.
The Witcher 3, I love BANANA TIGER.
Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2.
No Man's Sky
Lost Ember
Gris
Deep Rock Galactic
Route 96
Cyberpunk 2077
So so so many more
starfield the game is divisive to say the least, but i cant imagine anyone would talk bad about the soundtrack. inon zur's best work so far, and the death metal songs in there are fucking awesome too
Civilization Beyond Earth and Battletech have marvelous soundtracks
Tropico 3
Subnautica has a long and beautiful OST. It's been a long-time favorite of mine, and just a great instrumental jam to fuel my creativity lately. Stardew has my other favorite game soundtrack!
No-one has suggested Baldur's Gate 3?
I would suggest "quake 2", it's rock /metal and put me in a good mood when I work. Now if you like instrumental metal, it's no game music, but I would suggest Aephenemer (their official instrumental playlist is on YouTube).
Thomas was alone OST is superb.
Portal / Portal 2
"Science Is Fun" is a great track, as are the end songs "Still Alive" and "I Want You Gone".
XCOM 2 Legacy Soundtrack. Some darned good beats on there.
Cloudpunk OST for a Blade Runner vibe.
I know it's a little obscure, but if you like Kamen Rider and ancient games, the music from this game is awesome
Need for Speed 3 -- the original hot pursuit has an amazing techno and rock soundtrack.
GTA V has an awesome soundtrack (listen to the original score, not the music they licensed)
The very first Hitman and Hitman Contracts had some killer techno/electronic soundtracks.
Any of these are great to play in the background while you work.
Can't go wrong with pretty much any pre-Skyward Sword Zelda. SS itself also has Ballad of the Goddess, which was good, but I can't remember any other tunes from it or BOTW that aren't just reprises of tracks from previous games.
Stellaris. Absolutely fantastic.
The Dead Cells soundtrack. Especially:
Overall, Surviving Mars might be my favorite work soundtrack. Assorted tracks from Stellaris plus the Age of Wonders and Civilization series are also good. Something about the soundtracks in 4X games and games like them always puts me in a productive mood while not making me emotional and thus distracted like RPG soundtracks can sometimes.
Since you like FF, I'd suggest looking into Uematsu's other works as well, especially Lost Odyssey. For similar ones in the genre, there's also Yasunori Mitsuda's work in the Chrono and Xeno series.
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