There’s something magical about video game music.

It’s not just background noise — it’s memory glue. These tracks don’t just bring back the games themselves, but the exact feelings, moments, and chapters of life I was living when I heard them.

Plus, it can genuinely be great music.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that certain songs have stuck with me not just because they were good — but because they reflected something deeper. Who I was. What I was going through. What I was becoming.

Here are five video game songs that hit different — and the stories they’ve carried with them.

1. “Wandering Flame” – Final Fantasy X

This masterpiece from Masashi Hamauzu fits the tone of Final Fantasy X perfectly — a sense of deep sorrow, blended with longing and hope.

It takes me back to high school. It was the last day of school, and I was somewhere in my teens — young, dumb, and admittedly obnoxious.

School let out early, and I was home by 11 a.m. As soon as I walked in the door, I ran through the backyard and jumped into the pond behind my house.

Floating there in the sun and staring into the sky in the perfect stillness of the day, “Wandering Flame” popped into my mind. It wasn’t playing on speakers by the raggedy old dock — it was just there.

Somehow, that song captured the moment exactly. The high of summer break and its endless possibilities. The low of being apart from friends — and not saying the things I didn’t have the courage to say to someone I wouldn’t see for months. I never did work up the nerve.

Now, some 20 years later, the song means something different. In one sense, I’m back in that pond — a teenager, weightless, and full of what-ifs. But in another, I’m an adult who understands that things worked out the way they were meant to. And for that, I’m forever thankful.

2. “Skellige” – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

My playthrough of The Witcher 3 came during a turbulent, pivotal chapter of my life.

A serious relationship had just ended. I was alone — far from friends, far from family — and trying to pretend I was okay. In the rawness of it all, I didn’t know what moving forward looked like. And true to old-school me, I was trying to lock it all away and take on the world alone, feelings and pain be damned.

Then one night, I reached Skellige in-game — and this track played.

And just like that, it cracked open the vault. All the anger, sorrow, and confusion I’d been holding back came rushing in. I put the controller down and just sat there — listening, reflecting, letting myself feel for the first time in a long time.

It might seem insignificant, but that moment — this song — marked the beginning of what turned out to be a long road of healing and growth.

3. “Ronfaure” – Final Fantasy XI

This track from Nobuo Uematsu instantly transports me back to my middle and high school days.

Those were weird, confusing times on one hand — but on the other, they marked the beginning of something unforgettable: my first MMORPG experience with Final Fantasy XI. That game carried such a sense of wonder in the early days. High-level players would march by in gear that dwarfed mine. I’d wonder what the next zone looked like, or whether I’d survive the journey there. EXP parties would stretch on for hours, and it never got old.

I get goosebumps even writing this and listening to the song. I’m instantly taken back to my dad’s living room, sitting in a (poorly) air-conditioned room, fueled by copious amounts of coffee.

And me — Xodious — a fledgling warrior, fighting orcs in East and West Ronfaure in Vana’diel, while real-life Travis takes a break from the oddities of teenage life.

4. “The Last Soul” – Streets of Rage

We’re going old school for this one — back to Sega Genesis and one of the first video games I ever played, Streets of Rage.

This track by Yuzo Koshiro perfectly sets the stage for the final fight with Mr. X, the elusive leader of the Syndicate. The music doesn’t try to scare you — it demands respect. There’s a calm, cool power to it that carries more weight than a full orchestra of dramatic cues or the hardest guitar rift.

And that energy? It’s stuck with me.

Even now, if I’ve had a great day at work, crushed a lift, or I’m just feeling on — this is a song that comes to mind. It’s not rage or adrenaline. It’s composure. Swagger. Confidence.

I might not be the leader of a shadowy criminal empire, but I like to think I’m the Mr. X of my own story.

5. “Prelude” – Final Fantasy / Distant Worlds

This marks the second entry from Nobuo Uematsu — if that doesn’t say it clearly enough, he’s my all-time favorite composer. And Final Fantasy music is something I listen to regularly.

In 2018, I made my second-ever trip to New York City to see Distant Worlds perform at Carnegie Hall. For the uninitiated, Distant Worlds is a concert series that features orchestral performances of music from the Final Fantasy series.

That trip came at a meaningful time. I was deep into a healing journey after that last serious relationship ended. I’d spent nearly two years rediscovering myself — pushing boundaries, taking risks, getting to know myself and finally, living again.

The very first song they played was this one. “Prelude.” The iconic harp intro began, and when the choir joined in, I was moved to tears.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I was meeting the current version of myself. In that moment, everything I’d been through — the good, the bad, the in-between — it all washed over me. And yet, there I was. I was alive. I was happy.

A month later, I met the woman who would become my wife — a fitting prelude to everything that came next.

Since then, seeing Distant Worlds has become a kind of tradition — once or twice a year, whether in New York City or Washington, D.C. At their 2024 performance, I even got to meet conductor Arnie Roth and have him sign a Distant Worlds record that now hangs in my office — a daily reminder of how far I’ve come, and the music that helped me get there.

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These songs aren’t just tracks on a playlist — they’re markers in time. They remind me of who I was, who I’ve become, and the roads I took to get here. Somehow, they always seem to show up exactly when I need them — and they’re still there whenever I want to revisit a moment.

Video game music has a way of cutting straight to the truth. Whether it’s sorrow, adrenaline, nostalgia, or joy, it fuses with memories in a way few things can.

And if you’re lucky, the song keeps playing — even after the moment has passed.