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* ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou]]'' for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 has Heading For Tomorrow from Zwei.
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* ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou]]'' for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 Platform/Xbox360 has Heading For Tomorrow from Zwei.
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* The ending music from ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'' (excluding the UsefulNotes/PCEngine / UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 CD version), "The Morning Glow", has an award-baiting [[WithLyrics vocal remix]] titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtkolB8D0zI "Endless History"]], that was used for the credits music of the anime adaptation.
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* The ending music from ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'' (excluding the UsefulNotes/PCEngine Platform/PCEngine / UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 Platform/TurboGrafx16 CD version), "The Morning Glow", has an award-baiting [[WithLyrics vocal remix]] titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtkolB8D0zI "Endless History"]], that was used for the credits music of the anime adaptation.
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* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'':
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkFUrLpd1DM Beyond the Sky]] from ''Xenoblade''. Unlike most examples, it plays entirely during the ending scene itself rather than the credits.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkFUrLpd1DM Beyond the Sky]] from ''Xenoblade''. Unlike most examples, it plays entirely during the ending scene itself rather than the credits.
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* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'':
''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'':
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkFUrLpd1DM Beyond the Sky]] from''Xenoblade''.''[[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 Xenoblade Chronicles]]''. Unlike most examples, it plays entirely during the ending scene itself rather than the credits.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkFUrLpd1DM Beyond the Sky]] from
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** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' has "[[https://youtu.be/8cMLPvroQ64 Where We Belong]]."
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* ''VideoGame/BlueReflectionSecondLight'' has [[https://youtu.be/5U8ZXU8F0oU?si=oJoygHVwWRPYkMcz Afterschool Ariette]] as its end theme.
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* ''[[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee]]'' has a slow ballad in its New 'n' Tasty remake called [[https://youtu.be/IMUVClsvZkA ''Born to Love You'']] which plays in the credits of the game.
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* ''[[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee]]'' has a slow ballad in its ''[[VideoGame/OddworldNewNTasty New 'n' Tasty Tasty]]'' remake called [[https://youtu.be/IMUVClsvZkA ''Born to Love You'']] which plays in the credits of the game.
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad about ThePowerOfLove? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some gamers [[TearsOfJoy cry]]. The remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', takes it [[SerialEscalation up to eleven]].
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad ballad/bubblegum pop song about ThePowerOfLove? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some gamers [[TearsOfJoy cry]]. The remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', takes it [[SerialEscalation up to eleven]].
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* The Creator/StudioGhibli-Creator/Level5 video game collaboration ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' has "Pieces of a Broken Heart", performed by Mai Hisaishi in the Japanese version and by young chorist Archie Buchanan in the English version.
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad about ThePowerOfLove? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some girl gamers [[TearsOfJoy cry]]. The remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', takes it [[SerialEscalation up to eleven]].
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad about ThePowerOfLove? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some girl gamers [[TearsOfJoy cry]]. The remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', takes it [[SerialEscalation up to eleven]].
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad about ThePowerOfLove? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some girl gamers [[TearsOfJoy cry]]. The remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', takes it UpToEleven.
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad about ThePowerOfLove? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some girl gamers [[TearsOfJoy cry]]. The remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', takes it UpToEleven.[[SerialEscalation up to eleven]].
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies--especially in its remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams''.
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* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies--especially in its qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad about ThePowerOfLove? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some girl gamers [[TearsOfJoy cry]]. The remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams''.''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', takes it UpToEleven.
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Examples of AwardBaitSong in video games.
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* ''VideoGame/ThirteenSentinelsAegisRim'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWNzyavR2lU Seaside Vacation]], played during wave 2-10 of the combat section of the game and the ending credits. It has been compared to "Do You Remember Love" from Macross above.
* Even a series like ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' has a few to its credit:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJEpFRCKINU Blue Skies]] from ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrQrkZtg-mo "The Journey Home"]] from ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar''.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VELpIlgVDGQ Gravity]]" from ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy''. Although [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160804015414/https://www.facebook.com/worldofnoel/posts/10150448185273276 the lyrics]] are about the PlayerCharacter's [[LyricalDissonance status as an invincible ace pilot]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYpiZVNggNk A Brand New Day]] from ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation''.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loTcZHoIYfQ In Your Belief]]" From ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath''. A beautiful somber song by the singer of Aura's Theme from ''Franchise/DotHack'', Tomoyo Mitani, it manages to be used both for the epic beginning in episode 1, [[spoiler: The [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] second half of episode 12]] and the credits for the end of the final act. [[spoiler: Both of them.]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz-jFRuvA2o Le Ali Del Principio]] from ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins''. Notable for being used in not only the end credits, but the incredibly well-done Heart-to-Heart scene and the TrueFinalBoss, yet somehow NOT being an example of SoundtrackDissonance.
** The composer Motoi Sakuraba's then-nine-year-old daughter sang the vocals, making it one of his most personal works.
** Then there's a darker version of this trope with the ending ballad of ''The Eternal Night'''s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UuezAeuPy0 This Broken Soul]]".
* The ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' games all have at least one, usually in the form of a classic song played over the staff roll that the game would also use a faster-paced remix of as one of the battle themes.
** The first game had Peggy Lee's "Fly Me to the Moon", played over Bayonetta performing a slow pole dance as the second half of the credits roll.
** ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' had Andy Williams' "Moon River" used under the same circumstances.
** ''VideoGame/Bayonetta3'' has two. At first, it bucks the trend of using pre-existing songs in the staff roll by using an original, more tragic composition known as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHzhV9q0uS8 We Are As One]]", with Bayonetta performing a solo dance, which is more befitting of the ending's circumstances [[spoiler:of Bayonetta meeting her end just after the FinalBoss and being sent to the afterlife along with her lover. Just to drive the point home, various stills of moments across the entire series appear as crystals and float upward, before Bayonetta herself crystallises and does the same thing]]. But then, after one more boss battle, we get another pole dance for the second half of the staff roll, this time to Music/FrankSinatra's take on "Moonlight Serenade"
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4Crth_Hb8 Will The Circle Be Unbroken]] from ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. [[spoiler: Especially when one takes the ending into consideration.]] The ''Burial At Sea'' DLC features Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth's VA) singing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka6YEHBtMhc You Belong To Me]] over Episode 2's closing credits; the song, however, is referenced in-game if the player chooses to visit an optional area.
* From the ''VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}'' series, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crwCFXqzJ6I Stardust Memory - Place Of Promise]] by Kanako Kondou, the voice actress for the main heroine Noel Vermillion.
* Because the 2009 ''VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob'' deliberately set out to emulate a Disney-esque feel, they couldn't let the end credits go without one of these. The ending song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3dXDRqWTKI "Everything to Me"]], is exactly the sort of friendship song that fits best--though a sad sort of one.
* Indie platform shooter/80's action movie homage ''Videogame/{{Broforce}}'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-J3Jv8kfE The Ballad of Rambro]]. Bonus points for actually [[http://www.goldentrailer.com/gta17_nominees/most-innovative-ad-for-a-video-game/ winning an award!]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv8Mde-LXNE I Just Smile]] from ''VideoGame/BurningRangers''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3DxQ84shnE "I Am the Wind"]] from the end credits of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. It was rather jarring, playing through a gothic-horror-themed {{Metroidvania}} game set in the Victorian era, only to be greeted with a Celine Dion-styled ballad at the end of the game...
** Apparently, the reason that song is in the game is because Yamane had made a friendly bet with Rika Muranaka in 1996 and ''lost''. It's actually pretty funny.
** A patch for the Xbox Live version replaces the song with "Admiration Towards the Clan" from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Lament of Innocence]]'', while the PSP version uses a new song called "Serenade of Sympathy".
* "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets is featured in ''VideoGame/ChildOfEden''.
** Better yet, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYH4JygIioI "Flow"]], the ending credits song to ''VideoGame/ChildOfEden''. Somewhat of a TearJerker.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuy_FRk7LNQ "Off to Sleep"]] from ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight.''
* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKMUrEOnwc Radical Dreamers~ Unstolen Jewel]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJiHDmyhE1A "Baba Yetu"]], the opening music from ''[[VideoGame/{{Civilization}} Civilization 4]]''. Literally Award Bait, as it's the only video game music to have ever been considered for and given a Grammy Award.
** Firaxis attempted another one in VideoGame/CivilizationVI via ''[[https://youtu.be/Q0pBzowOKU4 Sogno di Volare]]''. It was nominated for the 2017 Game Audio Network Guild Awards, but sadly did not win.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oCTru2Uim0 "Remember You"]] from ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution 5th Mix'' (and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YINqotRPQng acoustic version]] from ''Extreme PSX JP''), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQl_6Zy3y1s "Be in My Paradise"]] from ''DDR Club Mix'', and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqHQRX_NQX8 "Graduation"]] from ''DDR Extreme''.
* The ending theme of ''VideoGame/DeathSmiles'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-YCA1WXI2s Period]]. The song could be considered heartwarming or a TearJerker.
* ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'' has, well, [[https://youtu.be/tae8F4gkfiw "Death Stranding"]], by Music/{{CHVRCHES}}.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' tends to play with this, with the end credits theme usually starting off hard-rocking and energetic fitting the games' tone, but then seguing into softer ballad's midway into the credits. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwaF0oSmEZw Seeds of Love]] from the first game begins as a fast-paced techno-rock before fading into a vocal version of Eva and Trish's theme. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIIYt5lcq3A Shall Never Surrender]] from ''4'' starts out as a remix of Nero's battle them for its first 2 minutes before becoming more award bait-y, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ3V42o_86E Bentley Jones]] cover {{exaggerate|dTrope}}s its award bait aspects. The only game to avert this completely is the third game, which ironically has the most BitterSweetEnding out of all the games. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZUN89RaP60 Devils Never Cry]] otherwise fits the criteria in that its leitmotif is used throughout the game numerous times thorughout several key moments and tracks, and starting out somber and melancholic, but averts it by becoming a hard-rocking metal song a minute in and staying that way to the end. ''5'' finally plays it straight with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyeTroY6uUY Legacy]].
* ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou]]'' for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 has Heading For Tomorrow from Zwei.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3TkF8y7o6A Gentle Hands]]''; the closing song to the first ''VideoGame/DotHackGU'' games as well as the third game closer, ''[[https://youtu.be/RN8KktiTr4Y The Truth of One's Whereabouts]]''
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqMk4aollgk You Smiled Kindly]] by the Singer of In Your Belief down below.
* From ''VideoGame/DuckTales'' ''Remastered'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wBtsLditgY The credits version of the Moon theme]] is an instrumental SofterAndSlowerCover example.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDpowHy2QPI "Pollyanna"]] from ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' is a bit peppier than most award bait songs, but has perfectly fitting lyrics for the song type. [[http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01545/ This fan-made remix]] only tackles the first bit of the song, but puts it in "true" Award Bait Song mode, complete with synth sparkle.
** The ''VideoGame/Mother3'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=553vR8ZtWIE Theme of Love]] also qualifies, especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXF0DincgFc vocal version]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwHZwvTdnPI Smiles and Tears]] from ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' counts, of course, though it didn't have an official vocal version until over a decade after the game's release.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTaZ6jKR2V4 One World]]" From Endless Ocean: Blue World fits this trope perfectly.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCkwAgTcDBw Begin Again]].
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' has this going for it as well, starting with the second game and the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t28DUfNqTbU 'Chou']] by Amano Tsukiko. This was followed with the rather hauntingly beautiful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOI9Jq8NH9Q 'Koe']] from the third game, again performed by Amano; and then the fourth game had TWO of these songs: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Av3xJ5N30 'NOISE']] which plays over the end credits on easy/normal difficulty, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OwORC7OArk 'Zero no Chouritsu']] which is the actual 'theme song' of the game.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** The concept reaches its logical conclusion with the albums "Pray" and "Love Will Grow" which consist of nothing but attempts to adapt Final Fantasy songs into this style. Though some of them have little to no connection to the source, such as Matoya's Theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' becoming a French song about prince traveling the galaxy...
** VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV's Love Theme was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5UMohX62kw adapted into this style]] for the game's DS remake.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuvSDedrtKM "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. It starts as Celes' show-stopping number in the Opera House performance, and then becomes Locke and Celes' love theme, and only grows more and more into award bait along the way.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8mmrRl7IQ Why]]" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VideoGame/CrisisCore''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8uXWMNriio "Eyes on Me"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', the TropeCodifier for VideoGames.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77T8CR5arXs "Melodies of Life"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. The lyrics even resemble "My Heart Will Go On."
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdJVvyN3D04 Suteki da ne]]" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4voJjkJevs "1000 Words"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''.
** Even the MMO isn't immune. ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVYhcXmXSB0 Distant Worlds]]'' the end theme from the Chains of Promathia expansion of VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZGriywr8Mg "Kiss Me Good-Bye"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8qtteb9FBY "My Hands"]] from the US version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. Performed by the very same Leona Lewis that performed the song "I See You" that was in ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. The Japanese version got an equally powerful award bait song, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TauG36TbeSc Kimi ga Iru Kara]]".
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1vd0z3SLYo "New World"]] by Charice, from the English-language version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2''. The Japanese version of the game got the epic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VoVj_CnfL4 "Yakusoku no Bashou"]] by Mai Fukui.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39j5v8jlndM "Answers"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. Not only plays during the FMV that closed the failed 1.0 servers in preparation for the ''Realm Reborn'' relaunch, but makes it in game during the "Binding Coils of Bahamut" Raids.
*** Each of the game's expansions would also have it's own instance of this trope:
*** Heavensward had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtuwltmTp9I "Dragonsong"]], which plays over the expansion's end credits as well as the first phase of the The Final Steps of Faith Trial. On top of this, the song's Leitmotif is present throughout the expansion's score. The music video for this song even plays over footage from the expansion.
*** Stormblood had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmQm76wFfKk "Revolutions"]], although this time it only plays over the end credits. Otherwise it is much like Dragonsong.
*** While Shadowbringers' main theme (titled after the expansion itself) doesn't fit this trope, the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4lJsmCqvCI "Tomorrow and Tomorrow"]] certainly does.
*** Endwalker follows in Shadowbringers' footsteps in having a main theme that doesn't fit this trope, but proceeding to have a song (or in this case two) that do:
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWgpJ0k820w "Flow" (video contains spoilers)]], which is the character theme of [[spoiler:Venat/Hydaelyn]], is the straighter example of this trope, with it mostly playing in an instrumental only rendition until a moment towards the end the expansion when it finally plays with lyrics.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj_pWv3ISAw "Close in the Distance" (video contains spoilers)]] is the final zone theme & also exhibits many components of this trope.
** Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine's cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv2DSmy3Tro Stand by Me]] fills this role in both the Japanese and English versions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYPWuy3SPMY Moonless, Starry Night]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'' is a nice soft tune about coming home after a long journey with friends.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', and its sequel, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', both have songs like this sung over their credits, each representing one of the heron galdrs plot important to the game in question. ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_0JfNkcClU Life Returns]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C39CUQtWIzA Dawn Awakens]]'', respectively.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' did this as well. Certainly a unique use of this trope, given that the song in question, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoNnx1ttotc Fly With the Breeze]], ''lacks vocals'' - but it hits every other aspect spot-on.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' started the tradition of having sorrowful lyrical ballads sung at the end credits with "Lost in Thoughts All Alone." It is possibly the straightest example in the series. Sparkly synth? Check. TruckDriversGearChange? Check. Played over the end credits? Check. Reprise of a song sung during the game? Check (and by a princess character, no less, with the same voice actress reprising the credits version).
** "Heritors of Arcadia" from the VideoGameRemake of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' appears to have dethroned "Lost in Thoughts All Alone" as the straightest example of an AwardBaitSong. It's ''again'', a synth laden ballad with a TruckDriversGearChange played at the end credits and, in the English version, is sung by [[TakingTheVeil Silque's]] voice actress.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' continues the tradition set by Fates with "The Edge of Dawn", which plays in the intro and has a much longer reprise that plays in the credits.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' follows suit with "Fiery Bonds", a vocalized version of the game's {{Leitmotif}}.
* The ''VideoGame/GodEater'' series ''loves'' including a big, epic, sappy orchestral song. Although the games are made in Japan, these songs are sung in English. Most of them play over the end credits and have at least one TruckDriversGearChange near the end.
** ''VideoGame/GodEaterBurst'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLUeowS8VNk "God and Man"]], which played during both end credit sequences, the first without vocals and the second with them.
** ''VideoGame/GodEater2'' has no less that ''three'' such songs when the ''Rage Burst'' expansion is taken into account:
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QSLfJaam2w "Revolving Lantern"]], which plays during [[spoiler:Romeo's DyingMomentOfAwesome]] in the original story as well as the flashback to [[spoiler:his time with Livie in the orphanage]] in ''Rage Burst''. A song with vocals by Ingrid Gerdes about the emotions the aforementioned character feels [[spoiler:as he dies, lamenting the fact that he'll be missing out on so much of life's experiences yet celebrating that he's sacrificing himself for the greater good]]. One of the few songs here to not have a TruckDriversGearChange, and to not play over the end credits.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHUtucU8W1E "Faith"]], the ''Rage Burst'' credits theme, is about determination in the face of adversity. It has more of a {{Pop|Music}} sound compared to other examples from this series, but otherwise hits many of this trope's notes, including sparkly sounds during the intro.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbs-w7g20d8 "Tree of Life"]], which plays after [[spoiler:completing Julius' character episodes]], is about how far the characters have come.
** ''VideoGame/GodEater3'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO4_XCuUspQ "All I Know"]] during its credits, which starts off gentle but builds up to a triumphant, sweeping chorus; however, it also has a lot of LyricalDissonnance if you pay attention to the words. It also features the aforementioned "God and Man"'s RecurringRiff during one section.
* From .hack//LINK ''[[https://youtu.be/KYkj8HH5Tyg Stairs of Time]]'', and ''Deepest Memories'' also qualify.
* For a game built around a soundtrack, VideoGame/HeavyRain did well to make [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHsk7WPSDu4 "Before the Storm"]] stand out quite as well as it did, introducing a theme to be repeated no end throughout the game.
* A somewhat odd example from ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}''. The music piece itself was not written ''for'' the game, but plays at key moments. I am of course referring to Agnus Dei. To re-iterate: It is first played during the epic launch of the Mothership. The second time it accompanies when the player first returns to Kharak and witnesses their burning home (TearJerker right there). The third and final it plays during the final montage showing the Kushan people returning to their homeworld Hiigara after millennia of exile. After this final piece, progressive rock band Yes' song Homeworld (The Ladder) plays.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ico}}'' ends on the haunting "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FQ-0vqHAro You Were There.]]"
* Several songs from the [[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster iDOLM@STER]] franchise are written in the style of Award Bait Songs, including ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imgbDRujKlE Tonari Ni...]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnPbLGa7J80 ALIVE]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHLV056IhvY Hummingbird]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19E65Hdx1io Massugu]]''. ''Massugu'' was even used as the ending theme for the first console version of the game.
* The song "Further" at the end of ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' is basically this.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_2lcU_dt2E "Fade Away"]] from ''VideoGame/Infamous2'' is a pretty good example, especially given the endings.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_tiKhfqFds&pp=ygUSdGhlIGNoaWxkIHlvdSB3ZXJl "The Child You Were"]] is ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'''s ending song, which is a rock ballad about the loss of childhood innocence and learning self-love despite the loneliness that's part of growing up.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_wkJ377LzU I Was Born For This]] from ''VideoGame/Journey2012''
* [[http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Simple+And+Clean/2T6fB2?src=5 "Simple and Clean"]] / [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOSNIIx5u_U "Hikari"]] and "[[http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Sanctuary/3WCOf4?src=5 Sanctuary]]" / [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWoJLdXJt0E "Passion"]] (the Japanese versions have different names as well as the entirely different lyrics) from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. Both play in the openings of their respective games ("Simple and Clean" / "Hikari" also appear in ''Chain of Memories'' and ''Birth by Sleep''), then have a longer, slower version that plays over the end credits.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69M2iiI__XQ "Girl in the Tower"]], from ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI''. Geez. Were Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle not available, {{Creator/Sierra}}?
** ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVII'' tried again with "Land Beyond Dreams". The FanRemake of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestII'' got into the act with [[http://www.queststudios.com/quest/kq2rts/wisy.html "When I Saw You".]] Infamous Adventures' FanRemake of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIII'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl2dp0-xTMI "My Way Home"]], while Creator/AGDInteractive's remake has "Coming Home". The FanSequel ''VideoGame/TheSilverLining'' even throws in with one called "I Will Remember".
* Many ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' credits songs hit the marks of this trope.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iha6_y4XR0M credits music]] from ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' lacks vocals (obviously, given the SNES's sound limitations), and is about twice the tempo of your average Award Bait Song, but hits pretty much every other aspect on the list.
** ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgbY1WyVS8 staff credits theme]] also fits, featuring a slow-paced, feel-good piano melody.
** The one that fits this bill the most is the credits music for ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb6MMKV6dPY "Returning to Dream Land"]]. It starts off slow, incorporates many of the game's leitmotifs, and builds up to a triumphant finish.
** ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'' has "Green Tree Memories from Kirby," a song with actual sung vocals in both [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP2e5eF5zjk English]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbBH2HLw7Y Japanese]].
* ''VideoGame/LANoire'' had "(I Always Kill) The Things I Love" playing in the end credits. This extraordinary piece of jazz fits the game like a glove, and it's a tearjerker too.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wm4MrwujFU The Flying One]],'' the vocal version of its main theme, which plays over the end credits. It shares a number of stylistic similarities with the end credits songs favored by Creator/StudioGhibli, but it's still distinctly Award Bait-y.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' has ''I Swear...'' from the second installment of the game that fit this trope to a T. Starts out slow and mellow? Check. Covers ThePowerOfFriendship? Check. Extremely touching? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Becomes triumphant towards the end? Check. Make no mistake, this is an Award Bait Song that was so good that it was reused in the future sequel, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel''.
* "If You Still Believe" from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxLbsfXTab4 "Song of Mana"]] from ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana''. A bit more folksy and energetic than most of the songs in this trope, but pulls it off with considerable grace and feasibility. As a song about love, longing and life passion, it avoids being merely an IWantSong by capturing both the motivation and the happy ending of the story. This song is notable for being sung entirely [[GratuitousForeignLanguage in Swedish]] by native Swedish vocalist Annika Ljungberg, but as the crowning song of a game [[NoExportForYou never published in Swedish]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UuezAeuPy0 "This Broken Soul"]] from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'' fits this trope perfectly. Same for the sequel's (''Dawn of the Dragon'') credits, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyCcjWgVX2E "Guide You Home"]].
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': The "Ballad of the Windfish" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Ofmt3ZazA sounds magnificent]], especially once you've collected [[PlotCoupon all of the Siren's instruments]].
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N21htq8lXQ Final Duet with Zelda which contains reprises from all the Lokomos you've met]] leads into the FinalBoss Climax Music. And it's gorgeous.
** ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ReyoNpyrM Ballad of the Goddess]] is not only bombastic, but also serves a a major plot point in-game to unlock an ancient gate.
* ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' has [[https://youtu.be/KbWfGIjZG50 "You Wouldn't Know"]], which, for all intents and purposes, is a ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' song and has many of the same traits as its predecessors.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFvbKNmHEF8 "Heavenly Star"]] by the Genki Rockets, featured in ''VideoGame/{{Lumines}} II''. Nominated for Best Song at the 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards.
* ''[[VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete]]'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ripBa8Ga8 Tsu-ba-sa/Wings]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azmm2pN0sfA Wind's Nocturne]]'', which both falls squarely into this trope. The lyrics of the North American PSX version was even {{Woolseyis|m}}ed to sound like something that was created at Disney. However the North American PSP version was retranslated to keep with the original meaning of the Japanese lyrics, and the net result was a BrokenBase. The PSP version also added the obligatory sparkles to Wings. The [[VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue sequel]] has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYeivB9FMYQ Lucia's Theme]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' has [[https://youtu.be/9tL8i5YxS9U "Under Stars"]] by Music/{{Aurora|Singer}}.
* ''Videogame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne'' has Music/PoetsOfTheFall's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLn4_Wz3Tc0 Late Goodbye]]" as the country-inspired RecurringRiff and SolemnEndingTheme, which netted a 2004 Game Audio Network Guild Award.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipdun18P9Mo "The Songless Nightingale"]] from ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Frontline'''s OST doesn't actually appear in the game, although the German drinking song in the Golden Lion pub uses its tune.
* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
** The ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kduzi0ZyKjY ending theme]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcHXIS-Ij7g Protoman's Theme]] from ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', which was also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NItzNZgBS04 remixed]] for his ending in ''Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters''. Unfortunately, in the former game, the cutscene [[LongSongShortScene ends before the song completes its loop]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PMPIo9jo0M Freesia]] from the album ''Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Physis'', a remix of the ending of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4''.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' has lots of them.
** The Original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6miaTf1gF4g "The Best Is Yet to Come"]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' has "Can't Say Goodbye To Yesterday".
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' has Star Sailor's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdX7j0w5zj4 "Way to Fall"]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has "Here's To You".
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBEEKdUYNDw "Calling to the Night"]], the ending theme to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps''.
*** The song reappears in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' as one of the background music tracks for Snake's stage, [[SoundtrackDissonance so you can listen to all its heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, sparkly goodness while watching Snake and Pikachu beat the hell out of each other.]]
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQzgI6xJEH0 "Heaven's Divide"]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' likewise has "Sins of the Father" and "A Phantom Pain".
* Bizarrely enough, ''VideoGame/MrDriller'': [[NoExportForYou Drill Land]] has one in the form of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFDR9U3SOF4 "Days"]].
* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TERyxFfMqDk "Still Alive"]] by Lisa Miskovsky. (Note: a completely different song from the ''Portal'' song.) The reboot, ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdgeCatalyst'', has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kv1eVIKEDw "Warning Call"]] by Music/{{CHVRCHES}}, although due to licensing conflicts between the developers and their record label, it doesn't play during the end credits, instead being substituted with the similar instrumental piece "Catalyst".
* ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5or0rrhnnkw Someday, Under the Moon]] while the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CNMVaBCqCw Galaxy]]. ''Project X Zone 2'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8x1R_e0OGw Moonlight Curtain Call]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'' has a more {{Tearjerker}} focused one, "Ashes of Dreams". The song stands out for being real English, the only example of a real language in the whole soundtrack. The song deals with [[DespairEventHorizon a total loss of hope]], and considering [[spoiler:it plays after [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you've doomed humanity]]]] is sure to make the tears flow. Besides the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG1y5843-7U English]] version, there are [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign versions in fake]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbY6idAepUQ Gaelic]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN3Dcx5z8wU French]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywYjsgauVq8 Japanese]], each version playing at the end of their respective endings A, B, C and D.
* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' has an especially poignant example in "Weight of the World" from [[GoldenEnding Ending E]] of the game, which comes in four different version. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srbj96AUUCs english Version]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu87oGsjkic Japanese version]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5JQEpqM16Y Fictional In game language version]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmmrKK2GD6g The Medley version combining all 3 with added Chorus]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies--especially in its remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams''.
* [[Videogame/NobunagasAmbition Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence]] has one of these in the form of "Shine -Mirai he Kazasu Hi no Youni-" composed by Music/YokoKanno and performed by Ayaka Hirahara. The song also served as the series' 30th anniversary theme and as a celebration of the tenth year of Hirahara's successful career.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' also features "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee]]'' has a slow ballad in its New 'n' Tasty remake called [[https://youtu.be/IMUVClsvZkA ''Born to Love You'']] which plays in the credits of the game.
* In an example that doubles as a case of RealSongThemeTune, the use of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" performed by Judy Garland is played over the credits in the non-secret endings of ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}''.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1swdaCuam4 Reset]]" by Ayaka Hirahara from ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' counts as one. [[TearJerker Oh it does indeed.]]
* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNGKlkxz968 Somnia Memorias]], a bilingual (spanish and latin) ending song.
* From the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series:
** ''VideoGame/Persona2'' is a possible contender for the best example in the series with [[https://youtu.be/wONI34aquiU Change Your Way]], the ending song for Eternal Punishment which has lyrics relating to the themes of the game.
** ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has another example in the series with [[https://youtu.be/zHdOXCoja-c Memories of You]]. Bonus points for the lyrics actually having something to do with the ending.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' plays the song [[https://youtu.be/SXYdgfXyYqs Never More]] over the end credits.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has "Hoshi To Bokura To" which plays over the end credits. Played with in that it alternates between a softer style typical of this trope, and a harder rock section.
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 5 Royal]]'' has [[https://youtu.be/UfABCUDpzIQ Our Light]] in place of the above song, which is arguably a straighter example.
* ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnSjTsLerk Receding Hairline Celebration Party]], the credits theme. Though it's instrumental, it nonetheless has a ton of characteristics of this, such as the piano, sparkly synth, bittersweet melody and guitar solo towards the end.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** [[https://youtu.be/qgLBligLJPU Sayonara]], from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', is an instrumental version of this. It plays at the end when N says goodbye to you.
** [[https://youtu.be/kLLAHb4mlgE KISEKI]] from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has a similar melody to "Sayonara"; even if the lyrics aren't actually sung, they are still shown as what the lyrics would be if you sang along to its melody.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' has [[https://youtu.be/23g5HBOg3Ic "Celestial"]] by Music/EdSheeran play over its credits, notable for being the first vocal credits song in the franchise.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI "Still Alive"]] from ''VideoGame/{{Portal 1}}''. Arguably the most well-known example of this trope, at least in the video game field, though it technically breaks some of the criteria by the fact it is performed by a character in the game and makes direct reference to the events of it.
* Similarly, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVVZaZ8yO6o Want You Gone]] from ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''. As with "Still Alive," the song violates some of the Award Bait criteria by being not only performed by a character, and making reference to the events of the game, it also includes a major spoiler in the lyrics for those who haven't played it yet.
* ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' has the incredibly bittersweet [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HPBejDwWVI "Take Me Home"]] by After Midnight Project.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTzBopI2TjE "You and I"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvfhdRVIpx0 "Love Forever"]], both from ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline''. You won't hear either song anywhere in the game, but they're part of the official soundtrack and have been part of its promotional campaign during the early years.
* ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}} III'' has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckSWmk_tzpg Fairy]]" during its credits, which also recieved a remix on the ''Raiden IV'' OST.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' has "[[https://youtu.be/Yag41F7eCLU Deadman's Gun]]" poignantly playing in the end.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' plays the incredibly somber [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjYLY3BGDY4 "That's the Way it Is"]] in the lead up to the emotional climax.
* VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttack: "Always, I wanna be with you, and make believe with you, [[Music/{{Erasure}} and live in harmony harmony, oh love..."]]
* ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'' provides delicious award bait with the end credit song Dreaming My Way Home. Combine it with the scene it first appears in and there won't be a dry eye in the house.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EerJ5B1IQmQ "Thank You"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG3507ZouB8 "Let's Go On"]] from ''VideoGame/RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure''.
* The Japanese version of ''[[VideoGame/RType R-Type FINAL]]'' had an Award Bait version of Creator/HekiruShiina's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xAsQ1OZ7TE "Proud of You."]] The original song is a lot more upbeat and happy, but the one used in ''FINAL'' is a downright TearJerker.
* The ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' games have a few of these, all as credits songs. Sengoku BASARA 2: Heroes features Oichi's [[ImageSong image song]] "Nemure hi no Hana" performed by her seiyuu, [[Creator/MamikoNoto Mamiko Noto]], which plays during the credits of her story only; Sengoku BASARA 3 features "Gyakko" performed by Chiaki Ishikawa; Sengoku BASARA 3: Utage features "Tasogare" performed by Do As Infinity; and Sengoku BASARA 4: Sumeragi features "Heavenly Blue" once more performed by Chiaki Ishikawa.
* From the critically acclaimed Metroidvania game ''VideoGame/ShadowComplex'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q4cuVrwWx4 "Light of the Day/Dark of the Night"]] by Shaun Barrows.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXjaKhGLkXw "The Fate~Cluster Amaryllis"]] from ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant''.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'' series:
** [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 The first game]] has the Spanish-language song "[[https://youtu.be/5EffJHOuJIU Esperandote]]" during the BadEnding credits.
** ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' has [[https://youtu.be/_LvEj01NBmQ "I Want Love"]] and [[https://youtu.be/OD-iD2qYVkk "Hometown"]], the latter being a vocal arrangement of the first game's title theme.
** ''VideoGame/SilentHill4TheRoom'' has [[https://youtu.be/aKMksGsv-9U "Your Rain"]] and [[https://youtu.be/9xhI_IkOdCk "Cradle of Forest"]].
** ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' has two possible end credits songs depending on how you play the game; one of them, "[[https://youtu.be/gPUy_Im5dss Acceptance]]," is a haunting, minor-key, depressing example of this trope. The other one's a rock song that doesn't really fit.
* Although ''VideoGame/SimCity'' isn't really much of an emotionally driven game, ''Sim City 4 Rush Hour'' gives us an orchestral version of this trope with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BBEZ_T_3OY ''The Morning Commute'']]. Considering most of the music in the series is either jazz or jazz-inspired, this piece stands out greatly.
** The original ''Sim City 4'' also had one- the powerful rock opera ''Epicenter'', complete with faux Latin vocals.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6bYHxwJv24 "Sweet Dream"]] / [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1hB8jFRpDc "Sweet Sweet Sweet"]], from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', written by Dreams Come True. Showed up in instrumental chiptune form in the game, then was released on one of DCT's albums with lyrics and live instruments. This latter version was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t36agO2H-ZU remixed]] for the credits of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''.
** Some others include [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaUGQ673VbU "My Destiny"]] from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKywKqzp5jM "Worth a Chance"]] from ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'', and, to some extent, "You're My Hero" from the Sega Saturn version of ''VideoGame/Sonic3DBlast'' (the Genesis version just has standard end credits music).
** The verse of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyZAuEG4yho Kusuriyubi no Kesshin]], also by Dreams Come True, is the Star Light Zone theme WithLyrics.
** ''VideoGame/SonicR''[='=]s soundtrack was ''made'' of Award Bait Songs. While they were techno-style, the songs generally fit the mold of this type.
** To an extent, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9zZus_1_ag "Live and Learn"]] from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' would count as well. It's usually counted as one of the best (if not ''the'' best) Music/Crush40 (let alone Sonic) tracks of all time, and, while not particularly "sad" in tone, the lyrics and placement of the song work within [[HeroicSacrifice the context]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath of the ending credits]]
** While not related to the games themselves, the now extinct indoor theme park Sega World Sydney had a horribly cheesy stage show called "Theatre/SonicLiveInSydney", obviously geared towards younger children. Of all the songs in that show, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doj5AXP_ULQ "Sonic, Thank You For Being You"]] stands out the most, and has even been used in countless [=SonicXSally=] fanvids.
** ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' has one in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJyntLWQQM Light of Hope]]" which plays over the credits.
* Even ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' gets in on the act with [[https://youtu.be/FGVMsMiBqBs "Fresh Start"]], the ending theme from ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''. Apparently, this trope transcends species as well as time!
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zRLySWfCAU "Tobikata wo Wasureta Chiisana Tori"]] from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime''.
* Although Princess Daisy's theme was short and, well... 8-bit, the official ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' soundtrack expanded it and turned it into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P1bYDFVNBI an instrumental example of this trope]].
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'': There is a place, made of sweet childhood memories...
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obELLqq-hQo The Look of That Day]], the song that plays over the credits of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', could be considered an instrumental version of this. The song starts with calming piano, but has a buildup into an orchestral end.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UidsHAbwE_U Love Dream]] from ''[[VideoGame/ThunderForce Thunder Force IV]]''. Even better, Love Dream is also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o_8aL9ATmQ full-length Japanese song]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlFVUa80bv8 Last Letter]] from ''V''.
* [[https://laurashigihara.bandcamp.com/track/everythings-alright Everything's Alright]] from ''VideoGame/ToTheMoon'' squarely fits this trope.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has the piece titled "[[https://tobyfox.bandcamp.com/track/undertale Undertale]]", which is played when [[spoiler:the player is told the story of Asriel and the first human]]. Despite being an instrumental, it contains multiple criteria of an award bait song; it starts off mellow, gradually builds up, contains a {{modulation}} in the middle, and is used in a TearJerker context.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmnzrGRxnE4 This song]] from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', especially towards the end. (warning: major spoilers). Its resemblance to 90's Disneyesque ballads was uncanny.
** It packs heavier punch in the original version, since it's more child-like and less like Music/CelineDion. Fitting, since it's mostly about Isara, a little girl who must face the horrors of war.
** Realizing that overuse of this kind of song can quickly lead to {{Narm}}, the ending theme in the sequels are closer to ballads and pops.
** [[http://youtu.be/TiMVyG9ztcY Sora Wa Aoi Mama]] from the anime is equally poignant.
* ''Crystal Letter'' from ''VideoGame/WildArms5'', and to a lesser extent, ''Wings'' from ''VideoGame/WildArms3''. The latter is less soft and more awesome than most of these songs tend to be.
* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiTn4j7gVvY I Believe]], the credits song.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0KfQmVXbk4 "Lullaby for You"]] from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'':
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkFUrLpd1DM Beyond the Sky]] from ''Xenoblade''. Unlike most examples, it plays entirely during the ending scene itself rather than the credits.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has two. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30gxZOFJmNM Drifting Soul]] which plays over [[spoiler:Vandham's death, the reveal that Nia is a Flesh Eater Blade & Rex's speech during the mid point of the final battle against Malos]], making it something of a PowerUpThemeTune, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwxcCZCAHlI One Last You]] which plays over the game's credits & ending cutscene, more true to the trope.
** The Torna expansion adds its own credits song, A Moment of Eternity.
** Unlike most instances of this trope, Drifting Soul, One Last You, and A Moment Of Eternity are very clearly connected to the plot. The lyrics of Drifting Soul have multiple interpretations, including [[spoiler: Rex's, Malos' or Pyra/Mythra's experiences throughout the story]] while One Last You and A Moment of Eternity are sung from the perspectives of [[spoiler: Pyra/Mythra and Lora]] respectively during the sequences where they play.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7D0U_RhH-I Small Two of Pieces]]" from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''; which was released a year before ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' and its famous "Eyes on Me".
* "Kokoro" from ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht''.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOnajfUPsL8 Maybe Tomorrow]] from ''Xenosaga III''.
* ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', as well as its remake ''Yakuza Kiwami'', has a cover of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZBxkzxvVlo Amazing Grace]]".
* The ending music from ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'' (excluding the UsefulNotes/PCEngine / UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 CD version), "The Morning Glow", has an award-baiting [[WithLyrics vocal remix]] titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtkolB8D0zI "Endless History"]], that was used for the credits music of the anime adaptation.
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* ''VideoGame/ThirteenSentinelsAegisRim'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWNzyavR2lU Seaside Vacation]], played during wave 2-10 of the combat section of the game and the ending credits. It has been compared to "Do You Remember Love" from Macross above.
* Even a series like ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' has a few to its credit:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJEpFRCKINU Blue Skies]] from ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrQrkZtg-mo "The Journey Home"]] from ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar''.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VELpIlgVDGQ Gravity]]" from ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy''. Although [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160804015414/https://www.facebook.com/worldofnoel/posts/10150448185273276 the lyrics]] are about the PlayerCharacter's [[LyricalDissonance status as an invincible ace pilot]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYpiZVNggNk A Brand New Day]] from ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation''.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loTcZHoIYfQ In Your Belief]]" From ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath''. A beautiful somber song by the singer of Aura's Theme from ''Franchise/DotHack'', Tomoyo Mitani, it manages to be used both for the epic beginning in episode 1, [[spoiler: The [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] second half of episode 12]] and the credits for the end of the final act. [[spoiler: Both of them.]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz-jFRuvA2o Le Ali Del Principio]] from ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins''. Notable for being used in not only the end credits, but the incredibly well-done Heart-to-Heart scene and the TrueFinalBoss, yet somehow NOT being an example of SoundtrackDissonance.
** The composer Motoi Sakuraba's then-nine-year-old daughter sang the vocals, making it one of his most personal works.
** Then there's a darker version of this trope with the ending ballad of ''The Eternal Night'''s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UuezAeuPy0 This Broken Soul]]".
* The ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' games all have at least one, usually in the form of a classic song played over the staff roll that the game would also use a faster-paced remix of as one of the battle themes.
** The first game had Peggy Lee's "Fly Me to the Moon", played over Bayonetta performing a slow pole dance as the second half of the credits roll.
** ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' had Andy Williams' "Moon River" used under the same circumstances.
** ''VideoGame/Bayonetta3'' has two. At first, it bucks the trend of using pre-existing songs in the staff roll by using an original, more tragic composition known as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHzhV9q0uS8 We Are As One]]", with Bayonetta performing a solo dance, which is more befitting of the ending's circumstances [[spoiler:of Bayonetta meeting her end just after the FinalBoss and being sent to the afterlife along with her lover. Just to drive the point home, various stills of moments across the entire series appear as crystals and float upward, before Bayonetta herself crystallises and does the same thing]]. But then, after one more boss battle, we get another pole dance for the second half of the staff roll, this time to Music/FrankSinatra's take on "Moonlight Serenade"
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4Crth_Hb8 Will The Circle Be Unbroken]] from ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. [[spoiler: Especially when one takes the ending into consideration.]] The ''Burial At Sea'' DLC features Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth's VA) singing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka6YEHBtMhc You Belong To Me]] over Episode 2's closing credits; the song, however, is referenced in-game if the player chooses to visit an optional area.
* From the ''VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}'' series, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crwCFXqzJ6I Stardust Memory - Place Of Promise]] by Kanako Kondou, the voice actress for the main heroine Noel Vermillion.
* Because the 2009 ''VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob'' deliberately set out to emulate a Disney-esque feel, they couldn't let the end credits go without one of these. The ending song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3dXDRqWTKI "Everything to Me"]], is exactly the sort of friendship song that fits best--though a sad sort of one.
* Indie platform shooter/80's action movie homage ''Videogame/{{Broforce}}'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-J3Jv8kfE The Ballad of Rambro]]. Bonus points for actually [[http://www.goldentrailer.com/gta17_nominees/most-innovative-ad-for-a-video-game/ winning an award!]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv8Mde-LXNE I Just Smile]] from ''VideoGame/BurningRangers''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3DxQ84shnE "I Am the Wind"]] from the end credits of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. It was rather jarring, playing through a gothic-horror-themed {{Metroidvania}} game set in the Victorian era, only to be greeted with a Celine Dion-styled ballad at the end of the game...
** Apparently, the reason that song is in the game is because Yamane had made a friendly bet with Rika Muranaka in 1996 and ''lost''. It's actually pretty funny.
** A patch for the Xbox Live version replaces the song with "Admiration Towards the Clan" from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Lament of Innocence]]'', while the PSP version uses a new song called "Serenade of Sympathy".
* "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets is featured in ''VideoGame/ChildOfEden''.
** Better yet, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYH4JygIioI "Flow"]], the ending credits song to ''VideoGame/ChildOfEden''. Somewhat of a TearJerker.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuy_FRk7LNQ "Off to Sleep"]] from ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight.''
* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKMUrEOnwc Radical Dreamers~ Unstolen Jewel]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJiHDmyhE1A "Baba Yetu"]], the opening music from ''[[VideoGame/{{Civilization}} Civilization 4]]''. Literally Award Bait, as it's the only video game music to have ever been considered for and given a Grammy Award.
** Firaxis attempted another one in VideoGame/CivilizationVI via ''[[https://youtu.be/Q0pBzowOKU4 Sogno di Volare]]''. It was nominated for the 2017 Game Audio Network Guild Awards, but sadly did not win.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oCTru2Uim0 "Remember You"]] from ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution 5th Mix'' (and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YINqotRPQng acoustic version]] from ''Extreme PSX JP''), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQl_6Zy3y1s "Be in My Paradise"]] from ''DDR Club Mix'', and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqHQRX_NQX8 "Graduation"]] from ''DDR Extreme''.
* The ending theme of ''VideoGame/DeathSmiles'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-YCA1WXI2s Period]]. The song could be considered heartwarming or a TearJerker.
* ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'' has, well, [[https://youtu.be/tae8F4gkfiw "Death Stranding"]], by Music/{{CHVRCHES}}.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' tends to play with this, with the end credits theme usually starting off hard-rocking and energetic fitting the games' tone, but then seguing into softer ballad's midway into the credits. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwaF0oSmEZw Seeds of Love]] from the first game begins as a fast-paced techno-rock before fading into a vocal version of Eva and Trish's theme. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIIYt5lcq3A Shall Never Surrender]] from ''4'' starts out as a remix of Nero's battle them for its first 2 minutes before becoming more award bait-y, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ3V42o_86E Bentley Jones]] cover {{exaggerate|dTrope}}s its award bait aspects. The only game to avert this completely is the third game, which ironically has the most BitterSweetEnding out of all the games. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZUN89RaP60 Devils Never Cry]] otherwise fits the criteria in that its leitmotif is used throughout the game numerous times thorughout several key moments and tracks, and starting out somber and melancholic, but averts it by becoming a hard-rocking metal song a minute in and staying that way to the end. ''5'' finally plays it straight with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyeTroY6uUY Legacy]].
* ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou]]'' for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 has Heading For Tomorrow from Zwei.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3TkF8y7o6A Gentle Hands]]''; the closing song to the first ''VideoGame/DotHackGU'' games as well as the third game closer, ''[[https://youtu.be/RN8KktiTr4Y The Truth of One's Whereabouts]]''
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqMk4aollgk You Smiled Kindly]] by the Singer of In Your Belief down below.
* From ''VideoGame/DuckTales'' ''Remastered'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wBtsLditgY The credits version of the Moon theme]] is an instrumental SofterAndSlowerCover example.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDpowHy2QPI "Pollyanna"]] from ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' is a bit peppier than most award bait songs, but has perfectly fitting lyrics for the song type. [[http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01545/ This fan-made remix]] only tackles the first bit of the song, but puts it in "true" Award Bait Song mode, complete with synth sparkle.
** The ''VideoGame/Mother3'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=553vR8ZtWIE Theme of Love]] also qualifies, especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXF0DincgFc vocal version]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwHZwvTdnPI Smiles and Tears]] from ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' counts, of course, though it didn't have an official vocal version until over a decade after the game's release.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTaZ6jKR2V4 One World]]" From Endless Ocean: Blue World fits this trope perfectly.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCkwAgTcDBw Begin Again]].
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' has this going for it as well, starting with the second game and the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t28DUfNqTbU 'Chou']] by Amano Tsukiko. This was followed with the rather hauntingly beautiful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOI9Jq8NH9Q 'Koe']] from the third game, again performed by Amano; and then the fourth game had TWO of these songs: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Av3xJ5N30 'NOISE']] which plays over the end credits on easy/normal difficulty, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OwORC7OArk 'Zero no Chouritsu']] which is the actual 'theme song' of the game.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** The concept reaches its logical conclusion with the albums "Pray" and "Love Will Grow" which consist of nothing but attempts to adapt Final Fantasy songs into this style. Though some of them have little to no connection to the source, such as Matoya's Theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' becoming a French song about prince traveling the galaxy...
** VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV's Love Theme was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5UMohX62kw adapted into this style]] for the game's DS remake.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuvSDedrtKM "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. It starts as Celes' show-stopping number in the Opera House performance, and then becomes Locke and Celes' love theme, and only grows more and more into award bait along the way.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8mmrRl7IQ Why]]" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VideoGame/CrisisCore''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8uXWMNriio "Eyes on Me"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', the TropeCodifier for VideoGames.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77T8CR5arXs "Melodies of Life"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. The lyrics even resemble "My Heart Will Go On."
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdJVvyN3D04 Suteki da ne]]" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4voJjkJevs "1000 Words"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''.
** Even the MMO isn't immune. ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVYhcXmXSB0 Distant Worlds]]'' the end theme from the Chains of Promathia expansion of VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZGriywr8Mg "Kiss Me Good-Bye"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8qtteb9FBY "My Hands"]] from the US version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. Performed by the very same Leona Lewis that performed the song "I See You" that was in ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. The Japanese version got an equally powerful award bait song, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TauG36TbeSc Kimi ga Iru Kara]]".
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1vd0z3SLYo "New World"]] by Charice, from the English-language version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2''. The Japanese version of the game got the epic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VoVj_CnfL4 "Yakusoku no Bashou"]] by Mai Fukui.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39j5v8jlndM "Answers"]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. Not only plays during the FMV that closed the failed 1.0 servers in preparation for the ''Realm Reborn'' relaunch, but makes it in game during the "Binding Coils of Bahamut" Raids.
*** Each of the game's expansions would also have it's own instance of this trope:
*** Heavensward had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtuwltmTp9I "Dragonsong"]], which plays over the expansion's end credits as well as the first phase of the The Final Steps of Faith Trial. On top of this, the song's Leitmotif is present throughout the expansion's score. The music video for this song even plays over footage from the expansion.
*** Stormblood had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmQm76wFfKk "Revolutions"]], although this time it only plays over the end credits. Otherwise it is much like Dragonsong.
*** While Shadowbringers' main theme (titled after the expansion itself) doesn't fit this trope, the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4lJsmCqvCI "Tomorrow and Tomorrow"]] certainly does.
*** Endwalker follows in Shadowbringers' footsteps in having a main theme that doesn't fit this trope, but proceeding to have a song (or in this case two) that do:
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWgpJ0k820w "Flow" (video contains spoilers)]], which is the character theme of [[spoiler:Venat/Hydaelyn]], is the straighter example of this trope, with it mostly playing in an instrumental only rendition until a moment towards the end the expansion when it finally plays with lyrics.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj_pWv3ISAw "Close in the Distance" (video contains spoilers)]] is the final zone theme & also exhibits many components of this trope.
** Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine's cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv2DSmy3Tro Stand by Me]] fills this role in both the Japanese and English versions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYPWuy3SPMY Moonless, Starry Night]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'' is a nice soft tune about coming home after a long journey with friends.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', and its sequel, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', both have songs like this sung over their credits, each representing one of the heron galdrs plot important to the game in question. ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_0JfNkcClU Life Returns]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C39CUQtWIzA Dawn Awakens]]'', respectively.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' did this as well. Certainly a unique use of this trope, given that the song in question, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoNnx1ttotc Fly With the Breeze]], ''lacks vocals'' - but it hits every other aspect spot-on.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' started the tradition of having sorrowful lyrical ballads sung at the end credits with "Lost in Thoughts All Alone." It is possibly the straightest example in the series. Sparkly synth? Check. TruckDriversGearChange? Check. Played over the end credits? Check. Reprise of a song sung during the game? Check (and by a princess character, no less, with the same voice actress reprising the credits version).
** "Heritors of Arcadia" from the VideoGameRemake of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' appears to have dethroned "Lost in Thoughts All Alone" as the straightest example of an AwardBaitSong. It's ''again'', a synth laden ballad with a TruckDriversGearChange played at the end credits and, in the English version, is sung by [[TakingTheVeil Silque's]] voice actress.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' continues the tradition set by Fates with "The Edge of Dawn", which plays in the intro and has a much longer reprise that plays in the credits.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' follows suit with "Fiery Bonds", a vocalized version of the game's {{Leitmotif}}.
* The ''VideoGame/GodEater'' series ''loves'' including a big, epic, sappy orchestral song. Although the games are made in Japan, these songs are sung in English. Most of them play over the end credits and have at least one TruckDriversGearChange near the end.
** ''VideoGame/GodEaterBurst'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLUeowS8VNk "God and Man"]], which played during both end credit sequences, the first without vocals and the second with them.
** ''VideoGame/GodEater2'' has no less that ''three'' such songs when the ''Rage Burst'' expansion is taken into account:
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QSLfJaam2w "Revolving Lantern"]], which plays during [[spoiler:Romeo's DyingMomentOfAwesome]] in the original story as well as the flashback to [[spoiler:his time with Livie in the orphanage]] in ''Rage Burst''. A song with vocals by Ingrid Gerdes about the emotions the aforementioned character feels [[spoiler:as he dies, lamenting the fact that he'll be missing out on so much of life's experiences yet celebrating that he's sacrificing himself for the greater good]]. One of the few songs here to not have a TruckDriversGearChange, and to not play over the end credits.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHUtucU8W1E "Faith"]], the ''Rage Burst'' credits theme, is about determination in the face of adversity. It has more of a {{Pop|Music}} sound compared to other examples from this series, but otherwise hits many of this trope's notes, including sparkly sounds during the intro.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbs-w7g20d8 "Tree of Life"]], which plays after [[spoiler:completing Julius' character episodes]], is about how far the characters have come.
** ''VideoGame/GodEater3'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO4_XCuUspQ "All I Know"]] during its credits, which starts off gentle but builds up to a triumphant, sweeping chorus; however, it also has a lot of LyricalDissonnance if you pay attention to the words. It also features the aforementioned "God and Man"'s RecurringRiff during one section.
* From .hack//LINK ''[[https://youtu.be/KYkj8HH5Tyg Stairs of Time]]'', and ''Deepest Memories'' also qualify.
* For a game built around a soundtrack, VideoGame/HeavyRain did well to make [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHsk7WPSDu4 "Before the Storm"]] stand out quite as well as it did, introducing a theme to be repeated no end throughout the game.
* A somewhat odd example from ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}''. The music piece itself was not written ''for'' the game, but plays at key moments. I am of course referring to Agnus Dei. To re-iterate: It is first played during the epic launch of the Mothership. The second time it accompanies when the player first returns to Kharak and witnesses their burning home (TearJerker right there). The third and final it plays during the final montage showing the Kushan people returning to their homeworld Hiigara after millennia of exile. After this final piece, progressive rock band Yes' song Homeworld (The Ladder) plays.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ico}}'' ends on the haunting "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FQ-0vqHAro You Were There.]]"
* Several songs from the [[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster iDOLM@STER]] franchise are written in the style of Award Bait Songs, including ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imgbDRujKlE Tonari Ni...]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnPbLGa7J80 ALIVE]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHLV056IhvY Hummingbird]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19E65Hdx1io Massugu]]''. ''Massugu'' was even used as the ending theme for the first console version of the game.
* The song "Further" at the end of ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' is basically this.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_2lcU_dt2E "Fade Away"]] from ''VideoGame/Infamous2'' is a pretty good example, especially given the endings.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_tiKhfqFds&pp=ygUSdGhlIGNoaWxkIHlvdSB3ZXJl "The Child You Were"]] is ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'''s ending song, which is a rock ballad about the loss of childhood innocence and learning self-love despite the loneliness that's part of growing up.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_wkJ377LzU I Was Born For This]] from ''VideoGame/Journey2012''
* [[http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Simple+And+Clean/2T6fB2?src=5 "Simple and Clean"]] / [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOSNIIx5u_U "Hikari"]] and "[[http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Sanctuary/3WCOf4?src=5 Sanctuary]]" / [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWoJLdXJt0E "Passion"]] (the Japanese versions have different names as well as the entirely different lyrics) from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. Both play in the openings of their respective games ("Simple and Clean" / "Hikari" also appear in ''Chain of Memories'' and ''Birth by Sleep''), then have a longer, slower version that plays over the end credits.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69M2iiI__XQ "Girl in the Tower"]], from ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI''. Geez. Were Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle not available, {{Creator/Sierra}}?
** ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVII'' tried again with "Land Beyond Dreams". The FanRemake of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestII'' got into the act with [[http://www.queststudios.com/quest/kq2rts/wisy.html "When I Saw You".]] Infamous Adventures' FanRemake of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIII'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl2dp0-xTMI "My Way Home"]], while Creator/AGDInteractive's remake has "Coming Home". The FanSequel ''VideoGame/TheSilverLining'' even throws in with one called "I Will Remember".
* Many ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' credits songs hit the marks of this trope.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iha6_y4XR0M credits music]] from ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' lacks vocals (obviously, given the SNES's sound limitations), and is about twice the tempo of your average Award Bait Song, but hits pretty much every other aspect on the list.
** ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgbY1WyVS8 staff credits theme]] also fits, featuring a slow-paced, feel-good piano melody.
** The one that fits this bill the most is the credits music for ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb6MMKV6dPY "Returning to Dream Land"]]. It starts off slow, incorporates many of the game's leitmotifs, and builds up to a triumphant finish.
** ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'' has "Green Tree Memories from Kirby," a song with actual sung vocals in both [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP2e5eF5zjk English]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbBH2HLw7Y Japanese]].
* ''VideoGame/LANoire'' had "(I Always Kill) The Things I Love" playing in the end credits. This extraordinary piece of jazz fits the game like a glove, and it's a tearjerker too.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wm4MrwujFU The Flying One]],'' the vocal version of its main theme, which plays over the end credits. It shares a number of stylistic similarities with the end credits songs favored by Creator/StudioGhibli, but it's still distinctly Award Bait-y.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' has ''I Swear...'' from the second installment of the game that fit this trope to a T. Starts out slow and mellow? Check. Covers ThePowerOfFriendship? Check. Extremely touching? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Becomes triumphant towards the end? Check. Make no mistake, this is an Award Bait Song that was so good that it was reused in the future sequel, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel''.
* "If You Still Believe" from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxLbsfXTab4 "Song of Mana"]] from ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana''. A bit more folksy and energetic than most of the songs in this trope, but pulls it off with considerable grace and feasibility. As a song about love, longing and life passion, it avoids being merely an IWantSong by capturing both the motivation and the happy ending of the story. This song is notable for being sung entirely [[GratuitousForeignLanguage in Swedish]] by native Swedish vocalist Annika Ljungberg, but as the crowning song of a game [[NoExportForYou never published in Swedish]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UuezAeuPy0 "This Broken Soul"]] from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'' fits this trope perfectly. Same for the sequel's (''Dawn of the Dragon'') credits, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyCcjWgVX2E "Guide You Home"]].
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': The "Ballad of the Windfish" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Ofmt3ZazA sounds magnificent]], especially once you've collected [[PlotCoupon all of the Siren's instruments]].
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N21htq8lXQ Final Duet with Zelda which contains reprises from all the Lokomos you've met]] leads into the FinalBoss Climax Music. And it's gorgeous.
** ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ReyoNpyrM Ballad of the Goddess]] is not only bombastic, but also serves a a major plot point in-game to unlock an ancient gate.
* ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' has [[https://youtu.be/KbWfGIjZG50 "You Wouldn't Know"]], which, for all intents and purposes, is a ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' song and has many of the same traits as its predecessors.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFvbKNmHEF8 "Heavenly Star"]] by the Genki Rockets, featured in ''VideoGame/{{Lumines}} II''. Nominated for Best Song at the 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards.
* ''[[VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete]]'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ripBa8Ga8 Tsu-ba-sa/Wings]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azmm2pN0sfA Wind's Nocturne]]'', which both falls squarely into this trope. The lyrics of the North American PSX version was even {{Woolseyis|m}}ed to sound like something that was created at Disney. However the North American PSP version was retranslated to keep with the original meaning of the Japanese lyrics, and the net result was a BrokenBase. The PSP version also added the obligatory sparkles to Wings. The [[VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue sequel]] has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYeivB9FMYQ Lucia's Theme]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' has [[https://youtu.be/9tL8i5YxS9U "Under Stars"]] by Music/{{Aurora|Singer}}.
* ''Videogame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne'' has Music/PoetsOfTheFall's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLn4_Wz3Tc0 Late Goodbye]]" as the country-inspired RecurringRiff and SolemnEndingTheme, which netted a 2004 Game Audio Network Guild Award.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipdun18P9Mo "The Songless Nightingale"]] from ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Frontline'''s OST doesn't actually appear in the game, although the German drinking song in the Golden Lion pub uses its tune.
* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
** The ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kduzi0ZyKjY ending theme]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcHXIS-Ij7g Protoman's Theme]] from ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', which was also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NItzNZgBS04 remixed]] for his ending in ''Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters''. Unfortunately, in the former game, the cutscene [[LongSongShortScene ends before the song completes its loop]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PMPIo9jo0M Freesia]] from the album ''Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Physis'', a remix of the ending of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4''.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' has lots of them.
** The Original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6miaTf1gF4g "The Best Is Yet to Come"]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' has "Can't Say Goodbye To Yesterday".
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' has Star Sailor's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdX7j0w5zj4 "Way to Fall"]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has "Here's To You".
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBEEKdUYNDw "Calling to the Night"]], the ending theme to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps''.
*** The song reappears in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' as one of the background music tracks for Snake's stage, [[SoundtrackDissonance so you can listen to all its heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, sparkly goodness while watching Snake and Pikachu beat the hell out of each other.]]
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQzgI6xJEH0 "Heaven's Divide"]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' likewise has "Sins of the Father" and "A Phantom Pain".
* Bizarrely enough, ''VideoGame/MrDriller'': [[NoExportForYou Drill Land]] has one in the form of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFDR9U3SOF4 "Days"]].
* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TERyxFfMqDk "Still Alive"]] by Lisa Miskovsky. (Note: a completely different song from the ''Portal'' song.) The reboot, ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdgeCatalyst'', has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kv1eVIKEDw "Warning Call"]] by Music/{{CHVRCHES}}, although due to licensing conflicts between the developers and their record label, it doesn't play during the end credits, instead being substituted with the similar instrumental piece "Catalyst".
* ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5or0rrhnnkw Someday, Under the Moon]] while the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CNMVaBCqCw Galaxy]]. ''Project X Zone 2'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8x1R_e0OGw Moonlight Curtain Call]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'' has a more {{Tearjerker}} focused one, "Ashes of Dreams". The song stands out for being real English, the only example of a real language in the whole soundtrack. The song deals with [[DespairEventHorizon a total loss of hope]], and considering [[spoiler:it plays after [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you've doomed humanity]]]] is sure to make the tears flow. Besides the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG1y5843-7U English]] version, there are [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign versions in fake]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbY6idAepUQ Gaelic]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN3Dcx5z8wU French]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywYjsgauVq8 Japanese]], each version playing at the end of their respective endings A, B, C and D.
* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' has an especially poignant example in "Weight of the World" from [[GoldenEnding Ending E]] of the game, which comes in four different version. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srbj96AUUCs english Version]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu87oGsjkic Japanese version]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5JQEpqM16Y Fictional In game language version]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmmrKK2GD6g The Medley version combining all 3 with added Chorus]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyKMa3k818 "Dreams Dreams"]], from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'', qualifies--especially in its remake in the sequel, ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams''.
* [[Videogame/NobunagasAmbition Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence]] has one of these in the form of "Shine -Mirai he Kazasu Hi no Youni-" composed by Music/YokoKanno and performed by Ayaka Hirahara. The song also served as the series' 30th anniversary theme and as a celebration of the tenth year of Hirahara's successful career.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' also features "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee]]'' has a slow ballad in its New 'n' Tasty remake called [[https://youtu.be/IMUVClsvZkA ''Born to Love You'']] which plays in the credits of the game.
* In an example that doubles as a case of RealSongThemeTune, the use of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" performed by Judy Garland is played over the credits in the non-secret endings of ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}''.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1swdaCuam4 Reset]]" by Ayaka Hirahara from ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' counts as one. [[TearJerker Oh it does indeed.]]
* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNGKlkxz968 Somnia Memorias]], a bilingual (spanish and latin) ending song.
* From the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series:
** ''VideoGame/Persona2'' is a possible contender for the best example in the series with [[https://youtu.be/wONI34aquiU Change Your Way]], the ending song for Eternal Punishment which has lyrics relating to the themes of the game.
** ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has another example in the series with [[https://youtu.be/zHdOXCoja-c Memories of You]]. Bonus points for the lyrics actually having something to do with the ending.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' plays the song [[https://youtu.be/SXYdgfXyYqs Never More]] over the end credits.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has "Hoshi To Bokura To" which plays over the end credits. Played with in that it alternates between a softer style typical of this trope, and a harder rock section.
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 5 Royal]]'' has [[https://youtu.be/UfABCUDpzIQ Our Light]] in place of the above song, which is arguably a straighter example.
* ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnSjTsLerk Receding Hairline Celebration Party]], the credits theme. Though it's instrumental, it nonetheless has a ton of characteristics of this, such as the piano, sparkly synth, bittersweet melody and guitar solo towards the end.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** [[https://youtu.be/qgLBligLJPU Sayonara]], from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', is an instrumental version of this. It plays at the end when N says goodbye to you.
** [[https://youtu.be/kLLAHb4mlgE KISEKI]] from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has a similar melody to "Sayonara"; even if the lyrics aren't actually sung, they are still shown as what the lyrics would be if you sang along to its melody.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' has [[https://youtu.be/23g5HBOg3Ic "Celestial"]] by Music/EdSheeran play over its credits, notable for being the first vocal credits song in the franchise.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI "Still Alive"]] from ''VideoGame/{{Portal 1}}''. Arguably the most well-known example of this trope, at least in the video game field, though it technically breaks some of the criteria by the fact it is performed by a character in the game and makes direct reference to the events of it.
* Similarly, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVVZaZ8yO6o Want You Gone]] from ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''. As with "Still Alive," the song violates some of the Award Bait criteria by being not only performed by a character, and making reference to the events of the game, it also includes a major spoiler in the lyrics for those who haven't played it yet.
* ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' has the incredibly bittersweet [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HPBejDwWVI "Take Me Home"]] by After Midnight Project.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTzBopI2TjE "You and I"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvfhdRVIpx0 "Love Forever"]], both from ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline''. You won't hear either song anywhere in the game, but they're part of the official soundtrack and have been part of its promotional campaign during the early years.
* ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}} III'' has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckSWmk_tzpg Fairy]]" during its credits, which also recieved a remix on the ''Raiden IV'' OST.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' has "[[https://youtu.be/Yag41F7eCLU Deadman's Gun]]" poignantly playing in the end.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' plays the incredibly somber [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjYLY3BGDY4 "That's the Way it Is"]] in the lead up to the emotional climax.
* VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttack: "Always, I wanna be with you, and make believe with you, [[Music/{{Erasure}} and live in harmony harmony, oh love..."]]
* ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'' provides delicious award bait with the end credit song Dreaming My Way Home. Combine it with the scene it first appears in and there won't be a dry eye in the house.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EerJ5B1IQmQ "Thank You"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG3507ZouB8 "Let's Go On"]] from ''VideoGame/RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure''.
* The Japanese version of ''[[VideoGame/RType R-Type FINAL]]'' had an Award Bait version of Creator/HekiruShiina's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xAsQ1OZ7TE "Proud of You."]] The original song is a lot more upbeat and happy, but the one used in ''FINAL'' is a downright TearJerker.
* The ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' games have a few of these, all as credits songs. Sengoku BASARA 2: Heroes features Oichi's [[ImageSong image song]] "Nemure hi no Hana" performed by her seiyuu, [[Creator/MamikoNoto Mamiko Noto]], which plays during the credits of her story only; Sengoku BASARA 3 features "Gyakko" performed by Chiaki Ishikawa; Sengoku BASARA 3: Utage features "Tasogare" performed by Do As Infinity; and Sengoku BASARA 4: Sumeragi features "Heavenly Blue" once more performed by Chiaki Ishikawa.
* From the critically acclaimed Metroidvania game ''VideoGame/ShadowComplex'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q4cuVrwWx4 "Light of the Day/Dark of the Night"]] by Shaun Barrows.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXjaKhGLkXw "The Fate~Cluster Amaryllis"]] from ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant''.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'' series:
** [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 The first game]] has the Spanish-language song "[[https://youtu.be/5EffJHOuJIU Esperandote]]" during the BadEnding credits.
** ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' has [[https://youtu.be/_LvEj01NBmQ "I Want Love"]] and [[https://youtu.be/OD-iD2qYVkk "Hometown"]], the latter being a vocal arrangement of the first game's title theme.
** ''VideoGame/SilentHill4TheRoom'' has [[https://youtu.be/aKMksGsv-9U "Your Rain"]] and [[https://youtu.be/9xhI_IkOdCk "Cradle of Forest"]].
** ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' has two possible end credits songs depending on how you play the game; one of them, "[[https://youtu.be/gPUy_Im5dss Acceptance]]," is a haunting, minor-key, depressing example of this trope. The other one's a rock song that doesn't really fit.
* Although ''VideoGame/SimCity'' isn't really much of an emotionally driven game, ''Sim City 4 Rush Hour'' gives us an orchestral version of this trope with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BBEZ_T_3OY ''The Morning Commute'']]. Considering most of the music in the series is either jazz or jazz-inspired, this piece stands out greatly.
** The original ''Sim City 4'' also had one- the powerful rock opera ''Epicenter'', complete with faux Latin vocals.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6bYHxwJv24 "Sweet Dream"]] / [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1hB8jFRpDc "Sweet Sweet Sweet"]], from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', written by Dreams Come True. Showed up in instrumental chiptune form in the game, then was released on one of DCT's albums with lyrics and live instruments. This latter version was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t36agO2H-ZU remixed]] for the credits of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''.
** Some others include [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaUGQ673VbU "My Destiny"]] from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKywKqzp5jM "Worth a Chance"]] from ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'', and, to some extent, "You're My Hero" from the Sega Saturn version of ''VideoGame/Sonic3DBlast'' (the Genesis version just has standard end credits music).
** The verse of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyZAuEG4yho Kusuriyubi no Kesshin]], also by Dreams Come True, is the Star Light Zone theme WithLyrics.
** ''VideoGame/SonicR''[='=]s soundtrack was ''made'' of Award Bait Songs. While they were techno-style, the songs generally fit the mold of this type.
** To an extent, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9zZus_1_ag "Live and Learn"]] from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' would count as well. It's usually counted as one of the best (if not ''the'' best) Music/Crush40 (let alone Sonic) tracks of all time, and, while not particularly "sad" in tone, the lyrics and placement of the song work within [[HeroicSacrifice the context]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath of the ending credits]]
** While not related to the games themselves, the now extinct indoor theme park Sega World Sydney had a horribly cheesy stage show called "Theatre/SonicLiveInSydney", obviously geared towards younger children. Of all the songs in that show, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doj5AXP_ULQ "Sonic, Thank You For Being You"]] stands out the most, and has even been used in countless [=SonicXSally=] fanvids.
** ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' has one in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJyntLWQQM Light of Hope]]" which plays over the credits.
* Even ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' gets in on the act with [[https://youtu.be/FGVMsMiBqBs "Fresh Start"]], the ending theme from ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''. Apparently, this trope transcends species as well as time!
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zRLySWfCAU "Tobikata wo Wasureta Chiisana Tori"]] from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime''.
* Although Princess Daisy's theme was short and, well... 8-bit, the official ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' soundtrack expanded it and turned it into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P1bYDFVNBI an instrumental example of this trope]].
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'': There is a place, made of sweet childhood memories...
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obELLqq-hQo The Look of That Day]], the song that plays over the credits of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', could be considered an instrumental version of this. The song starts with calming piano, but has a buildup into an orchestral end.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UidsHAbwE_U Love Dream]] from ''[[VideoGame/ThunderForce Thunder Force IV]]''. Even better, Love Dream is also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o_8aL9ATmQ full-length Japanese song]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlFVUa80bv8 Last Letter]] from ''V''.
* [[https://laurashigihara.bandcamp.com/track/everythings-alright Everything's Alright]] from ''VideoGame/ToTheMoon'' squarely fits this trope.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has the piece titled "[[https://tobyfox.bandcamp.com/track/undertale Undertale]]", which is played when [[spoiler:the player is told the story of Asriel and the first human]]. Despite being an instrumental, it contains multiple criteria of an award bait song; it starts off mellow, gradually builds up, contains a {{modulation}} in the middle, and is used in a TearJerker context.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmnzrGRxnE4 This song]] from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', especially towards the end. (warning: major spoilers). Its resemblance to 90's Disneyesque ballads was uncanny.
** It packs heavier punch in the original version, since it's more child-like and less like Music/CelineDion. Fitting, since it's mostly about Isara, a little girl who must face the horrors of war.
** Realizing that overuse of this kind of song can quickly lead to {{Narm}}, the ending theme in the sequels are closer to ballads and pops.
** [[http://youtu.be/TiMVyG9ztcY Sora Wa Aoi Mama]] from the anime is equally poignant.
* ''Crystal Letter'' from ''VideoGame/WildArms5'', and to a lesser extent, ''Wings'' from ''VideoGame/WildArms3''. The latter is less soft and more awesome than most of these songs tend to be.
* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiTn4j7gVvY I Believe]], the credits song.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0KfQmVXbk4 "Lullaby for You"]] from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'':
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkFUrLpd1DM Beyond the Sky]] from ''Xenoblade''. Unlike most examples, it plays entirely during the ending scene itself rather than the credits.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has two. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30gxZOFJmNM Drifting Soul]] which plays over [[spoiler:Vandham's death, the reveal that Nia is a Flesh Eater Blade & Rex's speech during the mid point of the final battle against Malos]], making it something of a PowerUpThemeTune, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwxcCZCAHlI One Last You]] which plays over the game's credits & ending cutscene, more true to the trope.
** The Torna expansion adds its own credits song, A Moment of Eternity.
** Unlike most instances of this trope, Drifting Soul, One Last You, and A Moment Of Eternity are very clearly connected to the plot. The lyrics of Drifting Soul have multiple interpretations, including [[spoiler: Rex's, Malos' or Pyra/Mythra's experiences throughout the story]] while One Last You and A Moment of Eternity are sung from the perspectives of [[spoiler: Pyra/Mythra and Lora]] respectively during the sequences where they play.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7D0U_RhH-I Small Two of Pieces]]" from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''; which was released a year before ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' and its famous "Eyes on Me".
* "Kokoro" from ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht''.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOnajfUPsL8 Maybe Tomorrow]] from ''Xenosaga III''.
* ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', as well as its remake ''Yakuza Kiwami'', has a cover of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZBxkzxvVlo Amazing Grace]]".
* The ending music from ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'' (excluding the UsefulNotes/PCEngine / UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 CD version), "The Morning Glow", has an award-baiting [[WithLyrics vocal remix]] titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtkolB8D0zI "Endless History"]], that was used for the credits music of the anime adaptation.
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