Award Bait Song / Video Games

Examples of Award-Bait Song in video games.

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• 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has 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 Ace Combat has a few to its credit:
  • Blue Skies from Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
  • "The Journey Home" from Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
  • "Gravity" from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy. Although the lyrics are about the Player Character's status as an invincible ace pilot.
  • A Brand New Day from Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
• "In Your Belief" From Asura's Wrath. A beautiful somber song by the singer of Aura's Theme from .hack, Tomoyo Mitani, it manages to be used both for the epic beginning in episode 1, The heartbreaking second half of episode 12 and the credits for the end of the final act. Both of them.
• Le Ali Del Principio from Baten Kaitos Origins. Notable for being used in not only the end credits, but the incredibly well-done Heart-to-Heart scene and the True Final Boss, yet somehow NOT being an example of Soundtrack Dissonance.
  • 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 "This Broken Soul".
• The 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.
  • Bayonetta 2 had Andy Williams' "Moon River" used under the same circumstances.
  • Bayonetta 3 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 "We Are As One", with Bayonetta performing a solo dance, which is more befitting of the ending's circumstances of Bayonetta meeting her end just after the Final Boss 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 Frank Sinatra's take on "Moonlight Serenade"
• Will The Circle Be Unbroken from BioShock Infinite. Especially when one takes the ending into consideration. The Burial At Sea DLC features Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth's VA) singing 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 Blazblue series, Stardust Memory - Place Of Promise by Kanako Kondou, the voice actress for the main heroine Noel Vermillion.
• Blue Reflection: Second Light has Afterschool Ariette as its end theme.
• Because the 2009 A Boy and His Blob deliberately set out to emulate a Disney-esque feel, they couldn't let the end credits go without one of these. The ending song, "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 Broforce has The Ballad of Rambro. Bonus points for actually winning an award!
• I Just Smile from Burning Rangers.
• "I Am the Wind" from the end credits of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. 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 Lament of Innocence, while the PSP version uses a new song called "Serenade of Sympathy".
• "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets is featured in Child of Eden.
  • Better yet, "Flow", the ending credits song to Child of Eden. Somewhat of a Tear Jerker.
• "Off to Sleep" from Child of Light.
• Chrono Cross has Radical Dreamers~ Unstolen Jewel.
• "Baba Yetu", the opening music from 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 Civilization VI via Sogno di Volare. It was nominated for the 2017 Game Audio Network Guild Awards, but sadly did not win.
• "Remember You" from DanceDanceRevolution 5th Mix (and the acoustic version from Extreme PSX JP), "Be in My Paradise" from DDR Club Mix, and "Graduation" from DDR Extreme.
• The ending theme of Death Smiles, Period. The song could be considered heartwarming or a Tear Jerker.
• Death Stranding has, well, "Death Stranding", by CHVRCHES.
• Devil May Cry 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. 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. 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 Bentley Jones cover exaggerates its award bait aspects. The only game to avert this completely is the third game, which ironically has the most Bitter Sweet Ending out of all the games. 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 Legacy.
• DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou for the Xbox 360 has Heading For Tomorrow from Zwei.
• Gentle Hands; the closing song to the first .hack//G.U. games as well as the third game closer, The Truth of One's Whereabouts
  • You Smiled Kindly by the Singer of In Your Belief down below.
• From DuckTales Remastered: The credits version of the Moon theme is an instrumental Softer and Slower Cover example.
• "Pollyanna" from EarthBound Beginnings is a bit peppier than most award bait songs, but has perfectly fitting lyrics for the song type. 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 Mother 3 Theme of Love also qualifies, especially the vocal version.
  • Smiles and Tears from EarthBound (1994) counts, of course, though it didn't have an official vocal version until over a decade after the game's release.
• "One World" From Endless Ocean: Blue World fits this trope perfectly.
• Fallout: New Vegas: Begin Again.
• Fatal Frame has this going for it as well, starting with the second game and the song 'Chou' by Amano Tsukiko. This was followed with the rather hauntingly beautiful 'Koe' from the third game, again performed by Amano; and then the fourth game had TWO of these songs: 'NOISE' which plays over the end credits on easy/normal difficulty, and 'Zero no Chouritsu' which is the actual 'theme song' of the game.
• Final Fantasy:
  • 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 Final Fantasy becoming a French song about prince traveling the galaxy...
  • Final Fantasy IV's Love Theme was adapted into this style for the game's DS remake.
  • "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere" from Final Fantasy VI. 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.
  • "Why" from Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core.
  • "Eyes on Me" from Final Fantasy VIII, the Trope Codifier for Video Games.
  • "Melodies of Life" from Final Fantasy IX. The lyrics even resemble "My Heart Will Go On."
  • "Suteki da ne" from Final Fantasy X.
  • "1000 Words" from Final Fantasy X-2.
  • Even the MMO isn't immune. Distant Worlds the end theme from the Chains of Promathia expansion of Final Fantasy XI.
  • "Kiss Me Good-Bye" from Final Fantasy XII.
  • "My Hands" from the US version of Final Fantasy XIII. Performed by the very same Leona Lewis that performed the song "I See You" that was in Avatar. The Japanese version got an equally powerful award bait song, "Kimi ga Iru Kara".
  • "New World" by Charice, from the English-language version of Final Fantasy XIII-2. The Japanese version of the game got the epic "Yakusoku no Bashou" by Mai Fukui.
  • "Answers" from Final Fantasy XIV. 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 "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 "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 "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:
    • "Flow" (video contains spoilers), which is the character theme of 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.
    • "Close in the Distance" (video contains spoilers) is the final zone theme & also exhibits many components of this trope.
  • Florence + the Machine's cover of Stand by Me fills this role in both the Japanese and English versions of Final Fantasy XV.
  • Moonless, Starry Night from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a nice soft tune about coming home after a long journey with friends.
• Fire Emblem:
  • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and its sequel, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, both have songs like this sung over their credits, each representing one of the heron galdrs plot important to the game in question. Life Returns and Dawn Awakens, respectively.
  • The Sacred Stones did this as well. Certainly a unique use of this trope, given that the song in question, Fly With the Breeze, lacks vocals - but it hits every other aspect spot-on.
  • Fire Emblem Fates 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. Truck Driver's Gear Change? 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 Video Game Remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden appears to have dethroned "Lost in Thoughts All Alone" as the straightest example of an Award-Bait Song. It's again, a synth laden ballad with a Truck Driver's Gear Change played at the end credits and, in the English version, is sung by Silque's voice actress.
  • Fire Emblem: Three Houses 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.
  • Fire Emblem Engage follows suit with "Fiery Bonds", a vocalized version of the game's Leitmotif.
• The God Eater 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 Truck Driver's Gear Change near the end.
  • God Eater Burst has "God and Man", which played during both end credit sequences, the first without vocals and the second with them.
  • God Eater 2 has no less that three such songs when the Rage Burst expansion is taken into account:
    • "Revolving Lantern", which plays during Romeo's Dying Moment of Awesome in the original story as well as the flashback to his time with Livie in the orphanage in Rage Burst. A song with vocals by Ingrid Gerdes about the emotions the aforementioned character feels 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 Truck Driver's Gear Change, and to not play over the end credits.
    • "Faith", the Rage Burst credits theme, is about determination in the face of adversity. It has more of a Pop sound compared to other examples from this series, but otherwise hits many of this trope's notes, including sparkly sounds during the intro.
    • "Tree of Life", which plays after completing Julius' character episodes, is about how far the characters have come.
  • God Eater 3 has "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 Lyrical Dissonnance if you pay attention to the words. It also features the aforementioned "God and Man"'s Recurring Riff during one section.
• From .hack//LINK Stairs of Time, and Deepest Memories also qualify.
• For a game built around a soundtrack, Heavy Rain did well to make "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 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 (Tear Jerker 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.
• ICO ends on the haunting "You Were There."
• Several songs from the iDOLM@STER franchise are written in the style of Award Bait Songs, including Tonari Ni..., ALIVE, Hummingbird and Massugu. Massugu was even used as the ending theme for the first console version of the game.
• The song "Further" at the end of Iji is basically this.
• "Fade Away" from Infamous 2 is a pretty good example, especially given the endings.
• "The Child You Were" is I Was a Teenage Exocolonist'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.
• I Was Born For This from Journey (2012)
• "Simple and Clean" / "Hikari" and "Sanctuary" / "Passion" (the Japanese versions have different names as well as the entirely different lyrics) from Kingdom Hearts. 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.
• "Girl in the Tower", from King's Quest VI. Geez. Were Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle not available, Sierra?
  • King's Quest VII tried again with "Land Beyond Dreams". The Fan Remake of King's Quest II got into the act with "When I Saw You". Infamous Adventures' Fan Remake of King's Quest III has "My Way Home", while AGD Interactive's remake has "Coming Home". The Fan Sequel The Silver Lining even throws in with one called "I Will Remember".
• Many Kirby credits songs hit the marks of this trope.
  • The credits music from Kirby Super Star 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.
  • Kirby's Epic Yarn's 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 Kirby's Return to Dream Land, "Returning to Dream Land". It starts off slow, incorporates many of the game's leitmotifs, and builds up to a triumphant finish.
  • Super Kirby Clash has "Green Tree Memories from Kirby," a song with actual sung vocals in both English and Japanese.
• L.A. Noire 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.
• The Last Story has 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 Studio Ghibli, but it's still distinctly Award Bait-y.
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky has I Swear... from the second installment of the game that fit this trope to a T. Starts out slow and mellow? Check. Covers The Power of Friendship? 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, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel.
• "If You Still Believe" from The Legend of Dragoon.
• "Song of Mana" from Legend of Mana. 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 "I Want" Song by capturing both the motivation and the happy ending of the story. This song is notable for being sung entirely in Swedish by native Swedish vocalist Annika Ljungberg, but as the crowning song of a game never published in Swedish.
• "This Broken Soul" from The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night fits this trope perfectly. Same for the sequel's (Dawn of the Dragon) credits, "Guide You Home".
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: The "Ballad of the Windfish" sounds magnificent, especially once you've collected all of the Siren's instruments.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: The Final Duet with Zelda which contains reprises from all the Lokomos you've met leads into the Final Boss Climax Music. And it's gorgeous.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: The Ballad of the Goddess is not only bombastic, but also serves a a major plot point in-game to unlock an ancient gate.
• LEGO Dimensions has "You Wouldn't Know", which, for all intents and purposes, is a Portal song and has many of the same traits as its predecessors.
• "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets, featured in Lumines II. Nominated for Best Song at the 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards.
• Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete has Tsu-ba-sa/Wings and Wind's Nocturne, which both falls squarely into this trope. The lyrics of the North American PSX version was even Woolseyised 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 Broken Base. The PSP version also added the obligatory sparkles to Wings. The sequel has Lucia's Theme.
• Mass Effect: Andromeda has "Under Stars" by Aurora.
• Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne has Poets of the Fall's "Late Goodbye" as the country-inspired Recurring Riff and Solemn Ending Theme, which netted a 2004 Game Audio Network Guild Award.
• "The Songless Nightingale" from Medal of Honor: Frontline's OST doesn't actually appear in the game, although the German drinking song in the Golden Lion pub uses its tune.
• Mega Man:
  • The Mega Man ending theme.
  • Protoman's Theme from Mega Man 3, which was also remixed for his ending in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. Unfortunately, in the former game, the cutscene ends before the song completes its loop.
  • Freesia from the album Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Physis, a remix of the ending of Mega Man Zero 4.
• Metal Gear has lots of them.
  • The Original Metal Gear Solid had "The Best Is Yet to Come".
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has "Can't Say Goodbye To Yesterday".
  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has Star Sailor's "Way to Fall".
  • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has "Here's To You".
  • "Calling to the Night", the ending theme to Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.
    • The song reappears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as one of the background music tracks for Snake's stage, 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.
  • Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker has "Heaven's Divide".
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain likewise has "Sins of the Father" and "A Phantom Pain".
• Bizarrely enough, Mr. Driller: Drill Land has one in the form of "Days".
• Mirror's Edge has "Still Alive" by Lisa Miskovsky. (Note: a completely different song from the Portal song.) The reboot, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, has "Warning Call" by 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".
• Namco × Capcom has Someday, Under the Moon while the Japanese version of Project × Zone has Galaxy. Project X Zone 2 has Moonlight Curtain Call.
• 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 a total loss of hope, and considering it plays after you've doomed humanity is sure to make the tears flow. Besides the English version, there are versions in fake Gaelic, French, and Japanese, each version playing at the end of their respective endings A, B, C and D.
• NieR: Automata has an especially poignant example in "Weight of the World" from Ending E of the game, which comes in four different version. The english Version, Japanese version Fictional In game language version and The Medley version combining all 3 with added Chorus.
• The Studio Ghibli-Level-5 video game collaboration Ni no Kuni has "Pieces of a Broken Heart", performed by Mai Hisaishi in the Japanese version and by young chorist Archie Buchanan in the English version.
• "Dreams Dreams", from Ni GHTS Into Dreams, qualifies. Starts out mellow? check. Peppy upbeat power ballad/bubblegum pop song about The Power of Love? Check. Sparkly synths? Check. Swells up towards the end? Check. It's so powerful that it has been said to even make some gamers cry. The remake in the sequel, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, takes it up to eleven.
• Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence has one of these in the form of "Shine -Mirai he Kazasu Hi no Youni-" composed by Yoko Kanno 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.
• No More Heroes also features "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets.
• Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee has a slow ballad in its New 'n' Tasty remake called ''Born to Love You'' which plays in the credits of the game.
• In an example that doubles as a case of Real Song Theme Tune, the use of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" performed by Judy Garland is played over the credits in the non-secret endings of OFF.
• "Reset" by Ayaka Hirahara from Ōkami counts as one. Oh it does indeed.
• Parasite Eve had Somnia Memorias, a bilingual (spanish and latin) ending song.
• From the Persona series:
  • Persona 2 is a possible contender for the best example in the series with Change Your Way, the ending song for Eternal Punishment which has lyrics relating to the themes of the game.
  • Persona 3 has another example in the series with Memories of You. Bonus points for the lyrics actually having something to do with the ending.
  • Persona 4 plays the song Never More over the end credits.
  • Persona 5 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.
  • Persona 5 Royal has Our Light in place of the above song, which is arguably a straighter example.
• Pizza Tower has 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.
• Pokémon:
  • Sayonara, from Pokémon Black and White, is an instrumental version of this. It plays at the end when N says goodbye to you.
  • KISEKI from Pokémon X and Y 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.
  • Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has "Celestial" by Ed Sheeran play over its credits, notable for being the first vocal credits song in the franchise.
• "Still Alive" from Portal. 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, Want You Gone from 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.
• Prey (2006) has the incredibly bittersweet "Take Me Home" by After Midnight Project.
• "You and I" and "Love Forever", both from Ragnarok Online. 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.
• Raiden III has "Fairy" during its credits, which also recieved a remix on the Raiden IV OST.
• Red Dead Redemption has "Deadman's Gun" poignantly playing in the end.
• Red Dead Redemption II plays the incredibly somber "That's the Way it Is" in the lead up to the emotional climax.
• Robot Unicorn Attack: "Always, I wanna be with you, and make believe with you, and live in harmony harmony, oh love..."
• Rogue Galaxy 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.
• "Thank You" and "Let's Go On" from Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.
• The Japanese version of R-Type FINAL had an Award Bait version of Hekiru Shiina's "Proud of You." The original song is a lot more upbeat and happy, but the one used in FINAL is a downright Tear Jerker.
• The Sengoku Basara games have a few of these, all as credits songs. Sengoku BASARA 2: Heroes features Oichi's image song "Nemure hi no Hana" performed by her seiyuu, 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 Shadow Complex, "Light of the Day/Dark of the Night" by Shaun Barrows.
• "The Fate~Cluster Amaryllis" from Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
• Silent Hill series:
  • The first game has the Spanish-language song "Esperandote" during the Bad Ending credits.
  • Silent Hill 3 has "I Want Love" and "Hometown", the latter being a vocal arrangement of the first game's title theme.
  • Silent Hill 4: The Room has "Your Rain" and "Cradle of Forest".
  • Silent Hill: Shattered Memories has two possible end credits songs depending on how you play the game; one of them, "Acceptance," is a haunting, minor-key, depressing example of this trope. The other one's a rock song that doesn't really fit.
• Although 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 ''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.
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • "Sweet Dream" / "Sweet Sweet Sweet", from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, 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 remixed for the credits of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • Some others include "My Destiny" from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), "Worth a Chance" from Sonic and the Secret Rings, and, to some extent, "You're My Hero" from the Sega Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast (the Genesis version just has standard end credits music).
  • The verse of Kusuriyubi no Kesshin, also by Dreams Come True, is the Star Light Zone theme With Lyrics.
  • Sonic R'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, "Live and Learn" from Sonic Adventure 2 would count as well. It's usually counted as one of the best (if not the best) Crush 40 (let alone Sonic) tracks of all time, and, while not particularly "sad" in tone, the lyrics and placement of the song work within the context 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 "Sonic: Live in Sydney", obviously geared towards younger children. Of all the songs in that show, "Sonic, Thank You For Being You" stands out the most, and has even been used in countless SonicXSally fanvids.
  • Sonic Forces has one in "Light of Hope" which plays over the credits.
• Even Splatoon gets in on the act with "Fresh Start", the ending theme from Splatoon 2. Apparently, this trope transcends species as well as time!
• "Tobikata wo Wasureta Chiisana Tori" from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.
• Although Princess Daisy's theme was short and, well... 8-bit, the official Super Mario Land soundtrack expanded it and turned it into an instrumental example of this trope.
• Tales of Legendia: There is a place, made of sweet childhood memories...
• The Look of That Day, the song that plays over the credits of Tales of the Abyss, could be considered an instrumental version of this. The song starts with calming piano, but has a buildup into an orchestral end.
• Love Dream from Thunder Force IV. Even better, Love Dream is also a full-length Japanese song.
  • Last Letter from V.
• Everything's Alright from To the Moon squarely fits this trope.
• Undertale has the piece titled "Undertale", which is played when 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 Tear Jerker context.
• This song from Valkyria Chronicles, 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 Céline Dion. 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.
  • Sora Wa Aoi Mama from the anime is equally poignant.
• Crystal Letter from Wild ARMs 5, and to a lesser extent, Wings from Wild ARMs 3. The latter is less soft and more awesome than most of these songs tend to be.
• Wolfenstein: The New Order has I Believe, the credits song.
• "Lullaby for You" from The World Ends with You.
• Xenoblade Chronicles:
  • Beyond the Sky from Xenoblade Chronicles. Unlike most examples, it plays entirely during the ending scene itself rather than the credits.
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has two. Drifting Soul which plays over 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 Power Up Theme Tune, and 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 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 Pyra/Mythra and Lora respectively during the sequences where they play.
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has "Where We Belong."
• "Small Two of Pieces" from Xenogears; which was released a year before Final Fantasy VIII and its famous "Eyes on Me".
• "Kokoro" from Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht.
• Maybe Tomorrow from Xenosaga III''.
• Yakuza, as well as its remake Yakuza Kiwami, has a cover of "Amazing Grace".
• The ending music from Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished ~ Omen (excluding the PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 CD version), "The Morning Glow", has an award-baiting vocal remix titled "Endless History", that was used for the credits music of the anime adaptation.

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