Top 5 Game-Changing Video Game Soundtracks to play for Bringing Epic Boss-Battle Energy to Your Commute in 2025 - Goh Ling Yong
Let's be honest, the daily commute can be a soul-crushing grind. Whether you're wedged into a crowded train or staring at an endless sea of red tail lights, it’s often the most mundane part of your day. It’s a necessary evil, a temporal void between the comfort of your home and the demands of your destination. But what if it didn't have to be? What if you could transform that drudgery into a legendary trial, a daily conquest where you are the hero?
The secret isn't a faster car or a teleportation device (though we can dream). The secret is sound. Here on the Goh Ling Yong blog, we're huge believers in the power of music to reshape your reality, and for turning a boring commute into an epic saga, nothing beats the raw, unadulterated power of a video game boss battle soundtrack. These aren't just background tunes; they are meticulously crafted auditory experiences designed to elevate your heart rate, sharpen your focus, and make you feel like you can suplex a god.
So, get ready to supercharge your sound system. We're diving into five of the most game-changing video game soundtracks that are guaranteed to bring epic boss-battle energy to your commute in 2025. These are the scores that will make you want to take the express lane to victory, even if you're just inching forward in traffic.
1. DOOM (2016) & DOOM Eternal – The Aural Adrenaline Shot
If your morning commute feels like a war against time, traffic, and your own dwindling patience, then Mick Gordon's work on the modern DOOM series is your declaration of hostilities. This isn't just music; it's a visceral, industrial-metal onslaught engineered to make you feel unstoppable. The soundtracks for DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal are the audio equivalent of a triple espresso shot chased with a lightning bolt. They are aggressive, complex, and unapologetically brutal.
The genius of Gordon's composition lies in its "brutalist" approach to sound design. He combines heavily distorted nine-string guitars, pounding drums, and a chaotic symphony of analog synthesizers to create something that feels both futuristic and primal. Tracks like "BFG Division" and "The Only Thing They Fear Is You" don't just build tension; they kick the door down, throw the tension in a mosh pit, and set it on fire. It’s a controlled chaos that perfectly mirrors the feeling of needing to conquer a mountain of tasks before you’ve even had your first coffee.
How to Wield This Power:
This is not a subtle playlist. Save this for the days you need a jolt of pure, unadulterated motivation. Stuck in gridlock? "Rip & Tear" will make you feel like you're carving a path through the problem itself. Facing a packed train car? "Meathook" is the theme for muscling your way to that last available handrail. This soundtrack is your ultimate tool for transforming commuter frustration into focused, productive aggression.
2. NieR:Automata – The Grand, Apocalyptic Opera
Not all boss battles are about frenetic rage. Some are about facing overwhelming odds with a sense of tragic, beautiful defiance. For this more profound, cinematic energy, look no further than Keiichi Okabe and the MONACA team's masterpiece for NieR:Automata. This soundtrack provides a completely different flavor of "epic," one that’s less about head-banging and more about soul-stirring grandeur. It's the perfect score for when your commute feels like a journey through a crumbling, beautiful world.
The music of NieR:Automata is a breathtaking fusion of haunting choirs, soaring orchestral arrangements, and subtle electronic undertones. What makes it truly unique is the "Chaos Language," an invented dialect that sounds like a mix of future-world languages. This gives vocal tracks like "A Beautiful Song" and "The Sound of the End" an otherworldly quality, evoking a sense of ancient history and cosmic significance. The music swells and recedes, building to climaxes that feel less like a fight and more like a final, desperate dance at the end of the world.
How to Wield This Power:
Play this soundtrack on a rainy or overcast day for maximum atmospheric effect. Let the sweeping melodies and ethereal vocals turn the cityscape outside your window into the backdrop of a grand, post-apocalyptic narrative. It’s perfect for moments of introspection, helping you mentally prepare for a day that requires not just strength, but emotional resilience and grace under pressure. It tells you that even in a struggle, there is profound beauty to be found.
3. Hades – The Mythological Rock Rebellion
Waking up to face the same routine day after day can sometimes feel like a Sisyphean task. For that very feeling of defiant repetition—of fighting your way out of the underworld itself—composer Darren Korb’s soundtrack for Hades is unmatched. This Greco-mythological rock opera is the ultimate anthem for the underdog. It’s stylish, gritty, and relentlessly driving, capturing the essence of a hero who gets knocked down but always, always gets back up again.
Korb masterfully blends Mediterranean-inspired instruments like the bouzouki and baglama with distorted heavy metal guitars and driving drum beats. The result is a sound that is both ancient and modern, a perfect reflection of the game’s themes. Tracks like "The Painful Way" from Tartarus have a chugging, relentless rhythm that feels like a determined march, while the final boss theme, "God of the Dead," is a full-blown metal epic that screams finality and confrontation. The entire score is designed to make you feel cool, capable, and ready to face your own personal pantheon of challenges.
How to Wield This Power:
The Hades OST is your go-to for building momentum. Start your commute with the early-level themes to get into a rhythm, and as you get closer to your destination, ramp it up to the more intense boss themes. It’s especially effective for commutes that involve a lot of walking or switching between modes of transit. Each leg of the journey becomes another chamber in the underworld you have to conquer, with Eurielle’s haunting vocals in "Good Riddance" providing a moment of peace before the next battle.
4. Final Fantasy XIV – The High-Fantasy Blockbuster
Sometimes, you don't just want to feel like a hero; you want to feel like you're leading a charge to save the entire world from a cataclysmic threat. For that level of high-fantasy, blockbuster energy, Masayoshi Soken's work on Final Fantasy XIV is in a league of its own. With a discography spanning a decade of content, the boss themes (or "Primal" themes) from this MMO are some of the most dynamic and narratively rich compositions in all of gaming.
Soken is a master of musical storytelling, blending soaring orchestral movements, face-melting rock riffs, J-pop hooks, and complex electronic beats into cohesive, unforgettable anthems. Each boss theme is a multi-phase journey. A track like "To the Edge" from the Shadowbringers expansion starts with a heroic rock anthem before transitioning into a desperate, operatic plea, perfectly mirroring the life-or-death struggle on screen. Similarly, Endwalker's "Footfalls" carries the weight of a ten-year saga, delivering a feeling of hope and finality that can make even a traffic jam on the expressway feel like a climactic confrontation. My friend Goh Ling Yong even argues that Soken's work is the modern equivalent of the great classical composers, and I'm inclined to agree.
How to Wield This Power:
Because many FFXIV boss tracks are long and progress through multiple phases, they're perfect for longer commutes. They tell a complete story in one song. Use this soundtrack when you have a massive, multi-part project waiting for you at work. The music’s structure will help you mentally frame your day as a series of challenges to be overcome, each with its own rhythm and intensity, culminating in a triumphant victory.
5. Cyberpunk 2077 – The Dystopian Urban Warfare
Let's shift gears from fantasy realms to the rain-slicked, neon-drenched streets of a dystopian future. The combat and boss music from Cyberpunk 2077, composed primarily by Marcin Przybyłowicz and P.T. Adamczyk, offers a completely different kind of energy: gritty, synthetic, and desperate. This isn't the clean, heroic power of a fantasy knight; it's the jagged, high-stakes adrenaline of a street samurai fighting to survive in a concrete jungle that wants to chew them up and spit them out.
The score is a masterclass in industrial and electronic music, filled with distorted synths, glitched-out samples, and relentless, pulsating basslines. Tracks like "V" and "The Rebel Path" have a raw, nervous energy that captures the feeling of a high-speed chase or a desperate firefight. It’s less about majestic power and more about frantic survival and defiant rebellion against a corrupt system. This is the music for navigating the urban chaos, for feeling like a cybernetically-enhanced pro weaving through the obstacles of the modern world.
How to Wield This Power:
This soundtrack is tailor-made for the urban commuter. The aggressive, electronic beats are a perfect match for the rhythm of a bustling city. Put this on when you’re navigating crowded sidewalks, rushing to catch a subway, or dealing with the general sensory overload of city life. The music will help you tune out the noise and focus, turning the chaos around you into a backdrop for your own personal action movie. It’s the ultimate score for feeling like a high-tech low-life who’s one step ahead of everyone else.
Your Commute, Your Conquest
Your daily journey doesn't have to be dead time. By curating the right soundtrack, you can reframe those minutes and hours into a period of mental preparation, motivation, and empowerment. These five soundtracks are more than just background noise; they are powerful tools for transforming your mindset. They can turn a traffic jam into a strategic standoff and a crowded train into a final boss arena.
So, update your playlists, turn up the volume, and get ready to conquer your commute in 2025. You’re the main character, and this is your epic opening sequence.
What are your go-to video game soundtracks for bringing boss-battle energy to your day? Are there any hidden gems we missed? Share your ultimate commute playlists in the comments below! We'd love to hear what powers your journey.
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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