Game music really doesn't get the recognition it ought to, at least not in the indie sector. I personally don't think Team Meat would have been propelled to such success if they hadn't had Danny Baranowsky working his magic on a soundtrack that perfectly fit their game. And it's not just Meat Boy - VVVVVV, Bastion, Shatter, Frozen Synapse, Dustforce, Binding of Isaac, and Plants vs Zombies would be just shadows of their current selves without their amazing soundtracks, most of which have been in the Humble Bundle at one time or another, and they all helped convince me over the past couple of years that game music is really worth paying attention to separate from the games it's attached to. It's true that all of the above are well respected as games, but they just would not have gotten to the top of the indie heap without their soundtracks.
For an interesting experiment, look up Frozen Synapse, Shatter, and Dustforce, go listen to a few tracks of each on Youtube, then watch some gameplay videos. The games are all fun to play, but the music still takes center stage and trumps the games themselves.
But even though indie game music has to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of setting the tone and making a game engaging, for AAA games, art design and graphics seem more important than music. Most AAA games just stick in some generic bombastic or dramatic orchestral scores and get by just fine. But last-gen graphics in 2012? Don't even go there.
And when you put cutting edge graphics, great music, great gameplay, and an indie design philosophy together... well, you get Trine 2.
