(Emotional) Vocal songs (with no lyrics)
 

I tend to really like pretty vocal songs. I'm not talking songs with lyrics (you know, like theme songs to Japanese RPGs), I'm talking about just songs with a woman singing notes.

Boy, that sounds like a really bad description. Not sure exactly what the term for that style would be. Choral songs? :-/

Anyway, I've found that these songs frequently contain a lot of emotion and are a joy to listen to. Here are some examples which should be familiar to those frequenting SotW or BSC:

Dreamfall - The Longest Journey Original Soundtrack - The Hospital Room:Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Chaos Legion - Blood Remains (Main Title): Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows - Unknown 14: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Shadow Hearts 2 - The Fate: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
From BSC '05: Heroes of Might & Magic IV - Dirt (the second half)


And at the risk of getting suggestions of "regular" vocal songs, this could be expanded to songs like The Bird Chirps, I Sing from Tales of Legendia, Exceeding Love from Suikoden III, and Baba Yetu from Civilization IV, to name a few. Though they have words, they are are not typical Japanese vocal songs...hopefully people will understand what I mean. Forgive my inability to better describe what I'm talking about.

This song from Odin's Sphere is pretty rad. It might have real lyrics but it sounds like gibberish to me. I'll try to think of some othere for ya.

Hoo boy, Drakken, you just named one of my favorite subgenres of music. I love to collect stuff like what you mentioned.

There's probably plenty more where these came from, but I didn't go through my whole collection. Kameo and Lineage have a lot of other rewarding tunes in the same vein; I just put up my favorites. Here are a few suggestions:

Without lyrics:
Kameo: Elements of Power - Peace in the Kingdom
Kameo: Elements of Power - Crystal Cavern
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Light and Shadow
Lineage II - Intro
Lineage II - Outro
Lineage II - Unicorn's Rest
Lineage II - Forest Calling
Lineage II - Lady of the Lake (short but good)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (game rip) - Basilisk Defeated
Dungeon Siege (game rip) - Star Chamber


With incomprehensible/foriegn lyrics
Odin Sphere - Preview Track
Kameo: Elements of Power - Enchanted Kingdom
Ragnarok Online 2 - Intro
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (game rip) - Godric Gryffindor's Sword
ICO - You Were There

Incidentally, I believe that what you're looking for are songs with "wordless vocals" or a "wordless choir," which are two terms I've seen applied to this sort of music.

there's three song in the ninety-nine nights game soundtrack I really like:

Theme From NINETY-NINE NIGHTS (N3)
From a distant forest
The arrival

I love the feeling of From a distant forest, very mystic or something. The arrival as about the same atmosphere and the part at 1:20 to 2:10 is amazing!

I really love the Lullaby in Pan's labyrinth soundtrack very beautiful (like the movie)

the main them of Tomb Raider legend is very good too, very powerful I like to listen to it in the main menu. or and there's the first minute or the credits song that is very beautiful too.

Lost Carol from silent hill 3 is amazing too, I wish I could find the full version somewhere (the one that play during the game)

after the storm from Lineage 2 is beautiful, you start from a very beautiful song, to a powerful one and you return to the calm and gently voice from the start ^^ . I was pretty amaze bye the music from this game.

Forest Calling from Lineage 2 is beautiful too, I so love the end (even if the end is not vocal)

The trailer song of the movie The passion of the Christ always amaze me, I remember I wanted to watch that movie just because I really liked that song XD

Frame of mind Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
oh I so love that The Diva Dance from the fifth element, you know that almost techno opera song? and that note at 3:43 is amazing, give me the chill every time XD

how could I forget about the song I'm currently looping XD Craig Amrstrong - Escape, probably one of the most popular song of Craig Armstrong. I'm not sure if it's actually a language (I think so) but still I think it fit well here ^^

which is a remix of some songs of Beyond good and evil is pretty good, I especially like the vocal at 3:20 with the beat and all, very moving ^^

I think that's all I could find in all my mp3 XD I'm sure I could find others XD I check later ^^

edit: gah orion beat me to the lineage 2 song XD oh and orion the song from ICO is in english...

One that comes to mind is "Reminiscence" off the Genso Suikoden Arranged Album (Hiroyuki Nanba).

This style of music piques my interest as well, so expect further additions from me.

Thought of a few more.

Planescape: Torment - Annah's Theme
Planescape: Torment - Deionnara's Theme
Champions of Norrath (game rip) - Water's Edge

I'll probably be posting these all week :D
Maybe so, but I can't understand the lyrics, so under "uncomprehensible" it goes :D

Since you mention Beyond Good and Evil, though, the Finale of that game is great for wordless vocals too.

Sakuraba did plenty of pieces containing different styles of wordless solo vocals (child/synth/operatic) since Theme of Rena (SO2), most of them melancholic/new age-y. Anyone wants me to put together a list?

By all means.

You may like this one.

Napple Tale - Rabbit Bed

It's from Napple Tale, a Dreamcast game that Yoko Kanno composed the music for, and sung by the voice actor of Hitome from Escaflowne.

Prelude - Final Fantasy Pray
Creid - Xenogears Creid
Muse - Advent Rising
Prayer - Castlevania -Symphony of the Night
Angel Breath - Phantom Brave
Ormus, Zarathustra* - Xenosaga
Katamaritaino (Katamari Damacy) - The OneUps -Volume 1
Outskirts of Time - Chrono Trigger Brink of Time
Halo Theme- Halo

Paradise - Trigun Second Donuts
Greenbird - Cowboy Bebop OST 2
Elm - Cowboy Bebop OST 2
The Promised Land - FF7 Advent Children
Main Theme - Band of Brothers
A Princess - Pan's Labyrinth
Chevaliers de sangreal - The Da Vinci Code*
The Preacher at Arrakeen - Children of Dune
Elysium - Gladiator
Hymn, Revelations, Escape - Plunkette & Macleane
Pretty much all of the Immediate Music stuff (Themes for Orchestra and Choir)

*these have the voice as an instrument and not the melody

A few of these are more action oriented but emotional nonetheless.
If anyone wants some of these let me know and I will upload them. There were just too many to each one individually.

.............................

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I'll be sure to post again once I've listened to some of them (or if I think of any not yet mentioned).

Fine, let's see where I'll stop... (I'll keep editing this post until I remove this note)

Personal favorites: Le Ali del Principio, Shurrey Hills (TotA), Search a seal ~Tethe Alla~ (ToS)

Fhey Area (redbook): Track 63, Track 68
Star Ocean 2: Pure a Stream, Theme of Rena, We Form in Crystals
Valkyrie Profile: Epic Poem to Sacred Death, To the Unhallowed Ground, When a Person Changes, Negative Roots, Through a Thin Haze, Fragments of the Heart, Becoming Accustomed to Happiness
Tales of Destiny 2: Tales of Destiny 2, Whispers of Silence, Elraine, The Abolished Mine, Light and Darkness, The Place of a Confusion, Talk of Rocks, The Narrow World - Mist
Star Ocean 3: The Desolate Smell of Earth, So Alone Be Sorrow, Interval of Freezed Time, Fallen Leaves, Despair Road, The Virtual Image
Tales of Symphonia: Search a seal ~Sylvarant~, Search a seal ~Tethe Alla~
Tales of Rebirth: Babilograd, Tower of Nereg, Zilva
Tales of the Abyss: Shurrey Hills, Sign of the Quite Dark
Baten Kaitos 2: Le Ali del Principio, Ruinous commander, Shinmunafosun, The Shadow of the Moon on the Water
Tales of the Tempest: Frozen Soil, Setting Off Anew

Deus EX 2 Invisible War - Title Theme
Splinter Cell Double Agent - Iceland Extraction

And I see Orion has already mentioned the Lineage 2 tracks.

The game "Forest" by Liarsoft has a couple of emotional vocal songs with no lyrics.
I'm in the process of making a complete game rip of the game but right now I'm having a few problems with the tracktitles. I like the non-vocal tracks 'a lot' more, but I just thought I'd let everyone know.
Here's a sample of what I'm talking about:
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

OK this is really starting to annoy/confuse me.

Not the track itself, which I like and look forward to seeing in the gamerip, but that melody and 'voice' was used in the game Zanzarah, and then again in Might and Magic IV. I thought that was strange, and now it's used in that track too, from the Forest game!
Are they all by the same company? I'm not complaining, because I like the track, but I find it odd it's used so much!

Perhaps you can shed some light on this Teioh :)

Well, there are tons of free VSTi. A lot of composers make use of the same instruments and if they don't have the money to hire a vocalist...they end up using a voice sample that's free of charge.

I'm willing to bet that a vast majority of synth soundtracks is made by the same synth instruments, and I guess when it comes to voices it's easier to notice a similarity, than with guitar or keyboard.

Forest is a game from 2004 by the way, music by NoBrand Sounds (a Factory Noise&AG division)

I see :)

Looking forward to the rip. What kind of music is it?

I love all the gibberishy vocal songs done by Gabriella Robin which many believe to be Yoko Kanno's alter ego.

You can find a lot of Robin's best work on the Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Bebop OST's.

I know, but since Drakken included a couple songs with foreign vocals but following a similar line of style I did the same.

I'll think of some more later, but the one that keeps popping into mind right now is Sorrowful Fate from Magna Carta.

How about Song of memory from Final Fantasy IX?

The main theme from the original Tomb Raider certainly deserves a mention here.