How about songs that would fit a walk in the park, by the beach etc? Any ideas?
For walking in parks I recommend forest or plain themes. Try the legend of dragoon songs “grasslands” or “forest” or the final fantasy X track “sprouting”. If it’s a park in a big city “Aoba Park” from persona 2 works good too. Nothing too wild though. I would save tracks like Giza plains (FF12) and Mi’ihen highway (FF10) for wild places like real forests or grasslands.
For a beach I would recommend the final fantasy X-2 song “mushroom rock road” or the Star Ocean track “around the wilderness” I also always like the shore track from kings field 4 (but good luck finding that one).
Matching places music in games with real places isn’t always the best either. For the sandy forests of Florida I like the Cleyra tree trunk song from FF9 rather than a jungle theme and cave themes work good when walking somewhere at night. Also some music only is best for a specific season like “Perpetual unsteadiness” from Radiata Stories which works best in a forest in Autumn and “Limpidly Flow” (baiten Kaitos) which works for the rainy spring season when everything is still leafless and grey.
Also try dungeon themes from Shin Megami Tensei games for modern day buildings like shopping malls, schools and office buildings. I live in a city so a lot of SMT stuff is on my MP3 player ๐
And that was my rant… :/
Now I will go and listen to the examples you mentioned ๐
Talking a jog anywhere: The first level music from either Ninja Gaiden 1 or 2 on the NES.
Walking in some sort of market place: Delfino Plaza from Super Mario Sunshine. (I know it sounds weird but it fits in my eyes.)
Walk in the Park: Onett theme from Earthbound.
Exploring the neighborhood: Underneath The Rotting Pizza from Final Fantasy VII.
Exploring a type of forest: Tristram Theme From Diablo
(Applies to me mostly)Walking in the busy hallways of school in between classes: The Moon and the Prince from Katamari Damacy.
Exploring the city at night: Dribble’s Highway Jazz (All Parts) from WarioWare, Inc. – Mega Microgame$.
These suggestions may not be the best but hey, I gave it a shot.
While watching the sun set: Earthworm Jim 2 OST – Lorenzen’s Soil