Most beautiful game you've played?

[A Weakgeek]

Im going to skip the obvious ones and mention a game most of you haven't heard of: The Deponia series

While technically or perhaps even artistically its nothing ground breaking, to see a game with this good 2D animation, and a really fun (and original) setting, nowdays is really rare. Additionally, because its a point and click, you get to suck in all the style and detail the artstyle is just full of. Playing it reminded me of playing Curse of the Monkey island way back when.

 

[MrBaskerville]

To me it´s probably Dungeon Master 2, i just love how much atmosphere they get out of those pixels. It´s probably one of the most atmospheric games i´ve ever played, partly because of the amazing artstyle but also a bit because of the melancholic soundtrack. I´ve never played any game where the visuals amazes me to such as degree as they do in DM2, i just love it.

Dungeon Master 2 Gameplay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UozS0HIARVM

 

[Terminate421]

Here is an odd answer but the Halo games from a distance always looked very unique and crisp.

They always prefer a style trick to hide any sense of "dated" issues, aside from Halo 2 of course, that didn't age well at all. (Except for it's aesthetics)

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

I'm pretty sure it was Final Fantasy XIII. The CG cutscenes are fucking amazing. A close seconds, in my opinion, is the HD remake of Kingdom Hearts 1. So excited to see KHII in the same HD flare.

 

[Fijiman]

I would have to say Halo:CE, Rayman Origins, and I'm kind on the wall between Oblivion and Skyrim.

 

[THeFraz]

Yoshi's Island - It's not traditionally beautiful, but it is has my favorite art style of any Mario game. Also, the fact it holds up great to this day doesn't hurt it either.

Braid - It has the painting aesthetic going, which I enjoy quite a bit.

Superbrothers: Swords & Sworcery EP - The environments are so detailed with its pixel art, I can't help but revel in it.

 

[Username Redacted]

Well I haven't seen (unless I'm being really dense) either of the games that I'd consider for this which would be either 'Folklore' or 'El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron'. Sadly both games balance their gorgeous and creative designs with some truly lackluster gameplay.

 

[otakon17]

Odin Sphere was at first, oh the animation was absolutely stunning. And then Dragon's Crown came around. in terms of 3D... Okami by far, especially the HD version.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Going by Era, I'll say that the game that had the most impact on me for immersive beauty is FFX. When it came out I couldn't distinguish between the Cinematics and the actual game. Of course that isn't the case now, but back then when I first played FFX it was awesome.
I still love the game to this day despite the weak story issues... and learning that Bender was Wakka changed that character for me. I couldn't stop hearing him say "Bite my shiny metal ass!" in my head.
But yeah...
Other games that get honorable mentions:

Aladdin (Genesis)
Mario Kart 64
Ocarina of Time
Extermination (PS2) - For some reason I always liked the way the game looked and played.
Bioshock 1 and Infinite. BECAUSE.
Minecraft, for its simple aesthetic makes me feel nostalgic and modern at the same time
For all its faults GTA V is a pretty game
Skyrim with just the standard HD texture pack was amazing to me.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Sleeping Dogs on PC at nighttime during a rainstorm with the HD texture pack installed. Holy shit that is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in any game.

 

[white_wolf]

Myst series and Reckoning both in their own way have very lovingly rendered worlds. Walking through the tribal villages of Myst 2 or hanging out at the orb puzzle in Myst one there are many landscapes you just go, " Wow" over. The KOA: the Reckoning has such vibrant colors, enchanted woodlands, even the caves are beautiful there isn't anything in that game as far as your environment that doesn't announce they really put loads of work into it kind of like a painting brought to life.

 

[Zeles]

The Wolf Among Us. Seriously. The first thing I said when I started up the game and hit play was "It isn't all grey and brown!"
The environments are just so colorful! It's great!

 

[ThatQuietGuy]

Here's what comes to mind.

Journey

Uncharted

Red dead redemption

Shadow of the colossus

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Vegosiux]

Going into this without reading the thread because I bet nobody's mentioned this one, and I'm going to leave out bigger names in favor of this one. It's a simple flash game you can play for free on Kongregate, called Flur. [http://www.kongregate.com/games/ninjakiwi/flur]

Simple, yet beautiful and oh so soothing.

 

[yamy]

TIMEframe

It's a game about 10 seconds prolonged into 10 minutes.

Yes the colour palette is similar to Journey. But it's beautiful whilst it lasts.
I guess it's not really that much of a game since all their is is exploration. But it's damn pretty.

Spoiler

 

[OpticalJunction]

skyrim, guild wars 2, witcher 2, gta 5, trine 2

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

Thomas was alone, love the lighting effects and art style despite it being a very "simple" game in design.

Dear Esther, some of the locations look fantastic, whether you like the gameplay or not.

Okami, enough has been said about it already.

Terraria, I just love the lighting effects in the game, especially with the new update's lighting.

Kentucky Route Zero, looks so beautifully-eerie. It really gives you that feeling you get when you're driving down some long stretch of peaceful road at night.

Grim Fandango, especially Rubacava. The game's graphics haven't aged that well, but it still gives you that amazing feeling of beauty, swing and hep cats.


Special nods to some of the FF games, PoP 2008, LIMBO (beautifully grim) and Fez

 

[sethisjimmy]

In terms of pure aesthetics, I've been playing Muramasa: Rebirth lately and man that game is gorgeous. The color schemes and the quality and quantity of the animation is astounding. Here's a screenshot I took today:

Spoiler: Mmmm, roasted yams

http://i.imgur.com/zZNY0OU.jpg

I really have a thing for bright, contrasting and discordant solid colors.

Other similar styles I like include Super Meat Boy and Bastion.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

I'll bite on this thread.

Fallout 3: The very first time you walk out of the vault and adjust your eye's to D.C. = Awesome
Dark Souls: Rough graphic environment is pretty awesome, plus the cut-scene to Anor Londo makes me want to grant wishes.
Diablo 1: Remember that shit.


Beauty in games is a secondary for me, but I will never ignore it.

 

[MrDumpkins]

The most beautiful game I ever played was dark souls. The focus of that game was overcoming challenges, everything else was built around that central idea. Every location is different, yet every location is sad, it is a world of desolation and despair. And you're entire journey through Lodran is like that. Even the beautiful city of Anor Londo is just a forsaken city abandoned in rays of sunlight. But throughout it all you have the multiplayer aspect which always shows that you're not alone, you're alone in your world, but you always know that there are others just like you, trying to make their way through as well. Step by Step, leaving helpful advice or tricking you into your demise, you always feel part of something greater when in that game. The gameplay is always the same, but the tactics you need to use to overcome each section is not.

After getting a 3D monitor and glasses, I orgasm'd playing through that game again in 1080P 3D.