It doesn’t have to be a recent game that is utilizing the latest technology, but it can be if that is how you feel. I’m just thinking of what games look the best in your opinion.
A few that came to my mind, in no order:
The Witcher 3 - I spoke about this in my thread on the game itself, but while the outside looks amazing, it is actually the insanely detailed and gorgeous interiors that I found to be incredible. It has two cities(Novigrad and Toussaint) that are the greatest cities in video game history. Definitely a job dropping game throughout.
Breath of the Wild - This game is all about the exteriors. It was cliche before this game came out to say, “if you can see it, you can explore it”, but it is true in this game. From the amazing opening and throughout, it is drop dead gorgeous. I played this on the Wii U and it really showed how amazing the Wii U was, even if much of its power went untapped.
Okami - Even before its HD re-release, this was a gorgeous game. I played the PS3 and PC re-release and it looks even better than it did in the past. Love the look of this game.
Horizon: Zero Dawn and Red Dead Redemption 2 both have amazing vistas. H:ZD was one of the only games where I actually spent time messing with the photography feature. I’ve heard Ghost of Tsushima is equally impressive.
It’s dated now, but the bit in Fallout 3 when you leave the vault and look out on the wasteland was a real “oh, shit” moment.
I only played XIII once, but I still remember it as one of the most stylish games I ever played on the original Xbox. The cell-shaded art and comic book-style panels really made it unique at the time.
It’s just about a running joke at this point, but in every “best game” thread, someone’s gotta say Subnautica. It’s an underwater exploration/construction game on an alien planet. The interiors aren’t amazing, but the reefs and other natural locales are crazy beautiful.
As beautiful as they are, the Mediterranean panoramas in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey are even prettier. The game may have its flaws, but its environments - from the beaches of Chios to the Acropolis of Athens - are amazing
Just finished a very recent game called Carrion. You play a “The Thing”-type monster, just a mass of flesh and teeth and blood and tentacles, trying to escape a high-tech lab. It’s entirely pixel graphics, but just the way the monster moves around is absolutely fascinating and gorgeous. Every tiny move you make results in tentacles exploding out of you in random directions and covering everything in dripping viscera, it’s awesome.
I highly recommend picking up this game, though you might want to wait until it’s on sale, just because at $20 it seems at least a sawbuck too high for the 5-8 hours of gameplay that you get.
Sea of Thieves has some of the best water graphics I’ve ever seen.
Agreed. A few months ago I upgraded to a new gaming/video editing laptop and was finally able to run subnautica on it’s highest settings. Reminded me of snorkeling in Hawaii.