Games with great environments

[Kosheh]

I'm disagreeing on this one. Half the time in this game they felt like ripoffs of DKC 1 and 2. :/


(agreeing on the other DK games tho)

[AuraLancer]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on the DKC3 environments, kosheh. Even returning stage types like the forest had a unique spin on them. Then you have places like the quoted pic, the saw mills, the sewer pipes, the canyon, etc. Only the industrial and underwater stages really felt like they took from the first DKC.

[E-Man]

I'm disagreeing on this one. Half the time in this game they felt like ripoffs of DKC 1 and 2. :/

I mostly just chose that pic to get my bases covered. DKC 3 was an alright game (the GBA port is a lot better in my opinion), but it couldn't hold a candle to DKC 2.

Also, as long as everyone else is talking about pre-rendered backgrounds, Grim Fandango pulls it off pretty well.

[Virt]

In all honesty I feel like Sonic Unleashed (not the Wii one. The HD ones) has some really good environments. I don't have any screenshots prepared at the moment, though, sorry.

[water dog]

Really surprised no one has said it yet, but I will. Dark Souls! Specifically the first installment. I'm not even speaking from and aesthetic stand point. The design of the levels themselves is just beautiful. Everything interconnects. EVERYTHING. Also one of my favorite features. If you see something in the sky box, chances are you'll be going there at some point, if you didn't just come back from it, with no zoning in between.

[StarSock64]

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Images

[Kriven]

I'm disagreeing on this one. Half the time in this game they felt like ripoffs of DKC 1 and 2. :/


(agreeing on the other DK games tho)

I don't understand how a reused aesthetic at all makes it a less stunning environment?

[LauriJ]

Skyrim naturally. Literally the whole game.

[Koh]

The Tomb Raider games, naturally. Attention to detail was given, and each of the areas designed with lots of care. Of course, the games shook up the early 3D era, so there's no surprise there.

[Mystie]

Really surprised no one has said it yet, but I will. Dark Souls! Specifically the first installment. I'm not even speaking from and aesthetic stand point. The design of the levels themselves is just beautiful. Everything interconnects. EVERYTHING. Also one of my favorite features. If you see something in the sky box, chances are you'll be going there at some point, if you didn't just come back from it, with no zoning in between.

Really? From what I've seen of Dark Souls, it looks like Real is Brown at its finest.

[Lemonray]

Symphony of The Night is one of the most atmospheric games you can find. The SoTN incarnation of Dracula's Castle is downright incredible, throughout the entire game, in equal parts due to the visuals and the soundtrack which are both stellar.

Music
Alucard's adventure begins when he enters Castlevania through the front gate, and he works his way through a re-imagined version of the original game's first stage. This is presented flawlessly.

Music
The royal chapel is also incredibly well done, being without a doubt the best chapel stage in the series.

Music
The colosseum is one of the more upbeat locations, but still has a subtle kind of sadness to it that may or may not have been intentional. This is actually one of my favorite locations in any videogame.

Music
Best cavern stage ever? Best cavern stage ever.

[miyabi95_]

Paaman/Perman Part 2 for Famicom.

I just love being able to fly around the unique stages . Also love the switch between perspectives.

[Koh]

Really? From what I've seen of Dark Souls, it looks like Real is Brown at its finest.

That's one of the turnoffs for many modern games for me. What's with the stripping of color? Are they trying to tell us that you can't have serious or dark plots with color variety? Because I could easily disprove that. Having everything of the brown tint makes for a boring-looking world.

[Gwen]

Really surprised no one has said it yet, but I will. Dark Souls! Specifically the first installment. I'm not even speaking from and aesthetic stand point. The design of the levels themselves is just beautiful. Everything interconnects. EVERYTHING. Also one of my favorite features. If you see something in the sky box, chances are you'll be going there at some point, if you didn't just come back from it, with no zoning in between.

Really? From what I've seen of Dark Souls, it looks like Real is Brown at its finest.

If you think Dark Souls is just a swathe of brown, you should probably play it first, it has plenty of color. Granted, it's not exploding with color, but it's far from AGES OF BROWN: THE BROWN EDTION, BROWNER THAN ANY OTHER BROWN, BROWN IN IT.

[AuraLancer]

Yeah, there's some gray too.