The game industry is built upon beauty. It’s one of the reasons games are becoming so expensive to create. We want them to look good. Not just good. We want them to knock our socks off, and while many of the top beautiful games out there look so good because of the amount of money spent on development, others do so with much more modest means. This list includes games of both ilk, and they’re all beautiful.
1. Final Fantasy XV
Don’t you just love playing beautiful games? Final Fantasy is one such title that can be called the most beautiful game in the world. The HD graphics of the environment capture your attention and keep you hooked for hours. You can expect the same from all Final Fantasy games. However, since Final Fantasy XV is the latest in the series, it is packed with the best graphics that a gamer could ask for. Apart from that, the great storyline will take you on an unforgettable adventure.
2. Arkham Knight
All of the Batman Arkham games look good, but Arkham Knight looks great. In it, every square block of Gotham has been lovingly hand-crafted to create a fully realized city. Sure, you’re spending most of your time rampaging through it like a bull in a China closet, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t one beautiful video game. And if attention to detail and art direction don’t tickle your fancy, then there’s beauty to be found in the way rain dissipates on Batman’s cape.
3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a game about two brothers going on a journey to save their sick father. Throughout the game, you will come across beautiful landscapes and interesting creatures that will sweep you off your feet. The two brothers must overcome all the obstacles they come across on their mission to retrieve the water from the Tree of Life. It has many emotional scenes that are heart touching. Once you play this game, it will always live in your heart. Brothers have beaten GTA V, BioShock Infinite, and Tomb Raider to win the award for the Best Xbox Game at the 2013 VGX Award Show.
4. Rise of the Tomb Raider
An action-adventure game that made fans fall in love with its protagonist, this reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise is praised for its incredible graphics, gameplay, and storyline. This beautiful game lets you roam around villages and jungles to explore secret tombs. Apart from that, you have to beat a paramilitary organization, called The Trinity, in the race to find the legendary city of Kitezh. Throughout this game, you have to perform tasks and survive from the dangers of the wild. You never know when a bear or wolf is on your back planning to make you their meal.
5. Battlefield 1
From both a graphical and artistic perspective, Battlefield 1 is easily one of the most beautiful video games out there. From its war-torn city blocks to the rolling dunes of the desert, every map in Battlefield one is exquisitely rendered. Frostbite sure helps to see that to fruition, and Battlefield 1 showcases the Frostbite engine at its best. Each game built with it has looked better than the last, and Battlefield 1 tops them all. At least until Battlefront 2 comes around to give it a run for its money.
6. Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus is considered a great game of its time with graphics beyond imagination. It’s an action-adventure video game in which you go on a journey to a forbidden land. It is praised for its awesome gameplay, riveting storyline, and breathtaking landscapes. The best part is that you don’t have to take out your old PS2 to play Shadow of the Colossus, as its PS4 version has also been launched with HD graphics. Now you can enjoy this beautiful game with better than before visual effects.
7. Bioshock Infinite
The first Bioshock had you exploring Rapture once the city had fallen, evoking a sense of post-apocalyptic decay, and it could’ve easily made this list as well. But Bioshock Infinite’s Columbia soars above it. Upon our arrival, the city was still at its peak, a booming metropolis in the sky, complete with art deco architecture and steampunk-inspired slants. Mechanisms moved the city’s modules around, rearranging them at will. It’s easy to marvel at the way in which everything interacted. To top it off, to see Columbia gradually fall primarily by your hand makes it one of the most beautiful games.
8. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
If you have played the previous Uncharted games, I’m pretty sure you know why I have listed this game as one of the top beautiful games of all time. However, this edition has surpassed the previous ones with regards to storyline and graphics. It allows you to explore beautiful islands to find the lost treasure of Captain Henry Avery. Uncharted 4 is the last game in the series featuring Nathan Drake as the lead character. If you haven’t played this award-winning game, you have missed a beautiful adventure, filled with loads of action and surprises.
9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
A game packed with action and adventure, Skyrim is critically acclaimed as one of the most beautiful games of all time. Players are on a quest to defeat Alduin the World-Eater – a dragon who is destined to destroy the world. It is your job to develop the character and become strong enough to defeat this evil creature. You get access to an open world in which you can travel wherever you wish to. This role-playing adventure is a ride full of excitement and thrill that’ll knock you off your feet. You can also play Skyrim on the latest consoles like Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
10. Never Alone
A beautiful game about a girl named, Nuna, and her white arctic fox searching for a way to end the eternal blizzard and save the world. The game revolves around mystical tales told by the elders of Nuna’s village. During this puzzle adventure, you play as both the girl and the fox. The fox is fast, while Nuna can open new areas using her Bota and pick up things. Embark on this classic journey and help Nuna and the fox find a way to restore balance in nature.
11. Dear Esther
Dear Esther is not just a walking simulator, it’s the walking simulator. It’s the game that brought the genre into prominence. It’s fortunate, then, that by walking, you’re given plenty of time to drink in the beauty of the game’s haunting and abandoned island and the effort that went into building it. The feelings elicited by the music, decrepit shacks, and narration certainly aren’t happy, but the end result is nonetheless beautiful.
12. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
The Witcher is an action role-playing game that features an open-world gameplay with a third-person perspective. Players are in control of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter called the Witcher. The Witcher 3 won many Game of the Year awards for its intense graphics, gameplay, world design, and combat sequences. The best part about this epic game is that it has various endings. The developers have left the conclusion based on your actions, which eventually lead to a different ending. If you want to find out how your actions reflect on the storyline, play it on your Xbox One, PS4, or PC now!
13. Grand Theft Auto V
Without any doubt, one of the best games of all-time, GTA V, is filled with crime and violence based in the beautiful city of San Andreas. In this game, you have control of three criminals who work together to complete various missions around the city. A game that lets you do just about anything, it became a benchmark for developers to look up to. With graphics and gameplay that look realistic, GTA V is a masterpiece. Even after completing the main storyline, you can find tons of things to do. You can’t be a gamer if you haven’t played this legendary game!
14. Ghost of a Tale
Ghost of a Tale is technically still in Early Access, so it’s not done yet, but it’s hard to deny that it’s shaping up to be one of the prettiest games in recent years. A former DreamWorks artist is basically creating it by himself, painstakingly crafting the game’s castles, wilderness environments, and everything in between. And it’s a joy to behold. If you were to glance at a screenshot, it’s not a hard stretch to think that Ghost of a Tale is an upcoming CGI film, but nope, it’s a video game.
15. Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4 is a first-person adventure game in Kyrat, a fictional Himalayan country. Players control the character, Ajay Ghale, a Kyrat American, who gets involved in the civil war between Kyrat’s Royal Army and a rebel group, The Golden Path. This commercial success lets you explore the wildlife and fight against militants trying to take over the country.
In the quest to help fight the army, you face the dangers of the wildlife. Along the journey, you also unfold many hidden secrets of Ajay’s past. Get your hands on numerous weapons and travel the land of Kyrat on different vehicles on an unforgettable journey. Keep your eyes open and avoid walking through the jungle alone – it’s free advice!
16. Metro: Last Light
In terms of sheer graphical prowess, Metro: Last Light might be a little on the dated side, but that doesn’t prevent it from being one beautiful game. Russia’s metro system is wonderfully detailed, as is the post-apocalyptic surface above. And then 4A games went and made it – and the first Metro – look even better with the Redux versions.
17. Marvel’s Spider-Man
Spidey boy is back in action with a game that’ll allow you to live like the Spider-Man. Beating all previous Spider-Man games, this one is loaded with never-seen-before action and adventure. This beautiful game lets you roam the streets of New York City. You can crawl on buildings, jump from structure to structure, and swing into action to fight criminals. Don’t forget to jump off the Empire State Building just for fun!
18. Ori and the Blind Forest
Ori and the Blind Forest is proof that a game doesn’t need a powerful engine, or to even be in 3D, to be one of the most beautiful games out there. All a game really needs is talented artists with a passion to do what they love. Its hand-drawn art style is ripe for longevity. While the graphics of most games age over time (gracefully or not), Ori and the Blind Forest will still be one beautiful video game five or even ten years from now.
19. Crysis Series
Crysis is one of the best PC games ever developed. In the year of its release, there wasn’t any graphics card powerful enough to run it on PC. However, now you can play it on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. The high graphics and mindboggling storyline revolves around a military force fighting against an alien race. It’s a great first-person shooter game to enjoy getting in action to destroy all the enemies. The latest edition in the series, Crysis 3, was released in 2013, and has beautiful scenes of futuristic cities and ruins.
20. What Remains of Edith Finch
Now for one of the most recent walking simulators. What Remains of Edith Finch has you exploring your family’s abandoned house. Each room has been memorialized for the family member that stayed in it, a highly detailed snapshot of their life. The amount of work that went into each location, and the entire house (and surrounding forest) is almost mind boggling. The details span generations, and artistic styles, and tones. It’s a smorgasbord of beauty.
21. Call of Duty: WWII
The Call of Duty series is back with another game featuring the World War. The World War 2 was a historical event that took place during the mid-90s. This game gives you the opportunity to be part of the war and make a difference. Packed with remarkable graphics, this title rose to fame after the launch of its first trailer. It wouldn’t be nice to call a war game beautiful, but keeping the war aspect aside, it features beautiful sceneries of jungles, mountains, lush grasslands, and what not. The maps and structures make you feel involved in the game. If you want to experience what it’s like to be in the middle of a war, play this game and live the action.
22. The Witness
Sure, with its superb art style, The Witness looks good, one might say beautiful, and you can definitely sense the Myst inspiration coursing through its veins. But where The Witness excels is how beautifully it integrates its puzzles into the world itself, a fact that might be lost on you throughout most of the game, but when you start to notice it, you’ll start viewing the game through an entirely new lens.
23. Max Payne 3
Another classic Rockstar Studio game on the list, Max Payne 3 is the third installment in the series. You get to be a former detective, Max Payne, who turns into a vigilante after the murder of his wife and daughter. In this edition, Max is employed as a security contractor in Brazil. Throughout the game, you face loads of gunfights and action, while get to marvel at epic cityscapes. This third-person shooter is a tale that’ll glue your hands to the controllers.
24. Zeno Clash
Zeno Clash is as weird as it is beautiful. Though it has aged (on the side of graceful, mind you) there’s still something about the characters and world that Ace Team created that is interesting and – in many ways – just plain cool. You could even say there’s something beautiful about the voice acting, as laughably bad as it is. But few games pull off the weird art direction that Zeno Clash does, and it pulls it off exceedingly well.
25. Assassin’s Creed Origins
The latest edition of the hit series, Assassin’s Creed, is based in Egypt. Thanks to its ingenious developers for making Egypt look so real, this game can surely be considered one of the top beautiful games. The open-world gameplay allows you roam around the landscapes, exploring and traveling to new locations. All the quests you finish lead you to another mission, taking you on a journey filled with fights and excitement.
This is a list of a mere twenty-five beautiful games, and it could go on for pages. What are some that take your breath away with how beautiful they are?
