What do you think of when you look at a modern video game? To be honest, probably quite a few different things… but for many of us, the thing that sets our hearts beating and our imaginations soaring is the appearance. It’s so beautiful. It’s so lush. It’s rich, vivid, awe-inspiring (and pretty much any other positive adjective you can think of here).
It’s almost painful how gorgeous some video games are today, and it’s also amazing just how far this trend stretches, even into mobile experiences and online options where you might not expect to see quite such care and attention given to the graphics.
But which games win, hands down, for their beauty? Where should you look if you want to see scenes and images that will take your breath away and make you forget you’re holding a controller? Let’s find out!
Final Fantasy XV
To be fair, choosing a beautiful Final Fantasy game is like trying to select the best chocolate from a box of all your favorites. They’re all gorgeous. Square Enix has been a paragon of beauty for decades now and we love the fantastical, eye-wateringly gorgeous scenes, creatures, and characters that flow from this studio. Even the weapons are stunning, some featuring elegance, some cutting-edge brutality, some fantastical and strange.
And the creatures? You could spend hours just looking at the XV bestiary, examining all the fun things they came up with for Noct and his crew to take on in a setting that’s equally impressive. Riding a Chocobo around for hours – even without the monsters – is a treat, and who wouldn’t want a scenic ride in the Regalia, Ignis at the wheel, gazing out at the incredible sights this band of boys ventured through as they honed their skills?
There’s no question that XV set a new bar in gaming – as Enix so often seems to do – and wow, we’re just glad we got to be a part of it!
Casino Slots
Surprised by this one? Well, it’s not the most obvious kind of game to include, but that’s why it’s so important to acknowledge it. What on earth is going on in the world of casinos that we have such hands-down gorgeous slot machines to look at?
Okay, so slots have always featured fun imagery, with juicy cherries and satisfyingly blocky 7s to keep our eyes on the prize… but wow, online casinos have stepped that up more than one notch in their quest to give gamers what they want, and many online slots are now things of beauty that you could gaze at just for the images. When it comes to Bitcoin slots online, you’ve got a plethora of choices just waiting to wow your eyeballs with lush colors, cute characters, and breathtaking theming that makes the slot experience just so much more. You might still be spinning the reels with a simple click, but you’re going on adventures through time and space, racking up gold or tigers or famous athletes – whatever you fancy.
Slots stand out in the world of online games because of their beauty. Indeed, the simple gameplay only invites more and more of this creativity, as developers look for ways to make their offerings stand out… and for players, that’s a wonderful situation that means we get ever-more eye candy as we spin the reels.
Hollow Knight
It’s not just the big developers that can go for broke when it comes to beauty. Team Cherry more than proved the point with their indie release Hollow Knight, which has been lauded across the gaming universe for its breathtaking art. With unique areas that each have an incredible vibe, fun characters, and a combination of simplicity – we are talking a platformer, after all – and a stunningly rich world, Hollow Knight is an enchanting journey.
The mournfulness and sense of loss told by the imagery is supported by the adventure, and it’s just such a stand-alone journey that shows you don’t have to depend on amazing 3D graphics and open-world approaches to create beauty in a video game. Everything in this game has been designed with care, thought, and love, from the charms and their notches to the creatures of the Deep Nest (creepy though they may be), and wow, it proves what can be done if you’ve got dedicated people. Add in the fact that this game was produced by a team of just three core people? Mind-blowing!
Conclusion
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder… but in this case, we’d say beauty is in the hours of code and the dedication that has gone into these games.
And they’re far from the only ones; we could pick a dozen more with ease, including Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon (and sequel), God of War, and many others. It just goes to show that while graphics certainly aren’t everything a game needs… boy, they can win your heart and immerse you in magical worlds the way that nothing else can. If you’ve ever wanted to be utterly captured by a video game, find one where the graphics make the world sing.
