Best aesthetics

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ChupathingyX

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Jun 8, 2010
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- Okami

- Shadow of the Colossus

- Spyro the Dragon series (Insomniac Games)

- Warhammer 40K games like Dawn of War and Fire Warrior (I love the Imperium's gothic style architecure)

- The Jak and Daxter series has some really nice looking locations with a unique design.

- The Fallout series has some nice locations along with armour and weapons that have a very unique design.

- The Pajama Sam series has some really imaginative locations and they're so colourful. What? I used to play them as a kid...
 

Z of the Na'vi

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Apr 27, 2009
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Never before have I seen a game with such pretty, dynamic, colorful, explosive, pleasing, seizure-inducing, and overall awesome graphics than when I laid my eyes on Marvel vs Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds for the first time.

I mean, wow...


[HEADING=1]...THAT, is epic. Those shaders are incredible![/HEADING]

For the record, that is exactly what the graphics look like during gameplay as well. No joke.

[small]Yay for Felicia!![/small]
 

Rems

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May 29, 2011
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I'm liking the aesthetic of the new Dues Ex games very much. This cool cyberpunk crossed with almost a Renaissance feel/style. All the visuals, objects, etc follow a design style that really cohesive. It's familiar yet suitably futuristic/exotic.

Fallout 3 had a great aesthetic. They really did a lot with a limited palate, create a great post apocalyptic feel. They also captured the concept of the future and technology as people from the 50's saw it really well.

Ocarina of Time had a lovely, whimsical aesthetic with some delightful designs and characters.

It's important to note is this though the difference between graphics and aesthetic. graphics refers to how good the visuals are in terms of resolution, clipping, bump mapping etc- technical abilities/ measurements.

Aesthetic refers to the look and feel of a game, how the graphics and artistic design is used to create a cohesive, immersive experiance for the player where everything in the game world fits the overall aesthetic. Extra Credits did a great video on this btw.
 

Monkestful

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Mar 29, 2011
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Rems said:
It's important to note is this though the difference between graphics and aesthetic. graphics refers to how good the visuals are in terms of resolution, clipping, bump mapping etc- technical abilities/ measurements.

Aesthetic refers to the look and feel of a game, how the graphics and artistic design is used to create a cohesive, immersive experiance for the player where everything in the game world fits the overall aesthetic. Extra Credits did a great video on this btw.
I think I should just point out that nearly EVERYBODY on this site has watched that Extra Credits video too.

I'm going to go with Team Fortress 2's aesthetics as really cool. The game would be fun without that aesthetic, but playing it in that style just makes it even better.
 

epialesofaergia

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Jun 6, 2011
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killer7 definitely takes it, for me. Okami is in a pretty close second, just barely beating out Shadow of the Colossus and Grim Fandango.
 

Dr.A

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Jun 3, 2010
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I'm going to have to say the Sly Cooper games. That's the game that really introduced me to aesthetics, or at least had so much of it that I couldn't help but notice. And it's stuck with me ever since.
 

Zhukov

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Dec 29, 2009
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It's pretty hard to apply a word like "best" to a notion like aesthetics. Ridiculous, really.

With that it mind, some games with really good aesthetic design.

- Bioshock
- Fallout 3
- Psychonauts
- Half Life 2
- Team Fortress 2
- Mirror's Edge
 

jacobythehedgehog

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Jun 15, 2011
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Shenmue
Metroid Prime
Hunted: The Demon Forge
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
and Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
 

dyre

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Bioshock: well polished, creative environment
Fallout 3: not so well polished, but very cool post-apocalyptic stuff
Alice: Madness Begins: the game's just decent, but the aesthetics are incredible. excellent art direction
Ratchet and Clank: haven't played one of their games in a long time, but I remember the games had some very nicely done cartoony aesthetics
Shadow of the Colossus: well, yeah

I really like the aesthetics of Deus Ex; Human Revolution, judging by the pre-build, but that's just personal preference.
 

SoranMBane

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May 24, 2009
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Okami is an obvious contender, but, of course, there are others that deserve a mention:

-Every Team Ico game. These guys have pretty much perfected the concept of scenery porn.

-Every Thatgamecompany game. Have you seen Flower, Flow, and Journey? They're just pretty, and I can't really think of any better way to put it.

-Dead Space 2. I have to hand it to Visceral; they really got their shit together on pretty much every front with this game, and the visuals are no exception. With nary a speck of brown to be found, this may be one of most darkly gorgeous games I've ever played, with everything that's not completely gorgeous being badass sci-fi of the best sort. The part where you travel through the Unitologist cathedral is the absolute stand-out, mainly for the beautiful gothic architecture, but everywhere else, the astounding lighting effects are there to take up the slack.

-The Assassin's Creed games. Especially Assassin's Creed II for the absolutely breathtaking Italian countryside.

-Team Fortress 2. It's cartoony and simple and awesome. In a way, I'd liken it to what would happen if Pixar suddenly decided to make an R-rated film.

-Mirror's Edge. Bright, stark visuals are, perhaps, the best kind of visuals, and this game may be one of the brightest and starkest of them all.

And there are many more that probably deserve a mention, of course, but these are just off the top of my head and from personal experience.