The best looking games, in your opinion.

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I was thinking about this just now and figured I'd ask.

What do you think are the best looking games you've played?

For me, I would say Riven and Exile would rank among the best. Despite being from 1997 and 2001, respectively, they still manage to take my breath away every time I play them. Sure they don't have much in the ways of graphical fidelity when looked upon with modern eyes, but the art direction and execution make every bit breathtaking.

Spoiler: Riven

Spoiler: Exile

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Well the first two that come to mind are Okami and Journey.

Spoiler: Okami

Spoiler: Journey

Spoiler: Very recently, I would also say Bioshock Infinite.

I like colour and light

 

[Soxafloppin]

Uncharted 3 and God of War 3....But we'l see how good they look in 10 years time

I have to second Journey and Okami and throw in Viewtiful Joe and Mirrors Edge (hate the game but its nice to look at)

 

[lRookiel]

Didn't we just have a thread like this like a week ago?

Oh well, I'll say it once and I'll say it again. Trine 2!

I mean good gripes just look at this game

 

[Pink Gregory]

Viva Pinata.

It absolutely excels at what it does, visuals included.

 

[Anathrax]

DarkSiders 2. Everything looks flashy and nothing like I've ever seen before. The area where you

Spoiler

Wake up the guardian

has some amazing water effects.

 

[Anachronism]

Well the first two that come to mind are Okami and Journey.

Spoiler: Okami

Seconded on Okami. There's nothing else out there quite like its pseudo-painted art style, and it hasn't aged a day since its release in 2006. It's a damned beautiful game.

ICO's graphics aren't so great technically any more, but like Shadow of the Colossus, its art style is so good that it more than makes up for it in my opinion. It's 12 years old now, but it still looks very pretty to me. Goes to show how much more important artistic direction is than simple processing power.

Spoiler

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

Rayman Origins.

Gorgeous, colourful and full of charm and personality.

 

[Gabanuka]

Aesthetically the new Tomb Raider is meh but the actual quality is sublime

It also has a good balance between realistic characters without going uncanny valley on you.

Personally I think Bastion is one of the best looking games

 

[Adam Locking]

A toss-up between Klonoa 2 and killer7. Both cell-shaded, but in completely different ways. Both had a huge amount of attention paid to the art direction and due to being cell-shaded, neither of them will ever age in the graphics department.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Personally I think Bastion is one of the best looking games

I'll second this. Such a colourful game. Their new game is even more gorgeous:

 

[omicron1]

I'm gon' go for The Witcher 2. Even its ugliness is beautiful.

Other things:
Homeworld. Journey. SimCity. Risen.

 

[Snotnarok]

God of War 3 certainly looks amazing in more ways than one, graphically and it's art style is brilliant.

I don't think any other game gives a bigger sense of scale than this series:

Then I guess TF2 just because the art style is insanely awesome and charming.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Well, two of my top choices have already been mentioned in this thread - Okami and Bastion. I do love games with more colourful and cartoony types of graphics that photo-realistic games personally. I would probably throw Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King out there as one of my best-looking games, and I think although it's getting old now it still stands up very well.

Spoiler

For a non-cartooony game I think I'd also have to add Skyrim up on this well. Even the vanilla game on PS3 looks stunning, though of course the PC version looks the nicest.

Spoiler

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Crysis, because duh.

Chrono Trigger, because it conveys more emotion with a few dozen pixels than most games do with a thousand and because of the art style.

L.A. Noire still has the best facial animation I've ever seen in a game.

God of War 3 for the third time, reasons already provided.

Both the Rocksteady Batman games look stunning. Haven't played Arkham City much, but Asylum still looks incredible.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Very recently, I would also say Bioshock Infinite.

I'm going to second Daystar, I think Bioshock Infinite is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played, on so, so many levels. The atmosphere, the setting, the aesthetics, the animation, the use of colour and light...

Spoiler: Image

Additionally, I don't care what you naysayers say to me, the Rift in Skyrim remains one of the most beautiful places I have visited in a game. Period.

Spoiler: Images

It's probably because I love tress and the season of Autumn.

 

[sextus the crazy]

It's got to be company of heroes for me.
To fully understand it's beauty, you have to watch it in motion; the animation in the game is excellent espcially considering they're animating small RTS units. Not to mention that the graphics hold up even after 6-7 years.

 

[The White Hunter]

Spoiler: Very recently, I would also say Bioshock Infinite.

I like colour and light

BioShock Infinite is a gorgeous game, knows how to look a lot of different ways though not just bright and airy.

I'll have to put forth the original BioShock for it's grimy steam punk aesthetics mixed in with a strange late 50's boom charm and some visceral horror elements to finish things up:

I also love the aesthetics of the Bad Company games, Killzone 2 has a nice consistent design, Luigi's Mansion 2 is fantastically animated and designed.

Thats all thats springs to mind for now...

Edit: As mentioned above Skyrim. Even plain vanilla Skyrim, even on a console, is utterly breathtaking.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Back in the day I remember when the 3dfx cards were first released, and how Quake 2 looked supremely awesome. Back in the day... I was in a deathmatch online and I spent half the match staring at the then awesome effects of the teleport pad.