Myst IV was a jaw dropping moment for me. It also caused my brain to hurt at moments though...
Some of the locations in FFXII are amazing. Although some of the places are somwhat grainy, the level of detail is breathtaking. Eruyt, Stillshrine of Miriam, and Bhujarba (or whatever its called).
Kirby always has some great levels.
And Shadow of the Collosus... That was truly breathtaking.
Silent Hill 4 was notable for a few scenes and locations.
...
Take a look at this pic of Seiken Densetsu 3. The Lampflower Forest looks really pretty just before the dawn. Don't you think Lise and Duran look quite close there?![]()
People dislike FFIX because they're horrible idiots. - Kawaii Ryűkishi
"One-Winged Angel" is far and away the best final boss song ever
composed. - Kawaii Ryűkishi
I always like the Tower of the Gods in Wind Waker. It really gives the feeling of... a really big tower.
The Forgotten Capital - FFVII
Macalania Woods - FFX
ALL areas in Shadow of the Colossus
Agreed. The freedom and realtime aspects of Uru and Myst 5 are definitely great, but the graphics just don't compare with the beauty of the fully rendered scenes in Myst 4, 3, Riven, 1. (although the original Myst game's graphics are very dated at this point)
Although, Necro, they didn't go 3D until Uru and Myst 5. Myst 3 and 4 were still pre-rendered, they just went to spherical VR nodes instead of just stills, which, IMHO makes the games even more amazing.
Well, Lake Hylia in Zelda: Twilight Princess is definitely quite pretty. Sadly, I have no pictures of it at the current time.
I couldn't get into the "free-view" thing. Call me old-fashioned, but I liked the stills, and in my opinion nothing can ever compare to or replace that. There was so many things about the still image system they had going on in Myst and Riven that is impossible to duplicate when the player is able to freely look around each area. An example would be the amazing puzzle in Riven where you had to find those little glowing things around the islands that served as the eye for some sort of creature that was formed by the environment around it. (e.g. the frog being outlined by the mouth of the cave when you look out of it.)
Also: The entirity of Deus Ex.
Although I've already played through Uru, I got into the closed beta for Uru Live. It's quite amazing to explore with other people in an MMO type feeling. It's completely different to Riven, but it gives such good history on the D'ni and all that.
The worlds in Uru are amazing to explore. The character models are bit plastic, but the worlds are the best design and graphics I've seen in any MMO to this date.
"... and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written."