What are games that enthrall you with purely their atmosphere

[Cheesedragon117]

And if the key art isn't enough to shiver your timbers, try the first game's one and only battle theme. Pure, unadulterated space opera, played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra:

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Demon's Souls (2009)

 

[Silverfish]

I actually hate the Myst games, but the style is off the charts.

 

[Ba'al]

I have picked two games that have great atmosphere but would be mediocre at best without it.

Phantasy Star Online - its vision of the future is much more exciting that whatever we have now (mostly gloomy cyberpunk shit).


Knytt Underground - great sound design and a good variety of different areas.

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

Disciples 2

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Most stuff I would have picked has been mentioned. I'll throw this out there tho.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

For me Icewind Dale 1 is still the peak RPG for overall atmosphere,

character portraits

art style

,

music

, character voices and pretty much everything else that has to do with audio-visual design. IWD 2 has some of that same magic, but it's not as strong overall.

 

[Poseidon00]

Legend of Mana. The combination of art style and music gives the entire world a sleepy, peaceful, serene, and beautiful world.

 

[Avonaeon]

I'll mention something I haven't seen mentioned yet:
Northern Journey
Omikron: The Nomad Soul

 

[Frank Capicoli]

Majora's Mask

Shadow Tower Abyss.

 

[Momock]

Abe's Odyssey managed to pull me in very fast only with the title intro animation.

Signalis has a very strong setting an atmosphere. It stayed in my head for weeks after finishing it.

+1 to Northern Journey and Knytt Underground.

 

[ds]

Arx Fatalis
Bloodlines
Deus Ex
The Fall
The Longest Journey
Morrowind
Penumbra (especially Overture)
Planescape: Torment
Portal
SOMA
Tomb Raider

 

[La vie sexuelle]

There was a time when European games, especially French ones, had their own national flavor. Yes, they were terribly janky, but they gave something unique that US productions could never give. And as much as I love manga, I miss bande dessinée in video games.

Still Life is the definition of a French crime story from the '00s. The heroine, what she looks like, psychologization, eroticism, macabre and light nonsense are a unique mix (Italian crime stories are similar, although more local, even more fluid, and I don't think any of them have been adapted into games). There was also a second part and a prequel, I like them too, but Still Life has the essence I am looking for.



Speaking of Italy, they also tried their hand at adventure games and made at least one adaptation of their own fumetto. Unfortunately, they have always been as brilliant as they were prone to chaos. Druuna is a unique cyberpunk game with an eerie, goofy-dark claustrophobic atmosphere and fails as a game. And it lacks American bashfulness, although it is still far from a comic book in these matters.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Ico (2001) and Shadow of the Colossus (2005)

 

[Humanophage]

Adventure games often have a strong atmosphere (and not much else).

Blade Runner, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Petka i VICh, Samorost, Woodruff and the Schnibble

Also I always found Netstorm atmospheric. The steam, the storms and thunder, grey skies, rickety wooden bridges, gas masks, Mark Morgan soundtrack, helicopters. Feels like the plane of air in BG2 on steroids.


Serpent in the Staglands, SMAC, Underrail, Morrowind, Skyrim, Bloodlines, Arx Fatalis, Planescape: Torment, Disco Elysium, King of Dragon Pass, Gothic 1, Gothic 2, ELEX, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Syberia, parts of Witcher 3. Subjectively, Baldur's Gate 1 was extremely atmospheric. Oddly, Civ IV + FFH2 has a very strong atmosphere even though Civ IV has no atmosphere to speak of.

 

[NecroLord]

I don't go full fanboy over shit like atmosphere;
OMG, BRO, THAT'S, LIKE, DEEP MAN!!!
Anyway, games like Arcanum, the Interplay Fallout games, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Thief, all these games have good atmosphere that is made possible by their stellar soundtracks and sound design.
You simply must have good sound design to enhance the atmosphere of the game.

 

[Dark Souls II]

Dark Souls II. The childlike sense of exploration in how each location is completely different while all of them are full of secrets, combined with the underlying sense of nostalgia in all of them is just *chef's kiss*. Dark Souls III, for comparison, is like static noise - nothing if distinct or memorable, it's all the same booooooring generic soullessborne movie set. Meanwhile Dark Souls II is a symphony of sounds, colors, melodies, all bound together by an underlying motiff and harmony.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Dark Souls II. The childlike sense of exploration in how each location is completely different while all of them are full of secrets, combined with the underlying sense of nostalgia in all of them is just *chef's kiss*. Dark Souls III, for comparison, is like static noise - nothing if distinct or memorable, it's all the same booooooring generic soullessborne movie set. Meanwhile Dark Souls II is a symphony of sounds, colors, melodies, all bound together by an underlying motiff and harmony.

Agreed with all of this. It's truly the GOAT.

 

[Abu Antar]

Some examples

 

[Fargus]

 

[Machocruz]

Blood Omen
Shadow of Chernobyl
DayZ
Shadowgate (NES)
Bloodborne
FF12
Vagrant Story
Tomb Raider 1 and 2

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Arcanum for sure. There's something cozy and moody about it, it really immerses you in the Victorian-esque mood.

 

[Zlaja]

Speaking of some newer games, the recently released detective game 'Nobody Wants To Die' has a kick-ass art design and music, which create a cool Blade Runner-esque atmosphere.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Speaking of some newer games, the recently released detective game 'Nobody Wants To Die' has a kick-ass art design and music, which create a cool Blade Runner-esque atmosphere.

Looks nice, but it is nice?