What are games that enthrall you with purely their atmosphere

[Gilius Thunderhead]

The balls to say NWN.



Golden Axe
Streets of Rage 1-2
Revenge of Shinobi
Scorched Earth
Ultima VII Black Gate
Space Hulk (dat intro)
Populous III
Dungeon Keeper
Final Fantasy VII-VIII
Parasite Eve
Vagrant Story
Silent Hill
Resident Evil
Tomb Raider
NFS Porsche Unleashed
Gran Turismo
Mafia
Gothic 1-2
ELEX
Morrowind
Thief
Kenshi
Fallout
VtM Bloodlines
Sanitarium
Blade Runner
LBA 1-2

...just off the top of my head.

 

[Hobknobling]

Space Hulk (dat intro)

Talking of great intros, looks like XCOM: Enemy Unknown hasn't been mentioned yet. The very successful remakes/sequels are decent games, but the original is head and shoulders above them when it comes to the atmosphere. Just a different level of oppressive paranoia and horror compared to the plasticy look of the new games.



Raptor: Call of the Shadows is another classic which I have always adored for the atmosphere even though the game itself is not very good in my opinion.

 

[Gostak]

Yes, as others mentioned STALKER games ooze it.

I also like The Dark Mod when it comes to this. Of course it can vary depending on map/mission.

 

[anvi]

Another World (1991)

Very special game. Did you like Flashback?

Here are a few that come to mind:






And of course:

 

[deama]

Gothics/Archolos
kingdom come
arx fatalis
stalker
Divine Divinity
Arcanum
Rune Halls of Valhalla
witcher 1
Brothers a tale of two sons (getting a remake releasing soon)
elden ring
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
thief
Dungeon Keeper 1
Sacrifice
red dead redemption 2

 

[Gostak]

Also, Space Engine.
The vistas are kind of the central thing about it and what those and putting the scale of everything into context may evoke.

more

 

[3 others]

I keep thinking about Paradise Killer. It is a complete joke gameplay-wise, which consists of a few shallow pattern-matching puzzles and a neverending trinket scavenger hunt. The visual design is nice, but nothing particularly extraordinary. The murder mystery is cool, but runs almost on autopilot as you just go around gathering clues and your PDA fills in the conclusions. You even have to play as a fat woman with a vertical jump of 10cm!

But damn, Paradise Killer really sells the absurd parallel dimension of Paradise 24 as you play it, and does it unbelievably well. The Gods are real, the world is about to end, and the streets are empty because of a mass ritual slaughter at the twilight of yet another less-than-perfect Paradise Island, completely standard procedure. However, The End Of The World is put on hold because there's been a Crime To End All Crimes, and some of the immortal maniacs you call friends are involved in it. It's such a unique setting, and the oddball characters all behave as someone inhabiting such a world would, making everything internally coherent and believable.

The vibes of Paradise Killer are just off the charts. Everything has this quasi-melancholy undercurrent of a last dance before the end of an era. The soundtrack is a masterful collection of city pop/vaporwave homages. It's one of those rare games where you genuinely start feeling wistful as the plot threads are getting finished up and it's clear there's less and less of the game to go on, until finally it's time to wrap things up, let go of the illusion, and return to the wastelands of C:\Steam\steamapps.

 

[randir14]

Stalker. Standing around in the wilderness in almost complete silence other than the wind and rustling leaves. Then the distant sound of dogs barking, gunfire and screaming. Back when the multiplayer demo came out I would join empty servers just to listen to the soundscape.

 

[Ebonsword]

Exploring at night in Dragon's Dogma 1 is some of my favorite game atmosphere ever.

 

[Maxie]

I have been rewatching a lot Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli movies lately and being filled with childlike sense of wonder, I wanted to find some games that make you practically foam from your mouth due to their atmospheric brilliance. Ignore all gameplay aspects and just focus on the world itself.
Only ones that I can name are Morrowind and maybe Dark Souls 1, so please educate an uncultured faggot like me by sharing your favorites!

noob
you play games for gameplay not for 'atmosphere'

 

[Lagi]

Far

,/

 

[TC Jr]

Subnautica, especially if you have a fear of the deep ocean, you really get a sense of how vast and deep it is. Wasn't a major fan of the gameplay loop but definitely worth pirating/checking out.

 

[Thalstarion]

- Vagrant Story. Especially Snowfly Forest, the Catacombs and the Undercity.
- Elden Ring. It's a very good looking game and some of the scenery reveals are pretty cool, particularly Leyndell and the Academy of Raya Lucaria.
- Dragon's Dogma. I liked how dark and gritty it is in places. The sequel didn't feel quite as foreboding in terms of atmosphere.
- Forbidden Siren. A bit of a niche horror game but genuinely unsettling.
- Resident Evil 2. I'd say almost every entry is atmospheric but the police station's front hall is very distinct and memorable.
- Pillars of Eternity. Heritage Hill is very cool and creepy - I just wish it were a bigger part of the game.

That's all I can think of for now, I'm likely forgetting a bunch of other games though.

 

[Valestein]

I liked this game's dark fantasy/horror atmosphere.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Dungeon Keeper

This one is definitely up there. It's Bullfrog at the peak of their game, so to speak. Everything from the animations to the narration is fantastic in terms of making you settle in to the world and keep playing.

Did anyone mention Portal and Portal 2 yet? They took what could have been just a fun first person puzzle game and kicked it in to high gear with the inclusion of GLaDoS. It goes from just solving the puzzle, which is fun in and of itself, to wanting to get to the next stage just to hear how she opens it. It's rarely even about the stage itself, it's often just her making snide comments about the player and it still feels worth it.

 

[Silva]

If the OP wants an enthralling world more than pure atmosphere, my Top 5 would be...

Darklands (1992)
Deus Ex (2000)
Morrowind (2002)
Dark Souls (2011)
Nier: Automata (2017)


But if we're talking pure atmosphere my picks would be slightly different, with the likes of System Shock 2, STALKER and Darkwood displacing some of those.

 

[Reinhardt]

atelier dusk trilogy. slowly dying world but without grimdark shit. just melancholy.

 

[NecroLord]

Yes, as others mentioned STALKER games ooze it.

I also like The Dark Mod when it comes to this. Of course it can vary depending on map/mission.

Jedi Academy modding scene is NUTS.
Movie Battles is its peak.

 

[Gregz]

Diablo I
VTMB
Daggerfall
EverQuest
WoW
Ori And The Will Of The Wisps

 

[NecroLord]

Diablo is the quintessential dungeon crawler.

 

[Silva]

King of Dragon Pass.


P.S:
It's the only world that makes you question if "magic" is actual magic or a mix of superstition and technical feats. Like this "Shield" blessing on screen center here. Is it magic or some new war technique (eg: shieldwall) atributed to the god and thus considered sacred by those people?

 

[Ezekiel]

Streets of Rage 1-2

Mostly because of the music, right? Because the digital art in both is actually bad. There were many prettier Mega Drive games.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Streets of Rage 1-2

Mostly because of the music, right? Because the digital art in both is actually bad. There were many prettier Mega Drive games.

No, everything comes together perfectly. You want more atmosphere than this?

 

[Ezekiel]

Streets of Rage 1-2

Mostly because of the music, right? Because the digital art in both is actually bad. There were many prettier Mega Drive games.

No, everything comes together perfectly. You want more atmosphere than this?

That's a cutscene. Actually playing the game, not pretty.

 

[NecroLord]

Those 90s games had such great and memorable soundtracks.