The 15 Most Beautiful Games of 2024

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 25, 2024 3 Views 16 Min Read
The 15 Most Beautiful Games of 2024



Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Judging a book by its cover is frowned upon when that’s the sole measurement of a piece of entertainment media, and yet for a video game it is commonly a huge consideration regarding whether one game might appeal to someone and not others. With so many unique and novel visuals, there’s a high likelihood that players were introduced to immersive and interactive experiences they might not have been attentive to otherwise.

Indeed, this year saw a world-class celebration of art direction, especially in terms of the variety of striking art styles that were implemented and iterated on in the most beautiful games of 2024, presented in alphabetical order.

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The 15 Most Beautiful Games of 2023

2023 has had a superb year for video games in general with the art direction and graphical fidelity of many games deserving of commendation.

Animal Well

Check Out Animal Well on OpenCritic

Easily one of the most visually distinct games of 2024, Animal Well is a lucid fever dream of eerie, surrealist pixel art and warped animal illustrations. How Animal Well illuminates darkness is dazzling as the 2D Metroidvania indulges in a sensory overload of mesmerizing effects to stimulate every environment.

Astro Bot

Read Game Rant’s Astro Bot Review

Astro Bot took home The Game Awards’ coveted ‘Game of the Year’ award, and while it didn’t win for ‘Best Art Direction’ its nomination wasn’t misplaced. Essentially a colossal advertisement for the PlayStation 5 and its DualSense pad, Astro Bot endearingly represents iconic PlayStation mascots as adorable bots amid vivid colors and a minimalist black, blue, and white theme.

Black Myth: Wukong

Read Game Rant’s Black Myth: Wukong Review​​​​​​​

Black Myth: Wukong is a pillar in cinematic fantasy and carves out an untapped niche for ancient Chinese mythology. That said, it initially garnered curiosity due to its ingenious character design and epic sense of scale as depicted in its earliest teaser trailers, cementing Black Myth: Wukong as a grand journey with boss fights galore.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Read Game Rant’​​​​​​​s Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review​​​​​​​

Dragon Age: The Veilguard takes a much more stylized and colorful approach to its art direction as opposed to previous games in the franchise and it’s clear how massive of a step forward in graphics it is for BioWare. Punctuated by a purple hue, BioWare’s chosen art style allows Dragon Age: The Veilguard to look picture-esque while being illustrative enough to denote its pocket of whimsical fantasy.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Check Out Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree on OpenCritic

FromSoftware’s indelible and sublime art direction has been proven time and time again since it basically rewrote the book on dark fantasy with Dark Souls. Elden Ring behaves as somewhat of an extension of that vision, now incorporating high fantasy into its atmosphere, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is only further evidence that FromSoftware is a master in the industry when it comes to level, character, and boss design, milking every ounce out of rich fantasy tropes and imaginative lore it can.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Read Game Rant’​​​​​​​s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Review​​​​​​​

Final Fantasy 7’s remake and its recent sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, evoke the series’ prevailing art direction: scenic realism and astonishing lighting married with stylized character design. Blurring the lines between remake, sequel, and reinterpretation, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth excels in its responsibility of portraying nostalgic elements of the original Final Fantasy 7, let alone settings such as the Nibel, Junon, and Corel regions.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Read Game Rant’​​​​​​​s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review​​​​​​​

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle sells the cinematic adaptation of its movie source material, taking place not long after Raiders of the Lost Ark, and its hyperrealistic graphical fidelity would’ve been impressive enough if it was solely implemented into beautifully rendering Harrison Ford’s likeness as the swashbuckling archaeology professor. However, this tremendous fidelity extends to every corner of the game to capture wonderful vistas and indulge in the rich real-world history that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle embeds itself into between Peru, the Vatican, Gizeh, the Himalayas, Shanghai, Sukhothai, and Ur in 1937.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Check Out The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom on OpenCritic

The Legend of Zelda is as artistically dynamic and unpredictable as any decades-long series, and Echoes of Wisdom is an odd case of an entry dipping back into its recent past to recycle a beloved art style. Indeed, Echoes of Wisdom doubles down on Link’s Awakening’s approach of cherubic characters and miniature-like environments in its isometric camera angles. The Legend of Zelda has always balanced whimsical, child-like wonder with demonstrably dark undertones, but Echoes of Wisdom is proof that the former’s aesthetic and atmosphere continue to predominantly be where the franchise’s heart lies.

Read Game Rant’​​​​​​​s Metaphor: ReFantazio Review​​​​​​​

Atlus is no stranger to fantasy and yet to see Studio Zero transplant Persona and Shin Megami Tensei’s bones into an immersive fantasy world is fantastic with poignant art direction throughout the Kingdom of Euchronia’s broad paint strokes. Not unlike the games that reinforce and influence it, Metaphor: ReFantazio’s artistic UX and menu presentation are unmatched, with even Metaphor’s director Katsura Hashino admitting how herculean of a feat it is to achieve.

Neva

Check Out Neva on OpenCritic

Descending from an experience as gorgeous as Gris, Nomada’s Neva basks in stunningly colorful, warm gradients. Neva’s emotional storytelling is reflected in its progression of seasons and each visual tone is wielded as a means to amplify every nuanced beat.

Nine Sols

Check Out Nine Sols on OpenCritic

Nine Sols draws heavy and inescapable inspiration from Hollow Knight as a hand-drawn, 2D Metroidvania with Soulslike tendencies. Still, its art style is distinguished as “Taopunk”—Taoism mixed with cyberpunk—and pronounced with impressive color work and a creative comic book panel presentation reflective of manga in its storytelling.

The Plucky Squire

Read Game Rant’​​​​​​​s The Plucky Squire Review​​​​​​​

The Plucky Squire plays on transcendental artistic mediums. Defined by a mixture of art styles ranging from pop-up children’s book illustrations to realism with dynamic shadows, The Plucky Squire is anything but one-dimensional in its visuals.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Check Out Senua’​​​​​​​s Saga: Hellblade 2 on OpenCritic​​​​​​​

Perhaps a champion or key fixture of Unreal Engine 5, what Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 lacks in elaborate gameplay mechanics it makes up for by being a pinnacle of photorealistic graphical fidelity. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a spectacle-driven experience, which works superbly in its favor by leaning on psychological horror as Senua wrestles with her psyche and hallucinations.

Silent Hill 2 (2024)

Read Game Rant’​​​​​​​s Silent Hill 2 Review​​​​​​​

As a remake, Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 had an opportunity to tell the original’s story through a much cleaner lens—whether or not Silent Hill’s noise filter is considered a classic staple. Bloober’s bread and butter has always been its visuals, and Silent Hill 2’s remake embellishes the original’s devastatingly haunting and melancholic atmosphere with emotive performances.

Stellar Blade

Read Game Rant’​​​​​​​s Stellar Blade Review

It may be simple enough to compare Stellar Blade’s post-apocalyptic, dystopian science-fiction to that of Nier, and while that may be wholly true—resulting in a seemingly inevitable Stellar Blade and Nier: Automata crossover—the former’s signature is similarly profound. Eve’s character model is undoubtedly Stellar Blade’s most popular and ubiquitously talked about star, though the game’s brand of futurism, manga influence, and enemy design enable it to be more.

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