Best Graphics

[RiffRaff]

So I'm finally joining the modern world and purchased a 43" 4k TV to replace my 10 year old 22" 720p TV. I'm excited. Even though it's an entry level one it'll be the nicest and biggest TV I've ever had. Sucks I'll have to wait a couple weeks for the new furniture to arrive before I can use it though (we're completely rearranging our living room/kitchen and part of our bedroom so lots of new shelves and book cases; a project my wife and I have been saving for for a few years for). So, in the meantime I've been thinking about what game I want to christen my new TV with. I'm leaning towards a 3rd run of God of War and Breath of the Wild. But Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn, Mario Odyssey, and Okami replays could also be cool. Of course TLoU2 replay would be the best choice, but as I'm nearing the end of the game (will probably finish it today or tomorrow) I don't think I could emotionally handle my replay of that so close in succession. But damn does it have the best graphics I've ever seen!

Anyhoo, enough about me and my pointless rambling. All this got me wondering what games you think have the best graphics. Of course this is a really broad question so maybe just tell me what games impressed you the most visually at the time.
Mario 3 really blew me away back when it came out. I remember thinking 'holy shit this is like playing a cartoon!' Even today it still looks great! And you couldn't believe how blown away by Mario World I was lol. But when it comes to stylized, cartoonish art style, Okami will always win in my book. I replay it often and just get lost in its visuals each time.
For realistic graphics MGS2 really blew me away back in the day. The detail on everything was so cool! Still my favorite game in the MGS series. In modern games I don't think anyone does realistic art direction better than Naughty Dog. Even years later Uncharted 2 looks beautiful and even more so with the remaster. But damn, maybe because it was the game I bought with my shiny new PS4, but Uncharted 4 blew me away! I'll never forget having to replay many sections in Scotland over and over because my attention was focused on the landscape and not mass murder.

 

[Slimybearreturnsv866.5]

Not played the game just saw a few short videos of it lately but I found Death Stranding really gorgeous. Don't know how to explain it properly but its nayure enviroment with cliffs and the like actualy look and feel like a real one.

As boring as I found Horizon Zero Dawn its enviroments sure were pretty took a load of pictures using the camera mode.

 

[RiffRaff]

You know, if you want to demo your new 4K/HDR set, have a look at Ratchet and Clank and Horizon: Zero Dawn. God of War is also a real looker.

Oh. And if you’ve got a 4K Blu-Ray player or a set top box that does 4K content, watch Spider-Verse, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Alien in 4K and HDR. Trust me. They’re a real treat.

Also, and this is going to sound completely out of left field, Batman and Robin has a surprisingly great 4K release.

Really.

Speaking of Ratchet and Clank (and actually getting on topic), the original game absolutely blew me away when I was younger. A demo disc that came with my PS2 had the Metropolis and Blackwater City levels and, coming from a Sega MegaDrive, seeing an explorable world full of life, with so much moving around in the background? Oh my lord.

Don't have a 4k Blu-Ray player, just use my ps4 for that. Going to pass on one as I'll be getting a PS5 eventually and I'll just use that. Basically since the PS2 my PS has always doubled as my video media player. I am going to spring the extra €4 for 4k Netflix. And now that you say it, I already have Alien on regular blu-ray, but the moment I see it around on 4K blu-ray I'm buying it

And yeah, R&C also blew me away back on the PS2, even more so on the PS3!

 

[Tarvu]

TRON

 

[Xeo]

Yeah, I'd give the nod to TLoU2, it looks and performs insanely good. But the first game to make me really appreciate my 4K TV was Horizon Zero Dawn, even though I didn't like the game itself a whole, whole lot. The one that really clenched it for me though was God of War. And actually surprisingly Destiny 2 looks REALLY nice in full HDR.

 

[Retrofraction]

Let’s See Devil May Cry 5 looks great on HDR!

 

[Startyde]

As many have mentioned HZD is a real benchmark for this gen, and the obvious candidates of God of War and Uncharted 4 so not be overlooked. I haven't played TLoU2 yet but I imagine it's a looker.

Games that have graphically blown me away:

Vanillaware in general, with a def edge with Muramasa.
ArcSys (Guilty Gear / GranBlue)
Uncharted everything upon release
MK9
Spec Ops the Line (the atmosphere was insane)
REmake (gamecube 2002) - that game looked like it was from the future on release

 

[Sam]

There are favorites of mine for character and world design (Yoji Shinkawa's sci-fi military designs; pretty much all of the Metroid games), overall style (cel-shading in Killer7 or Okami's painterly look, or the high contrast in MadWorld), etc, but I can think of two times where I was blown away by visuals:

Like for many, Shadow of the Colossus. I was only nine when this came out, but I think it's probably the first time I saw a video game as something beautiful. It's atmospheric, sad and menacing at the same time, achieved mostly through the dust and smoke and fog. It's an open, desolate world that, even before it's incredible PS4 remake, felt epic and mysterious. The music and storytelling is a huge part of this as well, but the game was a realy visual wallop for me.

But honestly the biggest "Holy gosh..." moment from graphics in a video game for me was honestly Metal Gear Solid V... Ground Zeroes! It's a bite-sized prologue, sure, and I'd even caught glimpses of it being played before I got my hands on it, but that opening scene where Big Boss crawls up the rocky coast of the small CIA blacksite, rain pouring... It's a cutscene (one of Kojima's very best, across his entire career, I'd wager) that's beautifully directed, but it then seamlessly transitions into gameplay and I was gobsmacked. This was early 2014, with the PlayStation 4 still relatively new, and it hit me that this was what made these games next-gen. I think I ran around the little starting area for like 20 minutes before actually going down about my business in the game.