Gaming

17 years on, Okami is still one of the best.

Journey still looks pretty pretty.

Not sure whether it's still enjoyable to play, since probably not many people are playing it these days.

Hollow Knight, if you're not afraid of bugs.

Subnautica.

Damn fine game, too, if you look past the engine bugs.

Firewatch is a very beautiful game

Outer Wilds.

Really encapsulates the meaning of beauty a couple different ways.

Tetris Effect, particularly if you can play in VR.

Though if you're strictly talking "aesthetically pleasing", the options get wider. I absolutely loved the aesthetics of Hi-fi Rush. The absolute beauty of this comic-esque, cel-shaded world with every element, background and forground, moving to the rhythm of the soundtrack just blew me away when I started playing. But I'm a slut for rhythm games, so there's just something about everything tiny fiber of the space connecting and syncing up that gets me.

Gris, it has an exceptionally good art. Great landscape, sound effects and the storytelling.

"Ori and the Blind Forest" and "Ori and the Will of the Wisps".

Stray. There were lots of times I'd perch up high and look around at everything going on below.

Horizon Zero Dawn. The sequel is likely even more beautiful but I haven't played it yet

Abzu has a few moments like that, especially towards the end where you're swimming through more and more densely packed environments.

• No Man's Sky
• Obduction
• Superliminal
• Viewfinder
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Ori (both ones). Absolutely stunning platformer. One of the best games I've every played, just started a second playthrough.

Sable. No fighting. Just exploring and getting immersed.

Transistor - really any Supergiant game, but Transistor in particular.

Gris.

I think if you enjoyed the beauty in Hyper Light Drifter, then you will be entranced by Tunic. Bonus points for being one of the best puzzle exploration games of all time.

Spiritfarer is very, very pretty as well. It is dripping it atmosphere and I often found myself just afk breathing it all in.

Half Life 2: Episode 2. Especially the Citadel with the portal storm, White Forest itself, just so immersive.

Ghost of Tsushima for sure. I didn't see anyone else mention it, which is a big surprise to me.

I really liked the look of Stray and Biomutant too, but they are a bit more on the cartoon side

Guild wars 2 has one of the best artstyles of any game IMO. Also very nice to just explore the world and the core game is free 2 play with a generous way to buy and keep forever without sub or mtx.

Outer Wilds has a lot of beautiful things to look at, whether it's a planet or moon soaring overhead impossibly close, or something more cosmically spectacular. The music and sound design enhances the experience a lot too.

Witcher 3. The scenery there is just beautiful. And you get your first beautiful scenery pretty much immediately in the tutorial, just go to the balcony in your room and look.

People already said Horizon, which is my #1 choice, but I'm surprised I didn't see anyone say Sekiro. That game is gorgeous. I'd often stop and look at the environment when I wasn't killing people lol

tbh my most recent one is probably Forza Horizon 5. I'm not really a "car guy" but nothing beats getting high and doing sick jumps over gorgeous natural landscapes in bodacious sports cars. Bonus points if your Ferrari has an anime girl spraypainted on the hood.

Valheim

For some strange reason nobody mentioned Tunic yet. Definitely take a look at it!

Ori, both of them.

The Witness

Journey

Ico / Shadow of the Colossus / The Last Guardian

No Man's Sky

Fire watch

Factorio, I've never had another game keep me so focused I forgot the sun would eventually come up.

skyrim, i have loads of pictures just of the sky in that game

also hogwarts legacy has some very beautiful locales throughout the game, and hogwarts itself is wonderfully done

Chicory is an artistic top-down Zelda-style game that is not only adorable with its cute characters and world, but it also invites you to add color to the world and give it your own touch.

Dishonored 2. The city of Karnaca is beautiful imo, even despite all the dirt and bloodflies

I strongly suggest Gris. A 2d platformer with an art style and sound track that makes me reflective and emotional.

Most recently horizon: forbidden west had me moments that I would stop and just look the beautiful scenery. As a hardcore introvert, staying inside person I really admire such a great view.

Inside and Naissancee have a lot of moments that just gave me a huge sense of awe. They have some really haunting, yet beautiful scenes.

Thumper just makes me constantly question how the hell the devs made the game look that way.

Half Life Alyx is weird because it didn't so much blow me away with the huge things as it did with the small things. There's so many small objects and details everywhere that stand up even when you're physically shoving your face into them.

Bastion from supergiant games, most of the game is hand painted, it gives a floating feeling, and given the game is on floating islands it gives really nice atmosphere.

On the other side, the art style of Katana Zero and Hotline Miami is dirty and distorted, but I really dig that style . Probably wouldn't work with standing still part, but in motion they are works of art.

Monster Hunter World is five years old and holds up great.

• bask in the sun halfway up the Ancient Forest with a Tobi-Kadachi (giant white electric flying squirrelsnake; chill until you hit it)

• climb up to the top of the Coral Highlands cat colony and watch the sky jellyfish float by in the sunset

• share a hot spring with snow monkeys in the Hoarfrost Reach

They did a great job of making the maps feel like a living system that goes on while you're not there. (Sadly, this is much less true of the newest MH game, Rise, where the maps are full of traversal puzzles but the wildlife pretty much all exists only to attack you.)

Interesting, no one has mentioned Red Dead Redemption 2. Looks absolutely stunning.

Journey?

I imagine you're not going to like this answer but since the genre doesn't matter: Genshin Impact

DayZ. Walking in the woods and hearing a deer in the distance or going up on a cliff and watching the sunset is quite serene.

My recommendation list is going to be a wild mix of different styles. Basically aynthing in my Games Library that I find visually appealing...

• Gibbous - A Cthulu Adventure: While it isn't my favourite point&click (that price goes to the Deponia Trilogy), it's by far the most beautiful I've played up to now. The attention the devs paid to detail is astounding. The animations are perfect. In other words: A work of art.
• Euro Truck Simulator 2: I might be an exception here, but to me the main selling point of this game is the scenery, not the trucks.
• Elite: Dangerous: Most of the times this game looks utterly boring. Sometimes however, you catch an exceptional sight. Here's a screenshot of an eclipse in a binary system, as seen from an icy moon of a gas giant (behind which the primary star is hidden).
• Space Engine: Same argument as for Elite. Most of the stuff is boring. Sometimes you find an exceptional sight. Also, Space Engine isn't really a game, but rather a "beautiful picture generator", as there is no real gameplay as of yet.
• Dwarf Fortress in ASCII mode: The ASCII "graphics" are a work of art on their own. Especially the animations. And the best part: The ASCII version can be downloaded for free, while the (imho less beautiful) graphical version costs money.
• Pyre: A mix of Visual Novel and Sports Game. The backgrounds and characters are beautifully drawn.
• Beat Hazard: The colours of the effects are stunning.