Topic: The Best Locations in Games (warning: large image files!)

I thought I'd started a thread like this previously but couldn't find it. So here we go.

One of my main loves in gaming is exploring interesting worlds and locations. So everyone post images their favourite locations. Sorry cellphone users. This thread is maybe not for you.

Here's my favourites:

Bionis Leg - Xenoblade Chronicles

Alexandria - FF9

Kalm - FF7

Lothric Castle and High Wall - Dark Souls 3

Outset Island - Wind Waker

Upper/Later half of Noctilum - Xenoblade X

Skyward Sword - Lanayru Desert

Maybe you could just post links instead of directly imbedding the images (that way more people could participate)?

Anyhow, I'll list some of mine (on a 3DS, so can't embed or link, lol).

Daath (Tales of the Abyss) - The city itself isn't anything special, but the enormous cathedral within is (due to the nature of why it's fascinating, it can't be expressed by an image anyways). Pretty much, there are a seemingly endless number of near identical corridors & hallways here, and every time I try exploring them, I always give up because they go on and on (every once in awhile you'll run into a monk that will take you back to a certain room). Despite the fact that it's a large enough place otherwise that you visit many times throughout the story (even the basement serves as one of the game's dungeons), these corridors don't play much of a roll, and I'm not sure why they're there (maybe they lead to some amazing treasure?).

Blackwater (Red Dead Redemption) - The one booming modernizing city in the game. It's interesting simply because of the contrast.

"The Fishing Hole" (Twilight Princess) - Best fishing area in Zelda ever. Really is a relaxing place to chill, and since it's a different season everytime you visit (each one has it's own unique fish to catch), it takes awhile to catch everything. Oh, and rollgoal is awesome!

That's a pretty good question! I have a hard time thinking of older games that still hold up today in terms of visuals. Ōkami comes to mind. I don't have a specific location I like, the entire world was interesting and beautiful. Same is true for Wind Waker, Windfall Island and Dragon Roost Island remain one of my favourite locations in video games.

@skywake: Lanayru Desert was best when the time stones weren't activated. I do love deserts though. The early part of Journey or the Rub' al Khali desert from Uncharted are both locations that are visually amazing. Especially the shimmering reflections in the sand dunes in Journey.

I'll try to think of more, but those just came to mind.

@Dezzy: I'll add a warning to the title in case any mobile users want to check this thread out.

Wow, there are some great ones in here already, including some of my very favorites.

I tend to have the most affection for locations that the serve as the center of gravity for your whole adventure, where you interact with a large portion (or even all) of that world's residents. In the best cases, the longer you're in them, the more they begin to take on their own personalities. The increasing anxiety of Clock Town in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the everyday mundaneness of Inaba in Persona 4, the cheerful goofiness of Kattleox Island in Mega Man Legends, the cartoony seediness of Rogueport in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and the grimy, neon-lit testosterone of Kamurocho in the Yakuza series all help to make those games feel so distinct.

For me, spending time in those places and learning about the people that live in them goes a long way toward making those places feel like they're worth saving, or at least worth making a little better for the people that live there.

Of course, there are also plenty of places that I love, in no small part, for their beauty. The cursed land of Shadow of the Colossus, the night level in Flower, nature-reclaimed Pittsburgh in The Last of Us, the tower/temple section of Journey, Darkroot Garden in Dark Souls, most of the areas of Pikmin 3.

Kingdom's End - X3 Reunion

Even has pretty music to go with it.

Yep. I always say about Wind Waker that Outset, Windfall and Dragon Roost are really well designed areas. The main problem with the game is that that's pretty much it. They needed another 2 or 3 cool locations like that.

Journey - The Sand-Surfing Area:

Shadow of the Colossus - Gaius' Arena

@RevolverLink: I have to agree on The Last of Us. Many areas were amazingly detailed in that game, but I still think that Pittsburgh is one of the highlights.

@Dezzy: I'm not sure. The reason they felt like that was probably because they were the most populated islands. If more islands were like Windfall and Dragon Roost, they wouldn't have the same impact as they do now. I've always wanted to see a more populated version of Wind Waker, but as of late I've changed my mind. These islands provide a stark contrast with the rest of the islands, which I think is part of the experience.

Well that could just mean you like the ratio. They could increase the total but maintain the ratio. So add 1 more town and then add some more "wilderness" (and another dungeon) as well.
It's probably similar(ish) in its ratio to something like Skyrim. 90% wilderness, 10% civilization. Just Skyrim has a lot more of both than Wind Waker.
My problem is that despite taking place on a massive ocean, Wind Waker actually feels like one of the smallest of the 3D Zelda games.

If anything, I feel the opposite about Wind Waker locations - I think I prefer the tiny islands with very little there, probably the loner/antisocial side of me coming out, but also partly because the bigger locations I associate with frustration, running around trying to uncover things that didn't exist cos I didn't know how to progress.

Not really my favorite, but it's one that's memorable. It's my first planet in No Man's Sky (which I christened "Analyn I" in honor of my wife

If we have to use No Man's Sky locations — which I would put on or around the level of most of the locations in this thread — I have to say the planet I named "God doesn't build in straight lines," in reference to the one good line of dialogue from Prometheus.

However, No Man's Sky — the gem that it is — couldn't quite fit all of those characters in the vast emptiness of space. Instead it read:

God doesn't build in straight.

Should probably post an image about necroposting but I'll post "Good Egg Galaxy" from Super Mario Galaxy instead: