Beautiful games?

Journey still looks pretty pretty.

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

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

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.

"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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Valheim

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.

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

The Witness

Journey

Ico / Shadow of the Colossus / The Last Guardian

No Man's Sky

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

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.

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

Ori, both of them.

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

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.

Fire watch

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.)

Journey?

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

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

The Octopath Traveler games

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.

Ghost of Tsushina

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.

Uncharted 4 looks amazing, I was surprised to learn it's almost 10 years old. Feels like it could be brand new.

This might be weird, but Just Cause 3. When I was playing it a lot, I would just stop and look around at sunset and marvel at the view.

Minecraft? Or if that's too detailed, maybe Manifold Garden.

Permanently Deleted

Okami and Child of Light are good options.

Alice Madness Returns

INFRA! Just look at the screenshots on the Steam page.

Video game

Horizon has some beautiful moments

Back in the day, I thought Oblivion and Skyrim had some beautiful spots although it may not be as impactful now as it was upon release.

Board Game

Sagrada is a game where you are building stained glass windows and I think it's pretty.

Cuphead is absolutely gorgeous, it's just hard to appreciate because you're constantly trying not to die.

I grew up with Felix the Cat and Popeye and Betty Boop on VHS, not because I'm super old but because we were poor farmers. Cuphead is the only game I've ever played that has recreated this ancient animation style and it is done so incredibly well. It's a masterclass in art style and gameplay at the same time.

Monument Valley. Visually beautiful enough to warrant repeated play-through just to admire the design, and conceptually brilliant as well.

And another vote for Gris, too.

Endless Legend is the most beautiful 4x game I've seen so far. All of the races are great designs and feel really different in gameplay.

Both Sludge Life games. A bit unconventional but I found a lot of spots in the games where I would just stand there and take in the various scenes going on. Both games can be beaten fairly quick but it took me hours to get through them because I kept stopping to just take in everything going on.

• Death's Door just a stunning game in regards to art style and music/sound design. Really creative boss battles too that never felt stale. Can be challenging.
• Omno very chill game with a really cool vibe and music. No combat to speak of. Short though.
• Pseudoregalia PS1-style graphics but oddly gorgeous. It's a metroidvania of sorts with some of the best movement mechanics in recent memory. Highly recommend a look at least.
• A Short Hike really cute game that is all about exploration. As the title suggests, not a very long game. On the Switch version there was a toggle to turn off a graphics filter that is reminiscent of the 3DS. I personally liked it, but I have not checked the Steam version for the same option.
• Sea Of Stars releases on 29 Aug, but there is a demo available. Between the gorgeous 16bit inspired graphics, the lighting effects, and the incredible soundtrack this would be an instant buy for me if it weren't hitting Game Pass on day one! I may still plunk down on a physical copy. Leaning towards Switch, assuming it plays as well there as other platforms.

These are maybe not what some would consider beautiful, but I love the variation in art styles and how they can be beautiful while either being simplistic or retro-inspired. All but Sea Of Stars were very cheap during the Steam Summer sale or in a Fanatical bundle that may or may not still be available right now.

Death's Door

Season - A Letter to the Future

Firelord is an old one but gorgeous. Chicory is pretty, in a colouring book sort of way. Child of Light and Forgotton Anne have fairly similar aesthetics but are both lovely.

I can't believe no one has mentioned A plague tale - Requiem! It's a stunning game to just soak in the atmosphere of middle age France.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, but yeah, it's basically a tech demo/walking sim

For more immersion, you might wanna try VR. And if looks is what you're after then PCVR for specific, although there are some impressive contents on mobile VR too.

Rez

A game I'm not seeing mentioned here but for me it's one of the top games is Ark. I have so many... Ok, it seems I HAD so many glamour shots of the world as I played it. HD death has lost me a bunch of largely meaningless micro-memories. Well, I still have the memories, but it makes it harder to share them. Here have this one:

Arise: A Simple Story

I played Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart recently because it was available free on PS+ and it is the most gorgeous game I have ever played in my life.

The graphical capabilities are astounding, the aesthetic is pleasing, and there is charm out the wazoo. You can't look anywhere without seeing something interesting making use of all that fancy graphic tech. I kept it installed despite 100%ing it just to mess around with the photo mode.

Sons Of The Forest is surprisingly detailed, but you don't have much time to take in the sights and the foliage when there's cannibals chasing you through the woods.

Many of those already mentioned are great looking. I would add a personal choice, aesthetically pleasing for my taste: Dyson Sphere Program.

Not an entire game, but the freedom ending in The Stanley Parable is truly beautiful.

The witness can be beautiful at times, although the colours can be overwhelming at times

The Witness

Blasphemous. Part 2 just released, btw

I find peace and beauty in the wilderness of DayZ

I would definitely suggest Heaven's Vault, very good, vibrant artwork in that game, and lots of variety.

Both Subnautica games and Tunic.

Elden Ring looks beautiful. You just need to get used to fighting a boss 100+ times before killing him ;_;

Horizon series is good. The 2nd game, Forbidden West is so good I used to open the photo mode at random spots and take pictures because I found the scenery beautiful. I would definitely recommend it.

Ghost of Tsushima is also beautiful. However I got bored pretty quickly but others have enjoyed the game so maybe you'll like it.

Also Skyrim with mods (like ENB) can be beautiful as well :p

I really like the hunter call of the wild. it's not perfect visually, but there have been moments when i just stop to look around and not even care about hunting

Genshin Impact, Icarus, Valheim, Stray, Cloudpunk, Growing Up, The Division 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Blockhood, Eve Online, Days Gone, Dredge and the Metro Series. (ꈍᴗꈍ)

Dust: An Elysian Tale. The art in this game is colorful and beautiful. It's one of my favorite games for many reasons.

Rimworld, One of the best base Building games imho