Summary
- Sunset Overdrive boasts bold colors and a vibrant art style, making Sunset City a visually striking open world.
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora replicates Pandora's beauty with unique aesthetics, creating a mesmerizing and lush world.
- Assassin's Creed Shadows offers a colorful, diverse aesthetic in a vibrant 16th-century Japan, enhancing gameplay experience.
While it's always fun jumping into a brand-new open-world game, in order for players to feel engaged in the experience from beginning to end, the world itself needs to feel alive. Some developers will achieve this by including plenty of activities and NPCs to interact with, but another common method that can help the environment feel like a joy to explore is the art direction.
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When a game is vibrant, it means that it is able to be very bright and bombastic with its color palette, using a medley of different aesthetics to make each area pop out of the screen. There's certainly nothing wrong with loading up a realistic and gritty open-world game, but those who are looking for something a bit more flashy and colorful definitely ought to check out these excellent titles.
7 Sunset Overdrive
Cruise Through Sunset City and Soak in the Gorgeous Art Style
Sunset Overdrive
- Released
- October 28, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Insomniac Games
- Publisher(s)
- Microsoft Game Studios
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Open-World
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Rather than play it safe, Insomniac decided to get bold with their first open-world game, S unset Overdrive. The Xbox One launch title takes place in a grubby metropolis named Sunset City, and while the area itself may be full of dangerous mutants and no-good corporate suits, it's also downright jaw-dropping thanks to the staggering amount of color that is splattered across each and every building.
What also amplifies the flashiness of Sunset Overdrive is the weapon of variety, as players are able to get their hands on a pretty bizarre lineup of hard-hitting explosive weaponry that shoot off like fireworks when the trigger is pulled. Although the stories and characters might not be anything to write home about, the fast-paced nature of Sunset Overdrive, paired with its vibrant open world, still makes the game worth returning to.
6 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Massive Entertainment Nailed the Look and Feel of Pandora
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
- Released
- December 7, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Massive Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Ubisoft
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Considering the game is published by Ubisoft, many people expected Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora to play largely the same as their Far Cry series of games, and although that's definitely true, it does still stand on its own thanks to its unique setting and mesmerizing art style. Massive Entertainment did an excellent job at replicating the lush and tropical world of Pandora seen in the movies, with each part of the map having its own unique vibe that is translated through the use of color.
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One moment, players will be traversing through a dimly lit forest full of purple trees and mushrooms, and the next, they will be riding through a lush green field with glistening lakes and jagged floating mountains as far as the eye can see. The gameplay loop of raiding human bases and upgrading through a linear skill tree can feel a little too familiar at times, but the bright and beautiful world helps to keep Frontiers of Pandora engaging at all times.
5 Assassin's Creed Shadows
Venture Through a Vibrant Feudal Japan Full of Color and Life
Assassin's Creed Shadows
- Released
- March 20, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft Quebec
- Publisher(s)
- Ubisoft
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
The Assassin's Creed franchise has always stood out for its excellent map design, especially in the recent games, which almost feel like one-to-one replicas of their respective historical inspirations. In the case of Shadows, the focus was on building a version of 16th century Japan that would act as the main setting of the game, and it is fair to say that the developers clearly spent a lot of time and effort making this world as believable as possible.
Thanks to the in-game mechanic of the seasons constantly changing, it means players are always being exposed to entirely new versions of areas they've already explored, adding a lot of diversity to the overall aesthetic of the game. This is also, without a doubt, the best-looking Assassin's Creed game released so far, and with how bright and flashy Odyssey already was, that's certainly saying something.
4 Far Cry 4
Kyrat is One of Ubisoft's Most Fun, Memorable, and Eye-Catching Open Worlds
Far Cry 4
- Released
- November 18, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft Montreal
- Publisher(s)
- Ubisoft
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Open-World
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Ubisoft clearly realized they had struck gold with the tropical island setting of Far Cry 3, and as a result, they decided to double down with the colorful style of the maps when developing the Himalayan-inspired Kyrat for Far Cry 4. From the moment players step off the bus and are apprehended by soldiers at the beginning of the game, they are immediately introduced to an upbeat yet violent man wearing a bright pink suit and sporting striking blond hair, but Pagan Min is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of how vibrant this game can get.
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Once players begin embarking on missions for the Golden Path, they will explore a bunch of exciting areas that all stand out for how eye-catching they are. From propaganda signs to shining ornaments hanging from the radio towers, there are bursts of color everywhere, and when paired with the surprisingly compelling story and chaotic gameplay, it results in what many consider the best Far Cry game to date.
3 Ghost of Tsushima
Even in War Time, Tsushima is Still Full of Energy and Life
Ghost of Tsushima
- Released
- July 17, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Sucker Punch
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
For a good few years, there was no game that looked quite like Ghost Of Tsushima, and some may argue that this statement still stands true even today. The addictive hack and slash gameplay and rich cast of characters may have been big reasons why so many were drawn into this game, but another is the astonishingly beautiful open world where everything — from the fields and temples all the way to the sun itself — look like they were painted into the world.
Whether Jin is simply traveling from A to B to escort some supplies to a village, or he's engaging in a dangerous duel with a rival blade master, it's pretty much a guarantee that he will always have a stunning environment to accompany him. Thanks to the upgrades the game has received on the PlayStation 5 Pro, it manages to look even better than when it first released, if anyone can believe that.
2 Horizon Forbidden West
Aloy Gets To Enjoy Some Truly Beautiful Scenery Along Her Adventure
Horizon Forbidden West
- Released
- February 18, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Guerrilla Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Horizon Forbidden West is still one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation 5, with the map being a real feast for the eyes. On paper, the Forbidden West might sound a little scary, and while it definitely has its fill of dangerous robots and humans, the world itself is visually as far from dark and gloomy as it can possibly be.
There's a nice mixture between the light green fields, lush jungles, striking snow-covered mountains, and the burning energy that emanates from the robots and machinery that are scattered across the map. Guerilla Games were clearly making full use of the PS5's hardware to make this game as visually interesting as possible, and they certainly succeeded in this department, alongside making a game that is overall extremely fun to play.
1 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Hyrule Looks Too Good to Be True on the Switch 2
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Released
- May 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Action, Open-World
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Tears of the Kingdom already looked stunning when it first released, but the art style is amplified to a whole new level on the Switch 2. It's fair to say Nintendo wasn't afraid to experiment with the color palette when they were creating the characters and villages that players interact with as they traverse this great version of Hyrule, but it's not just the surface that looks so dazzling from a visual perspective.
The Sky Islands are also a treat to behold, and because of the ongoing day and night cycle, players can choose when to head up high to get the clearest view of the map in all its glory. The cell-shaded visual style does wonders for Breath of the Wild and Tears the Kingdom, but it's the latter of the two that really stands out, being undoubtedly the most colorful and vibrant open-world game out there right now.
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