20 Most Graphically Impressive Video Games You Should Play
When it comes to video games, good gameplay is the main indicator of quality. But for both developers and gamers, graphics take second place. Modern games are capable of striking visual fidelity thanks to the latest consoles and graphics cards, and many gamers are looking for games that push their PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or gaming PC to its limits. The games on this list do just that.
The 20 games on this list are, in our opinion, the best graphically impressive games available right now, which means they feature a high degree of visual fidelity and realism, rather than impressive artwork. While some of them contain fantasy worlds or hyper-stylized elements, we focused on their technical strengths such as ultra-high resolution, high frame rates, highly detailed models, and advanced lighting techniques such as ray tracing. So if you’re wondering why games like Hollow Knight or Persona 5 Royal aren’t on this list, here’s why. But don’t worry – in the future, we’ll be covering games with beautiful art styles.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 features a detailed world with realistic game physics and realistic scenery. Rockstar Studio’s vision of the Old West is stunning, especially on PC where you can play the game at the highest graphics settings. We’re still hoping for remastered PS5 and Xbox Series X versions, but even the PS4 and Xbox One versions look great.
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Next Generation
It’s easy to get lost in The Witcher 3’s monster-infested landscapes, and much of the game’s immersion comes from its stunning visuals. The open-world epic from CD Projekt Red was released back in 2015, but it’s still one of the most beautiful RPGs ever made thanks to recent next-gen updates for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X: these iterations boost performance and add new graphical effects which make the exciting fantasy world seem even more realistic.
Available on: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC. (The base version is also available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.)
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
Death Stranding – the latest game from famed developer Hideo Kojima – may not be for everyone, but its graphical fidelity is undeniable. The game’s expansive landscapes stretch for seemingly miles, creating a sense of scale that few other games achieve. Kojima’s games are known for their vibrant visuals and unique approach to technology, but Death Stranding transcends the relatively mundane settings of Metal Gear Solid into more alien and disturbing realms. The thing is, you see weird things in Death Stranding . Some of them are disturbing , some are awe inspiring, but they are all carefully thought out and beautifully implemented in the game’s graphics engine, especially in the PC and PS5 version of the Director’s Cut.
Available on: PS5, PC. (The base version is also available on PS4.)
ancient ring
Elden Ring strikes a balance between artistic beauty and technical precision. It runs on an older game engine with models, textures and animations that are often inferior to their contemporaries, but it doesn’t matter when you first encounter a view of Liurnia on the lakes, look out over the vast underground river Siofra, or stand in front of the staggering heights of Eardtree. Elden Ring is a feat not only of art and graphics, but of design and scale, and it’s impressive that FromSoftware’s first open world is so big, so diverse, and so gorgeous.
Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC.
Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade
Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first installment in a planned trilogy that reimagines the story of the original Final Fantasy VII for PlayStation 1, revealing the storyline and bringing the world to life in greater detail than ever before. The remastered version of Intergrade looks great on PlayStation 5 and PC with great character models and improved lighting, making it the most beautiful Final Fantasy game to date.
Available on: PS5, PC. (The base version is also available on PS4.)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was arguably the most beautiful game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 when it launched in 2017, and the enhanced versions of this Scandinavian epic for Xbox Series X and PC look even better. Instead of a sprawling open world that requires a lot of processing power to render, Ninja Theory has focused on small, bespoke levels filled with detail and highly realistic motion capture animations. Available on: PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch.
Cyberpunk 2077 (current generation and PC versions)
Despite a rocky launch, Cyberpunk 2077 has grown into a great open-world RPG, and the sprawling sci-fi metropolis of Night City is one of the most compelling locations in modern gaming. The PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC versions are particularly impressive, though we recommend skipping the PS4 and Xbox One versions. Just walk down one of the city’s neon-lit streets on a rainy night and you’ll see why.
PC players lucky enough to own a GeForce RTX 40 series card can turn on the “RT Overdrive” feature, which adds path tracing lighting effects, as shown in the video above.
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4 and Xbox One.
Kena: Spirit Bridge
Kena: Bridge of Spirits combines a cartoonish art style with realistic lighting and high resolution assets for truly astounding results. Kena’s visual fidelity is all the more impressive when you realize that this is the first game ever made by development studio Ember Lab. Before creating Kena, the Ember Lab team animated commercials and short films before moving into game development in 2016. These animated chops have clearly benefited the game’s visuals, which often look just as good, and sometimes even better, than the animated films. from studios like Dreamworks and Pixar.
Available on: PS5, PC.
Ghost of Tsushima – Director’s Cut
The open-world Sucker Punch samurai epic is an amazing thing to see in motion. Although the story is based on semi-historical events, the developers added some myths and folklore to enrich the visual design of the game. Even in the most mundane moments of the game, the world of Ghost of Tsushima is subtly stylized, with cherry blossom petals and golden leaves swaying in the air, tall grass swaying in the wind, and bright sunlight playing with realistic clouds and atmospheric effects. The Director’s Cut updates an already great 4K 60fps game on PS5.
Available on: PS5, PS4.
Resident Evil 4 (remake)
Capcom’s RE Engine powers some of the most beautiful games of the last few years, including Monster Hunter World , the upcoming Street Fighter 6 , and every game in the Resident Evil series since Resident Evil 7 . However, the most recent game in the series, the Resident Evil 4 remake, is the best use of Capcom’s powerful graphics engine.
The many grotesque sights and monsters that Leon Kennedy encounters during his mission in rural Spain, from dead-eyed ganados to wavy vermin, are rendered in chilling detail. However, where the game really shines is in its lighting and atmosphere. Eerie fog, heavy rain and harsh shadows make the forests, villages and caves you explore more believable and much more frightening.
Available on: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
When you first fire up Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart , you might be waiting for the gameplay to begin after the great intro videos…only to realize that the game looks just as good as the pre-rendered cutscenes. However, one of the game’s most impressive visual accomplishments – seamless transitions between levels via in-game warp portals – was made possible by the PS5’s ultra-fast SSD rather than its graphics power.
Available on: PS5.
The Last of Us Part I
The Last of Part 1 is a PS3 remake of the original, enhanced for PS5 and PC. Despite being set in a post-apocalyptic world infested with fungal zombies, The Last of Us Part 1’s visuals lend a believability to the world that dwarfs most other games. Sometimes graphics can be, well, graphic. Players watch every aspect of this story in great detail, including the violence. But we also see characters express hope and healing through body language, and they catch a glimpse of beauty in the detailed deserts and plant-covered city ruins that players explore as Joel and Ellie.
Available on: PS5, PC.
Marvel Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Few cities look as realistic as Miles Morales’ Marvel Spider-Man: New York City . It’s amazing how well Insomniac Games captured the look of a real place, but the real achievement is that the city looks so good as you zoom past skyscrapers at high speed. The web that streaks through Manhattan is breathtaking, thanks in large part to the sense of speed that the game’s visuals convey. There’s a reason the “this game makes you feel like Spider-Man” meme exists: because it’s true.
Available on: PS5, PC.
Plague Tale: Requiem
Everything looks good in A Plague Tale: Requiem . Characters convey emotion with believable facial animations, while medieval European cities and lush deserts take you through a demonstration of what the latest consoles and graphics cards are capable of. But you can’t truly understand the graphical prowess of A Plague Tale: Requiem until you see a river of plague-infected rats merging around a hapless guardsman, each individual rodent fully animated and rendered, and the entire swarm swaying like a single, stinking organism. It’s equally rough and gorgeous.
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch.
God of War Ragnarok
The 2018 God of War reboot was one of the prettiest PlayStation 4 titles, but its 2022 sequel, God of War Ragnarok, is even more impressive, especially when played on PS5. Thanks to Sony’s latest console, the game’s ornate Scandinavian architecture, lush fantasy worlds and huge creatures are realized to a stunning level of detail, but rarely through gameplay or level design. Making a game look good and still convey important “video game” visual information to the player is getting harder and harder as games strive for more realism, but God of War Ragnarok manages to get around this line with impressive results.
Available on: PS5, PS4.
Forbidden Horizon West
Horizon Forbidden West may be the most detailed video game world we’ve ever seen. Every leaf and blade of grass in this world of the distant future is modeled and animated realistically. Even realistic character models have detailed features such as visible pores, wrinkles, or hair follicles that would take a little time to model in some other games. Let’s be honest: at times Horizon Forbidden West is too detailed to overwhelm the player’s feelings, but this only emphasizes the realism of the game.
Available on: PS5, PS4.
Gran Turismo 7
Gran Turismo 7 for PS5 and PS4 continues the legacy of the series, setting the bar for realistic graphics on every previous Sony console.
In terms of gameplay and visuals, the goal of Gran Turismo 7 is realism. Instead of wowing players with fantasy worlds or flashy effects, Gran Turismo 7 focuses on presenting multiple vehicles in the game in hyper-realistic detail using advanced lighting and rendering techniques.
Available on: PS5, PS4.
Forza Horizon 5
Racing games often have the best graphics in a given generation of consoles, and Forza Horizon 5 easily lays claim to the most impressive graphics on Xbox Series X. X’s massive graphics power allows for stunning virtual images of the Mexican countryside. And then there are cars that look damn near lifelike.
Available on: Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC.
Demon Souls (PS5)
Impressively, one of the most beautiful PS5 games is built on the bones of a PS3 game that hasn’t always been praised for its graphics. To be fair, Blue Point takes some artistic liberties that change the atmosphere and lore of FromSoft’s original Demon’s Souls in ways some fans disagree, but there’s no denying it’s a triumph of technical accuracy. Huge castles, crumbling ruins and shimmering particle effects in Demon’s Souls look incredible and highlight the PS5’s graphical capabilities.
Available on: PS5.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Flight simulators may not be the most popular genre, but there’s no denying that Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the most photorealistic games ever made. The detailed planes, dynamic weather effects, and gorgeous sunsets are second to none, and we honestly can’t think of a single game that surpasses them in terms of realism and technical accuracy. Even if you’re not normally into flight sims, it’s worth giving this one a try just to see it in motion.
Available on: Xbox Series X, PC.