Add my vote to The Last of Us. No intrusive music, just the cold harsh wind unsettling the trees as you stalk your prey's blood trail, your character freezing their butt off, their footsteps crunching in the snow, armed with just a bow and arrow, not to mention the entire winter section completely changes the tone and dynamic of the story, it's like a "shit just got real" moment narratively.
Honourable mention, of course, to Skellige in The Witcher 3. A game world that is designed with realism at its core, despite the fantasy hijinks around every corner. I remember watching a really informative Youtube vid about how the world was designed with logic behind every rock and tree, every village and town layout was created with the lives of the NPCs taken into consideration. Shit isn't just arranged to look pretty, there's meaning behind every environment and every item, even if its strewn on a beach haphazardly, it was done so with purpose behind it. Ever since Witcher 3 every other game I've played has paled in so many aspects, world design being one of them. Take the recent AC: Origins as an example, shit is just thrown around to look pretty or be convenient in that game, if you pay attention to details, not as a gamer but as if you were someone who lived in that world, you realise the world makes no sense, villages are built in illogical ways. Just made me appreciate Witcher 3 all the more. Anyway. When's Cyberpunk coming out... :|
