​Video Games Got More Beautiful This Year

Sure, you could say that video games get more beautiful every year. Graphics technology gets better, game developers get more adept, and as a result, games get more beautiful. All the same, 2014 felt like a special year for video game beauty.

This year, PC games looked as good as ever, while new consoles let us get our first sense of how much better console games will look in the years to come. We got a few redone versions of already good-looking games—hello, atmospheric smoke effects! 2014 was also the year that marked the rise of "photo mode," an in-game tool to lets users capture their own perfect screenshots. The screenshots that players made were almost always nicer than any of the promotional screens that publishers sent out.

Below, I've listed some of the most beautiful video games of the year:

Infamous: Second Son

Grand Theft Auto V

Child of Light

Monument Valley

Far Cry 4

Lumino City

The Last of Us: Remastered

Fract OSC

Assassin's Creed Unity

Kentucky Route Zero

Mario Kart 8

Hohokum

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Eidolon

Destiny

Dungeon of the Endless

The Long Dark

Bravely Default

Transistor

The LEGO Movie Videogame

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

This is far from a complete list, so I'd love to see your own submissions (with screenshots or gifs!) below.

Top image by commenter Kopoop, Infamous screenshot by Kane1345