Mood and atmosphere

d_20

Is there any game (MMO), irrespective of gameplay or mechanics, that you really enjoy  (or enjoyed in the past) just for the mood or unique or strong and distinct atmosphere?

For me:

1 ESO (There are always a lot of people around in the towns, so it feels busy. Each area has it's unique architecture and mood.)

2 The Division (I don't play often, but I will go back. There is a certain mood there, though, that is very immersive for me.)

3 The Secret World (in the past, but it was pretty scary at certain times, e.g., dark parking garage)

Phaserlight

Vendetta Online

Ryzom

World of Warcraft

Eve Online

d_20

I really enjoyed the atmospheres in Archeage and WoW at various times. I think there is a lot to be said for seamless worlds and the special little places you can find with their own moods.

Another huge game world that I loved was the original Darkfall (the world was called Agon). It was huge and I could explore with my raft and find all kinds of cool places.

Volgore

WoW in the beginning had some zones that just stunned me with their mood, like Darkshore, Tirisfal, Ashenvale and many others. Same goes for some dungeons.

SWG had some great planets, but if i remember right they used some sort of speedtree technology to generate assets.
Other than that, i think the game had a Star Wars vibe to it that hasn't been hit with later SW titles.

EQ2, but alot of it's zone's impressions on me were because of the beautiful music.

EvE has a strong atmosphere you can't deny, but i don't like it. The desolate, vast space feeling doesn't catch me in a good way.

AoC has some great zones that really hit this gritty R.E.Howard style.



As for non MMOs i think the most impressive mood was the original STALKER when i first played it. It totally caught me with its incredible dark, bleak, desperate atmosphere which at that time i haven't seen in any game before. Fallout 3 and 4 with some mods for more rain and darkness come right after that.

Sovrath

Ryzom, Final Fantasy 14, Lineage 2

laxie

Everquest 2.

I played it for years, mainly for the atmosphere. Many games out there had similar features. Many games were more polished (and on paper more "fun"). Despite that, EQ2 has been my clear favourite. Something about the world just clicks for me.

Vrika

WoW. The zones feel so different, and each of the themes feels good and manages to create its own mood and atmosphere.

fodell54

Vanguard Saga of Heroes had a great atmosphere in my opinion. It was one of those game that I felt I could get lost in. 

Age of Conan also has some great atmosphere and moot settings going on. 

d_20

fodell54 said:

Vanguard Saga of Heroes had a great atmosphere in my opinion. It was one of those game that I felt I could get lost in.

I really liked Vanguard's world, too. Sadly, I started playing (on and off) about a year before it was shut down.

Gamer54321

Playing on a map in Arma with sunny sky, trees and chirping birds is always nice.

Though I think Arma 3 is terrible.

Aeolyn

LoTRO and WoW, the lighting, environment and music all came together for me.  Not that I haven't enjoyed other games but only those two stand out for me.

ste2000

EQ1 and EQ2, for the Lore and the High Fantasy settings.

Darkfall, for the gritty environment and atmosphere.

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d_20

Bless looks really cool, but I don't want to let myself get hyped for it. I've become jaded and will take a wait and see attitude till after it launches for a couple of months. But I want to like it. (And I will probably cave and be in early access as soon as it becomes available. Dammit.)

Iselin

d_20 said:

fodell54 said:

Vanguard Saga of Heroes had a great atmosphere in my opinion. It was one of those game that I felt I could get lost in.

I really liked Vanguard's world, too. Sadly, I started playing (on and off) about a year before it was shut down.

Sadly I started playing it on day one when everything was broken. It did have great potential though.

Mendel

For that true immersive experience, it is extremely difficult to do better than EQ1 in the Kedge Keep zone.  The atmosphere was washed out a bit, with older graphics.  Sharks were things to be feared, navigation in a 3D maze was disorienting and the drowning felt real.  As a bonus, you could blame a druid for not having enough fish scales.

cameltosis

SWG

So, many of planets simply felt empty, probably because they were. Tech wasn't good enough to really flesh out every planet, cities kinda sucked. But, this flaw is what made Tattooine perfect! The emptiness suits a desert planet. Given how large the game world was, Tattooine just worked for me. Get on your speeder and head out of the city, you could travel for ages without seeing other people or structures. The occasional cave or point of interest just made it feel right. 

LotRO

Pre-mirkwood, Turbine created some fantastic landscapes. Particular favourite is the Old Forest (vanilla). This is where the 4 hobbits got lost and met Tom Bombadil. In game, they created the right vibe of gloominess and danger. It was also designed as a maze and they deliberately turned off your map when you were in there. It felt exciting to explore the Old Forest (ofc, they later dumbed it down and turned on the map). Other notable zones are the Shire, Angmar, Misty Mountains and Lorien. 

Amathe

EQ1

Secret World

SWG

Guild Wars 2

goboygo

For me the Tortage starter experience was and still is the single greatest MMO story, mood, NPC's, atmosphere of any MMO I've ever played.

Orthelian

Not much has hit me right in atmosphere. EQ1, AoC, EVE... to a certain extent Vanguard...

That's about it.

I had one or two really magical moments in EQ2 thanks to some of the writing, but less so the worldbuilding or art style.

LotRO is often praised in this regard, but even as a lifelong Tolkien fanatic, it felt all wrong to me. Likewise TSW, and I was glued to those pre-release ARGs.

holdenhamlet

FFXI had amazing atmosphere.  Even though the graphics are really dated now, they were really nice back then and the music was superb.

Best Modern MMO atmosphere has to be BDO.  Great graphics (minus the pop-in) with a style unique to it's own- it's not asian, but not really typical western medieval either.  Great music.

IAmMMO

Ultima online before Tammel and Age of Shadows expansion when it was alive with player communities.  It really had a great medieval feel to it. And some great music that gave places an identity.

nerovergil

gw2 at queensdale only...

archeage...

teso..yeah a bit at town

ragnarok online...

Gamer54321

"just for the mood or unique or strong and distinct atmosphere"

NO

Gameplay matters.

I hope NO dev will try make a game with the intent on only creating a mood or unique or strong and distinct atmosphere. Cue theme park bs.

d_20

Gamer54321 said:

"just for the mood or unique or strong and distinct atmosphere"

NO

Gameplay matters.

I hope NO dev will try make a game with the intent on only creating a mood or unique or strong and distinct atmosphere. Cue theme park bs.

But sometimes there is a good game and the atmosphere also happens to be there.  Of course, if a game sucks, I don't think people would be around to enjoy whatever atmosphere there would be.

Amaranthar

UO for the lore that felt like it was playable.

WoW for it's polish and "world". Swimming and finding an underwater community of water breathers, taking griphon rides and looking down on the world, the entire world was full of polished "feel". (I'm sure other games have plenty of this too, but Themepark pretty much ruins a game for me so I haven't played many nor have I played anything in years now.)