Halo Music
The music in Halo was what really made me consider video games to have art that is able to move you in ways I had not considered before. It was the first video game soundtrack I had downloaded onto my mp3 player and would listen to it nonstop. The way the cinematic orchestral score was able to enhance your emotions in a way not many other at the time had done really shifted my view on video games. I started viewing them in a more deep and personal way and that is all thanks to Halo.
Destiny Environment Art
When it comes to environment art, I think there is almost no game that does it better than Destiny and Destiny 2. Each location is so vastly different and looks so appealing that you almost have to stop and stare every time you reach a new area. The visuals and assets match the graphics perfectly and never fails to immerse you into the world. While the game hasn't had much success recently, I believe that the beautiful world that it offers will be a standard held for a long time to come.
(I have attached pictures to the right to showcase some of the environments)
Final Fantasy Music
When it comes to video game music, the majority of people would consider final fantasy to be the best in the category. Both parts of the FF7 remasters have won best score at the video game awards in recent years, but many fans of the franchise have their own personal favorite games. From the emotional orchestral music to really make you feel the impact during a sad scene or the intense, blood pumping action music to make you hyped during a boss fight leaves a lasting impact on anyone who plays the games. If you have played final fantasy, the music is definitely going to stick with you and make it into your top ten list.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Narrative Storytelling
The storytelling and themes that RDR2 tackles is really moving and emotional stuff. I think the game went in a bold direction by choosing to follow a new character who not only wasn't the main character in the first game, but wasn't in it at all. To then be able to get the player attached to every character through realistic dialogue and good storytelling really drives home the theme of letting go and impermanence when something happens to these characters. It was the game that made me start appreciating storytelling in the medium and I have been paying more attention to the stories in games ever since.
