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Favorite towns

Yukumo Village from Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. I really like how everything is arranged; makes it easy to check the farm, drop off some things, and prepare and start a quest.

YukumoVillage.jpg
 
Basslover said:
I love the towns in this game, but I will just mention these:

Domina

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Lumina

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Legend of Mana btw
Ahhh I was hoping someone would mention these.

Even if people hate the game, I don't think anyone can deny that the towns are fucking beautiful and full of life, since that's the whole point. AHHH. I love it.

EDIT: Though "full of life" in this case doesn't quite mean what it usually means: that there are lots of dudes running around. ANYWAY.
 
My two favorites are the city in Radiata Stories - what an amazing city that genuinely felt alive and engaging.

And then the Presidium in Mass Effect. Visually, the art direction was incredible and transporting; layout wise it was intelligently designed, had an amazing array of things to do and so perfectly represented what I wanted from an HD RPG that it still pained me that they dropped the proper full thing in Mass Effect 2. Bring it back plz!
 
Kuran said:
Don't make me laugh. I played New Vegas and that shit was static and glitchy as hell.

Elder Scrolls? Don't make me laugh again! Characters just stand in place.
No they don't. At least not when I play them. I'll never say the A.I. is great in something like Oblivion, but NPC's do walk around, have conversations, go to sleep, etc.
 
I really liked Flanoir from ToS as well. The snow fall was so soothing. Apparently others feel the same. A very memorable town.
 
Fjordson said:
No they don't. At least not when I play them. I'll never say the A.I. is great in something like Oblivion, but NPC's do walk around, have conversations, go to sleep, etc.

Yes, exactly. I know this too because I have murdered multiple NPCs in their sleep.
 
Basslover said:
I love the towns in this game, but I will just mention these:

Domina

Lumina

Legend of Mana btw


You're beautiful.

Anyway, besides LoM towns, I'm late and everything's been picked over, but I also love:

Tristram.
Cheydinhal. Not sure why, as generic as Oblivion is I just loved the way I felt in town.
Sadrith Mora (Morrowind)
Halure (ToV)
Kelethin (music + nostalgia)
Kuldahar (Icewind Dale - that's 3 tree cities in a row. I love me some trees.)
Kakariko Village (SNES)
Windfall Island (Wind Waker)

I hated Midgar. I'm sure there are many more but my brain can't conjure them up because this thread polluted it.
 
Zozo from FFVI and Kakariko from LTTP are great picks. I'd also suggest:

Chrono Trigger - Truce

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Getting to see this town evolve through time is really what makes it awesome to me.

World of Warcraft - Dalaran

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Probably the most impressive city they've ever done, with a ton of little details. Plus you can run infinitely in a circle around town while waiting for RDF.
 
Lakitu said:
Citadel - Mass Effect
Illium, Omega - Mass Effect 2
Imperial City, Bruma, Anvil - Oblivion
Megaton - Fallout 3
Hong Kong - Deus Ex
Hengsha, Detroit - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Venice - Assassin's Creed II
Rome - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Windfall Island - Wind Waker


this may be better suited to one of the bitch about mass effect thread threads, but... you know what pissed me off about illium? it was a place where commerce happened and yet you couldnt trade one resource/metal for another. whats the point of a marketplace if you cant exchange the valuable thing you have for other valuable things? it wouldnt have to be one for one, and you could probably even impact prices over time, but you should have been able to trade. bioware screwed this up.
 
TheCongressman1 said:
Control F'd, didn't find.

Pokemon-RBY-LavenderTown.png


Lavender Town. Dat eerie music...
I remember hating that town as a child. I always tried not to linger for too long, it was such a relief when the music changed. : p
 
Yokosuka from Shenmue I. First time I've ever felt in a real place playing a videogame.
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Dazil from Xenogears. I loved cities from Xenogears, so full of details, so many NPCs saying interesting stuff about the scenario. The way a real JRPG should be.
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Arni from Chrono Cross. Just beautiful, and the music... awww Mitsuda.
Arni.png


Sorry if any of these has already been mentioned, I gave a quick look at the thread and didn't notice.
 
Natetan said:
ah seeing that picture of icicle inn from ff7, so relaxing... esp with the music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AsIG3yNKfA

another town i liked in ff7 was junon!

junon2.jpg

i loved final fantasy 7 when it came out. i havent played it in years, but the pics of junon, cosmo canyon, and the golden saucer are bringing back memories. i always remember that town that i think barrett was from, it had gotten run down and so on. i felt like it was a nice touch and gave the characters some texture. also, midgar was a really great city, we should have spent more time there.

of course to me, yokosuka probably takes it, because all the characters and places felt like they existed independent of ryo, which very few games accomplish, but final fantasy 7 was a big deal to me all those years ago, so those towns will always bring back memories to me.
 
arglebargle said:
i loved final fantasy 7 when it came out. i havent played it in years, but the pics of junon, cosmo canyon, and the golden saucer are bringing back memories. i always remember that town that i think barrett was from, it had gotten run down and so on. i felt like it was a nice touch and gave the characters some texture. also, midgar was a really great city, we should have spent more time there.

of course to me, yokosuka probably takes it, because all the characters and places felt like they existed independent of ryo, which very few games accomplish, but final fantasy 7 was a big deal to me all those years ago, so those towns will always bring back memories to me.

one thing i really like about the ps1 ff villages is the cinematic angle they usually had due to the limited software. now all we get is over the shoulder or first person views of everything. kind of takes away from the experience in a way...
 
I see it has been mentioned once or twice, but I'm putting my vote on Athkatla from Baldur's Gate 2. The most fully-fleshed city in the best game ever produced, hard to beat that.
 
Great thread, I really enjoyed viewing through this. I love towns in games, especially when you can interact with the citizens and play mini-games etc. I have to say that the towns that I love the most is Gold Saucer (FF7) and Balamb Garden (FF8), probably because of nostalgia.
 
Kuldahar from Icewing Dale is probably my favorite town. It was a bit like an oasis in the frozen north.
I always wondered how the inhabitants could live there safely with all the Frost Giants and other creatures that could kill humans easily, living so close.
Also, Kuldahar has my favourite video game music of all time in it.

kuldahar_map_lg.jpg
 
Dragon Quest VIII has some great towns:

Pickham is a bit more complex than other towns and is quite big. Much to discover, much to explore.


Archadia is, I think, really the biggest town when it comes to explore it. Lots of houses with much to collect. I spent two hours just getting all the treasure I could find. And it's built on an natural ark high above the ocean.

Beyond Good and Evil:

How I wished it was bigger. Such an incredible atmosphere.

Super Mario Galaxy:

I ran around this town for half an hour. I didn't want the real game to start.
 
oh, another mention from Xenoblade, although Colony Nine is still my fav
Frontier Village

so beautifully designed, magnificently layered, lights, ladders, bridges, dozens of people walking around, working, talking about stuff, every sector full of details, every tiny house, shop, factory so damn appealing to look at and a race of little furballs around your knees
 
MInetown from Fallout 3. Sure it's just a bunch of ruined houses but every one of them tells a story and with mines everywhere it's a slow pace which increases the tension.
 
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but exploring Omikron occupied me for days straight. Wonderful atmosphere.

Feels totally dated when playing it now, though.
 
Some awesome stuff posted and I probably won't have anything to add, only to reiterate. Wind Waker's Windfall is probably my fave, it's got great music and with lots of secrets and stuff to do. It's just a cozy and pleasant place to be.

Monkey Island 2's Woodtick only has a few houses, but it's just such a cozy place to be, the thick atmosphere is almost palpable. The music sets the mood perfectly as well.

Mario Sunshine's Delfino Plaza is a great one too. Again, the music greatly helps set the mood and it feels like there's a so much to do. It's just fun to walk around while dicking around with FLUDD.

Majora's Mask Clock Town is an obvious but great answer. Almost every NPC had an important role and made the town feel alive. In a way I wish the entire game was set in Clock Town, such a mysterious and adventurous place.
 
Fine Ham Abounds said:
This thread is so great.

The sense of place is one of my favorite aspects of any game. I can enjoy a game without it as much as the next guy, but a game that takes me to an engrossing locale can mean the difference between an enjoyable game and a truly memorable one for me.

A few of my favorites have already been mentioned, so I'm just popping in to thank kai3345 for starting this and everyone else for contributing.

Seconded. A month or so ago I remember making a thread about what games someone who loves beautiful cities and dislikes apocalyptic nightmares would want to play, but this thread is inspiring me much more with all these screenshots of fantastic places to visit.

Memorable, explorable, engrossing cities are the thing that video games can do better than any other form of media. We may forget the plot points and the gameplay mechanics, but we never forget the places we were able to visit.
 
Dunan said:
Though if I lived in that world, I'd make my home in Dollet:

Dollet_5.jpg


Anyone up for a card game at the pub?

Oh fuck yes. That town seemed so serene, even in the middle of a full-scale invasion. Coming back to it later in peacetime was beautiful.

Hell, I think I loved almost all of FFVIII's towns. They really put whatever background modelling engine they were running to work.

(Balamb Garden is pretty bitchin', too)

/edit Oh, and I nearly forgot: Mineral Town from Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

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Of all the towns I was gonna post about, the OP got it! Halure looks so darn beautiful! Well, pretty much every Vesperia town looks gorgeous.

But in terms of awesome town with lots of towny things to do, it's gotta be the Isle of Delfino from Super Mario Sunshine!
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If Zanarkand counts, sure:

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Hoya Destroyer said:
Kuldahar from Icewind Dale is probably my favorite town. It was a bit like an oasis in the frozen north.
I always wondered how the inhabitants could live there safely with all the Frost Giants and other creatures that could kill humans easily, living so close.
Also, Kuldahar has my favourite video game music of all time in it.

Wow, I didn't think anyone besides me would mention Kuldahar. Targos had my favorite music in the series though.
 
Delfino Plaza (Mario Sunshine)
Megaton (Fallout 3)
Clock Town (Majora's Mask)
Windfall Island (Wind Waker)
Bravil (Oblivion)
Armadillo (Red Dead Redemption)
Hillys (Beyond Good & Evil)
 
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