I will buy a Xbone next year. Halo is calling out to me. Looks so good.
Give me a good example. I'm not asking this maliciously, I'm all for GOAT locations and stuff.
For starters, The Nexus in DeS feels like a genuinely peaceful kind of purgatory, where little changes, there is no hope for anyone, but it's better than the areas linked to it. The NPCs in The Nexus are really interesting to listen to, with delightfully bizarre mannerisms and voice acting. It's kind of beautifully dismal.
The Tower of Latria is probably the best level in Demon's Souls, a prison full of lost souls and genuinely worrying enemies who are fucking terrifying when they run at you. And it's easy to get lost in there if you're not paying attention, and that adds to the way that every corner you turn in petrifying, as you never know what is coming until you've already played it once. And there's no checkpoints to lean on and make you careless, if you're not switched on, you'll be punished, so every single corridor traversed feels like a victory.
I can't even really go on about Dark Souls like this, since the entire first two thirds of the game is basically a sequence of wonderful locations. It loses it's way ocasionally when they give you areas designed to annoy the player, which is a misguided attempt to remind players that the game is harsh and punishing, but generally it's boss to look at. Maybe not the sharpest game, but the art and overall aesthetic is incredible imo.
Maybe it's just not for you, but there's a reason so many people have Souls-related art as their avatars/wallpaper/screensavers etc, and it's not just because nerds have an annoying habit of being desperate to let everyone else know how nerdy they are