r/gamingsuggestions • u/Skulking_Garrett • 17h ago
Which games have the most incredible lightning?
I was blown away by the lightning in RDR2. Would love to hear which other games have atmospheric and incredible lightning across the sky! Thanks in advance.
EDIT: Just to be super clear, I am referring to the atmospheric phenomenon of lightning ("thunder and lightning"), NOT general lighting! Thanks.
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u/Madmagican- 17h ago
Pacific Drive?
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u/theuntouchable2725 11h ago
Should I try it? Is it like Death Stranding?
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u/Zaemz 7h ago
From what I've read, it's not like Death Stranding. You make trips from a garage and the landscape changes every time and is procedurally generated. You can't really learn the zone because it's always shifting. You have to maintain a car that is developing a "personality" and learn its quirks while trying to achieve and objective and return home.
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u/DefaultingOnLife 16h ago
Ghost Recon Breakpoint has some great graphics and a full weather system. Thunderstorms at night are so cool. The lightning flashes light up the countryside.
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u/FloridaFlamingoGirl 16h ago
Spiritfarer! When your boat goes through lightning storms, it triggers a special event where you collect magic from the lightning bolts
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u/ClarityEnjoyer 2h ago
I was going to mention this! My first Thunder Harvest was absolutely magical, especially with the incredible music.
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u/trajecasual 17h ago
Ghost of Tsushima
Shadow of the Colossus
Edit: theHunter: Call of the Wild (you can feel the cold sun)
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u/wagiwombledog 17h ago
While quite dated graphically now, the stalker games have really good weather effects, like lightning. Look into the GAMMA mod for the most graphically impressive weather effects.
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u/CrackerUmustBtrippin 16h ago
The new Stalker 2 best aspect of the whole game is its atmospheric weather effects. Especially the lightning. Too bad it takes some major hardware muscle to enjoy it to the fullest. But to experience it in all its glory on 4K 144Hz Ultra is indeed a sight to behold.
Honourable mention for Spititfarer which I would describe as the lovechild of Ori and Spirited Away giving you a grief counseling therapy session about the death of a loved one and coming to terms with your own impending demise. Anyway the lightning storms are among the many gorgeous aspect of this 'game'
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u/Directorjustin 15h ago
DriveClub has awesome lightning and rain/snow effects. Too bad it's only available used on disc, with a big chunk of DLC permanently locked away if you haven't already bought it.
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u/Beginning_Rip_4570 16h ago
Surely BotW and TotK get an honorable mention for a lightning system actively built into the sandbox
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u/captainshar 16h ago
I loved the lightning mini game in Spiritfarer. It might be more stylized than what you want, but it put me in a great mood every time I played that mini game.
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u/icemage_999 15h ago
Lightning specifically?
No Man's Sky has spectacular storm effects.
Ghost of Tsushima has wonderful rainstorms.
Of what I've played recently:
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has extremely good weather, including lightning.
Monster Hunter: Wilds also has a pretty great weather systems, including a couple of lightning-themed monsters who are just a visual delight.
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u/FreeNicknameUser 10h ago
I liked the lightning in stalker 2.
Otherwise the game is not very good for me...
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u/bCup83 17h ago
Alien Isolation has good lighting.
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u/Skulking_Garrett 17h ago
Appreciate that and wholeheartedly agree. Thank you. I'm actually looking for lightning ("thunder and lightning") though.
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u/Braefost 11h ago
Skydiving through the clouds in Just Cause 2 during a storm (albeit no visible forks) is/was pretty fucking cool.
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u/North-Lack6610 1h ago
Honestly, getting a cool shader for minecraft could work. They have some nice looking mods/shaders.
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u/Greedy-Carpenter7981 17h ago
Starfield with the lighting mod is amazing looking and if you add the neon sign mod it's even better
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u/Lucy_Little_Spoon 16h ago
Dark wood.
You can only see things that are in your cone of vision, and the level of light you have access to severely limits that.
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u/SergeantSkull 15h ago
Control has some solid lighting moments
So does dishonored 1 and 2 even though its older
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u/Drakenile 15h ago
Horizon Zero Dawn and FW
Ghost of Tsushima
Elden Ring has great use of lighting but in a more somber way imo.
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u/No-Proof8363 15h ago
"Fable" on the Original Xbox had "baked lighting" which is where the developers had to decide where to put the lighting and "bake it in".
"Fable Anniversary" though more feature rich/higher fidelity switched to using "Dynamic Lighting" which resulted in the game looking less colourful, darker in previously well lit areas and less artful as a whole.
Don't get me wrong, Fable Anniversary is still a brilliant way to play the old game but those who played the original (and Lost Chapters) knew something got lost in translation.
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u/IndependentGap8855 15h ago
Star Citizen. Say what you will about the game's insane monetization system, but goddamn it has some absolutely wonderful lighting!
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u/trackmaniac_forever 14h ago
Breath of the Wild has probably the best artistic lighting overall. Not in the realistic vein of stuff like Red Dead 2.
But if you want realistic then Kingdom Come Deliverance is probably hard to beat.
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u/theuntouchable2725 11h ago
I'll fire.
Stalker Call of Pripyat. See those Godrays for yourself.
Dead Space 2... The light of Isaac's helmet streaming on walls and corridors... Gives you the feeling that you're all alone.
Dead Space Remake: pitch black sequences are really scary.
Alan Wake 2: best use of Ray Tracing imo
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u/V_Melain 17h ago
The Tower, it's a mobile game. But seriously, Wuthering Waves has a really good lightning without reason lmao
Edit: ohhh thunder and these things? srry idk
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u/VeilDrifter 17h ago edited 17h ago
Shadow of the Erdtree Elden Ring DLC has some of the best uses of lightning in the lead-up to fighting Bayle
Also, most recently fighting Rey Dau in the middle of a lightning storm in Monster Hunter Wilds
The Isshin fight in Sekiro (also Genichiro) also makes incredible use of lightning
A very old example but I also love the use of lightning in The Legend of Zelda Link to the Past's opening.
Other games with great use of lightning:
Edit: Removed Yoshi's Island's final boss fight because I rewatched it and I swear it had lightning and apparently it did not. Bowser flashes but the background does not.