The best cities in video games, from Night City to Venice

As Earth’s core warms and we slowly roast in the furnace of life, it’s time to start thinking about summer vacations. If you’re anything like us, you probably enjoy the beach for five minutes before turning to Anakin Skywalker and complaining about the sand as you stare out over the sea and contemplate your impending doom. In short, the usual.

The most beautiful game cities –

City breaks are the answer. Things to do. culture. Shade. bliss. Since we’re not a vacation site, we’ll be covering the best cities to visit in video games, which means you don’t have to leave your house, talk to real people, or eat airplane food. Yes.

So close the curtains and shut yourself off from the outside world: it’s time to enjoy a tour of the best video game cities.

Night City | Cyberpunk 2077 movie

A multicultural city sprouting from the Pacific coast of North America, night city It fades into an astigmatic haze of neon, chrome and glass. From the crowded footpaths of downtown to the abandoned luxury hotels of exotic Pacifica, every inch of this futuristic metropolis teems with life.

Once you’ve fully enjoyed the hustle and bustle of these crime-ridden streets, feel free to take a tour of the Badlands surrounding Night City, where you can rest in secluded motels and stroll atop sand dunes overlooking industrial farming works. It’s not the most relaxing break, but it’s perfect if you want an adrenaline rush or are on an online surge.

City 17 | Half-Life: Alex

Of course, City 17 can also be visited in Half-Life 2, but why not go there in virtual reality? Watching the castle loom over the city, its electric cables covering modern Soviet architecture like a cobweb, is one of the most impressive things you can experience in a video game.

You’ll spend all of your time here being chased by Combine forces and the streets littered with wrecks of old sedans, but if you get bored, you can always take a stroll around the park. If not, grab a crowbar and join the resistance.

Kamurucho | Yakuza (series)

Few virtual cities survive like Kamurocho in the Yakuza series, and that’s as much due to the soundscape as the city itself. Walking down any street, one minute you hear weird Japanese advertisements coming out of stores, the next person singing from a karaoke machine, and a few steps later you hear beeps from an arcade. If aliens had to pick up sound from Earth, this would be it.

Another thing that makes Kamurocho special is the way it changes and transforms: we spend so much time in this city over the course of different chapters of the saga that we can see the city grow and evolve as Japan itself changes over time. If you played the various episodes at launch, it’s very likely that you grew up with the series and can relate those key moments in your life to this wonderful city.

Venice | Assassin’s Creed II

If you’ve ever been to Venice in real life – be sure to go before you get drowned in God’s wrath! – You’ll know how faithfully Ubisoft represents the Italian city by the lake. All the old buildings and bridges are still there, and the lifestyle is very similar to what it was then (apart from shops selling Venetian masks and ice cream to tourists at exorbitant prices).

Assassin’s Creed II gives us a glimpse of Venice in the 15th century, when it was the capital and largest city of the Venetian Republic in the Serenissima. As befits a city famous for its gondolas, Assassin’s Creed II also introduces new modes of transportation: at the time, Venice’s fate was so intertwined with the sea – whether we were talking about trade or war – that its citizens revered the sea as a god, and the Pope agreed, so would Can video games teach us something?

Saint Denis | Red Dead Redemption 2

Arriving at Saint Denis, the “jewel of Lemoyne,” is a key moment in Red Dead Redemption 2. By the time the story takes us there, we’ve already spent days exploring the wilderness, camping in the woods, and visiting dusty hamlets. We can almost taste the industrial smoke rising from the chimneys as we run by them, and the glow from the street lamps at night is unparalleled.

Step into a local dressmaking shop and you can dress like a gentleman, before taking the streetcar to the salon and playing a game of poker. Once you’re done, hit the cobblestone streets and back alleys, but keep your hand on the holster…

Los Santos | GTA V game

Nobody can build cities like Rockstar, e.g Los Santos It’s arguably the best he’s ever created: it captures the essence of Los Angeles, from Venice Beach to the Hollywood Hills and beyond, while eliminating long stretches of nothing in between. If you go up to the observatory in real life, the streets stretch endlessly, straight and endless, beyond the horizon, but Rockstar condenses it into its main components and still somehow makes it seem colossal.

When you’re driving down the highway and you hear someone on the radio trying to sell you cancer drugs, it’s just like the real thing. GTA V takes you to one of the most unusual cities in the world and gives you the tools to be the greatest tool around.

Beauclair | The Witcher 3

If you watch The Witcher on Netflix, you probably picture the continent as a landscape torn apart by wars and monsters, and generally full of things that want to tear you apart. And that’s right! But have you seen Beauclair?

The capital of Toussaint looks like something out of a fairytale, with a ducal palace perched atop a grand hill, its pointed towers visible from anywhere in Toussaint. People who visit rarely leave this lively and vibrant city – rumor has it it’s a spell, but we think it’s the wines from the surrounding vineyards.

Prague | Gods example: Humans are divided

Prague is one of the smallest open-world cities in gaming history, but also one of the world’s densest. Almost any door can be opened or destroyed, and windows and air vents must be used. Who needs the keys to the city when you have all those electronic upgrades?

Lined with typical cobblestone streets in red neon and anthropomorphic dancers on the windows, the poorest citizens wear Renaissance-inspired patchwork clothes, while the richest ones mix with unsaturated colors and company logos. It is a city of rain and contrast, blood and carbon fiber, with a skyline dominated by high-tech databases that remind those who have taken refuge there that they can only find shelter under a corporate umbrella.

Karnaca | 2

Before heading to Karnaka, the “jewel of the south,” make sure you have blood fly pollen and stock up on sunscreen. Featuring Cuban, Spanish, and Greek influences, Karnaca is the perfect city for those who want to soak up the sun. Just don’t pay too much attention to all the carcasses left there to cook.

If you’re like us and feel like you’re going to die every time direct sunlight hits you, Karnaca is fairly forgiving thanks to the natural winds that blow from Shindaerey Peak. These winds are so strong that they feed much of Karnaca’s infrastructure through the wind corridor, but you’ll also see windbreaks and barriers placed around the city to protect buildings from sudden gusts. Try not to get dragged into the harbor because the fish will kill you. Terms and conditions apply.

By Kirk Mackind GLHF