Games

Modded Skyrim

Red Dead Redemption 2 hands down

I'd say Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2). Everything about the atmosphere in that game was immersive - graphics were good enough that I didn't notice they were graphics. I genuinely felt cold, wet, hot, windblown, or joyful at the various weather/environment situations in the game.

BOTW/TOTK is pretty memorable because it has a mechanical effect. Climbing becomes harder due to wet surfaces being slippery, and lightning can strike things killing them, damaging things and setting fires.

Don't see it mentioned so I'll share it, The Last of Us 2. When I think of the game I think of rainfall, and golfing.

I feel like I'm biased and it's my answer for everything, but RDR2. No other game environment has come close, for me. Screenshot from one moody moment I captured:

From what i have played, sea of thieves has the best storm, great visuals and sound, and having to make sure the ship doesnt sink is the cherry on top

In Valheim it was quite real and comfy at the same time. Weird I know.

I'm going to give you an evil answer and say Final Fantasy X. Are you ready to dodge 200 lightning bolts?

From an audio perspective, Terraria has great a thunderstorm effect - just something that really stuck as weighty and impactful

For the whole experience, Project Zomboid isn't a slouch either as it has the audio/visuak effects down and feels better with the some of its parts together as individually there are parts that feel weaker but as a whole makes the for an engaging experience if one decides to wonder during a thunderstorm

I really liked the storms in Valheim. Probably not the best looking but they felt so impressive.

This channel has a lot of pretty game ambience, but isn’t limited to storms.

Though they're a mix of sandstorm/thunderstorm (like in the movie), the Mad Max game from Avalanche.

Stalker ~ Stalker gamma but those storms are a little more than a thunderstorm..

How about the one at the end of Zelda: Ocarina of Time?

Having effects that shatter the framerate is, of course, a very undesirable thing for gamers. But something about it in the context of a sudden final boss fight against Ganon, placing his large figure against the thundering background, made him much more imposing in a way that might not really even be represented when playing the game in 4K on an emulator.

You're all wrong. It's DriveClub. They put so much detail in the simulation of air pressure, angle of light coming from the sun, dynamic volumetric clouds, and so much more. On top of that, they simulate their weather on the conditions 100 miles out from the actual racetrack to make things as realistic as possible. It's absolutely gorgeous.

The storm in Life Is Strange was hella intense.

I've always liked the storm in the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC from Mass Effect 2. It takes place on a ship chasing the sunset on a planet with a really slow rotation, and there's a massive storm at the terminator. It looks amazing.

https://youtu.be/pOaioqq8J6o?t=3377&si=h09hTh8mmTbDb-bo

No Man's Sky has some impressive storms. They change depending on the planet, and a recent update (still updated for free since 2016, btw) added a bunch of new atmospheric effects. Some storms have winds strong enough to throw you around and, in some cases, off the planet.

Sailing games like black flag, valheim, and sea of thieves had pretty fun weather iirc

@games Battlefield Bad Company 2 has a sniping mission in a thunderstorm. You use the thunder to hide your shots and that one was memorable to me.

And I think Far Cry 3 or Blood Dragon had thunderstorms somewhere? But of that i'm not sure anymore

I've yet to find a game that properly rolls in a distant storm that eventually grows into an intense one. They tend to come on very quickly and escalate to 10 in about 20 seconds.

Super Metroid.

Surface of Crateria has a thunderstorm for the entire length of the game.

MSFS 2020

Witcher 3 and Skyrim are pretty good. RDR2 is great, particularly because you can see it coming.

Death Stranding for me. Especially at the beginning of the game when you encounter your first storm, and you clear it. That feeling of relief is truly spectacular.

My vote has to go to the super storms in Horizon Forbidden West. They're pretty incredible as they pass over. It's just a shame they're so rare and stop after a certain point in the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgpNLp-CAAA

Best chill weather: FFXIV

Turn off the music and sit in a zone listening to the rain and thunder while talking to friends. A+.

This game has excellent ambient sounds. I turn the music off often and just listen. Sometimes it's fun to just wander or find a little nook to craft in nature.

Minecraft, it’s just relaxes me every time it storms.

As much as the rest of the game is an exercise in tedium and complete disrespect of the player's time and intelligence, the thunderstorm event in Spiritfarer is pretty rad, and definitely one of its high points.

At least the first time. The charm wears off after the 9th or 10th time you do it just because you need to grind for the one material you can get from it, and only from it.

A Link to the Past was the first thing to come to mind. Of course many games since have done storms much better, but that one had the biggest impact on me personally. The jump from 8 to 16 bits was a hell of a thing!

Most recent time I was awestruck by a thunderstorm in a game? Forza Horizon 5. One of the early missions involved heading out in the jungle during a massive thunderstorm and it was just legendary. Visuals, audio, everything.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni