I've been lazy about posting but surprisingly the site is growing despite me. Let's just cut through the excuses and explanations as to why this is and get to the happy ending though, shall we? I just had to clean dog S off the thankfully-hardwood floors and my patience has thinned a bit.
To calm myself down I decided to spend a little time gawking at the scenic vistas in Tripbase's nostalgic gallery of video gaming's best environments, and it may very well have saved the dog's life. Anything that acknowledges
American McGee's Alice at the start is a worthy distraction, and it's accompanied by other strong choices like
Fallout 3's wastelands,
Assassin Creed's Middle Eastern landscape, and
Oblivion's bloom-bleached, sheep-stained hills.

The choice-picks for me though have to be
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and
Shadow of the Colossus, the latter which you may not have seen coming but will likely understand.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is one of the first games to make me feel as if I truly was where I was supposed to be (post-explosion Chernobyl), and
Shadow of the Colossus benefits from enemies that act as the levels themselves, making for an experience that will be unique until
God of War III hits shelves.
The descriptions are lacking unfortunately so if you have not played these games, the references may mean little to you. But if you have, it will spark many fond memories of better games past. You can check them out for yourself here:
Tripbase's Stunning Videogame LocalesNow we have an excellent list of ideas to reference/steal when we make our own games, right?
-Unfather