My Top Fictional Video Game Destinations

Escapism is one of the best parts of a video game, and it is made even more satisfying when the world you are exploring in is beautiful. Video games often get a lot of criticism for their violence, but people also need to take a step back and realise just what a positive impact visiting beautiful fictional landscapes can have on people, too. 

While my list could go on forever, I have decided to compile a list of just some of my favourite fictional video game destinations that I wouldn't mind visiting. Take a look below!

Whiterun

There's a lot of places in Skyrim that would be amazing to visit, but Whiterun has some truly stunning views. Whiterun is a major city in Skyrim, a major commercial hub that has plenty of foot traffic. 

Animal Crossing 

The Animal Crossing series is always been one of my go-to's when I just want to relax, or cheer myself up. Everything in the world is pleasant, pretty, and oh-so-cute! If I was able to, I could imagine myself spending my future retirement in a place like that.

Isle Delfino

A holiday destination for Peach and Mario in Super Mario Sunshine, Isle Delfino is such a sunny, pleasant looking place that I wouldn't mind spending a holiday on, either! Featuring a theme park, a sandy beach, a peaceful bay, a bustling plaza, fishing port, volcano, and a small village, there's plenty to do here.

Koholint Island

Like a lot of places on this list, it is best to imagine that you are visiting them after the bad guys have been taken care of (or, before they have arrived to cause mischief). The fictional dream land of Koholint Island in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening would be a beautiful place to visit! Framed by a massive egg atop Mount Tamaranch, it is made up of a quaint villages, swamp and pond areas, a beautiful beach, and prairies, and caves. I cannot wait to see how this all looks in the Switch remake!

Hyrule

Serving as the setting for many Zelda games, Hyrule is a beautiful land filled with deep forests, tall mountains, deserts, vast lakes, cities, villages, and temples. The landscape changes considering on where about's you are playing in the Zelda timeline, but the beauty remains consistent! 

Albion

The land of Albion changes a fair bit throughout the Fable series, but one thing remains among each map - it is a pretty stunning place. From the cobbled streets of Bowerstone, to the gorgeous countryside of Oakfield, it would be wonderful to visit here.

Toussaint

Ah, Toussaint is definitely easy on the eye, and is perhaps the most picture-perfect place on this list, in my opinion. Included as a destination on The Witcher 3's 'Blood and Wine' DLC, Toussaint is famous for it's wines, so what better way to enjoy this beautiful landscape than to sit back and take it all in with a glass at hand? 

Columbia 

The first of two Bioshock destinations to feature on my list, Columbia is a stunning city in the sky that would be delightful to visit if the whole place didn't go to pot! The steampunk architecture, combined with the bright and breezy feel is rather pleasing. 

Rapture

Taking away the splicers, and transporting it back to its heyday would make Rapture a pretty wonderful place to visit. The combination of glaring neon lights, a city infrastructure, and the natural beauty of the deep sea would be jaw-dropping to witness. Imagine staring out of the wide windows of one of the buildings you are in to see a massive blue whale swim past, for example?

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a cute, quaint looking place that would be perfect to visit if you are looking to de-stress, escape a hectic lifestyle, and take some downtime. 

What would your dream destinations be? Let me know on Twitter!

Miracle of Sound: Level 3 Album Review

Miracle of Sound is back once again with an album full of songs written about games, TV programmes and films. 

Composed and written entirely by Gavin Dunne who releases under his band name, Miracle of Sound, Level 3 features gaming tracks based on games such as Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Borderlands 2 and Assassins Creed III.

As with the previous two albums, Gav embraces and experiments with plenty of different genres to fit with the tone of the game, programme or film he is singing about. For instance, 'His Father's Son' resembles a sea shanty blended with Native American influences-exactly like the game itself. 

Stand out tracks on the album include the newest release, Dream of the Sky, which is based on Bioshock Infinite, Breaking Down The Borders (Borderlands 2), The Savage Side of Me (Tomb Raider), The Best I Can (Telltale Games' The Walking Dead), and His Fathers Son (Assassins Creed III).

The non-gaming songs are just as great, with 'Halfman's Song', about Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, is one of the best tracks on the album. 

For me though, no Miracle of Sound album is complete without a tongue in cheek ditty, and thankfully, Level 3 delivers on this too. 'Wigglesticks' is a brief track mocking Resident Evil 6's over-reliance on Quick Time Events (I enjoyed that game, but come on, it was a little too much at times!), 'The Call of Duty Circus' explains the typical type of Call of Duty gamers you'll encounter whilst playing online, whilst 'Doorfighter' is based on the plethora of door opening sequences in Medal of Honour. 

The Miracle of Sound: Level 3 album is available to buy as a digital downloaded copy via his Bandcamp page now. 

Great Bioshock Infinite Elizabeth Cosplay

Looking around on the internet, it seems that everyone who has played Bioshock Infinite loves Elizabeth. This reminded me that I had seen a fantastic Elizabeth cosplay recently.

Cosplayed by deviantART member Ormeli, you may recognise her as Alice from American McGee's 'Alice' games, which I featured in the past. 

Check out a few of her as Elizabeth below. The rest can be seen here: 

http://ormeli.deviantart.com/gallery/32019776

Bioshock Infinite 'Beast of America' Trailer

Finally, Bioshock Infinite news has landed. Here's the latest trailer from 2K Games, titled 'Beast of America.'

Bioshock Infinite follows Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton agent who is trying to escape the sky-city of Columbia with his AI companion Elizabeth. Bioshock Infinite is set to be available on the 26th February 2013 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.  

Bioshock Infinite Collectors Editions Revealed

Two special collectors editions have been revealed for Bioshock Infinite. 

The Premium Edition includes:

• 3-inch keychain of the Murder of Crows vigor bottle replica.
• 5x7 inch litograph by Jorge Lacera.
• Bioshock Inifite arrt book.
• 25mm resin cast Handyman miniature from the Bioshock Infinite board game, Summoner Wars.
• In-game gear, digital soundtrack, downloadable content.

The Ultimate Songbird Edition includes everything listed above, as well as a 9 1/2 inches Songbird statue.

Bioshock Infinite will be released on the 26th February 2013 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. 

George Washington Is In Bioshock Infinite?

George Washington is in Bioshock Infinite. As bizarre as that sounds, the first president of America has been turned into an evil robot which players will come up against during the game. These 'Heavy Hitters' are Bioshock Infinite's answer to the Big Daddy enemy which players encountered in Bioshock 1 and 2. 


Ken Levine, Bioshock Inifinite's Director, revealed a few more details to Kotaku about this gatling-gun robotic George Washington. Levine says that the 'Motorized Patriot's' job is to "sell people on the vision of Columbia." 


Like everything in the Bioshock series, this does not go according to plan. The robot Washington soon becomes a gun-toting threat. 


Bioshock Infinite will be released on the 16th October in North America and the 19th October in Europe.