In a video game, there is no reason to be 'realistic' when it comes to the world and graphics. You are limited only by what the screen and hardware can render.
Yet… the grass is green. The sky is blue. Things just look like you expect them to.
Which games actually take advantage of the fact that 'real world' visuals don't need to apply in gaming?
For examples of the stuff I'm thinking of:
El Shaddai takes place in a realm created by fallen angels. Just look at the steam page for examples of what some of the levels look like.
Off by Mortis Ghost is an RPGmaker game where…. well, I won't spoil too much, but two of the elements making up the world are 'plastic' and 'meat'.
What are other games that actually take advantage of the fact that the world can look like whatever they want? The grass isn't green, the sky isn't blue, the world looks exactly like the developers want it to, with no regard for what the 'real world' looks like.
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Psychonauts, and Psychonauts 2 even moreso.
Rayman Hoodlum Havoc was pretty crazy.
Scanner Sombre shows you the world through a 3D environment scanner. It’s not quite surreal as in its still “the real world”, but it does play with it always being filtered through perception.
Another World
Uniracers
Siphon Filter had a non-euclidean/escheresque level that was pretty dope. I’ve been wishing for more of that for a long time.
Antichamber is a pretty sweet puzzle game all around this concept. Check it out if you like puzzles
Maybe not what you had in mind but Eternal Darkness for GameCube. The game uses all kinds of tricks to make you think you’re going insane.
Hylics
In No Man’s Sky the Grass and Sky can have any color you can imagine and it has a few crazy biomes but I guess technically it still is grounded in nature for the most part.
Like the game Celeste, obvi
Morrowind felt like an actual alien planet instead of the typical fantasy setting for rpgs
Asura’s Wrath
There was this playstation 1 game called Dreams: https://youtu.be/e-V9XAT0FP4?si=w5tixCLEHtEVDjCS which was quite out there at the time. Never finished it, but it was a bit weird.
Then there’s also LSD dream simulator but that’s a whole other bag of worms.
Although somewhat cartoonish Deep Rock Galactic is a cavalcade of color.
I do like oldschool games with whimsical themed levels. I remember especially enjoying levels where everything was made out of various musical instruments, which surprisingly appeared in quite a few games – Rayman had Band Land, Ristar had Planet Sonata, and Sonic Advance 2 had Music Plant Zone. Makes for a nice change of pace from the regular forest world, snow world etc.
Rayman also had the incredibly fun Picture City, in which everything was made out of art supplies. I always loved the aesthetic of this level even if it is ridiculously difficult gameplaywise.
Some places in xenoblades look absolutely fantastic
Sartorl swamp comes to mind as one that goes so far off the realm of “normal”
Ultrakill and Cruelty Squad seem like video games that you would enjoy.
Death Stranding does a good job of blending awesome realistic visuals with sci-fi augmented reality overlays, and a blend of weird things, starting with slightly off like the upside down rainbows, or timefall having effects based in reality, through all the paranormal encounters with usual enemies, all the way to whale tornadoes, endless tar swallowing up the environment, and pretty crazy bosses.
While this isn’t a complete departure from realistic rendering, it really goes out of its way to ground the weird stuff by basing it in pretty detailed environments and following rules established during exposition.
Rez. Especially Area X in Rez Infinite.