Color is one of the most important features to making sure a game is aesthetically pleasing, and I often see games fuck it up; specifically in the post apocalyptic setting. Right away, games like Wasteland 2, or FO:NV come to mind. The sheer amount of brown and grey present in these post apocalyptic environments robbed them of any chance they had at being even remotely pleasing to look at.
Now don't get me wrong, I understand that in a post apocalyptic environment, there is supposed to be a lot of death and destruction and decay. That doesn't mean that everything suddenly stops reflecting every color that isn't brown or grey. I mean just look at some of these screenshots from some of the more famous post apocalyptic settings.
https://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/536/5360430/2913846-w2_dc_11.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l-x-1fm2cq8/maxresdefault.jpg
http://newfallout.com/images/fallout-1/play-fallout-1-on-windows-7.png
This is not only present in post apocalyptic games, but in other settings. PS:T is a famous example that comes to mind. While PS:T is my favorite game of all time, and I eventually adjusted to the colors, the initial setting of the Hive gave off a very negative impression to me. I didn't know about the existence of things like Clerk's Ward, or the other, more colorful areas of the game. When I was faced with the prospect that this is what the entire game would look like,
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/planescape/images/walkthrough/hive/hive023.gif
I wasn't too excited to see much more. Naturally, this was a flawed first impression that I'm glad I pushed past, but I think it illustrates my point nicely. Age of Decadence is another example of this.
https://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/154/153133/auto/bazaar_zpsb98d0fcb.jpg
Games that are over saturated with dark browns, blacks, and greys, that have very little in the terms of color to make them pleasing to the eye, are just plain ugly. Not only are they ugly, but I think that it strongly takes away from the overall feeling of the setting. Part of what makes a setting a good one are the feelings that it inspires in you. Games that have such shit color schemes inspire feelings of sadness, boredom, and regularity.
Long story short, pretty colors make me feel good.
Now don't get me wrong, I understand that in a post apocalyptic environment, there is supposed to be a lot of death and destruction and decay. That doesn't mean that everything suddenly stops reflecting every color that isn't brown or grey. I mean just look at some of these screenshots from some of the more famous post apocalyptic settings.
https://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/536/5360430/2913846-w2_dc_11.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l-x-1fm2cq8/maxresdefault.jpg
http://newfallout.com/images/fallout-1/play-fallout-1-on-windows-7.png
This is not only present in post apocalyptic games, but in other settings. PS:T is a famous example that comes to mind. While PS:T is my favorite game of all time, and I eventually adjusted to the colors, the initial setting of the Hive gave off a very negative impression to me. I didn't know about the existence of things like Clerk's Ward, or the other, more colorful areas of the game. When I was faced with the prospect that this is what the entire game would look like,
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/planescape/images/walkthrough/hive/hive023.gif
I wasn't too excited to see much more. Naturally, this was a flawed first impression that I'm glad I pushed past, but I think it illustrates my point nicely. Age of Decadence is another example of this.
https://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/154/153133/auto/bazaar_zpsb98d0fcb.jpg
Games that are over saturated with dark browns, blacks, and greys, that have very little in the terms of color to make them pleasing to the eye, are just plain ugly. Not only are they ugly, but I think that it strongly takes away from the overall feeling of the setting. Part of what makes a setting a good one are the feelings that it inspires in you. Games that have such shit color schemes inspire feelings of sadness, boredom, and regularity.
Long story short, pretty colors make me feel good.