Lighting as a Strategy of Experiential Realism in Video Games
Sources and Significance – Blog 10
This post looks at lighting as one of the quietest (but strongest) tools games use to build experiential realism the sense that a world feels believable, even when it isn’t trying to copy reality exactly.
Realism in games is usually discussed as graphical fidelity: sharper textures, higher polygon counts, better reflections. But a lot of “realness” comes from something less measurable: how a space lands emotionally, how safe or exposed you feel in it, and how confidently you can read it as you move. Lighting sits right in the middle of that. It shapes atmosphere and tone, but it also structures perception what you notice first, what you ignore, and where your body wants to go next.
Naturalistic Lighting and Emotional Restraint
In The Last of Us Part II, lighting often feels deliberately ordinary. Overcast skies, washed-out daylight, and dim interiors create a grounded mood that matches the game’s emotional restraint. The light rarely performs for the player; it behaves like the kind of light you’d expect in a real place. That “quiet” approach becomes expressive in its own way. Shadows and low visibility slow you down, make you scan rooms more carefully, and turn simple movement into a tense decision especially when darkness limits your certainty about what’s ahead.
Dynamic Lighting and Time
In Red Dead Redemption 2, experiential realism comes through the way lighting evolves with time and weather, so the world never feels visually “fixed.” Morning and dusk shift the warmth of the scene, fog flattens the horizon and shortens your view, and late-day light can make the landscape feel weightier and more dramatic without the game having to trigger a cutscene. The effect isn’t only about how pretty it looks it’s about pacing. Because the light changes steadily, you feel the day moving on, and that subtly affects your decisions: whether you keep riding, take cover, slow down, or rethink distance and routes in the open world.
Minimal Lighting and Controlled Atmosphere
Inside goes the opposite way: the lighting is minimal, controlled, and stylised, yet the emotional reality feels intensely believable. The game uses silhouettes, hard contrast, and limited color to guide attention and communicate power. Spotlit areas feel surveilled; darkness feels like both cover and threat. Even without naturalism, the lighting teaches the player how to read danger. You start reacting to light almost instinctively moving towards brief safety, avoiding exposure, and staying alert when the image narrows into shadow.
Lighting as Navigation
Across all three examples, lighting also works as a navigation system. Instead of relying on heavy HUD markers, games often use brightness, contrast, and directionality to pull you toward paths and points of interest. A doorway glows slightly warmer than the surrounding wall. A corridor is framed by a strip of light. An object catches a highlight at just the right angle. It feels subtle, but it mirrors how we orient ourselves in real spaces by following perceptual cues rather than explicit instructions.
Selective Construction of Realism
What’s interesting is that these lighting choices are highly designed while often appearing “natural.” For me, that’s what experiential realism really comes down to. It’s not about copying reality perfectly; it’s about choosing the right details to make a scene feel credible right now. Lighting sits in that sweet spot between artistic control and “natural” believability. It nudges you toward what matters without looking like a signpost, and it sets the emotional tone without screaming “this is an effect.
Conclusion
Lighting is one of the main ways games build experiential realism. Through naturalistic scenes, shifting day-and-weather systems, or tightly controlled minimal lighting, it changes how we read space and how we respond to it emotionally. Light directs attention, sets tension and mood, and supports immersion without always needing obvious UI guidance. Across different genres and visual styles, it makes the point that realism in games isn’t only about what looks accurate it’s about what feels convincing while you’re playing.
References
Arnheim, R. (1938) Film as Art. Berkeley: University of California Press. Gibson, J.J. (1979) The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Naughty Dog (2020) The Last of Us Part II [Video game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Rockstar Games (2018) Red Dead Redemption 2 [Video game]. Rockstar Games. Playdead (2016) Inside [Video game]. Playdead. thelastofushd (n.d.) The Last of Us Part II – The Landscape from The Last of Us Part II [Video]. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/dU7zfHMnKG4?si=L8r-lnp2aQDPh8qN Rockstar Games (2017) Red Dead Redemption 2: Official Trailer #2 [Video]. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/F63h3v9QV7w?si=R8qlNZZwpIr_XGBt