Games like Journey- Visually appealing.

[Stormpen]

Basically any games in which you can explore a visually interesting environment. Don't really mind if there's combat or not. Playing the Talos Principle atm, and while it's awesome, it also feels kind of bleak. It had me pining for Journey, which I played once on a friend's PS3 ;-;

[Swarmfly]

This "Journey" doesn't ring any bells, but the most my mind can think up of for a visually interesting environment would be Hyper Light Drifter.

Oh yeah. there's free exploration. No restricting side quests for the most part. Though the "starter" area doesn't immediately allow you to storm the map from the game start, it is technically part of the map and is quite brief and instructive.

[Stormpen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61DZC-60x20 Launch trailer for Journey, in case you're interested. ^^

Thanks, will check it out.

[Aster]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/387290/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/237930/

[𝕙.𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕒𝕤]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/384190/

IIRC some of the devs were involved in the making of Journey.