Do some games take you to certain places?

[Omnicron's Baklava Enterprises]

Question in the title.

Throughout my life, almost every video game I've ever played has always reminded me of places that I have been to. This mostly occurs simply because I was in the place when playing that certain game. Sometimes, they even take me to places I've never been to before.
Here is a quick list of some of the places that certain games remind me of/take me to:

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - The dry mountains of Oman for strange reasons.

Pokemon Silver/Gold - Japan.

Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald - The State of Oregon and the State of New York.

Phantasy Star I/II/IV - Oman/Japan.

Phantasy Star III - Some abandoned land.

Super Mario 64 - A tropical island.

Earthbound - Some place filled with insanity and horror (it's all Giygas' fault! I'm sorry for all the Earthbound fans out there. I still love this game though)/a tropical island when in Onett

Legend of Zelda, The Minish Cap - The state of Colorado/England.

Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker - A harbour.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (GBC) - A castle in England.

I've so many more.
Maybe I'll post them later.

But what about you?

 

[Scott!]

Definitely I've had this in some games. I've also been to places in life that reminded me of games.

The first example I can think of a game taking me places is the Forest Temple on Zelda: OoT. The outside area, the lobby, and the two courtyards and sewer connection all felt like real ruins. Definitely the realness of that dungeon is part of why it's my favorite ever.

In TWEWY, of course, it feels like real Shibuya to an extent. I've never been there, or even to Japan, so I don't know how it really is. But I've been to some US cities including NYC, the only one that I think can really even compare with the insanity that Tokyo seems to have. And the game does a decently good job of feeling like you're in a real city, barring the stylized art style. Plus, I have a friend who said his experience playing TWEWY gave him a solid idea of how to get around in Shibuya when he went there a few months back.

Also, in a few select Knytt Stories levels. Since they're mostly all user-created, they're very hit-or-miss, but a few have made me imagine being in such fantastic locales, especially the caves. Pretty impressive for an indie 2D platformer.

As for real world places making me imagine them in a game, I can name a couple. First off, when I visited the gorges near Ithaca, there was one in particular that I found especially striking. The type of rock that this gorge was made of must have some certain structure, because everything seemed to be at right angles and be flat and squared off. There were a few blocky stone bridges spanning the gorge, with the water below, and after following the path along the wall, after a certain turn, it all opened up to a pool surrounded by walls of stone. It was like a hidden place in a movie or game. And, being a Zelda fanboy, I really wanted to navigate that place as Link, with lots of jumping wildly for the thrill. If I think of more, I'll add later.