You needn't have played the Destiny beta to appreciate its lovely skies

Destiny is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm just going by the screenshots and videos because I haven't even played it.

There's a reason the game and its skies in particular are so very lovely: there is an entire team at Bungie devoted to creating art which "entices you to look up at the sky."

Over on Bungie.net, Mark Goldsworthy discusses how the team created a beautiful and "dynamic canopy" for Destiny.

"We treat the sky as another character in a game," said Goldsworthy. "We understand the high impact they can have and we give them the love they deserve. Sky Art at Bungie includes the sky, mountains, epic vistas stretching before you – everything from underground caverns to planets in space, and more.

"We work closely with the world environment art team, iterating and evolving the skies and landscapes alongside the playable areas. As the worlds develop, so do the skies. We can bounce ideas off one another and react to new work that enters each build.

"We prefer to hand-craft the landscape and cloud arrangements rather than use large, static photo wraps."

Seriously, the skies and landscape are impressive. Just look at the shots below for yourself. If you want larger versions, hit up the link.

They make awesome wallpaper.

Destiny will release on September 9 on PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.