These aren't mutually exclusive

artfully stylized graphics will always be better because they will look timeless

I would be happy if they stopped making everything look somehow both covered in vaseline while also being more reflective then a fucking mirror.

Just look at this shit in the demo:

Mirror's Edge is still beautiful to this day, despite being 17 years old

Dear AAA game studios: Just look at Hades II.

LOOK AT IT. A good chunk of the art you see on every playthrough isn't even animated.

I'm probably going to clear 300+ hours on this thing before I put it down, and I'll likely tell everyone to buy it because it's that good. Photorealism is the last thing I care about.

I like both, they each have their place

I wish they'd make more games like Disco Elysium where the whole thing looks like a painting.

you know what, I'll just keep playing the same old decade old games I've been playing

No matter who denies it, this is peak artfully stylised graphics for any game ever made.

Hand draw each frame. Now do it 60 or more times per second.

But Clair Obscur, tho.

Like, damn.

The trouble with photorealism is that you very easily stumble into the uncanny valley. In addition, something that often looks "photorealistic" today will look really dated in a few years.

If you go with artfully styled games, it can actually be much harder. You need to adopt a consistent artistic style and have that style be used by many different artists. Unlike with photorealism, there isn't always going to be a reference available. You have to watch that over time, and as the scope of the game grows, the style remains consistent. But, when it's done well, it can be amazing.

One of my favourites in terms of artful styling is the game Interstate '76. It came out at a time when full motion video cutscenes were the style of the day. You'd have low resolution graphics, and then come in with a VHS-quality cutscene with real actors and real sets. Then back into low resolution graphics. Interstate '76 chose an amazing artistic style, then did in-engine cutscenes, which kept the style consistent.

The other master of this, IMO, is World of Warcraft. It must be a gargantuan undertaking to have a game with that many different models and to have a consistent style for all of them, but they mostly do. They often do out-of-engine cutscenes, but their style is so consistent that their cutscenes just look like even more detailed shots from that same world.

Depends. Some horror games really sell the value of photorealism well

GPU consumption is more reliable to know how old a game is than its graphics.

When Minecraft was released, I thought it was an accident. That no other game could be popular and run with with an inappropriate language such as Java.

I was so wrong.

Meh, I like high fidelity graphics. Most "artfully stylised" games are not to my taste either - pixel graphics do nothing for me and nor do a lot of flat 2D graphics. Stuff like GRIS is beautiful, but it seems to be an outlier. So for visually engaging stuff I find it's AAA mostly realistic graphics - if not "photorealistic" - for me.

Why do that when I can just ask Sora to make it for me? Then I don't have to engage my brain at all!

I loved Firewatch's art style. And story. It was a masterpiece.

I'll be honest, I like both.