Gamers and especially PC gamers need to chill the hell out over graphics and FPS. I'm on a soapbox about this for sure but I can't imagine how it doesn't stall and drag out development to try and squeeze all the game mechanics into a system that's already near max potential because of trying to crank out ultra-realistic graphics.
Make games more fun. They don't need to look stunning.
I fully agree. There's a great case to be made for art design > graphics and i think there's no better example to look at than Nintendo.
They've been running on underpowered hardware for decades at this point, but no one gives a shit because they probably understand better than most how to weaponize art design to cover for perceived graphical shortcomings. Mario Odyssey is probably the best looking Mario game to date. Vibrant, brightly colored landscapes with eye catching stuff in the environment that makes everything pop right down to Mario himself. Both Switch Zelda games look gorgeous using a similar philosophy. That's also the reason why most of Nintendo's back catalog, even right down to the older Super Nintendo stuff holds up.
Other games (mostly Japanese) have been doing this for a while too. the Yakuza devs are probably the most shameless assets recyclers in the business to the point their games have looked almost the same since the PS3 era but once again, no one cares because the games have usually engaging stories and gameplay ranging from great, to goofy fun. Then there's anything with an anime inspiried art style like Granblue, Persona, etc.
I'd go as far to say it's this, and other reasons are why the Japanese game industry is currently dancing circles around the North American contingent outside of basically Playstation studios. Fun comes first instead of stupid shit like HYPER REALISTIC EYELASHES
