Oh I know what you mean. Burnout 3 was graphically lesser than Burnout Revenge. But the more real graphics in Revenge made it grittier and bland, while although not as real or detailed as Revenge, 3 was colorful and more eye pleasing.
So yea there are sometimes where devs can make games that look real but also make them look worse.
The most important aspect of graphics is polish. If the polish isn't there then no matter if the graphics are better it's not going to be as pleasing to the eye.
Also you'll see devs a lot make a style for a game but it doesn't fit. Giving a game a realistic art style when it doesn't fit will make the game feel awkward. Such as with Burnout Revenge giving it that more real look really took away from the premise of the game which is unreal battle racing. Really all ya needed is a nice polished look wiht some good colors.
When doing graphics you need to first note that you have it well polished and secondly that the art style fits the game. Realistic art style isn't good for the majority if games. I don't want to see all games have it. personally I'd rather most not as it really doesn't fit wiht most games. Games were meant to be unreal in the first place.
