eh, I think nirvana is better than the beatles (not level of musicianship) but I'd rather listen to them than the beatles (by just a little bit).
and I like them more than queen. And neither of those 3 are my favorite.
But I think things can be a sum greater than their parts... as the saying goes, if it relates to you in someway, however I like atmospheric games over the gameplay itself, and those tend to fit tastes.
Hell blade runner (my favorite movie) was panned, originally and now its deemed by many as a classic. So it's hard to argue what is good, and what is bad.
I think graphics you cannot argue from a technical sense but you can an artistic sense
I think gameplay is preference... you can argue about sloppiness of the mechanics though but I think it's taste, style of game matters.
I think open world, non-linear. Can be said, but I don't think linear is without its merits.
I kinda strayed from the topic, but at the same time, I don't really care if I look like a fool, to anyone other than the people I care about. I would say like you did, the godfather is better than avatar. However if people go to movies to look at pretty things, avatar is a better movie for their purpose of wanting to go to a movie.
