sundin13 on 16 November 2014
I think its more that realistic games tend to have a less inspired art direction... yeah, real life is nice looking but it doesn't fill me with wonder. The "grey and brown" comment is mostly a response to the trend of using muted colors to make a game feel mature, which isn't a problem, but it often isn't very appealing from an art perspective, no matter how it works for a gameplay perspective.
That being said, color doesn't make a game less atmostpheric and whatnot. Creative use of color can do wonders for a game, even in a post-apocalyptic setting. Moments of beauty in an otherwise dull (by design) world can give the player some interesting things to think about and some more complex emotions than despair and hopelessness.
