To me ideally the graphics should at least be good enough not to get in the way of the gameplay. I am a sucker for nice visuals though. I like games with unique Art styles, so for me more realistic ≠ better. The thing is that even Pixel game can benefit a lot visually from modern light engines for example.
I thinks it's important when discussing graphics to make the distiction between the technical factors (though I'm not too good at that :P) and the visuals/art style.







