Twinfinite writes: A player’s first judgment of an upcoming video game starts with the graphics. The first showing of a game sets an expectation. Caring about graphics is necessary because it has to capture the imagination of players and make them want to explore the world. Though, players shouldn’t place all emphasis on a game with its graphics.
I don't need a game to have top-of-the-line graphics, but I do need it to resemble a somewhat modern video game. This is why, for me, mid-tier games are the ones currently worth playing. They can be in a genre other than action/FPS (which is what every AAA game is), but can also be respectable looking. That's why Persona 5, Trails of Cold Steel 1-3, and Dragon Quest 11 are such big deals to me. That genre was stuck with shoestring budgets for about a decade, and it was PAINFUL.
We PC gamers openly care about the best graphics, we don't try to hide it and claim that advanced graphics aren't that important. But many of us still prefer very high framerate when they do multiplayer games.
As for console gamers, many on the net pretend that they don't care. Lies of course.
Just Imagine games like Ryse or Uncharted series without pretty graphics...
I think graphics is the wrong word. Aesthetic is important, the game should have a look and feel that is of a high quality. There are plenty of games with lesser graphics (Gungeon) that still look great doing what they do well. When games don't look great (ME:A) and have graphical glitches that is a problem. Breath of the Wild doesn't have the best graphics, but it still has an amazing aesthetic that serves the art style well.
Well if the player feels more of an attachment to a character made out of 16 bit pixels then today's more modern realistic high polygon count ones then you know sheits FKD UP in every department except for the graphics