[ShamelessC]

They are? Are you referring to anything from the post or the comments here? I’ve never really seen any complaints about the graphics that weren’t from people who effectively only play AAA games. I certainly wouldn’t call that divisive though.

[majewsky]

For what it's worth, I'm one of those people that you're looking for. Out of the 11 games I completed this year so far, the only AAA title I played is Tears of the Kingdom (and, if that counts as AAA, Satisfactory). Everything else is indies.

I got into Satisfactory really hard this year (450+ hours played) after seeing a friend play it. I previously tried Factorio based on a similar personal recommendation and a general sense of "I ought to like this", but put it down after 2 hours thinking mostly just "meh". In hindsight, I really do think it is the graphics.

I'm now somewhat "over" Satisfactory (at least until they add more stuff in the next updates) and thinking about how to explore the factory builder genre more. Factorio is still in my library, yet I feel no desire to go back to it, mostly based on visual appeal. If I want to see something that's just 90% grey and brown, I can just go see any DC or Marvel movie from the last decade, thank you very much. In fact, looking at the games I recently played, one of the connecting facets seems to be a vibrant color palette (Hollow Knight, Ori 1+2, Webbed, Bug Fables, A Short Hike, Fez, Chicory, to name a few).

Same reason why I don't plan on playing any of the From Software games, even though 250 hours of Hollow Knight confirms that I'm a glutton for punishment and thus in the main demographic for Dark Souls and friends. But if I'm going to die 100 times in one sitting, at least I want something pretty to look at as I do so.

[auto]

No, definitely not the sentiment on HN, more so the gaming circles I find myself in on the broader web.