Mass Effect director says the next game won't feature any Veilguard-style aesthetic switchups: 'Mass Effect is photorealistic and will be as long as I'm running it'
I think it's weird they're so focused on the art style of the project, if it's well done the art style really doesn't matter that much.
The larger issues I've seen reported with the new Dragon Age are around the game design and writing, but BioWare haven't got a lot to say on that subject.
Lots of people just hate stylized graphics. I don't really understand the hate, as they tend to be more timeless than more realistic styles. Also it's a weird statement from someone representing a franchise with multiple stylized aliens.
Everyone does hate the art direction though, and that's a lot easier to address. Not that pointing to a different game that might not ever even exist when this one flops is a very good way to address it.
Who cares about photorealism ? Artistic direction just has to be consistent to contribute to the world building. Other than that, I think many will agree with me that most important are: good writing (characters and story arcs), good gameplay, creative concepts.
Well, realistic graphics are costly and time consuming. If development time and budget is spent of photorealism, it's not being spent on game mechanics or additional stories.