Nope. If complex graphics are often not worth it, then the assumed solution is to evaluate their worth and determine when they add the most to the game. Just throwing in the towel and going back to Half-Life era graphics would be even more stupid than sacrificing gameplay to allocate more resources to the graphics department.

: I don't know. Alan Wake had a lot of realistic themes and characters. Might
: it have worked with the cartoony Blizzard graphics? Possibly. Would that
: have been the best fit? Better than what it had? In my opinion: No.
: Absolutely not.

I'm mostly thinking StarCraft here, but I can't see Blizzard's graphics as cartoony. The proportions are deliberately wonky, but there's still an element of realism. Definitely more realistic than, say, Team Fortress 2.

: I wonder if it would have been better served with stylized static
: conversations vs animated 3D models. Something like full screen comic
: panes representing the two sides of a conversation that swapped in and out
: as the dialogue moved forward. Then, make the rest of the game's graphics
: stylized to match that... or something.

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm not sure if that would have been better, worse, or even cheaper to do.

But if it would result in more face-to-face conversations and less shots of people staring off into space so they don't have to look Commander Shepard in the eye, I'm all for it.