User blog comment:The Milkman/Phantasy Philosophy: Elder Scrolls/@comment-2040576-20120914130418/@comment-3492791-20120915194217

Whether you go for a highly stylized, or hyper realistic art style, it won't change the amount of work involved, or the processing required for it. As i've said many times before, appearance is near meaningless at the technical level. Even in basic art design, hyper realism might be easier, as reality is reality, and you don't have to work as hard to imagine things because they already exist a certain way. In a stylized design, the artist have to create an alternate appearance for reality and make all the separate elements blend and compliment in ways that feel natural. The only real development difference in art styles is Hyper realism has a tendency to fall into the uncanny valley.