>trying to make a game
>can't decide between an artstyle that looks good but will take some time and effort
>and a low effort artstyle that could become the game's recognizable identity as an ironic meme and will take far less time and effort
>but I won't like looking at it and working on it

>>714677919 (OP)
Your first priority with graphics should be readabilty.
How long does it take for the player to see a door and recognize it's a door? It doesn't matter how good the graphics look if they can't find their way out of the first room because their too much crap on the walls.

>>714678978
This mindset is why you will never make anything of esthetic value

>>714678978
While your claim is true in isolation, very few games these days have good readability regardless if they're AAA or indie

That's not really a concern for me since both styles I'm considering are readable, the dilemma I'm having is purely about aesthetics and workload vs recognizability and market pandering

Every notable successful indie game in the last 15 years succeeded because of memes

there can be a happy medium where some effort can be put into a meme to make it more palatable generally

>>714683839
I feel like Minecraft wouldn't be nearly as popular if it looked like Hytale

>>714686835
that's more of a compromise of a vision than a refining of a style