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What does a good game consist of? (part 4)

Graphics in games

Many argue(including my brother) argue they believe graphics is as important as game-play. I think while good graphics can be awesome, especially when combined with good physics. However I believe you can get as far in quality of the game without good graphics, or even further.

Why so? Let's take a look in comparison to other game qualities:
-physics: laws of physics are universal and you can't make them any better with graphics; same goes for space games, physics win there over graphics and if you tried to code a game while relying on graphics, you would spend ten times longer making good physics
-immersion: let's be honest, good immersion is a rarity and focusing on graphics instead of game-play only further negatively affects the immersion
-story telling: in role playing games, no quality of graphics will substitute for a good lore system,
as quests have really nothing to do with graphics or even user interface
-user interface: you may be surprised, but nicely put quest journal will not help a lot if the story isn't well written and organization of the story(such as grammar and paragraphs) can be made even in a text adventure
-level design: believe it or not, even awesome landscapes can be created if you're a good architect or modeler or just good at coding a quality level designing program(instead of coding a quality graphics engine or use an existing one)...unreal engine is a good example of a level designing engine
-fear factor:while some believe graphics is a necessary component in Doom 3 to create a scary environment and monsters, I enjoyed playing it at 800x600 resolution on low graphics
-music:there's tons of great music which doesn't accompany great game graphics, not to mention games themselves
-stealth factor: personally I think if you tried to observe beautiful scenery while playing Hitman or Metal Gear you would quickly get caught/killed

In conclusion, you will live if you don't make a next-gen graphics engine(or use one).
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