I wouldn’t say that Horizon aims to be super realistic. I mean, it’s not far away, especially if we compare it to Elden Ring. But in Horizon colors are saturated, the game looks too beautiful and vibrant to be realistic in my books. I would say Hogwarts Legacy is a better example of a too realistic game: colors are bleak, objects and textures are much closer to what we can find in real life, it does look generic as you say (at least IMO).
I wouldn’t say that Horizon aims to be super realistic. I mean, it’s not far away, especially if we compare it to Elden Ring. But in Horizon colors are saturated, the game looks too beautiful and vibrant to be realistic in my books. I would say Hogwarts Legacy is a better example of a too realistic game: colors are bleak, objects and textures are much closer to what we can find in real life, it does look generic as you say (at least IMO).