I think this visual aesthetic is actually an amazing shift out of the uncanny valley of game visually as it eschews a photo realism, that never quite gets there, for creating a cohesive world.
The judicious use of stop motion animation mixed with real time animation as well as tilt shift and camera blur covers so many issues with stock character animation techniques.
This has a more cinematic quality than any lens flare, particle fx driven realism that I’ve seen before.
