SimCity and The Sims are literally two great examples of this... SimCity 2013 is a beautiful game, but the gameplay was severely lacking (especially in comparison to past games in the franchise). Just like how Sims 4 (especially in the beginning) was (and still is) lacking in comparison to Sims 3 and Sims 2. Though, Sims 4 is NOT necessarily a bad game. It's actually one of my favorites... I just wish it was being allowed to reach its full potential.
However, this doesn't mean graphics and art style aren't important to me... if I'm playing a simulation game, I prefer the graphics/art style to be as realistic as possible.