Eh, I'm not so concerned about realism as I am good detail. If I want or need that much realism I have a pretty decent camera I can go take photos with.

Realism has its place but it gets boring pretty quick. I prefer stylized figures that are done well. For me a character's shape should tell something about that character, beyond whether he's a lazy slob or a gym rat, but an actual part of his story. There's a million ways to do that. It can still have HD detail and that character can still look and feel real if done properly.

But more importantly, the environment needs to look and feel like a place that character lives in, whether the goal is 100% realism or a page from a comic book. Consistency is the key. So when you add all that HD to the figure, the HD has to also be in the clothing and the rest of the scene, or it's going to start looking like those bad movies from the 80s where they did animated toons in live action. Notice no one does that anymore.  

 

~Shane