There is way too much focus on pushing polygon count, textures, etc when what matters 100x more for realism is things like environmental interaction, removing gamified artificial barriers and paths, having weighty are real physics for all objects and items, killing the constant clipping of cloth and hair, making characters and enemies move naturally rather than on obvious tracks or just hanging around waiting like they're in a video game world, and so on.
I always laugh when some calls a game semi-photorealistic or amazing, and then you watch 30 seconds of footage and see that the player's legs pass through foliage like it isn't there, invisible barriers make a caged path, items don't interact physically, etc. BOTW did environmental interaction better than most games that pushed high-end graphics, and it still feels better as a consequence.
Probably the most "real" game I've played is Alyx, by far. I was playing through some mod levels just yesterday for the first time in a while and was simply mesmerized by how real objects feel when they interact, even the little bump of your gun against any and all surfaces.