IMO even games that go for realistic graphics end up stylized, mainly because the technical limitations do force those styles (e.g. many PS2 games tried to be r

IMO even games that go for realistic graphics end up stylized, mainly because the technical limitations do force those styles (e.g. many PS2 games tried to be realistic but the lack of pixel shaders means they had to paint the lighting on the textures and the low resolution meant that they had to exaggerate some thinner shapes and both of those nowadays give a more cartoony look). The closer to "today" you go, the harder is to see this, but it becomes apparent when you see games from the 80s, 90s and (to a lesser extent, since they are more recent) 2000s. If you can say that a game looks like a $X game (e.g. a NES game or ZX Spectrum game or SNES game or PS1 game, or N64 game or PS2 game or PS3 game) that is because its appearance has aspects that are common with other games on $X - which is exactly what make that a style. So with that in mind, "dated" is simply a realistic style that isn't old enough to have become distinct from the current peak. Also FWIW "stylistic" doesn't necessarily imply cartoony or exaggerated, this is just a kind of style you can have but certainly not the only one. And of course the "styles" i mentioned above are treated as just guidelines, many NES-styled or ZX Spectrum-styled or PS1-styled games wont work on real NES/ZX Spectrum/PS1 (or even even strictly follow the visual limitations - e.g. many ZX Spectrum-styled games use single colored chunky sprites with bold outlines but they do not do attribute clash and similarly many NES-styled games use the resolution and palette of NES but ignore sprite or VRAM limitations). After all it is giving the impression that matters, not adhering to strict hardware limitations (though for some that may also be part of the appeal).