I always thought early full 3D games looked like a donkey's ass. Quake is one of the exceptions. The enemies are chunky, but overall, the game looks pretty cool and the atmosphere is strong no matter if you play it in 1995 or 2018. Half-Life on the other hand just looks like ass and always did. I don't personally like anything about the game's textures or modelling.
Another example of a game I always thought looked kinda janky would be Super Mario 64, while Dungeon Master II has a lot of visual charm and still does, despite being 300x200, VGA 2D artwork. Juxtaposing some games like that make for good examples of why art comes first.
I remember being puzzled when people fawned over the graphics in Battle Arena Toshinden. It takes a different perspective than mine to get how that game could be anything other than fugly even back when it was brand new, that's for sure.
In the eye of the beholder, etc...