Initially I was aiming for a realistic visual for the game but in the end I am going for a semi-realistic style with a 2d edge effect. I think it works well for my game.
One advantage is that I won't need to do additional works to improve the visual, the edge effect 'covers up' the visual dullness. Then I was worried that it will slow down the game but it didn't so all is good!
Before adding all the textures and the edge render it looks pretty dull. :/