I have nothing to add really except to say that this is an interesting thread. I realize that maybe I've never done this. I've done this to see where a story is going, and a good story will get me to put up with bad gameplay with no issue.
I think the closest that I've come is finishing both Super Mario Galaxy games with all stars. It's not just the art direction, which I think is gorgeous, but the music, which I think comprises the best OSTs in all of video gaming. I do remember really hating actually playing both games, though. I hated the gyro shit (especially the roll-cage gyro crap), I hated the dull linearity of the levels (especially in the first Galaxy), I hated almost all of the level design gimmicks (they were creative, but most of them weren't actually fun to play). If they didn't have that art, that music, and per the first Galaxy, that storybook narrative that gave Rosalina's backstory, they would be dumpster fire-level games for me. I'll never play them again, but I'll never regret spending a bunch of hours hating my way through them just to experience the artistry of everything around the gameplay.
I say that they don't count because it wasn't just graphics/art direction, but the music and the narrative backstory in the first one that also contributed, so I've not yet done this purely for graphics or art direction. This is as close as I've gotten.