When playing slots I care for graphics and overall experience, gambling is about fun and spending a good time, after all, isn't it? So yeah, graphics, colors, themes contribute to the overall experience. There is an extremely wide range of slots these days, so for any kind of payout you are likely to find many slots with different themes, so why bother with the boring ones? 
IMO slots with royals aren't really interesting, a lot depends on the provider also. I personally really like Relax, Yggdrasil, and Thunderkick.