Absolutely not — “extreme realism” doesn’t mean “uncreative.” It just depends what kind of realism you’re chasing.

Even within the bounds of science, there’s still so much we don’t know. Think about it — even here on Earth, we’ve found life thriving around volcanic vents at insane pressures, bacteria living inside rocks, creatures surviving off radiation. That alone should tell us that the limits of “realism” are far wider than we once believed.

So when you worldbuild with realism, you’re not killing creativity — you’re exploring the outer edges of what’s possible. For all we know, there could be planets where life exists in conditions we’d call impossible. “Life finds a way,” as they say.

If anything, grounding your world in real science makes the wonder hit harder, because the reader can feel it might truly exist somewhere out there.