They 100% have changed the geometry of faces, at times drastically. Mouths in particular are different but also eyes, chins, jawlines, general proportions etc.
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I'm looking at one you posted right now. One screenshot in current graphics looks like you're not reflecting soft ambient light well, and the new graphics look like you are (they also look like they're from different angles so that may also be a factor.). Our characters have never been very good at shading and reflecting/refracting light. Think of those times you might have stood directly under a light source and your character suddenly looked very strange.
Some of the textures do need a second pass. Like the base lipstick on male miqo'te face 4 is a seemingly different shape than the original. The eyes don't feel very lively either. Like they're not reflecting light properly. So that needs to be adjusted. But the overall shape of the face is exactly the same, i'm 99% sure they didn't touch geometry. The way light wraps around things can make geometry look different in a dramatic way.
edit: In-game i use a shader for extra ambient occlusion. It gives my character better artificial shading. It dramatically changes the way my character looks in most scenarios
Echoing all of this. My character is not looking himself in the graphics preview. It's not that different and yet it all feels off.
Also, the braided ponytail hairstyle remains broken, with the side braids still hovering well off the face and very noticable at certain angles. (I could not figure out how to zoom in on my laptop without a mouse, so cannot check whether you can also still see daylight right under the central braid from a profile view.)
Current face:
https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...31ab7ac9d5.jpg
Benchmark face:
https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...719a8a9c97.jpg
My friend you need to have your eyes checked because the overall shape is NOT the same. And they're the same angles, just different lighting because they were facing different source lighting. If you can't see how the angles being softened/lids being in different positions is a change in geometry, I don't know what to tell you.
So. Any chance we will have option to downgrade the graphics on our own character?
I was never the craziest fan of this graphics update anyway.
EDIT
Loving OG #1, #6 and #15
they are sharper and easier to read as they are.
Eyewhites popping like they do in new looks are uncanny.
Like... bruh. I know this is the Male Miqo thread, but this was from a poster over on the JP forums. Look at these eyes and try again to tell me that the geometry hasn't changed LOL
https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...4f3a8e16ec.jpg
The eyes don't look right for certain. The shading at the top is too dark, obscuring the catchlights while also removing a lot of the vibrant color from it. It blends into the eyelashes and makes the eyes look souless/droopy/etc. The pupils are also not as prominent as in the original which is a shame.
The nose appears rounder/wider which could be due to lighting sure. My main issue is honestly the eyes, however.
https://i.imgur.com/5zK1YF5.png