The weird thing with this face redesign is that there's nothing that can be pointed to as distinctly changed except maybe the nose shape and pattern, and yet overall it seems off. I replicated my character in the benchmark and couldn't express what didn't look right, just that it didn't.

I think the general shadows on the face have been darkened and "drawn on" rather than forming naturally, particularly around the inner cheeks (under the eyes, to the sides of the nose) and top of the chin, and from other angles you can also see additional shadows around the sides of the face.

Newly added dark artificial shadows are also one of my major issues with the benchmark look of male Au Ra face #3, and I need to have a closer look at my other characters to see if it has affected them too. It could certainly be part of the likewise difficult-to-explain issues with my Midlander and Roegadyn, while some others have more tangible issues.