i want my old face back

[LittleArrow]

Me too. The new face is so puffy, smoothed out, and rounded. She doesn't have any of the soft, kind, and almost matronly look of my 6.0 character. I honestly hated this character so much b/c of how different she is to my main. However, there are no other characters in the creator that I think look better than the one I had and the one I have now, despite how much of a poor imitation she is to my original character.

At this point, as stupid and emotional as it is due to how much my old character made me smile, I've retconned in my head that my original character retired happily after saving the world from the Endsinger. This new character is just a new warrior of light that took over during 7.0. It's stupid, and I know how cringey it is to share that, but I had to justify the massive change I see between the two. It just is what it is at this point, but yes, I wish I had my old character back too.

[Stapler-san]

Me too. The new face is so puffy, smoothed out, and rounded. She doesn't have any of the soft, kind, and almost matronly look of my 6.0 character. I honestly hated this character so much b/c of how different she is to my main. However, there are no other characters in the creator that I think look better than the one I had and the one I have now, despite how much of a poor imitation she is to my original character.

At this point, as stupid and emotional as it is due to how much my old character made me smile, I've retconned in my head that my original character retired happily after saving the world from the Endsinger. This new character is just a new warrior of light that took over during 7.0. It's stupid, and I know how cringey it is to share that, but I had to justify the massive change I see between the two. It just is what it is at this point, but yes, I wish I had my old character back too.

it may be dumb and cringe but also i 100% get it
im still big sad about it

[Granyala]

<- 6.x DT ->

(the only deliberate changes here are colours)

The color (deliberate) and ear texture are the only differences I can see here.
Does the issue only apply in motion or something?

[Stapler-san]

The color (deliberate) and ear texture are the only differences I can see here.
Does the issue only apply in motion or something?

for me the lips are the worst part like i said
but all of the animations and expressions are all just really weird now

[Limecat]

Maybe they were going for a soulless look so our characters would better match those creepy dolls they're making of Blue Alisaie and Red Alphinaud.

[Granyala]

for me the lips are the worst part like i said
but all of the animations and expressions are all just really weird now

Yeah all lips are shiny now and slightly changed in color.
I noticed the same on my Keeper along with the general shininess of the skin when it was completely flat before.

As for the expressions: I don't notice much of a difference except around the mouth that looks more smooth due to way more bones available. I'm looking forward to the Hildibrand questline to see what SE can do with the new rig. :'D

[Stapler-san]

Yeah all lips are shiny now and slightly changed in color.
I noticed the same on my Keeper along with the general shininess of the skin when it was completely flat before.

As for the expressions: I don't notice much of a difference except around the mouth that looks more smooth due to way more bones available. I'm looking forward to the Hildibrand questline to see what SE can do with the new rig. :'D

go look at the image in my first post
its more than just the shine
the shape is totally different and the eyes are way more squinty too

[Cheapshot]

One thing I'm noticing is that the new graphics overhaul seems to work better with races with sharper features (your Highlanders, Roegadyn etc,), and a lot of people that seem dissatisfied are races with "softer" features (your Miqo'te, Elezen, etc). I think the midtones are more subtle compared to the highlights/shadows, but with a lot of rounded features where you wouldn't have "strong" light/shadow, it's looking washy on them.

Maybe, I'm by no means a professional artist. All I know is that the lighting looks nice on fem highlanders.

It’s the case that across the board they rounded out and softened every feature. For races that have sharp angular faces, they simply just look a little less bold and dramatic. Much more subdued. For faces that were already on the soft side, the already less defined features now have no definition. Even though many of the previous faces had rough geometry or low res textures, they were all crafted very deliberately with a distinct visual style. There was a definite “Brightness” or “liveliness” to the games faces.

While these updates are a technical improvement, they’re not necessarily an artistic improvement. Many people are going to just be happy to see softer, higher resolution features and they’re good. Many others have more attachment to the charms and uniqueness of that original style that was lost in this graphical update. And let me be clear as an artist and illustrator with years of experience, the original artistic direction of the faces didn’t have to be lost. Some harder edges could have been intentionally preserved to keep the feel of faces. More attention could have been paid to details both in shape and tone. More time could have been spent checking and comparing the final results in engine. This was just rushed. Everything was rushed.

[Hanayumi]

2 things I very much hope folks did before crying out with the big NOPE;
• Fiddled around with setting(Character Lighting especially changes a lot with face)
• Fiddled around with the character creation, understandably know folks want to keep their original face but now is a good time to check your options (Personally liked how the update changed my Roe, but took a look at the other faces and was pleasantly surprised how the others I hated before ended up and sure enough changed to a new one)

[Stapler-san]

2 things I very much hope folks did before crying out with the big NOPE;
• Fiddled around with setting(Character Lighting especially changes a lot with face)
• Fiddled around with the character creation, understandably know folks want to keep their original face but now is a good time to check your options (Personally liked how the update changed my Roe, but took a look at the other faces and was pleasantly surprised how the others I hated before ended up and sure enough changed to a new one)

yes but lighting will not acutally do anything to fix drastic changes in the actual face
and also yes but all of the lip options are just as bad for face 3 elezen