i want my old face back

[Einnecy]

I am compiling information in order to potentially make my own thread on my observations and grievances with the update but I will show a few pictures of my character and ask if it looks the same or at least close enough to pass as the same character (not asking if she looks "better" which is a subjective opinion and is not the point) as that was their goal with the upgrade:

To me she does not look even remotely similar to how she used to. Even her emoting looks duller. For something that was supposed to be "my character but better" I am very disappointed by the degrade.
I think most issues would be fixed by altering the mouth (something which seems to be an issue with a lot of races because of the way it affects emotes as well) and eye texture.
The pupils are too large:

[Lnemoh]

Adding to the pile of disappointment here. Moon miqo face 4 - the iris was enlarged (or the eyes shrunk?) making her eyes look kinda creepy, and now I have this really uncanny mouth edge lip shadow. She looks like an alien granny now.



In a lot of light scenarios this is what she looks like:



You can't tell me this is normal. Cleft chin apparently on top of everything.

This is *not* my character. I am feeling very demotivated to even play the game to be honest.

[riani]

I’m not someone who is demanding the old models back, I wanted a glow up too! I’m saying this aint it. This aint a glowup. [...] I would love a more polished and higher detail upscale of my face but I just got a different face that’s mostly the same level of detail or worse, being lit by better lighting. Why should I call this better and be happy with this?

This.

I was one such person, who thought I would get used to my new face, but it's not happening, if all I can think at every cutscene, is that 'damn, she would look so much nicer, if...'



(all pics: https://imgur.com/a/Blb3XAr)

And I don't want back my original face either, I quite like the nose, the texture, the make-up definition on the mouth (not really the mouth, but rather the definition).
Just I wish, if they would look like identical twins...

Very often fantasia won’t fix the problem either.

And this.
All I can do is adjust the colours and shave the jaws (nothing else changed below) to get her to be... something. Even then (if we don't account in the change of jaws), are they twins?
They look as if they changed the actress midseason in a series...

[Neclord-X]

This.

I was one such person, who thought I would get used to my new face, but it's not happening, if all I can think at every cutscene, is that 'damn, she would look so much nicer, if...'

Is this Highlander Face 1, Eyes 3? My Highlander has the same eyes and it bothers me to no end how different they look now.

[moriori]

Let me be clear and start off by saying that overall, I'm not against the graphic update at a base level. I love the new details in hair, gear and the overall environment. I was willing to set aside my reservations and keep an open mind to them simply touching things up.

I was and am still extremely disappointed however by the amount of change brought to the facial features themselves. My characters feel ridiculously different, and it's sucked out a lot of my enthusiasm for this expansion:

https://imgur.com/a/HqMCdHT

https://imgur.com/a/U2dtU8m

https://imgur.com/a/UisB7rw

https://imgur.com/a/UvPtvKD

And in several instances, it doesn't even feel like an upgrade! My main character's lips became less detailed, and both the lips and skin look crusty and pixly in a way they didn't before:

https://imgur.com/a/1w5Mnvf

With several facial options also becoming more similar to each other, it feels like there's even less of a difference between them compared to before. I don't see how this can be considered an upgrade in a game that already had a limited character creator but that still managed to make even the same faces feel noticeably different depending on the options picked.

I feel like if you make an explicit promise to not change the player's characters too much, on top of being a game that encourages getting attached to them in a way many others don't, I don't think it's unreasonable for people to be upset.

It's also not unreasonable for people to feel like this change is killing their joy for the game. This is once again a game that encourages players to grow attached to their characters, and we all pay for the subscriptions and expansions required to play, not to mention the online store many of us willingly pay for items through. It's more than fair for players to express and share these concerns.

Realistically though, I don't know if they'll do anything. I hope that they'll do something to find a middle ground between people preferring the old vs new faces, and I hope that they won't just brush all the feedback off without acknowledgement just because the second benchmark was slightly better received than the first one.

[Fable]

Adding to the pile of disappointment here. Moon miqo face 4 - the pupils were enlarged (or the eyes shrunk?), and now I have this really uncanny mouth edge lip shadow. She looks like an alien granny now.



In a lot of light scenarios this is what she looks like:



You can't tell me this is normal. Cleft chin apparently on top of everything.

This is *not* my character. I am feeling very demotivated to even play the game to be honest.

The granny mouth, the bug eyes, the face getting wider so it makes the eyes look smaller and weird placement. These are all my issues too. I used to look at her face and be like aww qt but now I'm not taking screenshots of this old looking bug-eyed alien stranger. It affects my enjoyment of the entire game.

Cutscenes are worse because of her, glamour is true end game but I'm like why bother who is this anyway. I know it sounds like an overreaction but my character is why I keep playing and she's changed too much from her old screenshots. The expressions were completely nerfed and the only thing I prefer about the new model over the old model is the nose without the bump. Even though that is something others like, maybe add both options.

[Mr_Gucky]

In a nutshell: the graphics update has resulted in the female faces looking like they've had plastic surgery.

Many may like this, but people tend to forget that there are also players who have been enjoying their WoL unchanged for several years and who are forced to look different now. And there are also some who want their WoL to look cool and tomboyish. This may be a culture shock for some, but there are actually still those who don't just want to be cute or sexy.

Everyone is free to look the way they like, I have nothing against that, but what has been done to some WoLs is a shame!

[riani]

Is this Highlander Face 1, Eyes 3? My Highlander has the same eyes and it bothers me to no end how different they look now.

Yes, it is. And we wouldn't be the first and last ones to complain about it, I think...

[Aurumis]

Male Miqo'te face 4 eyes 3 problem:
Please Yoshi-p and dev team. Listen to the people asking to fix these faces... please fix the eyes even if you want to fix everything, the eyes are everything to expression and a face...

[Amecoeur]

I cannot describe what is different or if any really, I just don't look my male viera alt like before. I used to stare at him whenever I queue on duty finder, now it just not as much. Is it just me? I don't keep screenshots and the one my friend had isn't the highest quality.
Left is Dawntrail, Right is Endwalker