Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Argantaelle]

I'm slowly crawling through MSQ (I have lots of story to catch up on before I can reach DT). I know that most of the main NPC hasn't been updated yet (so I can enjoy vanilla Thancred's face, praise the Twelve), but NPC who share player characters's models are very noticeable.

This picture, imo, demonstrates the problems with the character update:



1. Lifeless flat hair without any kind of natural hair gloss.

2. The swollen cheeks of the Elezen girl in the background.

3. When a character smiles, too often their eyes turn into extremely narrow slits (combined with swollen cheeks, it creates a very interesting expression; that was not the initial intention of SE designers, at least I hope so).

4. I also noticed that light and shadows interact with a character's face in a weird way—both cheekbones and philtrum compose a brightly lit triangle, which looks unnatural. Not all faces are affected (it seems like most of the characters suffering from this issue are girls).

(more examples)

5. Also a common issue with smiles: only the lip corners are trying to create the smiling impression by being pulled up; the middle part of the lips isn't affected in any way. It looks very unnatural, and the wider the mouth is, the worse the smile looks. Maybe that's the real reason for the remodelling of all mouths, haha.
I can't say that the situation with smiles was ideal before DT; SE couldn't make a wider mouth look natural when smiling (I know it very well, because my character had the 2nd mouth type). But now it got worse; even standard-type mouths look uncanny.

6. Some eyes turned into flat, lifeless objects, like Miqote's eyes in the screenshot.

Minfilia's eyes also became lovely grey pebbles.

Kan-E-Senna, what has happened with your forehead?!