Keeping it simple, good graphics with a bunch of bland, empty environments < slightly decreased graphics with very interesting areas with actual story driven landmarks. As for character models, depends completely on the art style of the game whether they look like they belong or not. That said, I'll take a slight graphics downgrade any day to liven up a dead boring world, not to mention better coding leads to smoother gameplay. And @OP, the graphics are a slight downgrade with more options for low end players while high end pc players are able to experience what you see in that one 2.0 screenshot. In, short a much better engine that should attract more players since you won't be needing a really good pc to handle this games terrible pc optimization. No matter how you look at it, it's a good thing.