While some rephrasing always need to be done when translating, I think the example provided is actually a good one that changes the feeling of the scene.

In the japanese one the exarch say it like Vauthry used to be different and has been sinking deeper and deeper in his own self indulgence. It also establish that the exarch propably knew him for a long time, before he started to completly lose it.

The other one feel like he's telling him "well aren't you the same old fatty" like a petty provocation.

Another example that used to irk me was a line during the fight with Zenos in the french translation. When he's doing his big attacks in japanese he say something like "Don't die from that" which is in line with the personality of the character that just want to enjoy the fight. While in french it's translated as "Won't you just die already?" which is pretty much the opposite and don't match Zenos' personality.

Smalls things like that can really alter your perception of the story or the characters. Personally I'm not interested in the translation team caring about my cultural comfort, I want to know what the original author wanted to convey. Which is why I prefer to get every media in it's original language if I can understand it. Lot's of things are lost in translation.