Glad I found this thread. I'll add my character to the list. I'm also quite unhappy with the changes.

There are clear differences. And nope, Fantasia doesn't fix that.


  • Pupils don't look right
  • Skin details are too pronounced / not as smooth
    • Creates eye bags
    • Creates a more wrinkly appearance
  • Mouth is too pronounced

It looks like my character aged. Looks like a different character overall. His expression changed too.

Adding "more detail" shouldn't mean making dents/wrinkles/shadows more pronounced, or changing the details. It changes the character and their attitude.

These images are from my portrait. I don't know if there's something wrong with the portrait rendering, but in the character window, pupils render a little differently. Textures need rework - they're no good. They're too different.

Adjusting lighting in portrait editor doesn't resolve the issues. It can help a little, but only to cover the damage.

Looking at this thread, this issue seems to affect many races/faces/setups.

Though at least SE gave me spectacles to cover the eye bags now.

Dear SE, please at least give us an option to use the old textures. Even the pixel/detail density did not change between the portraits - meaning there was no benefit of using higher res textures here. There was no improvement. It only changed the character I am used to playing for more than a decade. And that is not good.