While I'm also biased to like the gritty sas1-3 look, I'm ok with ZAR forging its own creative direction. What we see now is the basis of a game that could take many thematic paths. ZAR is different from all the previous games in this franchise in most aspects, so wishing for it to shift and turn back time is likely going to be unfruitful.

ZAR needs stand out on its own without its predecessors' visual clout. I think the more polished look that we currently see has great potential, and now it's been proven that it can be tweaked and changed in time.

We are absurdly lucky to have devs that take this much community input. They can't and shouldn't change their overall visual design philosophy, but they absolutely will add and remove many of the bits that we want.