Now I'm not interested to spew polemic here, but I can't tell you how much I think the general quality of character appearance has gone up over the installments. Dunmer especially look absolutely badass in Skyrim, whereas in Morrowind even the greatest among them looked gaunt and emaciated, and in Oblivion their features were drawn across the scalp in such a way as to invoke maximum reprehension and contempt, like they've all gone to the Botox clinic or got an extreme facelift. One of the best parts in Skyrim, for me, is the character visuals, unlike previous installments. Elven features are stark and angular. The altmer are convincingly regal, the dunmer seem believably insidious and intimidating, and the bosmer look appealingly wicked, tricksy and false. They are perfect representatives of cultures that defy human understanding.
I've seen the elven visuals being likened to 'alien', and I find that an accurate assessment, but this is not a negative thing. I think there's a haunting beauty behind the expressiveness of Elder Scrolls elves, or at least those from Skyrim, and let's not forget that some of the merfolk have ample justification for their more grizzled appearances. Especially the Dunmer, many of who were forced to seek their fortunes abroad after Vvardenfell erupted about two centuries ago, rendering like a huge portion of Morrowind pretty uninhabitable, so forgive them for wearing a perpetual scowl. Maybe my next character will be DirtyHobo, the Dunmer Dragonborn thief.
