Been playing some kingdom come 1, and its a very odd looking game. The lighting is obviously very impressive but it still feels dated in a way thats hard to describe. maybe its because has that b game feel most east european games have, but then the cutscenes happen and it feels like an epic ridley scott movie with lots of NPCs, fantastic sweeping camera, and some really impressive dialogue and acting. the facial animations suck but everything else feels so much more grandeur in scope. What an odd game.
Watched the trailer for the sequel to compare and the cutscenes immediately look better with way better facial animations and graphics. it definitely is an upgrade, perhaps not a generational one, but maybe a HZD to HFW caliber leap. The gameplay sequences also look better, but not a huge leap. the sequel is far more colorful and dense. The sunlight feels appropriately bright and the castles interiors have some excellent indirect lighting and shadows. Honestly, its a high point for the original as well, but its so much better in the sequel.
Here are some gifs from the early part of the first game. And a combat gif from the second game that shows how much brighter day light looks in the sequel.