I'm not sure what they are comparing it to. To me it looks much cleaner than UMvC3 getting rid of all of the pseudo comic-book effects which didn't fit at all.
Just saying "it looks bad" is dismissive and lazy. I mean "WHAT" looks bad? The artstyle? The graphics? The lighting? The backgrounds? The VFX? Give me something tangible.
That's why I say people are hating on it for the sake of doing so because it is the popular thing to do. No one as of yet have given ANY explanation as to why it "looks bad." In my humble opinion this seems like one of these situations where people don't want to be the odd-person out so they go with the mob-mentality. Everyone else is saying it looks bad so I'd better say it looks bad too so I don't look like a fly on a piece of paper.
It's really just subjective anyway. To each their own. A lot of people are just blowing smoke and will have the game day one despite their rhetoric.
RE: The King of Street Fighters