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This might be somewhat of a long shot, but does anyone else feel the "modern" old-school art clashes with the original 2007 art? This was/is probably most noticeable in Kourend, and if I remember correctly was a complaint at the time. NPCs look fine, and fit, most likely because there is a tool to create them. For custom models (scenery and monsters) however the story is different. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something very slightly different about the modern models, enough to to stand out.
I think this screenshot demonstrates it quite clearly: https://i.imgur.com/0QwQcZB.png
The entrance model stands out. It's low-poly, yet it clearly stands out from e.g. the mountain and the crates. I think this clashes with the original art style. To be clear I'm not saying the modern stuff looks bad, just that it doesn't quite fit. For instance, I love the Wyrms, and I think they look amazing, especially the animation.
It's also not quite consistent. The more "blocky" art-style which seems to have started around the Great Kourend release is the worst offender. However, stuff like Nex I think fits and looks good. However, the scenery is weird. I mean, just take a look at this RS3 looking statue: https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/images/thumb/Great_Kourend.png/800px-Great_Kourend.png?70c5b (albeit a bit cherry-picked, but the houses and streets all have a very "modern" look to them.)
Or for a monster that isn't a boss (since those are generally afforded more polys), take a look at this boar: https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/images/thumb/Boar_%28lv_7%29.png/260px-Boar_%28lv_7%29.png
Every new low-poly design seems "blocky" rather than "jagged" which was the original art style for monsters. Again, the difference isn't massive but it's big enough that I can instantly pick out whenever a design is new, barring those that are recolors or very heavily modeled on older stuff, like Ogresses and Corrupted Dark Beasts.
If anyone has any insight on this I'd appreciate it. It's been bugging me for a while, and I've not been able to put my finger on it.
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