I would say it went from maybe moody (this might not be the right term, but something like it) and more manufactured, to now being more realistic. Better technology has allowed games to have lighting that gets very close to reality, especially with ray-tracing. It sometimes comes with the cost of creative control though.

I wouldn't say either is bad. They can both be amazing or shit depending on how they're used. It's easy to pick the best or worst offenders from either to make whichever one you want to look good though.