or it seems like it, could also be a lighting thing, however it adds some sort or realism.
It is definitely a lighting thing. Models almost always look better in sunlight type lighting for one. A model under the same light can look both the left and the right depending on their position and distance to the light etc. Getting the best lightning would involve setting up the lighting for each scene individually which no one doing hundreds of renders has time for. See spoiler below for example.
Normally I'd say you guys should lighten up a little when it comes to criticizing renders because speed plays a factor in quality. Want the next update to have more pictures? Well a quality is going take a hit. That or the update will be farther away.
That said, this guy deserves the criticism because he is adding fewer pictures not more and is getting paid a shit ton to do it. Also at this point he should have the experience to be doing better when it comes to setting up a scene. NOOB TIP: Look at it from different angles! Or else you have flying pillows and such.