Funny that some here (including you) think that it's graphical improvements are open to interpretation. You can say that they could've done more, but it's factually looks better and different to Destiny 1. The fact that you actually recognize stuff from D1 means that it's a sequel, not that its the exact 100% same engine that they used in D1 without any improvements.
1) Art direction is subjective, graphics are not. I do not think any games graphical improvements are open for interpretation. Its 1's and 0's, its either got more/better effects or it doesn't. The frame rate is either higher, the same, or worse.
2) But HOW is it factually better looking? This was my original question, that still has not been answered other than "I think it has more particle effects on screen" and "it just looks better when I use my eyeballs to look at it"
There are no facts being presented here. A fact would be "Bungie has implemented soft shadows and higher resolution textures." An opinion would be "it just looks better." I feel like I'm only reading opinions, just wondering if there are any facts on what they're doing to improve the engine.
They mention something about physical based rendering, but that was already in Destiny 1, and some refinements in lighting but not much in detail. Bokeh DOF is being used now, not sure if that was implemented in D1 or not.
I'm just hoping they will be using high res textures w/ the Pro, Scorpio, and PC versions.