Nice comparisons by a youtuber below.
Personally I love the lighting.
A bit darker at times, glossy characters, I totally dig it. But maybe not for everyone. Riptor stage is the only bad one. Was ugly, now might be worse, imo (maybe delete and give one to Gargos, lol)
Another one
Last two
No. 4
Awesome!
All but Thunder’s stages look better in Season 3. The changes made to Devil’s Landing are a bit controversial and, in some aspects, Season 2 looks more detailed, especially when looking at the far distance.
Yes, Thunder’s too. I would just get rid of his stage (temporarily) and include in a future update only when it’s up to par with other quality stages.
New light system is cool bot have really too much crushed black.
In the first comparison (Alchemical lab), shago’s legs are all black (look at how the good work on the trousers textures is not noticeable due to all the black that covers all), melted with the backround…in some instance it seems only an upper body floating in the dark.
Same for the second example: all the details in darker areas of character or stage are gone, faded in black.
Same for the third, Sadira’s face and hair are a black “blotch” (don’t know the right term in English) and the tiger knee guards lose a lot of details unless they are in full light.
The fourth: beside cloud’s shadows gone and worst texture on the blue fabric, the details of doors visible in the intros are half gone in the dark (and the already pointed general lose of characters details crushed in black).
Overall stages looks now better, more contrasted, same for some characters, the bad side is that you lose many details and textures due to the black crush, it is a true pity.
If I recall correctly they already get rid of black crush in a past update (perhaps the 720p to 900p update?) but now it returned.
Thunder’s stage is a peculiar animal because there’s a lot less going on up front and the majority of the stage is characterized by the nice backdrop - which is beautiful but is just a flat texture.
My opinion is that the stages look a lot better. Particularly Sadira, Glacius, Tiger’s Lair, Fulgore and Cinder. But there’s an element here of once you start messing with the color balance on your TV and examining it closely, you never feel that it’s quite right.
As far as the complaint coming up about the crushed blacks - I can see this in the video but it really isn’t a problem for me at home. I have two different setups on Xbox on two different TVs and I’ve also played it on my PC monitor and I don’t have this experience on any of them. Maybe it’s just a question of adjusting your settings.
Maybe…but they were correct and beautiful before the update and with other games they’re still good.
I understand it’s a feature more than a bug…perhaps they have just exaggerated a bit with alphas.
I see also in another thread that the new lights are messing with characters just like I pointed, here: Season 3 Character Contrast Glacius body look stunning but the metallic parts (just like shago knee pads) are near black…really too much dark so all the details disappears.
Fix my fav stage IG!
Also, I like how clapping from the danger theme carries over to the idle theme on Thunder’s stage, it sounds so sool.
What’s your favorite stage?
Thunder’s.
Although, it doesn’t look much worse than before, just a bit.
Everything looks fine to me.
@developers @TempusChaoti @rukizzel
I took a bit 'of time to look at the lighting problem better.
Seems to be less severe than I remembered, in most instances standard colors behave properly in almost all levels with better results than S2; Glacius, for example, is absolutely gorgeous (of course I have not checked all possible combinations character/stage/accessory) some accessories are still totally ruined by new lighting system; the white arm stripes of TJ Combo alt (naked torso) appears actually black when TJ is facing right (default 1P), when he faces to the left they are normal.
Color 9 Shago has black pants which is ok, but now there’s so much black to eliminate any fabric texture, his pants are just a huge black thing (see first example posted in this topic by @BoJima404 ).
And so on.
In general the metal parts of any character behave in extremely variable ways from stage to stage appearing normal in some stage, in others they are almost black (see Glacius example posted by @Yperdaimonios), in others they assume different colors due to reflections (which could also be right).
To reduce the black crush I use brightness +1 in the game settings but for some character even puting 3/4 is not enough (like color 9 Shago for the aforementioned example).
Considering Thunder’s stage is one of the most popular and well-put together stages in the game (it’s the epitome of perfection, in my book), you’d think itwould be the one MS/IG wouldn’t mess up in any shape or form. Alas…
Man, for a mainly console audience you care a lot about graphics! Hey, I play on PC, I’m supposed to be the elitist here! 
From what I’m gathering Thunder’s stage should be full of water, right? Well, it’s pretty much full of water on Windows 10:
Pic1
Pic2
What is wrong with it exactly compared to S2? Could someone point this out for me based on the pics or even better: could someone upload some comparison pics to see if there is any difference between the two version (I don’t think there is but sill).
Oh, I think I get it: the Season 2 colour scheme makes the water reflections more visible so it appears as a bit more detailed. I’m pretty sure that technically there is no downgrade here but the changes can seem bad to someone who has a different taste / just got used to the S2 looks. Personally I think the more vibrant and varied colours of S3 helps to make the game look more fresh and it brings it closer to the feeling of playing a classic arcade game (flashy, loud, colourful etc.)… in fact it quite nails it.
I pretty much got tired of MKX’s toned down, moody colours after a few months so I think it’s great that KI looks more colourful and overall just has more contrast + that helps in “covering up” some of the game’s technical shortcomings. Sure, the right side’s brightness hurts the visibility of water reflections but I think S2 had a bit too much of those anyway, it’s aesthetically more coherent now instead of the technical showcase of “hey, we got water effects, look at it, LOOK AT IT!” The stage is just gorgeous to me but of YMMV.
Riptor’s stage did take the biggest hit and looked washed-out as you said. I also think the switch from a green eerie tint to a blue one makes Spinal’s stage lose its magic.
Riptor:
Spina (lost the eerie green tint)l:
Yeah thunder,spinal and riptors stage have lost their edge. I miss the water running down their bodies.
The clouds in jagos stage are also gone.
Well, I wouldn’t say Thunder’s has lost its edge, but Spinal and especially Riptor’s have.
Riptor’s stage s a downgrade no matter how you look at it. I’m just praying it’s a bug.
I guess I’m alone in liking Riptor’s stage more then… 
Oh well.
Not alone, I prefer it as it is now as well.
