That’s justified by its setting I think.

TOW1 is set in the failing hyper-capitalist colony that had quite a few of setbacks and catastrophes in the past and people are being exploited to death in the final push before final collapse when the leadership and the upperclass finally call it quits.

Arcadia system in TOW2 is a home to a “communist utopia” that far more advanced technologically than the rest of the colonies. It’s been ravaged by war but the former glory still remains.

Though personally I didn’t notice much difference in the art style. I guess it has more graphical fidelity because of better shaders or something? I also heard that the first game looked different before Spacer’s Choice edition and people complained about the changes, I’m curious how it stacks up against TOW2.