I think Stefan is trying to move away from having the body system hard-wired into the Graal exe and let NPC scripting handle more and more as it becomes more powerful, this way you can have more control/customisation without releasing a new exe.
The new bodies are an improvement capibility-wise, the animations are much better, and they don't look that bad. I think everyone's problem is that there arn't enough bodies yet, but hey, it's a new system, give it a chance, I hated the new bodies, simply because you didn't have the customization of the old ones, which would be nice, but if it causes lag? I'd rather have just graphics that are un-customisable. Once more bodies/re-colors are made, etc, they'll be fine.
I must admit, I still think the old bodies are cute
Urizen