Does this excuse it though? All it proves is that it’s a passable effect.

I mean, I thought the CG in the PT was really good when I was a kid. In my teens I started to realize how imperfect it was. Now much of it just looks awful. I have a feeling that the new SW movies will suffer from the same effect over the next couple of decades. Maybe not as much (thanks to a decent amount of practical effects), but I don’t think they’ll age too well. And I think Tarkin will be one of the effects that will stand out the most.