Was there a graphics update?

I just started playing again after a few months hiatus, and everything looks really...shiny.

Textures on a lot of objects and enemies, even a few that look like total reskins or new enemy objects (the hydras and flash gargoyles come to mind).

Landscape textures and foliage look better than I remember too. Is this in my head or did they actually up the graphics?

Short answer: No

Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooo

I think you might have post-processing effects on. Can turn them off in Graphics options

You can change the amount of graphics the game shows by pressing f11 on the Graphics Tab. Depending on the computer you play with the game can determine what is the best graphics settings for you. Maybe you upgrade your computer to one some better hardware and the game went up a notch on the graphics department

Some time ago i changed an antique graphics card with something new and i noticed that the lighthouse in Lion's Arch actually is casting a spinning ray of light over the bay that wasn't there before. It was running on max settings before and after - old cards just can't display some of the effects , maybe that's what happened.

I think there was a graphics update, but it was three or four years ago?

Graphics in this game are darn good, IMHO. That they will be better in GW 2 blows my mind.

Possibly you are playing in newer areas? The original areas were kinda plain (Maguuma jungle and desert, etc) while later areas (EotN) are much more detailed.

Nah, same hardware. Been playing on a Dell XPS m1530 laptop for over 2 years now.

I'm noticing things specifically in the attack animations and textures. There seem to be more particle and glow effects during my attack skills on my dervish. Also, textures look crisper and sharper. I compared against some older screenshots, it's definitely sharper. I noticed it even in the Prophecies areas.

I checked, post processing effects is off (because I hate the soft glow).

Have you updated or changed graphics drivers at all recently?

Because driver support and the way the drivers deal with stuff might have changed, thus causing the better graphics. Or the driver change could have added/removed forced AA.. which then let the game do the AA..

Like with AMD/ATI drivers.. if you force AA with CCC, the game looks like garbage.. but if you tell CCC to let the application decide and set 4x AA in GW.. things look crisp and nice.