I like Vaporeon. Glaceon in probably my favourite design-wise, but I'm not sure why they stopped giving Eveelutions ruffs after Gen 1. It was a pretty major design element.
As for the new pink one, I would agree that the airy, ribbon-dancer look means that it's probably Flying. I just want to see the Poison one already.
I wouldn't say that the newer designs are "worse", but there's definitely been a shift, as handheld graphics have become higher resolution and with greater colour depth, to more "segmentation", smaller details and patterned surfaces.
Compare.
As for the game itself, I'd personally rather they stuck to higher-resolution animated sprites for another generation, and instead focused on making Pokemon act more individually; Actually moving when they use an attack, for instance, or at least trying to align existing attack effects with the sprite itself. Mud Shot is one of my favourite moves, not least because it still appears to be ejected from Marshtomp's crotch.
The weirdest thing? Half a year ago I wouldn't have had an opinion on any of this.