> I've seen a few folks online remarking about the “JPEG” or “PNG”-like quality of the images

What do they mean by this?

Players that don't know the technical term "billboarding" might use this as a way to say that the images of the food are "flat" unlike the rest of the 3D modeled environment. Just a suspicion!

I can also be used for derogatory connotations; Another example is for Smash Brothers specifically, the Byleth character's ultra move has a flat image of a character in their game and people call it "png sothis" (character name) to suggest that it's low-effort or not well made

Also that they use a more realistic style compared to much of the in-game art assets.

JPEG has morphed into a synonym for photo, I guess.

See also: Ace Combat 7s infamous JPEG dog.

https://youtu.be/IXB1W8va3eg

Huh, Ace Combat sure has changed since I last played it in the 90s.

Isn't it about compression artifacts?