would you have liked this design over the 2014 design?

It's not that. It's just the simple fact that for the most parts, the original suits didn't leave much to the imagination when it came to thinking of them as possible looks for a real Godzilla. Now, it probably is just the CGI talking, but I stand firm in the fact that we just have more to work with when we look at LegendaryGoji.

^Define "work with"? What does this design add to Godzilla's character that others had not done before? Yes CG makes him more applicable for realistic movement, but beyond that there's nothing to the design that is more implicitly well thought out than previous designs.

Um Gman2887 are you forgetting the gills? Obvously the gills are what put this new one over the top in terms of realism. If only this 94 version had gills he would be realistic too.....

The feet and legs have less of a "man-in-suit" motion to them that denotes the creature's overall stature, the heavy-set and muscular framework and scale patterning displays a very powerful and armored creature, the lack of external ears and gill locations give off the vibe of being a deep-sea creature, and the smaller-piercing ideas aid in the previous deep-seas statement.

Original designs generally had awkward bodily proportions due to limitations of man-in-suit posture as well as limited resources due to restrictiveness of tokusatsu film-making. Texturing of suits cannot convey up-close looks as effectively due to small size and limited ability to pattern more detailed textures, and due to suit-materials, also do not display an organic look and feel of an animal.

Granted, all limitations are due to usage of suits. If designed in a similar setting as LegendaryGoji, these designs might become more effective, but as LegendaryGoji was designed to look, move and feel like an actual animal whilst retaining core Godzilla-aspects, and not an overlay of a Human, it means it has an edge at conveying effective traits in a realistic framework.

I meant "smaller-piercing eyes" at the end of my first paragraph and not "ideas" DX

I think that LegendaryGoji strikes the perfect balance between looking animalistic and still being Godzilla. Zilla's design was too far on the animalistic side, while some of the older suits suffered from being to human-like due to the limitations of the suits. I don't necessarliy think LegendaryGoji looks more realistic, but his design definitely possesses a majestic detail that makes him truly look like a force of nature.

Gman123,
The problem with a lot of your answers is that most of them can be attributed to the use of CGI. The movement of the feet and the texture of the design are inherent in CG building, not creature designing. This is also very far from the first time Godzilla has had external ears and although the gills are an interesting feature, they're also a moot addition due to never being touched upon. (Not unlike the double row of teeth from the Heisei era.) It also goes against your claim that earlier designs didn't leave much to the imagination. For example, not seeing any gills left Godzilla more mysterious and the imagination had to wonder how he breathed underwater. Now the new one has gills and the imagination is squandered.

Strictly from a design perspective, the 2014 design is no more or less effective at looking like a realistic, functioning creature than any other incarnation. Texturing, movement and patterning is a gift (or curse) of the CG method used to bring him to life. Indeed had the same design been used for Toku purposes, this would become more apparent to fans.

Luckily a fan was able to prove that himself:

Likewise, the look of the 1991 design would be severely different in movement, texture and patterning if it were CG as well.

The more realistic movement of the design has also been accomplished before using suits. In GMK, Godzilla was given a dinosaurian hunch just as prominent as that of the new design. CGI creates greater detail and can create more organic motion, but I've always liked having something tangible in front of the camera to be filmed. I think the Heisei Gamera Trilogy is the furthest anyone has come in blending computer-generated effects and suitmation together to create an almost perfect finished product. Unfortunately CGI was still relatively primitive at the time and wasn't perfected yet. With modern technology however, the result of combining CGI and practical effects would be astounding. It's too bad everyone now chooses to just take the route of full CGI.

i agree king of the monsters. i actually miss the blend of practical effects and cgi. a good example of of a lack of this is the hobbit. the orcs in those movies dont really feel real anymore even though the cgi is well done while in the lord of the rings trilogy they use practical effects on every orc and you feel like they can come running out of your closet or crawl out from beneath your bed at any moment

There's a term some of you may be familiar with - "they stood on the shoulders of giants." That's basically what the Legendary team did with their version. They took what had already been done, several times over, and modified it with modern techniques. They didn't re-invent the wheel. Now, all of a sudden this is the ultimate version of Godzilla? I don't think so. Sure, with CGI, you can give it movements and nuances that are not possible with a suit alone, but it only cost $160 mil! ;) How many G films could ToHo make for that? I'm a big fan of CGI, when used properly. JP gave us the most realistic dinosaurs ever put on film, but I'd still hold the '33 King Kong and most of Harryhausen's work up to it. Amazing stuff.

The '54 Godzilla is, for me, the benchmark. He was original and unique. I love everything about that design. The spines and overall look are still my favorites and the roar blows anything since out of the water, including the 2014 roar, which the more I hear the less I like.

And we're all entitled to our opinions. Neither one of us are clearly wrong, nor clearly right. It's just a matter of perspective. From my perspective, as well as from general audiences nowadays, I can see the new design as something to please everyone, a bit of old, a bit of new, not perfect but far from anything close to being bad.

And given the media it's in, it's a very natural progression of design. Compared to old versions, this one gives a nice callback to fans, whilst still offering something non-fans can sink their teeth into. You can't really do much else with the basic Godzilla template and still call it Godzilla nowadays, but I, personally, felt that Legendary's attempt is one of the best representations, especially being an outside creator and not Toho.

I do quite like the old suits, but for me, the spectacle of Godzilla lies in the fact that despite any changes made, the approach done, as long as you keep the core aspects the same, you can never truly mess up Godzilla, and there's something for everyone. New, old, we all can like one or the other and it'd be okay.

@TheGMan123 - Well stated sir!

Um just to get back to the topic I'd prefer the 2014 design over the 1994 one 

Yeah, both of these are great design's but i think i will go with 2014 over this one. Now had we gotten this design over 98's then i would have been a happy man, only considering that it looks more godzilla like and a dinosaur at that. Not no stupid overgrown size iguana. :P

Now THIS is what a more realistic looking Godzilla would look like.

2014 Big G is way too fat and has a weird neck. I'll call him Fatzilla.

But this IS Godzilla.