I suppose to begin to tackle this question you have to understand what different makers are aiming for in their finished product. There are many knives that are considered extremely good that look quite rustic (Takeda, or even many Carters in my opinion). But, that is by design.
Each knife maker/brand has different qualities and it's up to you to decide which ones really bear most on your selection. Some of these things to be considered might be : thickness of the blade (laser vs mighty) / stainless vs semi-stainless vs carbon steel / even being more specific to wanting a specific alloy of steel / the blade's finish level (mirror/matte/kurouchi/damascus. even one maker's kurouchi finish will consistently look different than another's) / blade profile (lots of belly or flat) / handle style / handle materials / general fit and finish, tight joints at the handle, rounded choil/spine of the blade, etc / single steel construction vs cladded / convex grind vs straight / amount of distal taper.
I don't write out this big list of attributes to try to overwhelm you. I just want you to start to think about which bits of a knife really make a difference to you. For me, my last purchase was a Masamoto HC 240mm Gyuto. The reason I wanted that one was a high blade height at the heel, good carbon steel with a good heat treatment, uncladded construction, a blade in the middle-to-mighty end of the thickness scale, western handle, acceptable fit and finish, and price. It is probably easier to give a list of makers to consider once you've narrowed down what you're looking for. Different knives get reputations for their different qualities. It's up to you to figure out first which qualities you most desire, and then choose a brand that does it best. And of course, there's tons of people here that are happy to offer suggestions.