Closing this thread as it’s run its course.
Why does the NTP look different?
Because we updated the design recently. The new design has everything the previous one had plus more, allowing for more top-site/favorite tiles to be added to the NTP, has a minimal look with less clutter over the image being used and will be easier to implement new cards/widgets/features in the future.
I don’t like it, can I change it back?
For now yes you can. You can visit brave://flags, search for New Tab Page Refresh and change the value for this flag to Disabled. Please note that there will come a time in a future update where this flag gets removed and everyone will be using the new layout.