I don't think the graphics in XIV were ever a problem.

Everyone just wanted better visual design.

Honestly I think it's way too early to tell either way based on these few shots of trees and deserts.

Personally I hope they're sitting on that FF imagination material that SE is so good at and these are just the bland places to root them into reality.



This might be off topic but the artist in me waits for the videos rather than these screens to see if there's anything interesting in the new areas. These screens have expertly crafted compositions especially the one in the OP and as such they give a highly edited view of what's going on.

(spear and shadows leading diagonals into the pic. everything important is placed on golden divisions and there's even a line of sight spiral leading into the background) This is without a doubt a beautiful image but as an environment design we really can't judge a few trees either way at this moment I think.

The concept art in the roadmap shows a lot of promise I think that's what we can all agree on. Now let's just wait until we see some of those designs with these graphics.