The textures are pretty decent (though stylistically bland in some cases, such as Ul'Dahn architecture) and the normal maps are pretty impressive all-around (Coerthas needs some work, but I'm willing to ignore it at the moment XD).

But the awkward area lighting and "non-reflective" water tend to compliment one another in lessening the believability of the visual environments presented in this game. If I were to choose one, I would say the lighting and shadows need the most work when it comes to graphics.

As far as the blandness is concerned, I think it may just be an issue of city-states (as well as towns) not really having their own cultures visually represented in the world. Aside from the look of the actual cities themselves, there's not really much in regards to visual and cultural selling points for each respective state that is translated into the world itself. (In other words, you can't go out into a camp or town, see a specific plow or anvil or style of hat and say, "Oh, that item is of Limsan make". Just the little things can go a long way in presenting a believable virtual world.