Nod Krai feels like disappointing low quality

Was all hyped to return to game after 6 month break but honestly.. For creators that have designed some of the most beautiful overworld exploration expieriance and years of expieriance.. I expected more.. Colors are bland gray and boring. Details missing and back ground feels lazy. Opening trailer for region introduced characters from weird angles with random walls, npc and doors instead of doing typical new region overview fly over. They have done dark themes like Ekanomiya before and much beter light steam punk inspired Fontaine. And much better work on mountains in many regions. May be I am missing something but 5 hours in I feel like going to finish other regions rather than the 'best and latest' game has to offer. I have all original regions at 100% and been playing on/off since 1.1. I always played for exploration...