This is on point.
I’d just like to add a few things. Note that my goal is not to personally attack anyone here. If you feel offended by anything I type here, I’m sorry. But it’s just a different opinion.
Your post is heavily based on personal opinions and impressions, yet you take them as if they were facts.
First of all: the only thing we know for sure (and “for sure” is the key phrase here) that was influenced by the Council, is the fact that AoE4 has naval gameplay. This is because the devs said that in video, and it was confirmed by the person on Reddit, as you appointed.
I don’t like the naval gameplay in any AoE game. If it was my call, I wouldn’t include it. Seems like the devs wouldn’t as well. The Council disagreed. This poll shows that 70% of this forum agrees with the Council: [Poll] Is Naval Gameplay really a MUST for you?
(Note that the option in the poll is “I want water gameplay no matter what it takes”. I take that as people want water even if it sucks - as it sucked in every other Age game, imho)
The Council did represent the majority of the community with this specific feedback. This is a fact.
Total war was an example of realistic graphics to illustrate that option. It doesn’t mean devs were considering it. It has been discussed a lot here, but to put in few words: total war is a completely different game, in which super realistic graphics work really well. In fact, that is a game designed to allow the type of gameplay many people defend here, of pausing, slowing time and zooming in.
I don’t see a graphic downgrade. Some unit are less detailed now. Some units are more detailed now. The textures look better overall now, in my opinion. I’m saying this after watching all trailers again, not only seeing the images you posted. X019 looks better? Sure. I think it’s mostly related to the scaling of units.
So there is the scaling of units. There is strong evidence the Council influenced this. (Again, there is no way to know for sure. In this case, the evidence is strong enough that I’m ok to treat it as a fact.)
The bigger size of units for the sake of readability is exaggerated in the current state. However, I do believe the scaling in X019 was not good either. It would be really hard to play the game with units that small. That said, I still like the current graphics. It doesn’t bother me all that much, as long as gameplay is good.
You dislike the graphics, many people like them. This is a sign that they’re not objectively bad.
Regarding AoE3 DE, I also don’t think it looks better than AoE4 at all. I guess this point is greatly related to a preference for realism many people have. More realism does not necessarily means better graphics. But you are free to preffer whichever graphics you like, of course.
Finally, we have the “the majority of players play campaign and skirmish with AI, so they want to play slow, zoomed in games” argument. A lot of people say this here. The problem is they assume everyone who likes singleplayer is allergic to the word “competitive” and likes to play in slow pace and zooming in. That’s not true. I don’t play ranked, but I also never play like that. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
I’m not a competitive player, but I really want the game to be suitable for eports. I like watching and I think it does good for the game’s longevity. It doesn’t automatically make the campaign worse.
The buildings could be larger and still provide good readability? I think so. Is it the Council’s fault the scaling is how it is now? I don’t know. No one knows other than the Council and the devs. As the person said in Reddit, the devs do what they want with the opinion of the Council.
Maybe the Council doesn’t represent you, as they don’t represent my opinion in a lot of aspects, but that’s how it works. I’m sure they gave a lot of feedback you’d agree. And the fact that you don’t agree with some decisions doesn’t mean they don’t represent the community.