Yes, at least from what I’ve seen and experienced, AoE4 maps feel pretty lifeless and sterile. I don’t think there are even any birds that fly over the map like they used to. AoE4 sacrificed a lot of beauty and aesthetic to be an all out mechanical RTS game, I feel.
I wish it had a much stronger balance, because a good part of my enjoyment of AoE2 has always been ‘immersion’ (that lovely word everyone likes). And when the world feels a bit sterile and lifeless, and the UI is as it is, it doesn’t help my immersion. There are even no animated chickens at TCs as this link to the thread discusses
Yes, that screenshot/biome looks nice ArdeiGras1576, for sure. It could easily be improved nicely with some more graphical love, though