Yah... the area where a unique zone feature occurs as well as where you fight a God, as well as a spot with many named mobs with some significantly good in-era loot. Very bad example lol.
Are these also examples of blandness you are giving? Small snips from a very small portion of a zone? All but one of those zones are anything but bland, IMO.
Childish and cartoonish are two separate things. Childish could refer to any number of things. The handholding, the solo oriented gameplay, the lack of the feeling of reward for hard work, etc, on and on.