I think they could have placed some more collectibles at the edges of the maps, it's the countryside but it's also a game, doesn't make sense to make the game semi-open world but not place anything worth exploring in the world.
I like the river where sims spawn and go for a swim and the lake where you can fish in Old New Henford. The open garden where sims seems to spawn and plant random plants doesn't really do it for me and the playground with toys just laying on the ground with no kids with them feels weird. At least some sims spawn and hang around there.
The huge area with the snail in The Bramblewood feels more like a thing for Maxis to be honest, I know it's based on the snail statue they have outside of their headquarters but I don't think many people will get that reference and are probably more likely to wonder why it's there and why it takes so long for sims to visit the statue, I love the ruins in the middle though. But again, they could have more collectibles in my opinion.