As someone coming to this game after a few years away, and after playing New World, I cannot agree more with the OP. It's an incredibly high fantasy game.
Central Tyria is absolutely amazing. Shiverpeaks, Ascalon, Kryta, the Tarnished Coast, the zones feel real. Kessex Hills and Queensdale feel and look significantly different despite being in Kryta, and that is something New World missed. The argument was made that it's "an island covered with forest, of course everything will look the same!" But look at this game, this game shows you can create different looking zones despite them sharing the same ecology, climate and geology!
The races are so well thought out, and their integration with one another and the world deserves to be appreciated and applauded. Even the non playable races, the skritt, the hylek, the tengu, the quaggan, the centaurs, seeing their impact on Tyria and that some of the races are friendly with them while others are at odds. It really adds to the experience. Knowing my sylvari has a different view and outlook on the skritt as opposed to my human, this is what's missing in RPG's. New World doesn't have any of this. And I like that my character(s) are voiced, it really lends to the roleplay.
The battle system is really enjoyable! I've taken a necro to 80 and am now working on unlocking my Reaper skills and not once did I feel like it was a drag or burned out. The class felt fluid, and I loved exploring the world, participating in the events that popped up. And there's so much content! I haven't really touched dungeons, fractals or strikes as of yet!
ANet really should make a marketing push for this game a month after Endwalker, maybe a Twitch Drops Campaign. They need to advertise it more, it's very similar to New World but much, much better. And it deserves much more recognition. I only came back because someone in New World mentioned GW2 in chat