Holy fuck this subreddit is shit.
A lot of the other zones in the game really feature only a small handful of terrain types and notable features,
Only a handful? So does the Hinterlands, bro.
ranging from forests,
I don't know what you think forests look like, but they usually stretch for an unbelievable amount of land. The Hinterlands most certainly does not have any forests. It has about two dozens of trees nested up together. Unless you're counting those in the skybox, which are not accessible.
caves and lakes
Caves and lakes in the Exalted Plains: Check
Caves and lakes in the Hissing Wastes: Caves only
Caves and lakes in the Emprise: Double check
Caves and lakes in the Forgotten Oasis: Mining Caves and a pond
Caves and lakes in the Emerald Graves: double check
Caves and lakes in the Fallow Mire: river only
Caves and lakes in Crestwood: double check
Caves and lakes in the Western Approach: caves only
Caves and lakes in the Storm Coast: double check
So the Hinterlands doesn't really stand out in that area.
farmland, keeps and Redcliffe village
The keeps are present in 3 other areas, and actually do something. The only thing the Hinterlands has, that other areas do not, is a village, and one patch of "farmland". How is this better design, again?
you've pretty much seen the whole thing, but the Hinterlands really rewards exploration.
Please define what exactly makes exploration "rewarding", and how the Hinterlands rewards exploration.
The Hinterlands are large enough to reward spending time in them
L0L
and packed with content
Because content by itself is automatically satisfying and well done. Content can't be badly done, right? The Hinterlands surely presents a variety of fetchquests; sometimes you talk to someone to start the quest (with VARYING GENDERS of the people you are talking to!), sometimes you pick up a letter found on the ground, sometimes you pick up a letter on a dead body (which can also be of VARYING GENDERS!).
Compare to the Hissing Wastes, where you spend ages galloping across an empty desert
This is more of an opinion and does not actually illustrate why the Hinterlands is better designed than the Hissing Wastes. You just dislike how it feels. The point of the Hissing Wastes was to be empty and vast, because it's a fucking desert. What were you expecting, human settlements and fetchquests every 3 metres? It did what it was set out to do; but you still try to paint the Hinterlands as objectively better designed just because you dislike the way the Hissing Wastes plays out. In no way does you disliking the area prove the Hinterlnds is better designed.
Forbidden Oasis which loops back over itself so many times that the map is pretty much useless
How so? I recall the artists talking about how that's what they were going for. See above.
Hinterlands just seems much better designed.
Why is it better designed? Let me guess - it looks prettier and has tunz of staff 2 du!
It seamlessly introduces the world and major players
Define "seamlessly" and provide examples of how the Hinterlands does so.
also includes some fun callbacks for returning players
CallbackS implies plurality, the only callback I can think of is Redcliffe, which looks nowhere near as it did in DA:O, at which point it isn't a "fun callback", it's a grating.
no matter where I was there was always lots of stuff to do right near me.
Because content for the sake of content makes an area automatically better designed than others.
People harp about the "herd a druffalo" type quests, but most of the Hinterlands isn't like that
Why yes it is.
but rather serves to immerse the player in the Mage-Templar conflict from the get-go,
Some examples, and proof that that's the most of the content?
while also including lots of details (e.g. the statue and old mill in redcliffe) that will make older players feel right at home.
Screw designing Redcliffe to look closer to what it looked like in DA:O! That won't make older players feel right at home! Put the statue and the old mill! Yes, great job Bob!
Sounds like you're just full of shit OP. If you think it's underrated, don't argue why with misrepresentation and vague blanket statements.