IMO it was mostly praised because the source material resonates with many. It was apparently a very good artistic recreation of There was nothing noteworthy about it from a technical standpoint.I tried Hogwart's legacy as it's now in the PS+ catalog, the game was praised for its graphics, i know it's already 2 years old, but it looks quite average compared to AC Shadows I must say.
Lighting in RT fidelity mode was not very convincing, and a lot of shadow flicker and "pop-in". But it also released on last gen so that might explain.