the improvements they made to volumetric fog are also a nice touch. It might not sound as an outstanding feature but when, for instance, Skyrim was released, the volumetric fog in the mountains was something I had never seen in a game before. Overall, the graphics of Skyrim weren't amazing, nor they needed to be, but when you saw the fog up in the mountains, it was so realistic, it was on a league of its own, and no game came close to that, at least the games I've played.
In that sense, Skyrim was a feat and an unique game that make the game even more appealing.