Thanks for the feedback!
Yes I agree about the barrenness. It's partially intentional, because it is a kind of empty steppe, but it's also because I'm still finding trees and such quite difficult to draw. ><So rather than get bogged down I was thinking I could populate some of the back layers with a few more details later on.
Re: the dirt. I am wondering if this is partially due to the video, and if it looks more natural in-game. The dirt is very dark but usually covered by all the grasses. If I get this feedback consistently I guess I will need to consider making some changes.