You can show all the 4k maxed up pics you want, that bland artstyle won't get better and therefore won't make it look less dull.
GTA V for instance looks better for me and I've played it the only way I could: 720p, while I played Tomb Raider on PC with a much better resolution and fancy effects.
Artstyle > Graphics. Some PC fanatics (not saying you're one of them) still can't see this reality. Too bad for them.
On topic: I can't for the love of all things believe this is 30fps. Funny and sad at the same time.
I'm going to agree that quite a few areas looked a bit bland (Shanty Town and the beach, especially). However, other areas look gorgeous (and not just graphically speaking - the monastery, Coastal Forest, Mountain Temple, etc.) so I guess it's a bit of a mixed bag when we're talking art style. But the game certainly is more visually pleasing than GTAV. That franchise is pretty much the worst example you can bring up when talking about art style (it's gotten a bit better with V I guess, but it still looks disgustingly generic and soulless). Unless you're talking about their promo posters.
You can read a bit about Tomb Raider's art style here:
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-03/29/tomb-raider-art-interview
The John Martin painting is amazing and while not an immediate reference, it was in line with the paintings we were inspired by from Turner, Bierstadt and Church. They created some of the most amazing natural wonders that look beautiful but ominous; showing how nature can be scary. These influences were the foundation of bringing personality to the island of Yamatai.
BH: We wanted this game to be presented as if it were a documentary of her first adventure. Effects like lens flares, dirt, water and blood splashes on the lens add aesthetics to this documentary, further immersing players into our fictional world.
It's certainly not among the best art styles out there (though I do really like some of their concepts/ideas - I think I read another more elaborate interview once where they talked a lot about contrasting light and darkness and showed off concept art demonstrating it), I'll give you that. However, it also certainly doesn't look like shit (except for Shanty Town, perhaps - and even that looks beautiful from above at sunset).
