Knowing about RPGS and having good taste in rpgs is two different matters. One is based on experience and fact, the other on opinion. And, since Bethesda spent so lavishly to have the journalists be flown in and wooed, no one can say this guy is above flattery.
Also, if he loved Oblivion, it would be impossible for him not to like this game I think.
I don't think the devide is as simple as that. I love sandbox games, but I didn't buy Oblivion because, from what I hear, there is no challenge, very few meaningful or non-superficial options, etc. Basically, the only thing I'd like about it was the sandbox. I don't like action games, I don't like twitch, I don't like hordes of easy monsters, and don't like superficial choices or meaningless charcter generation or development. It has nothing to do with story, or playing a book, but the actual gameplay provided. I liked Daggerfall for one main reason, the custom character creation is amazing. That is a big enough driver to make me want to play the game and see how my different builds play out. To this day I've put about equal hours into making characters and playing the actual game.