>>46242713>you're free to go anywhereNo you aren't. You aren't free to go to Lost Woods and get the Master Sword. You can't access many of the challenges in the game that are crucial to unlocking shrines, you have to take a very specific path on the flower shrine to even reach it, the mazes are all locked down, the trial of the sword literally has levels that have to be progressed in order, the list goes on.
>3/4 of the way through the game2 badges = 3/4 of the way through the game? You can go literally anywhere after Cerulean, no differently than BOTW. Both games have roadblocks that YOU as the player need to traverse with your own skill. That's completely different from the style of progression introduced in SM and SWSH.
>You're hardlocked to following the path GF set out for youSeeing that you have no argument and are repeating the same buzzwords still, I would say you're the one hardlocked here.