>>47637670>I was just showing that saying "linearity is bad, and it started in gen 7" is entirely false no matter how you look at it,But it's true. Not that linearity started in Gen 7 but that was the point where agency was stripped from the player in the most grating manner.
>there were no major changes to the gameplay that weren't already present in gen 5 or 6.It's been complained about in this thread at least 4 times already. There should either be roadblocks or map markers, but not both. It's not only redundant but it actively takes away from the player experience-- the map markers almost always indicate an interruption for the narrative and those interruptions are almost always superfluous in the context of Gen 7 and 8. They actively take away the player's attention from the world and instead put it down on the screen because god forbid they go anywhere but the map markers or they'll be stopped by a Stoutland, or an inconsequential NPC, or a construction worker, even though there's no legitimate reason to do so.
Let me spell it out for you-- SM/USUM/SWSH would be fantastic games if they had the map markers but the player was able to go past the roadblocks and potentially wipe out. For all their flaws, lack of substantial content, shitty writing, or general downgrades in quality that started from SM on, they might actually be considered the best games in the entire series if they just had the balls to let players have a REASON to need to use the map markers.
Even if the story wouldn't progress until you did all the flags in order, even if there would be nothing to do once you explored the whole island, the games would be fantastic just as they are if they just let the player have the agency to do that.
But that's the thing, they don't; and it's hardly realistic to expect GF to let kids go that far lest they get sad and give up for wiping out. That's why Gen 5 and 6 are still better as linear games, there's enough breadcrumbs of freedom to make it enjoyable.
