>>46991173>Then how do all of the alternate paths and optional areas exist?Look no further than Alola. An on-rails game can have optional paths by reducing them to something the player has to go out of their way to encounter despite not having any agency to do so of their own power.
"Optional areas" is an arbitrary statement. Unova and Kalos sneak optional areas in just about every route, but the player actually has some agency in getting there as they are traveling. In Alola, they're arbitrarily blocked off for no reason other than the game deciding that you would get lost even though there are map markers to prevent such a thing from happening.
Not even going to talk about Galar since Galar doesn't have any.
