>defining feature of new game has more branching paths than an early route in B2W2
Why is this a surprise to anyone? Of course the Wild Area has more branching paths, it's NOT a straight line.
>B-but you can't go to Wyndon! That means it's a straight line
Nope. The Wild Area is open world because it has a free camera. Blocking off Wyndon and the towns with the others gyms was a creative decision that the game only benefits from. There's no reason to use level scaling outside of the wild area for this reason.