>>44754437Glimwood was for sure one of the highlights. Route 2 was interesting, but I was sort of disappointed because unless I missed something, it's just another little area for catching Pokemon. Definitely better than most routes, but the thing that I think killed my excitement was there's a sign past the lake, and it just says something like "If you try to catch another trainer's Pokemon, you're a thief!" Why put a trainer tip there? There's a main route (I forget which one, the sort of construction/quarry themed area?) that has a sort-of easter egg style sign (something like "if you see this sign, you're the type to explore!"), for christ sake. Put something interesting if I remembered to go back and explore!
I'll admit I don't really remember the other routes that you're talking about specifically, but I don't think they're necessarily all linear, just that they lack a little something extra for the curious.
>hotels can be explored beyond the first floorI didn't actually know this, and I was pretty diligent about trying to explore the towns (since, as you said, all the buildings can be entered).
For exploration, part of it may just be the game doesn't have HMs, which were the primary way of gating content in previous games. The closest is the bike upgrade, but previous games you could go back with your brand new HM and find somewhere new.
I agree on replayability, and I think the exp share that people dislike actually serves to help replayability, but for difficultyfags I can understand why it's annoying.
