>>48766539Maybe not for Pokemon (not even just dungeons but most map design in the franchise isn't great if your region isn't named Hoenn and even then it's spotty at best) but in general I feel the vast majority of games do open map design really poorly. Like, as soon as game developers get the ability to make maps bigger than the N64's limit they tend to fuck it up (and even then they fucked it up sometimes). Like, off the top of my head, Xenoblade 2 has some of the only decent big map design I've played in recent memory, and the game is generally linear (of course with some good side areas and optional secrets to seek out if you're looking for it). But Monolith has been ahead of the curve for a while now (even the original Xenoblade's too fucking big map design was better than whatever the fuck Final Fantasy was doing at the time). I guess it's less about what kind of map design it is, and more about doing it well enough. Like, Gen 5 had serviceable map design at worst, I wouldn't call it great but it was rarely too annoying to navigate or restrictive, while still providing something to do on most maps. Gen 8's map design kinda sucks on routes and the Wild Area barely makes up for it, and tacking on two other Wild Areas fixes none of the problems with the one that already exists. Even Gen 7 wildly swings between serviceable (mostly islands 1 and 3) and dreadful (pretty much the entire second island).
