>>48903321But it's obvious the main reason GF decided to experiment with open world in this gen was because of overrated BOTW's success and they did a half-assed job at it. Hell, why do you think they call it the "WILD Area"?
Gen 3 had the best balance between linear and open environment IMO; it had a great story, reasonable level progression and fun exploration and it wasn't just a huge "open world" of nothingness just for the sake of it like in Sword & Shield and Legends: Arceus
You fags beg so much for "muh open world" but you seem to have forgotten that we're dealing with Game Freak here and they can't be trusted with making these kinds of games