I thought it was a great game but I just can't agree with the sentiment that it's the most openly designed JRPG in recent years. If anything, it's the exact opposite for me.
The world and locations the devs created was great and you can tell a lot of care was put into this game, but the majority of the game when traveling or dungeon raiding felt like you were just on rails the entire time, and each area was the exact same where the exploration options they do give you were multiple paths that concluded with opening a chest every time. I'm not asking for an open world game or anything like that, but something in between where it's not as linear and exploration is exciting and a little more rewarding.
The world and locations the devs created was great and you can tell a lot of care was put into this game, but the majority of the game when traveling or dungeon raiding felt like you were just on rails the entire time, and each area was the exact same where the exploration options they do give you were multiple paths that concluded with opening a chest every time. I'm not asking for an open world game or anything like that, but something in between where it's not as linear and exploration is exciting and a little more rewarding.