minimap alternatives

throughout the game, there are a ton of areas with stunning scenery and views. however, i often find myself wandering through areas i don't even remember, though i must have been there before since the main scenario went through there! the reason, of course, is that all while i was "exploring" these regions my attention was restricted mostly to this tiny circle in the top-right of my screen. this is a proposal for some alternatives to the minimap.

"just turn it off"
someone will probably tell me to just turn off the minimap if i don't like it, and i have! i played through most of shadowbringers with it off, and it was a great experience i think everyone should try. however, navigating between quest markers without it can be very time-consuming and i ended up having to pull up the map a lot to figure out where i was meant to be. the quality of instructions by npcs range wildly, sometimes essentially "find a location south of this rock" where "south" can mean basically anywhere within a quarter of the entire map. i often spent upwards of 10 minutes just figuring out where i was meant to go before pulling out the map and realizing the destination was hundreds of yalms away. i don't consider this a viable solution as-is (although increasing the render distance for quest markers would be a small quality of life tweak if neither of the other options are adopted)

compass
this option is unintrusive and can take up a very small amount of screen real estate while still pointing you toward your destination. it's easy to ignore an onscreen compass when not in use. this feels like a step up, since it doesn't make me pay attention to it as i find my way around the world. however, it still doesn't help you associate what you're doing with an actual location. you follow the marker, do the thing, and then you fly off to follow the next marker.

beacons
in many games, quests and other destinations are marked by beacons that are visible in the world from anywhere on the map. beacons let you navigate directly to a destination just by orienting yourself toward them and moving out of the way of obstacles, just like you can with the minimap or compass. the advantage here, in my opinion, is that by navigating toward an actual marker in the world itself, you gain some level of spacial awareness for where the marker was. it's not just a direction or a set of coordinates, it's a tangible location.

i consider beacons the best of the options i've proposed here, but any or all would be great. if you have a favorite navigation system that you've seen, please say it! my proposals here are intended to be minimally intrusive and theoretically simple to implement considering we already have a minimap in the game (and i'm not suggesting that be removed). again, the point here is not to make navigation more difficult, but to allow the player better awareness of their surroundings as they traverse the world.