Quote Originally Posted by Azurymber View Post
SE has always been great at eliciting emotion. And that's one of the things that set final fantasy apart from a lot of other shallow RPGs. The world's they created were ones you -wanted- to explore. And when you ran through a wartorn area with sadness only to find a cute little village hidden in the middle of nowhere, it felt beautiful. [snip] I've always liked the idea of hidden towns, beautiful areas (ex. statues in caves), amazing places to fish or gather, and hard-to-get to places in games. [snip] It would just add a nice emotional touch. And a lot of creativity could be put into it, creating an emotional experience and adventure that players would never forget.
Actually, I largely agree with your post. I also like to explore. The only achievement in 1.0 I really cared about was reaching the last few Aetherytes and completing the Wanderer's Shadow with my best friend.

There were quite a few points of interest and little hidden gems in 1.0 that I think most people missed.

Having the option of exploration and discovery for those who enjoy it is very nice. But it seems that a lot of people are not really looking for that, and any game design to force it will lead to lots of complaining and dissatisfaction.