Linear, linear, linear

[Shougun]

No you're right - It's not exactly level design like Dark Souls. Just that the levels themselves aren't directly hallways, and have more general freedom. But if you just follow MSQ - You'll be going along a set direction. There's a lot of freedom to stop and look around, and walk in a different direction to check stuff out, do side quests, whatever. And it's not like the MSQ itself discards an area entirely when you walk through it. You go through it multiple times, talk to different people, do different things.

MSQ Dungeons are more like DMC dungeons, not XIV. Where there's some open-ness to them at times, but it's ultimately a few chunks dedicated to mobs, and bosses.

I find your statements agreeable. It is also is probably person perspective particular, like I would 'want' something more cleverly looped and puzzled like GoW or near Souls tier pinnacle design or alternatively more extreme the other direction (at least for open world); however, yeah when we think of DMC design.. pretty much that's the exact design style lol. I wouldn't attribute DMC to fantastic level design either; however, those games make plenty of money and many like it (and the combat arenas are the focus). So definitely not saying it's a garbage fire haha, just that it wasn't really what I thought it might have been if it was existing in a pinnacle form.