Honestly I think the best solution is to implement jumping and climbing like FFX-2 and FFXIII. You can't jump around like an idiot and you can go over cliffs and stuff.
Either automatic like XIII or with a simple button press when near a cliff or w/e. From this they'll build the future new areas so these features will be used to actually make exploring more interesting.
Also an animation when you drop down would be nice instead of simply running down a cliff.