Actually, in every past FF free roaming was a mirage. You could roam around, but you were very dependent to the veicles you had in that moment. that's mean, until you get airship, it's a fake free roaming sice you can't go truly everywhere.
In most western rpg instead, you could go everywhere from the beginning, if you can survive :P

Btw, the hell is this topic for ? <_<