For all the lush environments etc, I still prefer to have a complete world. It annoys me to no end every time I look at the maps of FFX and FFXII as there are clearly parts of the world that you simply can't go to. I detest that. If there was one thing I loved to no end about FFVII and FFVIII, it was discovering every rocky corner of the world, finding things that you aren't in any way notable on a map but are very much notable when you discover them (eg. Cactuar Island) for whatever reason.

So while I enjoyed the particular environments, I did not enjoy for one bit the way that the world is restricted to a much greater extend than the older worlds. Yes, you go into more detail and it's more realistic size-wise, but if I wanted realism I'd take a walk around the block.

The same happened with Oblivion, and without a complete world to roam I just feel like I'm trapped. I look forward to the next FF game which allows you to walk through every forest, see every mountain, fly across every part of the ocean and so on.