V-VII had many open-ended optional parts and even VIII did to a point though I doubt many people cared about themFFIII also has many optional places as a few towns and villages are completely optional. IV is in fact mostly on rails but it does have the Sylph cave, Land of Summoned Beasts quest, Adamant Quest as well as a optional town (the Mythril city, I can't remember its name) and the Castle of the Ninja's is actually optional.
I never felt the camera position is important cause there is enough variation on both sides to make it a moot point. I find when people compare the two styles its always using the pinnacle of each genre, For JRPGs its usually the Tales series or Aiterler Iris and for western its Morrowind. Personally I don't think this is a fair assessment. FF has always walked a thin line between both styles even though it spawned the JRPG genre, I've personally felt it was balanced enough not to be pigeoned holed into until they made X. But that's just my observation on the subject.
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