That was my point, in this game there aren't really any nooks and crannies that aren't blindingly visible.

You do have a point, but considering I put gameplay way way way above graphics
Me too, thats is why this has been the first game for it to ever even be considerable.

I was actually thinking to myself today how this game could be a mini-map and I wouldn't notice the difference
Maybe jazz up the mini-map graphics a bit, add some simple sprite based characters for flavor...