Why do people miss towns?

[Madame Adequate]

Man, I LOVE towns. I love exploring them, I love talking to every single NPC. I love wandering into people's houses and just chilling there for a bit, cause I think it's really funny that you can just do that in games and not get shot or arrested for trespassing. Kinda the same reason I like sitting around in those demo living rooms at Ikea. I like hitting up the stores and seeing what this particular shop might have to offer. Buying stuff from a save point just isn't as homey.

Agreed with all of this, 100%. Also, as was said, they're something of a reward for getting through the overworld or latest dungeon, they are generally safe places where you find various sidequests, minigames, and other such diversions.

I haven't found towns have had the same effect since the series moved to full 3D.

I agree with this. Towns used to be so cute. They're not so cute anymore, but more vast and realistic. I don't necessarily need realism from towns, just cuteness and lots of random treasures to steal from people's homes.

Sort-of agreed. I have no problem with big 'realistic' sized towns, the problem is that so few of them are, most just try to be and fail. After Lenele, they really don't cut it anymore, and I reckon it would be better to stick with small cute ones in the traditional style if they're not going to do it properly.