I always enjoyed exploring in RPGs so its one of my favorite elements that has been slowly being weened out of the JRPG genre. I just like finding places that are off the beaten path like in FFIV when you find castle Eblan way too early or even just the Mythril town that served no purpose beyond being simply fun and getting access to a few excellent weapons when your party could use a little more "oomph".

Suikoden, Breath of Fire, Dragon Quest, and old school FF rock cause of all the odd shenanigans you can get into sometimes. I simply find that discovering cool little secrets like the island of Giant Monsters in BoF2 or some of the obscure locations for the 108 stars in Suikoden, or even the Gil Snapper Cave in FFV are rewarding in themselves. I still want a story but I don't necessarily feel a strong narrative requires the player has to wait until the end before they can really get a good sense of the world. I feel games that allow the player to see the world at their own pace genuinely have stronger world design and I feel more compelled to save the god forsaken place than the games that simply try to use the story as the only medium to garner sympathy for the place.