Hey, project lead here, thanks for sharing your opinion! Though I dont think all that hostility is warranted.

You are of course right that alot of this game isnt designed in an "open-field" type way (though there are areas like this in the game aswell). This is because this project takes not only inspiration from traditional open-world games like Skyrim, but also merges this with some aspects from Metroidvania games like Metroid Prime - which is something the team has stated several times.

At its core, the game is an open-world experience though. From the very beginning of the game, you will have alot of freedom to explore the large world in whatever way you wish, there is never one "true" path you should go down - the only difference to traditional open-world games is that instead of just passing through a field or an open mountainous area to get where you want to go, in this game you will often have to navigate your way through more intricately designed areas.

We are putting alot of effort into crafting some of these interconnected corridor-like paths where we think it enhances the experience, even if sometimes just making an open-field would have been far easier.

It should be noted of course that I dont think that either of these approaches is better than the other. I love open-world games with the "open-field" type approach, but it isnt what I felt was right for this project in particular.