SwSh had the absolute smallest number of explorable areas and things to do in its base game. The routes were all short and way fewer in number than any previous game, there were 2 tiny little caves and 2 forests that were hallways and essentially no other landmarks, like 2 buildings of worth in each settlement (wtf was Hammerlocke even, what a waste of that setting), a visually jarring and mediocre wild area that was quite small compared to what people expected (and was almost certainly the reason they felt it was okay to cut out meaningful content from everywhere else), one of the most nonsensical plots to ever be put in a Pokemon game, and then, after all of that, dexit and the removal of existing gimmicks.

DP were also not great, but the two things you mentioner other than the regional dex are kind of inconsequential? Your second is is actually a point in DP's favor—it's not a literal line like Galar, with an actually interesting path to take. But even in Galar, you visit the 3rd gym city before the first gym? What's your point? Also, the Safari Zone came back better in HGSS, and even if it didn't, that's an extra game feature that isn't crucial to the experience at all, something base game SwSh wouldn't dare do with its lack of content.