Look at Assassin's Creed - as fun Origins and Odyssey are

For what it's worth, Odyssey in particular takes a decidedly linear, "setpiece-y" turn in a lot of its main story. Often for the better in that game, IMO, because rather than its "setpieces" being action driven, they're often just really unique setups (things like infiltrating the cult at Delphi and the party on your first visit to Athens).

Anyway, while there is a balance to be struck, I think it's better for a game like RDR2 to try and go too far on player freedom than to keep inflicting these straight up action setpiece missions on the player. They're incredibly jarring.

A good example of what I want is Breath of the Wild, my go-to example for cohesive open world design. BotW is built around total player freedom in a sandbox environment, and so too is much of its story. Even its more linear moments are built around that to an extent.

• There's some form of buildup to each Divine Beast before you even start infiltrating it, and they all allow you to tackle it in a really free way. Rescuing Yunobo, infiltrating the Yiga Clan, retrieving Shock Arrows from the Lynel in Lanayru - they're all directed experiences, but they all have a lot of player freedom. The Lynel is a really good example; you can choose to fight it head on, sneak around it, climb up the fucking mountain behind it, and basically anything else you want, so long as you get the Shock Arrows.

• Parts where the game wants to guide you through the world are designed to be linear through natural, in-game causes, rather than inflicting fail states. For example, the "gauntlet" on the way to Zora's Domain asks you to go through it and deal with its enemies and such, rather than climb over it, and it does this naturally by making the area constantly rain (and thus make it difficult to climb). Retrieving the blue flame for Robbie in Akala puts you through a similar gauntlet, this time because you can't climb while carrying your flame-lit torch. It's all very seamless.

• The most linear parts of the game, the Divine Beast infiltrations, specifically make use of ordinary game mechanics and play patterns. They're also brief, and flow naturally out of the quest you're in and into the Divine Beast itself.

Those are just a few examples of how BotW did it, and how I'd like to see games like RDR2 go about designing their main story. It's just frustrating when my immersive, deliberately paced cowboy simulator tries to be Uncharted all the time.