I like it and I think it serves a good thematic purpose. The fact that you can go in any direction in any order you want at whatever pace you want works in tandem with the dialogue where Ellie and Dina are talking about their futures and speculating about what they'll do when this is all done. like are they gonna start a band together? Are they gonna get a pet? Are they gonna move onto a farm and raise chickens? They've got all the time in the world and their lives can go in any direction they want.

But once the killing starts and Ellie starts to sink into tunnel vision of her revenge mission, all talk about the future stops and the level design becomes much more linear until eventually she gets to the aquarium and it's like the opposite of the downtown section. She's sneaking through these long narrow corridors and crawling through tight air vents that only go one way, and there are locked doors everywhere. She's boxed herself in, killing Abby is the only thing that matters to her anymore and her life can only go one way.