I completely disagree with this. A lot of open worlds are simply way too large to not hold your hand in quests or side quests. For example, Witcher 3. Quest: Kill the werewolf next to X village hidden in the woods. Uhh, heck no. The world is simply too large and would leave players too frustrated. I don't want to play a video game and just be stuck there wandering aimlessly trying to figure out where that village is or that werewolf, plus in the Witcher 3, you could just turn off your Witcher Senses and the game will only tell you the general area, but you'd have to figure everything out without it being highlighted.

I respect your opinion and if you don't like it then I respect that too but zelda has a bigger world than the witcher 3 so not the best excuse, just need a well designed world with special landmarks everywhere. It's not just about a game without hud btw, it's about a game designed with the world and the side quests in mind.

It´s something the original Zelda did excellently and that BoTW continues. It makes the whole experience (if done right) so much more interesting and makes it feel like a true adventure.

Oh I remember World Of Warcraft at the beginning... It was just like that. And it was a blast. You had to remember every single little hill. You really get to know the world like that.

Can't you deactivate quest markers in pretty much every open world game? I'm pretty sure you can. That way, everyone can enjoy a game the way they want to, problem solved.

I'm on the way back there while exploring the coast, though I didn't make it by far tonight, so much to do :) Eventide island was great. There was a shrine quest in the area I'm currently in that required the camera, which I didn't have before. Perhaps I need it there to. I wonder if I've missed anything else that required the camera... I really should have unlocked the rest of the shia tablet first before climbing Geruda and Hebra!

I played The witcher 3 without the hud for much of the game. Some quests it gives you good hints and directions, others not so much. For some you need to turn the markers back on as the game doesn't give you any idea at all where to look, simply assumes you run to the marker.

It would be great if you could ask for directions in openworld games.  Navigate by area, landmark, ask a local. It would be a generational leap if you could ask anything you want from any npc, as easy as using Siri. And they can either help you or direct you to someone else that might be able to help. And have an actual conversation instead of clicking on options.

I almost finished Digimon World Next Order, and it does a good job of not spoon feeding the player on its sidequest, telling you about vague locations and letting you explore.
It does make the game way too hard combined with the lifespan system though.

You can play Witcher 3 without using Witcher Senses, and Horizon Zero Dawn without using the Focus or waypoint markers. In Horizon Zero Dawn, you can remove the waypoint markers by deselecting the quest.

Farosh is in the region southeast of the map close to the tower of the area where there are a number of waterfalls and its sort of like a rainforest region but I'm bad at names so that's all I can tell you