The thing that I say most in my mind when playing a JRPG is just that "balls, I'm going the right way again". I figure branching paths is one of the staples of a JRPG, with the loot down the wrong path but it does get tiring, the worst offenders is Atlus games but I find it in many other too, Tales of Arise spring to mind. Now that I'm playing FF7 Remake and it's missing IDK how to feel about it, feels way more linear even though it'd still be linear with it, just an illusion of choice. But it was a pain in Metaphor all the same. 

Do you like this design or do you think it needs to go away? And also, do you think JRPG's could work in completely open worlds and no, Like a Dragon doesn't count, it has enemies ever two feet, narrow streets and allies and has dungeons throughout?!?!

This is one of the many reasons why I don't typically play JRPGs. There's RPG stuff like party control, stats, consumables, cooldowns, skill trees, etc. but very little in regard to real role playing with choice/consequence that leads to spider webs upon spider webs of branching paths. That was the biggest reason why D&D took off the way it did and what game developers tried to replicate when bringing that concept to a new medium. It was the players creating their story rather than the player following the story the developers created. That's why I prefer to lean to WRPGs/CRPGs.

I can't comment on whether JRPGs could work in a completely open world as I haven't really played any before. But isn't FF7 Rebirth a completely open world?

I dont care much for it, by which I mean I dont give it much thought. Like you say, its just the illusion of choice, theres no really "branching paths", ultimately the narrative is set in most of these games, so I dont care for it, I dont expect the game to change based on my choices, thats wishful thinking, not every game can be Baldurs Gate. Its just diferent dialogue depending on what you pick and thats all.

Linearity isn't a bad thing in and of itself. There's plenty of games where you're expected to just go from Point A to Point B to Point C and so on. If there's a single overworld instead of discrete levels, the game may open itself up for some exploration later on (like in FF4 when you get the airship), but most of your progression is dictated by the story. Not every game needs to be a free-roaming go-anywhere-do-anything open-world experience. I honestly prefer a more focused experience to a bunch of unfocused, unstructured meandering, and I wish "linear" would stop being treated like a dirty word in the world of video games. I've really enjoyed several open-world games, but rarely was it because of the fact that it's open-world.

The problem is, as always, in the execution.

Take Halo, for example. The original game was a linear experience for the most part. There were discrete, self-contained levels with definite beginning, middles, and ends. You go from the first level to the second and so on until the final level. But there were also a lot of large open areas, the occasional side route, and even a couple of somewhat free-roaming areas (e.g., the second half of the second level, the Silent Cartographer as a whole). The use of artificial barriers to exploration was also minimal, allowing for a lot of backtracking as well as ways for resourceful players to try to get out of bounds. In some ways, it was a sandbox without being a sandbox.

Later games don't have quite this degree of freedom to explore or goof around. Levels are often much more constrained, like you're being railroaded from place to place down a series of narrow hallways. Trying to get out of bounds is often blocked by things like invisible walls & soft-kill barriers. Halo 4 was probably the worst in this regard. Halo 5 did improve a bit on the level design, with a good number of more complex arenas, but still lacked that whole "Can I get to the top of that mountain?" aspect of Combat Evolved. Meanwhile, Halo Infinite took the opposite route, going full open world, but falling into the same tired tropes that define nearly all open-world games, like filling the overworld with an array of repetitive copy-pasted objectives, while the "dungeons" that make up the bulk of the story missions go back to the excessively-constrained linearity of other post-CE Halo games.

The problem with game development for RPGs or shooters or action-adventure games is to find a good balance between focus and freedom. Too much of the former and the player will feel like their just being railroaded through the game even if they want to maybe go a bit off the beaten path and goof around. Too much of the latter and it feels like a bunch of pointless wandering filled with random busy-work tasks that don't move the game forward, as if 90% of the 60-hour-plus game is time-wasting filler.

I don't play a lot of JRPGs, but I tend to want to explore everything, which makes branching paths that you then have to backtrack even worse. And yes, I don't like accidentally ending up on the right path, especially if it's followed by something that prevents be from backtracking to explore the other paths. In short, I don't think branching paths done like this are good design. It's a tricky problem though, because I'm not aware of any obvious fix that doesn't change core gameplay/exploration all that much.

While I agree, Tales of Arises open ish paths felt like a very nice balance and I figure they could expand on that fairly well making the instances more broad in scope, the main story people have a clear one way direction to go ot maybe two choices as you can see the exits on the map and the rest of us can wander as we see fit. Having these diamond shaped regions in linear franchises has worked very well in some games, Uncharted 4 and TLOU2 for example perfected the design of thst. Now can you get a JRPG to be open without filtering the player though certain choke points, IDK but it sure wpuld be cool if someone tried but if Elden Ring can make souls work with an almost fully open, map I think it's very well possible. Following their method of directing the player would be a must, using checkpoints for the main path and the map design where it is open but it has choke points incorporated in really clever ways, just a bridge here or a locked elevator there is all that is needed. 

I know I said Like A Dragon doesn't count in the OP but those guys at Sega show how a narrative driven story can work in an open world map and not loose anything in the process of being open. 

I'm more bothered by JRPGs that allow you to explore and go to different places other than the main story... just to prevent you from actually acomplishing something there. Biggest offender recently: Dragon Quest XI. I LOVE the damn game, some of my favourite stuff in recent years. But the fact that it will allow me to visit some abandoned haunted library out of the main path, the fact that it will let me climb the whole damn thing... and then when I'm at top the game will say fuck you, come later, there's nothing for you here right now... Man, I wanted to throw away the controller right there. And this wasn't the only time: there are many points in the game were this can happen. And it's very frustrating.

If you don't want me there NOW... just don't let me in yet! Or at the very least, don't let me pretty much complete the entire dungeon just to kick me out in the end.

Rebirth is more like Xenoblade, with vast regions to explore rather than truly open world

But is also feature dungeon-like sections, which are more linear. The bulk of game main story happens in those linear sections, and it's also where the game is more tight with good enemy placement, hidden items, etc

I was playing one of my favorite Final Fantasies some days ago, which was FFX

A really great combat system, iconic art design and presentation and an exceptional story, but the linearity of the maps turned it a very poor game to replay (It's my fourth or fifith time playing I think, I generally take 3-4 years breaks on each replay). Basically nothing happens on maps while you need to traverse the points until the temples and towns where the important story bits happen

If day linearity by itself it's not bad, but it's certainly harder to make a linear game to have a captivating map design. Branching options are a way devs use to ensure your playtrough don't resume to a simple walk in a street. However if the branching is just going to an dead-end you will bet bored of it fast

So in the end it all comes down to map design. Circular map designs with shortcuts and paths giving you to same destinations mitigate linearity, avoid the boredom of always knowing where to go and give you incentives to explore the maps

Beat FF7 Remake.

Boy do I have some thoughts.

First the combat is great on paper, it has th le bones of something that could be great if tweaked a little. Removing potions from ATB, introducing immunities and status effects sooner and some balancing of mobs health pools vs the damage they do and just refine it, take potions off of ATB usage. Second the games presentation is great even for the section of FF7 that is mostly shanty towns and garbage heaps but it's the OST that's really impressive, just really on point not to mention the whole 90's vibe the game gives off, if MGS is ever remade I hope they capture the 90's vibe as good as this This is not an RPG anymore and I think because of that the game shines In places where it becomes an action game with a heavy narrative however they have done so much to slow the player down and adding bits to pad for length the game feels stretched thin and often frustrating when character movement is literally slowed down or you have to squeeze through narrow points really often, one after another to progress. I spent 30 hours, did all side quests and I feel the side content should stay, it's really enjoyable and a nice change of pace to the main game aswell as the sidequests tying nicely into each other in latter chapters where they feel woven without being frustrating because of that, it felt very natural progressing through them or I got lucky in the order I did them but much of the main path could be trimmed down. There was no need to have the player make half of these treks and then to find that fast travel unlocks by the near end of the game is ridiculous. Everything to the point was just a diversion to extend the length of the game, setpieces are designed only to block the player and divert them on longer trips to an objective. VA is amazing, very fitting for the game as well ad the dialogue and feels campy while also really professional. Main bosses suck balls, they trigger cutscenes at certain chuclnks of health missing making for pointless fight and again pushing the player away from engaging properly with the combat system while removing conteol constantly or having big attack moments mean nothing cause the bosses HP can't deplete any further. I'd rate this game much higher if the padding was removed and zi really hope for a directors cut of the trilogy for people who own all three games cause I hear that Rebirth isn't padded but bloated.

As for the story *Spoilers* It's really good if you don't think about it too much, at least it was until late game when they explain what the whispers are. This is the most idiotic thing they could have done, they make the players path invalid cause it's at the whispers whim. There will have to be a very good reason for this but zi get the feeling that they didn't finalise the script before the production of Part 1 started and this is going to end up as a convoluted mess with a load of plot holes. Not once do they touch on Shepiroths plans but then expect you at the end of the game to accept Aeriths vague words on how he is the big bad, even going as far to say "He'll say he's for the planet but he's a bigger threat", wtf? He said nothing of his intentions. And this is where the whispers and destiny become a real problem, unless they are at Shepiroths demands then they should already know that Sephiroths plans are what need to be altered not to mention the fact that they are used as plot armour for Barret for no good reason but holy shit, they went and took Crisis Cores story, that game is not good enough to be requored reading or to imply it as a nessessit, like anyone actually played that game. They really should have ignored all of that since this is a remaining they're going for. Some scenes are really cool, the flashbacks and flash forwards really well done and even the whispers until their intention was specifically explained. Can't have it both ways, you can't have Destiny be a driving factor, use foresight into the future and then have Aerith say "The future is always a blank page". So stupid. And for damn sure, Sephiroth should have been kept at a distance or give some explanation of his motives, they left him so vague to have him as the final boss, he felt as if he had no place in the story and his fight should be by proxy with the way he is established, a summons or something.

8/10.

Glad I returned a fpurth time to give it another chance and finally got it this time, could have been a 9, among other small things, had it been trimmed down and exploration and progression was more fluid instead of running into ladders and squeeze points every 30 seconds and rhe whispers had been left vague with no specific explanation, they almost ruin the story and will now but everything event to question and lead to some real Deas Ex Machina type shit. Thankfully, Rebirth and part three will be a fresh experience for me as I never got past the Shinra building in the OG FF7. I just hope some of the design choices are ironed out and the combat was more balanced on normal so you can engage with it without having to use your ATB to swig potions. Not sure I can do intermission cause Yuffie is far to anime but I will try and see it through.