Funny, I very much like Metroidvanias exactly for this aspect (the world feels much more like a puzzle, which grants you a feeling of reward once you "solve" it).

On the other hand, I've always loved Gothic[1] for it's gating mechanism. If you got mangled by raptors ore some ork, that meant the area was certainly not meant for your level.

I guess it will be interesting how I'll feel on BotW once my Switch arrives...

[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_(video_game)

BotW does this to an extent... if you die of heat exhaustion in a desert, you probably want to come back later when the story's gently guided you into acquiring heat-resistant clothes.

Or you could locate the ingredients for heat-resistant elixirs, make some yourself and just plough on anyway.

This is a game which takes "open world" quite seriously, and lets you go and fight the final boss straight out of the tutorial area if you want. Although you'll probably die almost immediately, the choice is yours. I rather like the blend it gives me of freedom and guidance.

Oh and someone in the ancestry mentioned the cooking UI is poor. Indeed, the cooking UI is very poor. A few things like that and some issues with characterisation and voice acting would hold me off giving this game a perfect score.

Your Gothic example sounds much more natural. I never liked the typical gating mechanism because it takes away your choice. In a sense, this still does the same thing, but sort of gives you that illusion that you're deciding not to go that way and get slaughtered, rather than just being told no.