I feel like people’s perception of what “open world” means has drifted. I see people claim that GTA isn’t open world because it has linear progression. Like, they think BOTW defines what “open world” means.

Do you have a seamless, interconnected world that is the primary place the game takes place? Open world.

I would bluntly state that Metroidvanias are open world, and also aren’t the only open world games that have been around since the NES.