Xenoblade...
You don't need to be linear (not that being linear is bad, at all), you just need a more linear pacing. FFXII and Xenoblade gave Open-world levels of freedom, but still were relatively linear, so they could tell a story.
Exactly so. Open world format is fine as long as it's a vessel for a linear story.
Open worlds where the designers are just "we'll leave it to the players to make believe it's a good game", that's what I really dislike.