Region designs have started to go downhill starting with Black and White.
The straightforward path in Unova was disappointing, but that was remedied in Black 2 & White 2. For Kalos, it is less obvious where you are supposed to go, but I found the region to be somewhat bland. Most of the settlements weren't particularly interesting outside of a few like Lumiose and Anistar City. Alola takes the cake in terms of worst region design. The artificial barriers are more prevalent and there are many loading screens even within the islands. Many buildings are inaccessible, more so than any previous games. Something about the in-game map feels cheap.
Edit: great! at the very top of the page...
The straightforward path in Unova was disappointing, but that was remedied in Black 2 & White 2. For Kalos, it is less obvious where you are supposed to go, but I found the region to be somewhat bland. Most of the settlements weren't particularly interesting outside of a few like Lumiose and Anistar City. Alola takes the cake in terms of worst region design. The artificial barriers are more prevalent and there are many loading screens even within the islands. Many buildings are inaccessible, more so than any previous games. Something about the in-game map feels cheap.
Edit: great! at the very top of the page...