It’s very open but at the same time not level gated. As in you can stumble into areas where enemies are much stronger than before. Hell, they literally put a super strong boss in the field just outside the first door to the first area designed to beat the ever living shit out of you in an effort to teach you “yeah, he is too much, go explore somewhere else”
I can see that, on the other hand you really don’t have to fight any mob in the mountaintops ir snowfield. Haligtree and Elohael are for sure harder than almost anything else From had done.