by 'world map'
do you mean as in a map map or the world area?
sorry im just confused ^^ haha
I liked X... maybe because it was obvious what your end goal was from the beginning. There were twists though, you cant say there werent :P I mean Yuna almost married Seymour!!! haha.
On the 'straight road' i cant really argue... no minigames other than blitzball, lol.