[willstepp]

In some ways, I think so. To appeal to wider audiences, game makers have added a lot of hand-holding features over the years that in my opinion make the game world itself less immersive, since you're constantly being reminded what you should be doing and this is how you do it...etc. I'm thinking of games like the Zelda series, Elder Scrolls. There is less of sense of discovery and exploration and figuring out the rules of the world on your own. This is partly why the world of Dark Souls series feels so immersive. In some ways it doesn't feel like a game at all. It feels like a world that doesn't care about you, and that draws you into learning about it.

[cauterized]

I'd agree with this. More constrained and directed gameplay has been a major reason I found a few recent remakes of my favorite classics disappointing. It's as if the entire game is now a tutorial, with enforced "balance" between choices and fewer significant degrees of freedom.