The Sky Islands are a bad first impression. In the first game, The Great Plaetau felt as big as Hyrule Fields from Ocarina because of your lack of limitations. The Sky Islands halt you. If you take the wrong path, then you'll be led to a dead end. It took me hours just to find the fuse shrine because of how much more restrictive it felt. At the end of the day, it's a sequel to BOTW (even if it's a bit overpriced).