Is exploration in rpg getting more restricted than before?

Those must have been weird games i dont remember any like that but i guess it would of been a trade off better graphics an engine meant cutting back on things to do in games as to not overload it skyrim can jump up hills an go fast with shouts turn invisible walk on water meridias mission you float above the map thats not a bad feat for a big game like that next gen is opening up to that sort of stuff again but games are better made now why go through the wall when there's a door you can open or better yet blow off its hinges

I would have to say no, in general. You have games like Skyrim and Fallout that promote exploration. Then you have games like FF13 which are very linear. All you can hope for, with this generation, is that the developers take what has worked and get rid of what hasn't.