This is spot on.
And to some extent, the use of the Divinity engine (albeit modified) is a problem too : instead of having a world map with areas we select, which branch out to smaller maps for us to explore, we're stuck on one huge map per act (just as in DOS) which gives me kind of a claustrophobic feeling. The camera doesn't help either (if compared to non tactical solo rpg's like the Witcher, where staring at the sky and the distant landscape gives you a feeling of being free in a huge world).
Faerun is huge, BG, IWD and NWN felt so epic because you actually travelled to so many locations, you visited places far away, with different settings and vibes.
Even if they are making maps bigger than DOS2, it still feels to me like I'm trapped in a small map and not on a huge epic journey.
I think the swamp area and underdark were SUPER well done, but everything outside of those felt super samey. If theres more diverse open world envrionments as we progress I'll be really happy.
And yeah, not being able to pan the camera up really sucks
