Honestly, exploration is one of the weakest points for me in this game. I would keep EVERYTHING as is, including turn-based combat, but place our characters in a large open-world with hidden dungeons that require solving puzzles or perception checks. I honestly think this would be in line with what people imagine the world around them to be in tabletop.
I can't quite agree - I think current game's structure has issues, but exploration in itself is pretty good.
There is a lot of interesting stuff to find, so exploration is fun in that regard - there is something to find behind almost every corner. There is also a big variety of content, and a lot of cool stuff isn't screaing for players attention - so players need to pay attention, and can find interesting stuff for themselves. That is very good. Larian also has always managed to utilised character's skill set into exploration - less so in BG3 due to working with existing ruleset, but there are still many cool interactions one can find.
Really, the main issue I have with maps is "context" - they don't sell me on the fantasy of the place we are exploring. Creating bigger maps with "travel space" inbetween could address this issue, but I don't think it would be a good solution - unlike a third person action game, moving around BG3 isn't fun in itself. I don't mind riding waiting for something to catch my attention in Red Dead Redemption2 or Elden Ring, but that wouldn't work in BG3. Also with top down view, we can't look toward horizon, pick a landmark, and navigate toward it.
