I'm fine with it as it is, at least without the option to ask a DM if I can roll an active perception, religion or whatever check. I think I'd find that lack irritating if I didn't get some reassurance that my party were trying to investigate the environment, even if they didn't notice anything interesting. I personally don't reload if I fail checks.
I agree those rolls are a bit of a weird hybrid of passive and active checks, but think it's s reasonable compromise rather than adding the complexity of being able to choose to make active rolls at any point.
That is exactly how I thought about it as well. Since there is no way for me as a player to say, "Hey, DM, I'd like to investigate the area for clues." These "quasi-active" checks are a decent solution. As a tabletop DM I have actually made active rolls behind the screen for my players when their passive check wouldn't beat a DC, but I know their character has a history of being cautious and scouring areas for danger. The results of those rolls behind the screen can be much the same. My players see me roll dice without saying anything, and in many cases their immediate response is, "I'd like to search for traps," or something similar.
Interesting side-note with mild spoilers.
At the area just west of the blue jay by the monastery, all four of my characters failed the roll to find whatever is hidden there. I say "whatever is hidden," because even after helping the blue jay out with his eagle predicament, and having him, essentially, mark my map with the location of something interesting he found, having not changed out my party, I still can't find what is there. That's just one more instance where a game can never duplicate the tabletop experience. If I were DMing that situation, I'd let my players reroll a perception or investigation check with advantage because of the location tip. As it stands for my playthrough currently, may characters could be literally standing on a map marker showing that something is hidden there, and because they already failed previous rolls, they can't find whatever it is.
