You could go wherever you want, as long as "wherever you want" was one of a handful of predetermined landing points. It didn't have the world that you could walk across. You walked through specific areas of pre-rendered backgrounds surrounded by walls (except for the Calm Lands). It didn't have an overworld, is what I'm trying to say. All the games in the series that came before it did have an overworld. X just had an over-map-screen, more like Tactics.

I know the overworlds mostly just exist to get you from one "dungeon" or "town" area to another, but I like them. Especially when they have secrets hidden in them, like in VII, VIII, and IX. I missed that in X. It's not really a reason why I dislike the game, but it is something that differs from the games that came before it.

It may be a more important distinction to me than it is to other people.