

There is no chance it wasn’t meant to be an open world. The witcher 3 was a very successful open world they made.
Also, CP77 actually is in the style of elden ring that was praised for it, but CP77 came long before it. Most critiques of CP77 missed that part because the game doesn’t throw it at your face.
And if you can earn a million each year as an alternative, why wouldn’t you go for it? I love science, but we live in a real world, not in a dream, and this real world decided that science wouldn’t be rewarding.