PoE 2 doesn't have the most important feature PoE 1 has

Being able to see important objects in the fog of war from farther away.

Let me explain.

We all know Grelwood, we all hate Grelwood. It is literally the second big zone in the game and you are required to do 3 things in it to progress. 2 of them are not at the edges of the map, meaning that you need to venture deep and.....basically through its entirety. Because you are not allowed to see the tree or the cave until you are right on top of them. Same thing in the Cemetery, but at least it is a smaller zone.

Look what PoE 1 did in comparison - you can see the important stuff from farther away and this enhances the experience tremendously. It saves so much time and it is so necessary considering what a slog the campaign in Poe 2 is.

It has to be implemented and it will be eventually, it's just a shame it is not implemented right now.

PoE2 map design does not follow several key point PoE1 have:
- General direction on world map reflect entrance of the zones relatively to each other.
- Roads to reduce wandering in big map.
- Key layout and marked decorations: Such as Alara camp always stay on the part of map that have the waypoint compare to the road while the spider nest is on the opposite side (reduce backtracking). The Grain Gate have corpses to mark door you need to enter / exit to move toward the next zone. The Ledge used to be one straight path. The exit of the Labyrinth is always in top left corner. The Wet Land is always directly above the waypoint from the road. Just a few on top of my head.
These leave the area open for exploration for people who haven't figure it out yet (new players) or for those who want to explore / level up, but nicely cut down campaign time for experienced players.
As of now every area in PoE2 are the Vaal City in PoE1 that everyone hate. Wander aimlessly to reveal fog of war until you find the exit.
But credit where credit dues. At least we now have sprint and some movement skills, as frustrating as they are to use, it's something.