Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Why fully exploring the open world matters

Go on a Treasure Hunt

There are several locations on the map where you can find the remains of previous dwellers. Dilapidated homes and defunct factories litter the landscape. When you go to them you'll get a treasure counter on your screen, usually "0/3" or something and that means you get to search for treasure! Sometimes it's finding where treasure chests are hidden, and sometimes it means having your chocobo sniff around and unearth buried goods, but free stuff is free stuff.

Find some VERY familiar map towers

Finding the aforementioned location on the map can take some time and exploration. If you want to make clearing the map take CONSIDERABLY less time though, look for structures that look like cell phone towers.

When you encounter it have Link, I mean Aloy, I mean Cloud climb to the top of this giant structure and then activate a what's-it at the top. When this happens a bright beam shoots in the sky and a shockwave travels out and suddenly, on your map, you can see the location of everything in your local area.

This is truly a mechanic you haven't seen before (as long as you've never played a video game prior).

So these are just SOME of the things you can do in the open world. You can find optional quests, maku pools that teach you more about the land, fun locals, fun journeys to go on with your Chocobo, and a LOT more. It's well worth the time out of your day.