Its true... i think the fundamental formula is that it makes you an explorer first- turns you loose with a very vague objective and lets you discover... map, traversal, sequence skips, w/e and gives you "clues" while letting you feel empowered to do things in your own order/way/time... thus making you feel clever.

Zeldas, you could say, are more linear, more "adventure" in progression than exploration... but its not black n white and each title has varying degrees of freedom