It's interesting you say that because this entry isn't particularly "open world". It's actually fairly linear with a focus on the story and characters.
The MMO comparison is still fair though because the zones are very reminiscent of FF14. They all connect to each other and can be re-visited, but you're not really free roaming a giant open world.
Side quests are also 14-like and I don't mean that as a compliment. Go to A to talk to B. Go to C to talk to D. That can mostly be skipped though.
Well...they LITERALLY were at one point, but that was a long time ago now.