Metro Exodus

(gun Fires) (mutant Grunts) I was compelled towards its conclusion by the strength of its story, and I was ultimately satisfied with how it resolved. ...

Sounds like Metro Exodus. Large chunks of map that are home to numerous story and side missions, but you can't explore the entire world all at once. You'll unlock more and more places to go as the plot progresses, probably lots of new biomes, and can always talk to the Pilot to head back to earlier ones to do stuff if need be. I'm sold, I think that was an awesome system to keep semi open world exploration and atmosphere while still making sure that the story is being presented in a reasonable way.