Also, I wish the world didn’t feel like it had a population of 200. I get the population was dwindling after the thousand years, but it just felt so small. I think this could have been solved by having a larger unexplored world or by explicitly stating there are villages dotted all over Spira that the protagonists cannot explore on their journey.

There is Bevelle, which seems like a massive city, and the only place you can’t explore in the game, but I know what you mean. They could’ve just had paths leading to places you can’t go down because it isn’t a part of your story journey.