Good to hear, this is what I want from a game even a single player experience.
I always wanted a FF7 type of Story with a FFXI/XIV open world. I like lots of little things like minions, houses, mounts (choices) but the open world is important.
Still let's hope SE has not screwed the story line or battle mechanics. If SE can nail those two with an open world we could see an FFX top quality game.