I too hope to see, as stated, a reason to explore the woods or the beach or what have you. The sheer beauty of sotc worked for a good long while and several playthroughs, but I would like some gear and customization opportunities while maintaining a low key interface. That said, str8 f@&# a bunch of coins.
Mechanics, visuals and general atmosphere seemed the main focus of shadow, and I’d imagine the new title will be similar in its finite focus. However, let us not start underestimating these guys and gals just yet. They did sorta change the game industry at least once now.

You are confusing gimmicks with innovations.

Just about every idea you posted is exactly what went wrong with gaming the last 10 years. The game really doesn’t need multiplayer, leaderboards, hidden collectibles, ‘side’ quests, ‘crafting’, dialogue wheels, stealth mechanics, random ancient history puzzles, parkour/animal talent trees, inventory, or starvation.

If a game doesn’t have those features that you see a lot in games these days, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it, nor does it imply in anyway that it would be improved by their addition. I personally would feel the entire experience cheapened.