Its more metroid why wouldnt u play it

Most modern games have a loot system. On Star Trek, they're always scrounging for materials. That's something.

Then in Metroid Prime (And Breath of the Wild) they gave you the option to SCAN EVERYTHING. There's something else.

And gone! Thanks for playing 😊

Perhaps "gated" is the word I'm after? Open world games might have gates to unlock but are defined by their expansiveness, vs a game like Metroid Prime that's open-ish but with a much more restrictive structure. More of a maze than a world in some ways.

Not really sure it's been a long time. Though that sounds about right. A mechanic to punish the player. Once they started making 3D versions of Metroid I've always found a ragequit mechanism in the game.