As rigidly linear as the original?

[Bastion]

are there sidequests? collectibles (like the original)? any amount of meaningful off-rails exploration? ANYTHING to draw you from the linear level design like the first game other than larger, more open areas for the sake of larger, more open areas? Is there any reason (read: reward) to explore these areas or are they mainly in support of larger and more complex enemy encounters?

Not ragging on the first game btw, I loved it. I just notice that the sequel "expanded" a lot in terms of more open areas, combat, graphical fidelity, etc and I'm curious if that expansion includes things like less on-rails linearity in level and game design. The collectibles in the original were fun enough to look for and acquire but still pretty bare bones, would be nice if there was more to do other than get from point A to point B.

[Metzli]

I am midway through chapter 4 and the only real side content is basically going off the beaten path for some extra dialogue. To me that's fine for this type of game as it is heavily narrative focused, and adding a collectathon to it would be idiotic. It's perfectly fine if this kind of linear narrative game isn't to your taste, but some of us like them.

PS. There are some slight changes in the way the story progresses based on how you clear the areas. IE a very prominent thread in the narrative is how much the main character grows to enjoy killing.