And the cult here... trying to make the game seem like one of the best RPGs ever. I just don't get it. What am I missing?
One of the thing that I loved in Underrail is the free-form exploration.
Could you elaborate some more? It'd be appreciated.
From a technical point of view you can freely move through the world and there is no level scaling. Everything feel systemic: if there are obstacles you can be creative to find different ways to overcome them. It is completely different from the static backgrounds of the IE RPGs or the bloated open world games, where you can interact only with specific scripted pre-defined points. It is more akin to the Ultima Underworld or Deus Ex design. The addition of the Jet Skis to freely travel trough the undergrounds water system is also great, and adds tremendously to the sense of exploration. (you can find also other interesting vehicles, but this is spoiler territory)
The world and the lore is also thematically interesting and enough alien that you don't really know what to expect to find. Interesting things are hinted at, the mysterious atmosphere is nice.
There is also practical reason other than curiosity to explore, due to the constant need of resources and the oddity XP system.
Also, there is no fast travel, you need to plan carefully your routes (apart a couple of points where thematically makes sense, if I remember well).