I love the density and attention to detail. Turning off the map was the best thing I ever did.
Yep! Kudos to
@Rawls for telling me about that option. It's crazy how much better I "learned the lay of the land" and started recognizing the look and feel of certain areas when I wasn't constantly looking at the map. It's a strange thing that happens in the brain.
Something I really miss is the Thief 1-3 "maps". Rather than accurate representations of any environment, the player simply got a rough charcoal sketch or old, hand-drawn building plans. Very few details were accounted for, accuracy was serviceable at
best. There was no "player icon" to figure out where you were. There was no "minimap" on the gameplay screen. You had to study the map, look at your compass, observe your surroundings, and figure out where you
must be. As the game was essentially stealth / treasure-hunting...it was both alluring and engrossing.
So, yeah! I really recommend players try TW3 with the minimap off, and give it a few hours. It completely changes the flavor of the game.