Yes and no. This does not seem to be the case with newer games, as if most players didn't like "finding their way back" to a place they have visited before

Yes and no. This does not seem to be the case with newer games, as if most players didn't like "finding their way back" to a place they have visited before, and prefer a linear progression instead. People don't mind the backtracking so much -- the "Metroidvania" genre has never been so popular! Exploration is, generally speaking, fun. It's the tedium of making one's own maps (either mentally, or on paper) that gamers generally don't have a lot of time for these days.