That's the benefit of telling a small story in a controlled location in a big game. Rebirth is telling a big story in an open location in a big game. You don't have as much down time, and it's not as easy to justify going all over the place to do something. I don't really need a story justification for side content, but it would've been nice to keep the option to go straight to the quest giver.
https://imgur.com/WqDcNNq
https://imgur.com/89Z5jrB