No dude, those are dungeons, and they do very little for exploration because Pokemon dungeons have always been one way only.
Exploration in Pokemon died with Gen 4 and was brought back with the Gen 8 DLC and then maximized with Gen 9. Thats a fact (btw Gen 9 has some amazing caves acting just like mere shortcuts)
Honestly, i'm not one to judge people's tastes, but your comment on exploration makes as little sense as your tier list. Go Eevee/Pikachu shouldnt exist? An incredibly solid remake of the originals? The Black and White duology almost top tier when SV's story is better build and resolved? The unbalanced Johto games on top?
Sorry but i have to press X for doubt.
You are not the one to judge people tastes.
Proceeds to do exactly that
Like there's no way I'm going to change your mind like you are not gonna change mine.
So just for the sake of it I'm gonna explain a little further what I mean.
Mount Coronet isn't just one way only, it's connected to multiple areas around the game by being at the center of Sinnoh, multiple layers get unlocked with your gym/HM progression. Yes those are dungeons.. Aren't dungeons about exploration? The basic routes themselves were better designed as well, SwSh had corridors and doesn't even have a Victory Road, SV even worse.
The story is better? Debatable. I'll give you that it had the foundation to outshine BW (I didn't put them in A just for the story but I guess cherrypicking is meta) but fell miserably in presentation and motivations of the characters. They did 13 months of Terapagos build up with the whole book and illustrations and Terapagos final form just ends up being a fluffy boi on top of a half sphere. Briar's spiral to madness to redeem her ancestor would have been cool if it wasn't just "sorry bros I fucked up but all's fine now". Sada/Turum in the crystal lake would have been a cool time paradox if they didn't give you the book making it a plot hole (they could have avoided it by saying it was a copy of the original book).
Johto has an inconsistent level curve? Yeah sure but how is game balance only mentioned to downplay Johto when all games after Gen 5 have no balance at all? You just blast through the main campaign without any second thought. The only exception might be USUM which tried to be somewhat challenging or Indigo Disk if you never played VGC and your team isn't full of level 100 already.
LGPE and BDSP are where they are because
FOR ME they are an unnecessary reiterations and waste of resources. FRLG already perfected Gen 1, LGPE had a nice art direction but everything else was a downgrade from the tried and true formula that we were used to for decades. That's not to say they can't experiment with new mechanics, Legends nailed that, it's only in C because it inherited all the flaws of modern Pokémon games but anything from C up I find still worth playing.
BDSP on the other hand are the long awaited remake of my favourite generation and they are just.. The same game but with more varied underground and a chibi style that is impossible to take seriously. Oh and a broken launch. (Not like SV were in better shape then or now anyway) ORAS had their problems but they still had unique stuff that made them worth experiencing.
Do you love SV and think it's the best game ever made? That's fine.
Do you think the franchise hasn't been declining for 10 years and you are as excited as you were in your childhood for what's next? Fantastic.
But not everyone is gonna think that.
Oh right D/P had a lack of fire types in the regional dex and Gen 4 had a slow engine. I hate them now.
Also please don't "but they sold like hot cakes, even more than your favourite games" because yeah everybody knows that. The market is different from early 2000s and many more people are interested in gaming and on average have more spending power.