With Seltani, some areas are designed better than others, but I don’t find it to be the major step down from compass navigation you’re suggesting.
I can’t hold compass directions in my head without a struggle. It’s much easier for me to move around once I understand the relationship between how rooms connect. “This is near that.” Whether rooms are to the north or south or whatnot doesn’t help. I end up going in the wrong direction all the time. So this idea that the compass provides automatic and functional orientation doesn’t hold up in my experience. If you throw ordinals into the mix, I’m doomed.
Actually, to make a direct comparison between two zarf games, I could navigate Bigger Than You Think just fine on my own. The Dreamhold, on the other hand, was so confusing that I couldn’t reliably move around even while looking at a map. Appropriate for a wizard’s house? Maybe. But not easy or comfortable or natural.