I was going to go one better with 'slammer' but ya beat me to it.
I was going to go one better with 'slammer' but ya beat me to it.
Im in act 3 and only encountered the "you're underleveled" message once at that same point. I havent scoured the areas for everything nor speed run the main story. I think act 1 is tight like you said, but it seems to be much looser as you progress.
There was an episode of Orville that explored that very thing.