I agree, both Monkey Island 1 & 2 are great examples of how non-linearity can be put into good use and how to introduce people to an adventure. The worlds are very well ballanced, so that players don't feel lost, while designers have more freedom. As much as I love Gabriel Knight games, I must say that this concept (finish several tasks to see the end of the chapter) may be very faulty in wrong hands, as it was many times already. You need really good designing skills not to turn the game into "follow from point A to point B" kind of game.
As long as there's a choice, I'm all for an open world approach. But as for introduction, I think one scene may be enough, like the bridge scene in MI2. The way CoMI started was kind of... misleading for me. When I finally arrived to the island, I felt like "oh, finally, it is safe to settle down and explore an island after all". That introduction part felt really unnecessary. It might be a good idea in a game with some tricky controls though.
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