You can turn the golden line off, I believe, or, at least, make it so faint as to not be noticeable at all. It's under the options menu, if I remember correctly.
I really like the job/quest/sale system and, unlike Mike, I like the golden trail thing. As much as I did open ended sandbox worlds, I really dislike wondering around them aimlessly for hours looking for what I need to do to progress.
That being said, the game certainly has some problems. Like Mike, I agree that navigation and player control just sucks. The job variety is unimaginative at best. And perhaps the biggest complaint I have is the corruption/purity thing in addition to the good/evil thing. The only thing I've found to lower corruption is to either jack up prices on property--which is difficult to keep track, or eat corrupting food--most of which is fattening....
I like this game, I do and I have put many hours into it, but it's not the end all of end alls and certainly not what Molyneux said he was going to deliver, which I guess after the first Fable, I should have expected.