Except said path is pulled out of thin air whereas the 2D=>3D explanation explains it perfectly.
Yep, I'm in the same boat. If I don't understand it, I won't really enjoy it.
Concept or not, it doesn't explain it, plus just looking at it is confusing. Teleporting from a river to a desert with no real explanation and saying "it's another dimension" is weird and explains nothing.
Which would be cool, but that's not what the guy is saying.
In fact, I'm a little curious why something like this hasn't happened already. I mean sure, we have a game like Ocarina of Time, but that's two fixed points; present and 7 years in the future, plus it's a long process to swap between the two time perods.