To be honest, when I first played MM I was completely astounded at how different it was in comparison to OoT and found the 3 day cycle to be somewhat of a hassle. Although having discovered the Inverted Song of Time on my first play through, I never really had too much of a problem until Stone Tower Temple and the Stray Fairy Collection portion of it.
I too disliked the save feature. Especially when I would use an Owl statue. Sometimes I would come back to an interrupted game, decide I didn't really have enough time to play MM and then I would just turn off forgetting that I hadn't really saved the game in the first place. My cartridge also freezes occasionally and without the freedom to save as you go, I always had to restart the three day cycle I was currently on.
Another annoyance of mine was the change in the 'give item' mechanic. Every time I would make it through the Lost Woods (or whatever the MM equivalent is) I would press the button to give the red potion and drink it. That really got on my nerves.
The more I played MM the more I started to like it for its quirkiness. I appreciate that Nintendo did not do a rehash of OoT and Simply label it a new game. I'm sure it would have been so much easier to just set it in Hyrule using the same engine and textures but they didn't. I like the design of the temples as well, in particular the Water Temple for it's unique ability to confuse me every time I need to turn on the next pump.
I also appreciate MM for simply being what it is. I am not what anyone could consider as being an avid gamer but, I have not encountered another game that is even remotely similar in theme and game play to MM. Even as a Zelda game it stands out as being unique and that is what I like the most about it. It's different and yet at the same time manages to capture everything that is the embodiment of a good entry into the LoZ series.
