I agree with you about it being the weakest Zelda, especially in terms of gameplay; in addition, the sheer linearity and lack of things to do outside dungeons seriously hinders my enjoyment of it (this would not be so bad if these elements did not co-exist; The Wind Waker was brutally linear but open-ended at the same time because it offered so much exploration). There is not a single moment that I, as Link, feel as though I am affecting anything in the world. It feels like a contrived, "designed" world, more than any Zelda game before it, and because of this, it is impossible for me to lose myself in it or even motivate myself to finish it (which I did--to my own dismay).
I also hated Midna, for gameplay and story-related reasons: she pulled you by the nose throughout the game, so that neither Link nor Hyrule felt really important; the most important location/story was the Twilight Realm, and we rarely saw it. As the proverbial icing on the cake, the "realistic" graphics were atrocious and uninspired (it had all the charm of an Xbox 360 military shooter) and almost none of the music, save Midna's theme and the field theme, even approached the quality of other Zelda titles. In terms of plotting, none of the characters' problems seemed especially linked or especially relevant, and major plot threads dropped off without development all too frequently for me. The conclusion of every arc felt like a deus ex machina, even if it wasn't. I don't understand how in a series with such tight narratives as Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess is lauded as having a "good story." I was so divorced and alienated from it that I could hardly stand it.
I've written hundreds of two thousand word rants about TP in my time, and perhaps I could dig one up and post it here, but the fact is I'm exhausted by this game, even talking about how bad it is. It is a tiresome, boring game devoid of any sense of adventure, any thrill, any playfulness. It feels like something a subpar Western studio would come up with in trying to make a "dark" and "mature" Zelda, and the arbitrary obstacles to progress are frustrating beyond belief. I'm sorry if this sounds mean-spirited, and I'm sorry if my points are not as well-developed as they should be, but there it is.
Oh, and one thing people try to tell me is that I would have been disappointed no matter what Nintendo did. That's not true at all. In fact, I like to point towards TP's contemporary, Okami, for an example of a logical evolution of Zelda gameplay that would have benefitted TP significantly. Okami may well be the greatest Zelda game ever made--it's rich, vibrant, imaginative, creative, it has unbelievably good storytelling, endearing characters (unlike the apathetic, detached, emo characters of TP), and most importantly, the scope of its exploration and abundance of its sidequests and sheer variety of its main quest make it impossible to put down. These games attempt some very similar story/gamplay themes, down to Zelda-like gimmicks, wolf controls, and "Twilight," but the difference shows how far Zelda has fallen. What an incredible contrast. What a testament to Twilight Princess' unmitigated blandness.
