BotW is my third favorite behind both WW and MM, tied with SS because they almost seem like opposites in what I enjoy about them.
Ican understand people not liking it, but those who say it’s not an actual Zelda game, I just do not get it. Kinda the point that they let a lot of younger devs take the reigns and breathe new life into the series with fresh ideas that would change a lot of the tired, old Zelda cliches.
The fundamentals are all still there, especially in exploration. Things like the dungeons being not so great, I’d argue that with the last one, and while the rest weren’t necessarily great, I have a hard time believing people think dungeons from TP were so much better when 99% of them had the most brain dead level design in the series. Both MM and SS dungeon design stomp all over them, never mind the Oracle games. But my point is, dungeons aren’t the only thing to value in aZelda game; I’ve always found it way more fun to explore the overworld and interact with all the fun characters. Unfortunately due to how large it is, BotW can’t afford to have all of its characters have depth, but there’s still very many interesting ones. Even if the sidequest rewards themselves are kinda bleh, it’s more about the journey.
I would have liked some repair system for weapons, but otherwise I liked most weapons not lasting too long. It helped to make each feel useful and versatile. Most RPGs get boring sticking with the same stuff all the time. It also adds depth in thinking about whether it is worth it to try to avoid combat or maybe even thinkoutside the box with the physics and other abilities, environmental design, etc.
Just about the only thing I would have really wanted to change was the voice acting. Was kinda proven right after so many people whined about not having it and me saying Nintendo would be cheap about it and hire untalented people for the English cast. How Fromsoft can afford better actors I’m not sure. Zelda herself is definitely the worst but the rest just do not fit the tone of the story.
