Open World: After over a decade of similar game design, I’m completely burnt on the concept. Inevitably, I’m going to run straight to as many towers as possible to fill the map out and then fast travel across the map as needed because it’s the most efficient thing to do, which is what it did for both games. Traversal in TotK was a cop to that, I feel, because the overworld was recycled. Everything from the towers flinging you into the sky to being able to build vehicles was to increase the speed you could explore. Unfortunately, upgrades to the battery were behind such a grind, it forces you to be efficient in your designs which always means the two fan-and-control stick combo.

Progression: Completely lacking. One of the things I love about other Zeldas is going through the dungeons and accruing power ups that open up new methods of traversal and increase Link’s power throughout the game. BotW and TotK both give you all the tools you’re going to get in the first two hours and then tell you to enjoy the other hundred. There is gear, but the environmental effects in a lot of zones strongly encourages you to wear what’s required. Upgrades are behind quite a grind.

Time vs Reward: There’s a lot to explore in these games and the sight of a far off platform that requires some kind of solution to reach draws me in. I’d spend a good 5-10 minutes getting to it only to be rewarded with 5 arrows or I’d look in yet another cave just to break two weapons digging through a bunch of rocks for a bunch of amber and a sapphire. Eventually, I just stopped doing it because the rewards never justified the time I’d spend doing it.

Story Delivery: For me, a good story can outweigh gameplay I don’t like, but both games miss the mark for me here as well. The open world design they went with is at odds with story delivery because you can possibly go anywhere. Memories made sense in BotW, but the tear drop system in TotK is really confusing. Being able to get the story out of order (which I ended up doing), really defuses what little narrative tension the game has. I don’t know why they couldn’t just play the next cutscene when you get the next drop. It is also perplexing that finishing the dungeons in TotK ends with you getting the same exact sage cutscene telling you the same exact information with a little bit of vocal inflection depending on character.

Dungeon Design: Recycled ___blight Ganon in BotW was a real letdown compared to past fun boss designs. In TotK, it was real disappointing that the dungeons all had the same fundamental design – unlock four locks and fight the boss. It was fine the first time I saw it, but when I realized that was all the dungeons were going to do, it sucked the enjoyment right out of me. Also, I understand that the journey of getting to the dungeons is part of the experience, but in both games, they were so lackluster and few in number that it felt like a waste of time.

Shrines: The shrines are so fire and forget I question why they were even there beyond padding out the map. I would’ve vastly preferred breaking the total into groups to make the dungeons into proper dungeons or at least consolidating them into shrine complexes that were more meaningful rather than a timesink.

Weapons: Yes, the durability system. I don’t have an issue with it per se, but its design encourages habits. What it encouraged me to do is hang all the cool race specific weapons on the wall because I couldn’t afford to replace one if they broke. I never used them. Also, the Master Sword running out of juice makes my eyes roll back in my head.