I had that curiosity with OoT.

BoRW I just don't seem to have the patience for. Yes it's nice to have so much exploration, and it's nice to have open ended combat.

Maybe if it was one of my first Zelda's I'd love it. But I would have liked the more traditional dungeon crawling versus the dozens of small shrines.

You must described the very reason why I don't like BotW/TotK. They don't feel like Zelda. They feel like a Bethesda/Obsidian game where you just wander around bumping into things, except Nintendo doesn't do it nearly as well.

I say either go all in on the open world concept, and have proper RPG mechanics, or don't do it at all. Don't half ass it or I'm just reminded of Ubisoft titles. That's what the modern Zelda games feel like, fucking Ubisoft titles. Big, empty worlds, with nothing to do. Shrines instead of proper dungeons, and no fun to be found in between except wander forever and pick up flimsy weapons that break after a dozen hits. The games barely even have a plot. That's not Zelda to me. I want more games like Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, and Minish Cap, not more boring open world BS.