Agreed, Its barely a zelda game but regardless of how easy the puzzles were, they were fun. But yes there were too many and 100%ing the game was an absolute slog because of the similarity between alot of the shrines

“Combat was tedious” sure. If your bad at the game, alot of attacks are parryable and weapons and food are craftable. Even if i wasnt equipped to deal with a situation the enviroment always provides alternative ways to deal with enemies.

“zelda dungeons were the cornerstone of game design” I have to disagree zelda dungeons have always been either bullshit or as you put it mind numbingly easy and tedious. They were innovative for sure, but they were often obnoxiously long. Stopping for a few days and coming back to the game youd forget wtf you were doing and why. The music however i agree with, botw does not have a single track i remember off the top of my head.

The story was always trash. Except majoras mask and minish cap. But i agree about the cutscenes, Its not hard to tell a story through gameplay, so its lazy for sure.

All that said, i never gave botw a shining review. I just said that they actually TRIED something different. Even if it wasnt executed that well.

ALSO how tf are you not going to mention the final boss fight of botw? That shit had my jaw on the floor with how tedious and ass that was.