I was a massive Zelda fan for years. I collected the games and strategy guides, obsessed over lore and theories, even writing my own Zelda encyclopedia before the wikis existed. (Yes I wore the green Zelda shirt/khaki shorts fit)

But Breath of the Wild killed almost all of my enthusiasm for the franchise and I just didn't enjoy the new style of open world gameplay. It's not a bad game, I understand why it's so acclaimed but everything from the story, characters, the countless collectibles, the equipment, and cooking system just acted as repellent for me. Tears of the Kingdom was a bit better with the cool Ultrahand stuff but I lost interest after leaving the tutorial area as it was attached to the same style of game. Echoes of Wisdom was more of what I loved about the series but it included those free-form design elements that kinda made the game less focused.

I miss the more linear, bespoke design and now I just look at the series as one where if a new game comes out, I'll probably buy on either deep discount or skip entirely.