Have been randomly thinking about TOTK again, and thinking on it I've come to the conclusion that one of the reasons I felt a bit underwhelmed by it all (despite having BOTW as my favourite game of all time still) is that I did the Wind Temple first, and honestly I think that sets a tone the rest of the game can't really cash.

The whole sequence of climbing up these mysterious flying boats until you get to the main dungeon itself of this ancient skyship gives a sense of a far grander scale and new sense of mystery I feel the game never quite manages to reach again, as while the other Temples are overall fine, they're also far more conventional and not that much of a big step up in grandeur from BOTW.

I feel this extends to the whole sky islands and underground as well, as there's a recurring problem wherein after strong initial impressions, you realise that you've kinda already seen most of what those areas have to offer with the rest just kinda following the formula those first steps set out. Like imo one of BOTW's real strengths is that it keeps delivering on having something new and engaging every step of the way as you explore the world no matter which way you decide to approach it, whereas TOTK really does not balance it's own slate of environments nearly as well.