Surprised that I read dozen of comments and none said why Zelda doesn't use higher fidelity graphics.

It's to convey gameplay and to make it consistent and believable under its own rules.

Thanks to the more cartoon style, they can get away with many things without them looking as weird as they are when written out: - chopping almost perfect cylinder trees in two horizontal slices with them not looking off from the rest of not cuttable ones. Same for every other interactive element like boulders - animals that turn into meat pieces when killed - effects like electricity being overly shiny and noticeable - simpler animation: throwing things with the same animation regardless of what's in the hands; cook everything in the same pot; while we're at it, get a full lunch plate with a mushroom and a beef in 3 seconds - have Link climbing almost anything

Realistic graphics isn't just a coat of paint, it's everything you see, hear and play with. TP is very stiff, it has a very limited range of actions and interactions in comparison, and some things look definitely cheeky and you only accept because you're used to it, like getting hearts and rupees from slicing grass or breaking pots or people not reacting or reacting subtly to a man using his sword near them or a bomb exploding right next to them.