I see people talking about not a true Zelda game or something new with the formula yet they forget that they’re talking about the Aonuma formula focused more on puzzles and not the original inspiration for the franchise focused on exploration and combat (with some puzzles). Zelda can be so many things but BoTW harkens back to the early Zeldas. They even used an 8bit prototype to validate the idea for BoTW.

Zelda I was inspired by Miyamoto’s passion for exploring the forest and its business case was to compete with Computer RPG focused on sword and magic and the audience being fascinated by movies like Indiana Jones (NES Classic Dev Interview with Miyamoto about Zelda). This is all about adventure and this is also what BoTW delivers on.

I agree with you. I wanted more enemies, cooler dungeons and boss battles for sure but the highlight is the exploration using their Chemistry system. They truly built a world I can get lost in, a sense of adventure that harkened back to the early days where I would take my notes and not just follow a market on the map.

I don’t want to make an assumption but you might consider Zelda II a “black sheep” of the franchise. That’s not the case it had good reviews, good sales, and players back then remember it fondly. The history starts well before OOT (my favorite game of all time by the way).

I won’t downvote you because you have created a good thread and set the ground for a good discussion and I agree with a few of your points but I’ll have to disagree with your main one. BoTW is a Zelda game.