Skyward Sword was the worst Zelda I have played. We need to talk about this.

[F0X]

One could build a whole game around one of Skyward Sword's puzzles.

Lack of exploration didn't bother me, because I knew well beforehand that Skyward Sword was created to be more "Metroid-like" in design (and appreciated the concept). What really bothered me was how Nintendo failed to leverage the new structure to its potential since the ground areas lack the connectivity needed to facilitate multiple paths of progression and backtracking. Plus the rewards for backtracking were almost nonexistent.

Even so, I personally give Skyward Sword a 10 large on the principle that Nintendo was doing something different with Zelda. Call me crazy, but I believe that purism can be as dangerous to a franchise as change is.