I agree with most of this. Don't get me wrong, I'm having fun with the game, but it's easily my least favorite 3D Zelda. It's a good proof-of-concept for this new formula, but it's a game that I have no desire to ever replay after I'm done with it.
My favorite aspects of the franchise have always been dungeons, music and story (I don't care how "simplistic" the stories are, they've always been very charming to me) and BotW lacks in all of those to me. I'd rather have padding like the silent realms and tadtone collecting which only last 20min each at best than have most of my playtime be just walking in a huge overworld filled with nothing. Koroks are a lame reward for exploring imo, and shrines usually are underwhelming as well, with puzzles that you already know the answer before even trying to solve them (Looking at you, "twin" shrines on that mountain).
By the way, why did they make the main menu so soulless? Really bothers me that there's no title screen or music (Not even the Fairy Fountain theme!). I also really miss Link holding an item up after opening a chest.
