Isn't there a Shrine detection function on the Purah Pad?

This is my view of the game, your experience, of course, may be completely different. I still think it's solid game, there's plenty of things I've enjoyed, despite all the flaws, and it does have better narrative structure than BotW.

It's just that I can quite easily and vividly imagine how much better and more engaging open world formula for Zelda can be, so this one doesn't do a lot for me.

I'm really glad to see everyone having such thoughtful conversations about Tears of the Kingdom. Sorry again for being mostly absent for the last month. I was playing Zelda every spare hour I had, in order to hit my deadline. After 100+ hours of gameplay and several days of writing, I finally finished my review. Please feel free to check it out.

I hope I can now return to my Zelda Replay series, since it's been 1.5 years since the last one. And that fact is really stressing me out  

It's really amazing that the game is still dominating conversation so much a month after launch. so often in recent years even with many of the most anticipated games conversation surrounding them seems to completely die off within a week or 2.

https://youtu.be/Dun8L2vfcvw

This game is just insane 

I think a big part of that is the fact that so many people are still playing, because there's so much content. I thought Breath of the Wild was impossibly huge, but Tears of the Kingdom is even bigger, to an almost intimidating degree. My wife has been playing the game as well, and when I note her progress so far I can't imagine she will see the end before ~200 hours. So the two of us will be comparing notes for another month at least.

Another part revolves around just how unafraid and bold this game is. The stuff it's trying (and succeeding upon) is so new, surprising, and disruptive. It demands to be talked about.

I am curious to read what you mean by this. Because as great as the game is, I can’t help but think this is all hyperboles.

Apparently there is, but I haven't done the task to get it yet

I finally see the advantage of the fuse system, basically a crutch for weapons breaking so quickly. I never got to use the elemental weapons in BotW as refusing to use fast travel meant picking them up on one side of the map to use on the other was simply not practical. Yet in TotK I can stock up on elemental monster parts and stick them on a weapon when needed. At least there is no limit in what you can carry for parts.

Bows could use some love though, can't stick anything on those. Shields are good as utility items but jeez they break so fast. And why does my shield break when I stick a light on it just to use as a portable lamp. I'm not using shields to fight at all, one on one combat is rare and it's much faster just to throw a puff shroom and attack from behind. Muddle buds, bomb flowers and puff shrooms are my most used items. Electrified weapons for anything that comes through.

I got about 25% of the depths explored now, well maybe 20%. 18 light roots activated so far, currently in the south west corner. It's kinda repetitive with just enough 'new' things to discover to keep going. I'm finding plenty auto build schematics but don't really find any of the contraptions fun to use. I rather walk and glide lol. I use the balloon to get a good visual of the area, straight up is fine. Anything that moves always ends me up in the gloom lol. (Still only got the standard original battery, pretty useless with stuff using 3 or more Zonai devices)

Everything seems to level up around me except Link himself. Still 4 hearts, got to leave the depths to visit shrines! Thus the one hit surprise kills start getting more frequent. Plus without muddle buds I would not be able to defeat enemy camps. They need to kill each other off as my weapons break too fast to fight them head on. South Colliseum still used up most my weapons despite letting them fight each other and using plenty bomb flowers. Sure they drop lots of weapons but it's a lot of busy work fixing everything again after.

Anyway the depths have that "what's around the next corner" feeling that keeps me going. I'm rather dreading exploring Hyrule again, thus sticking to new (under)ground. Sure there are plenty differences in Hyrule compared to BotW, yet I already know what's behind the next hill / corner, which lessens the appeal of doing it all again just to spot the differences. Yet I do miss the shrines down here! However I'm mapping their locations as I explore the depths, will be easy to locate them once I finally emerge above ground :)

Had another one of those magic hours where every little adventure just flowed into the next, and in the course of an hour I conquered a cave, reunited a Korok with his friend, completed two shrines, unlocked a Fairy Fountain, unlocked a tower, and recalled a falling rock into the sky where I found an open air dungeon in the clouds.

All this unfolded so organically, with each leading naturally to the next, and it just felt incredible. What a game.