I only played "online with strangers" (at age 35 it becomes increasingly unlikely to have gaming friends with spare time and a love for the same series as you).

Why didn't Nintendo see the big issue with matchmaking? I'm talking about letting people vote on courses + roulette after they form a group. It makes sense in Mario Kart, where the fun is in repetition. Here it means that you will, most of the time, force 2 people to replay a section they already know and solved. As a result my experience isn't very fun: The others typically "nooo!" on the vote, then rush through the levels impatiently. It feels like a speed run, you don't get a second to take in the scenery. Afterwards the group disbands in most cases (because they hate you for being a noob), meaning you have to team up with a new group, which increases the chances of replaying the section you've just played instead of the one you don't know yet.

Seriously, this is a biggie and quite awful. There had to be a better way! It's bad enough that this game has barely any overworld and story, but if I can't even play the thing progressively..

Like I said, I don't know other 3DS owners. I think I'll try the solo mode. 

Ideas:
- letting people vote on the level or world of 4 levels before they form a group. In other words, filter the matchmaking so that only people that wanna play the same levels are matched. 
- even better: setting up a distinct "first run" / "story mode" matchmaking which ensures you only play with people that haven't played the level either (the current matchmaking can stick around for the bonus challenges).

Ok, yes :) You are right, that's an option. But can we discuss the random matchmaking anyway? Because for many of us that's the only viable option to play that game. Nintendo have put it in, and I'd bet it's the most played mode. 

The biggest problem this game has, if the demo is anything to go by, is the fact that 95% of the "puzzles" are totem-related, which is a big step down from Four Swords Adventure.

This thing you mention in the OP seems annoying as well. 

Yeah. Essentially the bonus challenges could be that, because they are re-runs by definition.

To give Zelda fans a sense of adventure and story progression, they really should have implemented a story mode, where you play levels in order and you're matched with others that are at the same point of the game. 

I don't know why any online game would not have matchmaking.

i am finding the sole mode very rewarding and smart - even more challenging.... you need to think of what to do instead of waiting for other people to do it for you.

I am really enjoying this game - yes story mode is not a Zelda Story mode but this is not a bad game at all.

I can see what you mean in repeating the stage over and over again with new people but hopefully with more people getting teh game this "flaw" will be resolved in numbers... (if this make sense)

i'm ignoring all of the nintendo/zelda specific stuff and saying i absolutely agree with the point of this thread.

i quit destiny primarily because of the same issue.  i'm old and i don't have a ton of friends that game and the ones that do (like me) don't game a ton of hours.  i game when i can and i cannot get a group of friends to be availible at the same time.  if a game requires co-op and doesn't provide match making then the game is absoultely unplayable for me. 

it's absolutly terrible game design to require co-op but not provide the tools to make co-op accessible.

To be honest, I think it's rather going to get worse, because more and more people online will have progressed further in the game (or they have already finished it and are grinding for materials). It is almost a broken system, I would argue, if they don't filter matchmaking by progression.

But I'm glad to hear that you enjoy solo mode! Reviews weren't too kind on it, but I could see it work for me as well.