Not liking it doesn't mean he doesn't have his own preffered approach of it, to me this seems like the type of game he'd want to make with the Ghibli homages and all. BOTW to me is a mixture of elements from WW, SS and MM all in a rebooted LOZ template, these are games that represented his particular liking and the appointment of Hidemaro Fujibayashi as head director since SS makes believe this even more as his style and approach in his games fits in well with Aonuma's visions.

Please bring back themed dungeons, Their absence is my biggest gripe with BOTW. I know they were trying something different but still i would love new iterations of the forest, fire, desert, water, snow dungeons etc.

So should they remove the option of just going straight to the final boss? That's part of what made the story more open to coincide with the open world. You discover the story yourself, you can go to the Master Sword first even before challenging the Divine Beasts (which fit into the lore of the story so that's what made them the main dungeons and all). All the story elements are meant to be discovered at your own pleasure.

i think this will be an interesting debate Nintendo can look into for the next game or so. SS was more linear but more story focused, while BoTW was completely open world so the consequence was a little lighter on story focus due to wanting to give players freedom to experience Zelda however they like, even if they choose to just go straight to the final boss and all.

I'm like you, theres nothing stopping a mixture of previous 3D Zelda concepts being used in an open world ,I feel even though it's a long way from open world TP was an indication that 3D zelda's where heading that way , and the criticism's of skyward sword seemed to confirm that was how a lot of people thought.

Honestly, this is what they should have been doing years ago!

I hope they do for the world. The Hyrule they created is absolutely amazing; vast, varied and teeming with life. The way they handled story events and the non-linearity of it is excellent. AI and the physics that keep the world together feel real.

However, while I do like the way the Divine Beasts are integrated into this world and the story, the challenges of the Shrines and the set-up and puzzles within all of them, they are no match for the greatness of the real themed dungeons. Another minor complaint, is how the Master Sword is handled; getting it isn't really "epic", it used to be a real "event", and really feel like it was this all-powerful mythical item and was well hidden (from a story point-of-view).

Anyway, if for a future game they combine a world like Breath of the Wild's with dungeons of an Ocarina of Time/Twilight Princess-like calibur, life would be complete. So I'd say to mr. Aonuma, go for it!

Agreed, so long as the path from beg to end was left effectively open as it is in this game. That is an amazing concept and truly fun to explore and invent.

I prefer the old formula as long as long as open world means no music, no story, no real themed dungeons, no signature Zelda items, no flasks, no heart pieces, no direction and no incentive / worthy reward to do anything.

I played BotW for 100 hours before dropping it unfinished. And those 100 hours were forgettable, there was nothing worth remembering, no AAA moments, just a waste of time.