That would be worse than just use the quick menu and select a new one.

That is great. Obviously in the next one they have to change a lot of things to keep it fresh (this isn't CoD afterall where people just want to buy the same game over and over). Zelda fans want fresh new adventures and this game certainly provided it. Keeping the open world sense of freedom while changing up some things is definitely the way to go. Figuring out how to include a story in such a freely open world game is a big challenge for them. Definitely need to add back in some real dungeons, while keeping some shrines around too would be cool. They should keep weapon durability but perhaps make the weapons last a little longer (maybe throw in more enemies wandering around so that longer lasting weapons makes sense). Definitely add enemy variety. I'd like to not see cooking in the next game, as then it'd feel too similar to BotW, but perhaps replacing food with some other sort of collectibles you need to use throughout the game. Maybe something like making potions that work pretty much the same as cooking in terms of finding items and combining them but they are for battle potions instead of cooking food.

Would love to see a story like Ganon has taken over hyrule and decimated hyrulian forces so you have to travel around the world defeating his forces that occupy several "dungeon" type areas. Same sense of freedom but you have to actually defeat major areas to drive the story forward. A little bit of linearity in there to drive the story mixed with huge freedom to still explore just about anywhere at any time.

He's already confirmed before the open world approach is now the new template for the series.

I remember that but I don’t think both articles necessarily mean the same thing. What I got from Aonuma is that giving players that freedom of choice in areas such as exploring, solving puzzles, and going about with how they want to deal with progress and story is something he and his team wants to maintain. I mean, sure, making it open world can allow that type of freedom.

So, Ocarina of Time in a BotW open world?

Much more like "hyrule is at war" than ocarina. Like for example a "dungeon" could be the goron village is captured and you have to get in and take out ganon's forces occupying it. Maybe another area is under siege and you have to go through the enemy encampment and take them out to free the area, and you could do that a multitude of different ways. Maybe another one there is a hyrulian force imprisoned and you have to free them and then fight your way out with them in a series of battles. Stuff like that. Where each dungeon has different objectives and you are free to figure out how you want to beat the dungeon, no one specific way presented. And shrines could be like taking out mini defense posts scattering around the world. Maybe each defense post shrine you free some soldiers. With hyrule castle being the final target but its defenses are such that you can't possibly hope to engage them until you've freed a bunch hyrulian forces and perhaps gained some key powers/items from the dungeons. Then once you have enough forces together you can decide to engage in open battle with ganon's forces outside hyrule castle, if you break through then you can get into the castle and work through that final level. Or maybe there are multiple ways to attack hyrule castle and you can come up with different strategies. But the whole world is open BotW style while still having a story line that makes it so you need to complete some dungeons and shrines first before you are strong enough to take on the final area. Something along those lines.

There is some rare stuff I have only found 2 of and I purposefully avoid combat because I don't want shit breaking.

The are a tonne of rare things in the game no point clinging onto one or two.

I hope they keep weapon durability, it kept things fresh and interesting by not allowing me to lean too heavily on one weapon and constantly changing up my arsenal. 

About the only things I'd like to see change is make the major dungeons thematically distinct instead of all the same rusty beige aesthetic, give them more interesting bosses, and increase general enemy variety. (Not that the game was poor in the latter regard, just that there is room for improvement)

I used to feel this way but now I'm not so sure. The obvious advantages of weapon durability are making the game more like a survival game, encouraging the use of different weapons, and making for fun random moments. The obvious disadvantage is that combat is based more on weapon durability than skill, the weapons get destroyed way too easily, and instead of making a plethora of actually interesting and diverse weapons to account for wanting to experiment with your roster you pretty much have to because of weapon durability. 

As I see it it's a tie in terms of pros and cons, if not a little bit more cons than pros