Hopefully, not as many iterations of BotW formula will be needed for "us" to recognize all of the flaws of BotW. ;)

Its my game of the generation and possibly one of the greatest games iv ever played. The sequel couldn't come quick enough.

As somone who always loved open world approach to games (original Elite from '84 was my first one), I found that this particular approach to open world in BotW annoyed me to no end.

I said this when it launched, and still stand by it - a semi-open world approach where you can explore large areas, but in the same time there are several "gates" of various kinds that require certain things to be obtained/happen for you to "unlock" other areas would be better fit and allow for both classic 3D Zelda dungeons and narrative to be incorporated naturally.

This is what I've hoped for BotW in the first place, this is what I'm hoping for Elden Ring (open-world Dark Souls) as well.

I used a guide for a handful of shrines. I got enough Korok seeds on my own to have my inventory spaces full. I used a guide after all the shrines and the main story quests to find the rest, because there was no way I could do it on my own. 

But no I did not use a guide while exploring for the first time. 

I'm with you. I much prefer the Ocarina of Time model. It's just too bad that we are in the minority.  I think there needs to be a happy medium between the openness of BOTW and the linearity of SS.

The weapon durability is a huge issue I have with the game. I like it when an item actually felt like something important.

As for controls, I used the Power A controller this time so I could map out some of them, which really helped.

Breath of the Wild is my 2nd favorite Zelda, the first NES one being my favorite. I didn't really care for the other 3D Zeldas I've tried. BotW feels like "real Zelda" again, like the old 2D ones.

There are things that they can add to Breath of the Wild to improve it; such as shrine themes and more towns; which are not really flaws, and more like additional content that would benefit the game; give the player the option to have the game pause after weapon/shield breaks). Open worlds can always be larger as well. Breath of the Wild has expansive lands to cover, but increasing the size of the map team could mean a lot more land. Maybe in another part of the world there will be a different culture besides the stables? Perhaps there will be something like the Nopon villages or Research Stations (Those Xenoblade Chronicles X items served the exact same purpose as stables, basically mini-towns to help give players a resting/base location in the middle of wilderness); for example, perhaps there will be some Kingdom outside of Hyrule and they have little watch forts around their lands. Perhaps some mini-games can help the player grow them through severale stages into thriving cities (ala Terranigma towns, or Terry Town in BotW).

A few of the flaws I found with Breath of the Wild:

1. The main dungeons were a little too vast and vague, but not as bad as previous games. While I know there are some who like the dungeons of previous games, with a few small exceptions (such as the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time - which was generally good because it was A. very short, and B. Lacking the sort of vague puzzles of other dungeons), I found the dungeons to be very unenjoyable experiences due to their vastness and vagueness. This is unlike dungeons from 2D Zelda games which I often found to be universally fun. IMO, the further we can get away from the vast'n'vague dungeon styles of older 3D Zeldas, the better. Having a few hundred LTTP length and paced shrines that are completely optional is much more enjoyable.

2. The item system can be a little overpowered. Basically, you can go into a boss battle and get your ass kicked for 14 hours straight, but you've got a ton of healing items, so it doesn't matter. Hard to say if this is a true flaw or not, because it actually takes a lot of grinding in order to activate it; it's also a flaw that exists in most RPGs.

3. UI with the item system can be a little cumbersome. Some improvements: A. Allow the user a few toggles (as in optional UI settings) with weapon/shield breaks, such as auto-equip the next in stack, and pausing the game after a breaks; second is a better handling of cooking, allow something more streamlined, allowing players to repeat cooks with a single button rather than returning into the item screen every time. These are items that a lot of PC game designers (like Paradox) allow in their games: you can basically customize your messaging however you want, allowing certain types of messages to pop up and pause the game, and others to slide by with merely a sidebar notification.

I loved this game, but it didnt feel like a "zelda game" to me. Loved it though, definately up there with God of War among my fav games this Gen.

I absolutely hated Breath of the Wild. I've played every Zelda game since I was 10 and was hyped for it. I love the graphical style and the world to explore was beautiful. But it wasn't Zelda. No dungeons, the story seemed to suffer in my opinion due to the freedom to do it in any order you wish. And I wasn't a fan of the puzzle shrines. I played for 10 hours and gave up.

I like the breakable weapons mechanic in BotW. My only issue is that early game in Master Mode is not balanced very well with this weapon system, as enemies take so many hits to kill that many things seem unkillable, what with their health regen.

That being said, I think the most interesting part of Master Mode is the early game, as it is truly brutal. Once you've gotten a few heart container upgrades and a solid inventory, things are a bit more manageable (but still tough).

It could have used a bit more story elements, and traditional dungeons would have been really nice to have, but as it currently exists, the game is extremely fun to play. Like, I could nit-pick at various things that I would have liked to have been done differently, but regardless, when I play BotW, I have a fuckload of fun. One of the most fun games to play.