In regards to BOTW influence - Hidetaka Miyazaki said he was impressed by BOTW and it influenced his design. The funny thing is, that many games took inspiration from things present in Breath of the Wild, like climbing everywhere or the glider. Yet Elden Ring took it's influence from the things that were absent in BOTW. For instance BOTW explicitly decided not to put target markers on your map, except the ones you put there yourself. Elden Ring does the same. And building upon it, the guidance of grace is ingenious, because it gives you some orientation in the world, but instead of presenting the goal it shows the direction. So you still need to interact with the world to find the goal.

"give us plenty more areas to explore different from the first game, but the main thing is just add in a bunch more content (like more enemy types, more enemy points of interest, normal Zelda dungeons, and much more of a story with gameplay plot points)."

And that is part of the reason I found it weak - as an idea it was very good, I just didn't care much for execution - for me it felt like very advanced prototype, with lot of features not finished or cut out - that's why I'm hoping BotW2 will rectify all those things (and much more). I've played once through it, and (due to my older son being on autism spectrum) I had to sit through his whole playthrough as well - and let's just say, I liked it even less the second time.

As for Elden Ring - maybe you will some day play it and see what I mean. Elden Ring was advertised as open-world Souls game, and it delivered exquisitely on that promise. It's not perfect, especially if one is hoping for full RPG experience (as with all Souls, it is completely exploration and combat oriented, with 3rd (social) pillar being very rudimentary), but it feels and plays like Souls games and really shines at it.

Yeah, I have no doubt Miyazaki was influenced by some of BotW design - as I have no doubt he was influenced by some of decades old PC RPGs (whether he said it or not, it is very, very obvious in ER design).
As for things from BotW - I'm so happy there is no climbing in Elden Ring, execution of that in BotW majorly ruined it for me - Elden Ring has wonderful verticality and such non-punishing implementation of climbing as it was in BotW would just cheapen its exploration. As for guidance markers, I disliked them in BotW, I dislike them in Elden Ring as well and never use them - to be honest, I would like if there was an option not to even know where I am on the map (like in Outward). I like the idea of Torrent (horse-yak?), how you call and disband it reminded me of Despair from Darksiders 2. I would still take DS2 mechanically over ER, but ER is such a joy to explore.

Breath of the Wild was probably the best WiiU title and I absolutely loved it... So if they can meet or exceed those expectations... Then us, the consumer benefits.

Take your time Nintendo.

Nah. That would mean that the Switch never got a true exclusive Zelda title...

Hardware wise, I think we are overdue for a new console that steps things up, but with the current chip manufacturing climate, Nintendo would be wise to delay any successor until production is in their favor.

These are good points.  I can definitely see BotW's influence in Elden Ring in both what is there and what is missing.  Right out of the tutorial area I start gathering crafting materials from bushes and stuff just like BotW, and in both games the items that you can craft are actually from a fairly limited list.  For example, you don't craft armor or melee weapons in either game.  Those are meant to be found or won as a reward.

From my perspective, the two best games of the 2010's were Dark Souls and BotW.  Elden Ring feels like a pretty good blend of the two.  I'm only 25-30 hours in, but so far it feels like it's going to be my game of the current decade.  I am not optimistic that another game will touch it any time soon, including BotW2, but I would like to be proven wrong.

BotW was and is amazing. But BotW2 needs a better battle system and better dungeon designs.

Elden 2 needs better bosses. Too many of them are extremely lame and repetitive.

Please light your most wanted list on fire.  

What you are saying sounds reasonable.  However, it ignores the fact that most big budget games are kinda "meh" nowadays. 

It's nice to have a big budget title that takes risks and is still well executed.  I personally don't find too many titles anymore that fit all of those criteria.  Really the last one before Elden Ring was BotW.  And the last one before BotW?  Not sure.  Maybe FF10 or FF12.  It's been a while.  Of course, I am talking about my personal tastes.  I find most big budget Western titles to be trash.  So, according to my tastes, I don't expect to enjoy a big budget game as much as Elden Ring for quite a while. 

Skyrim? The Witcher 3? Red Dead 1? 

I'm definitely cool with that.

Not gonna lie...im like +100 hrs into the game and only beat the first beast lol Damn open world! Just so fun adventuring and hitting up all the shrines/side missions.

As I said, "I find most big budget Western titles to be trash."  I'll probably give Witcher 3 a try at some point though.  I've never played a game from CD Project Red and I think they've fixed any bugs it had.  But Cyberpunk 2077 would fall into the trash category.

When I'm saying Elden Ring is already "game of the decade", I mean it's my personal game of the decade.  I already doubt I'll find another game before 2030 that I like better except maybe Elden Ring 2.  I would love for some developer to prove me wrong, but I'm skeptical it will happen.