And that loop is tedious as I already mentioned. You just ignored my point about how an open game shouldn't force you to play a certain way, and instead just implied that the game isn't for me despite me enjoying botw and totk being a top 5 zelda for me. I should be allowed to complain about an aspect that I do not like. Should I have to deal with all the glitches and garbage in Sonic 06 just because I wanted to enjoy the game? No because that's stupid. I'm allowed to criticize something, even if I like it. Many people love final fantasy games, but also don't like the frequency of random encounters in the earlier games. Yeah it's intended to be there, but that does not mean people just have to shut their mouth and deal with it, they are allowed to criticize. I can enjoy the present even if I think the wrapping paper looks ugly. As I said before, stop acting like the way you decide to play is supposed to be the "right" way, especially with a game like botw, and acting like anyone else is wrong.

Even an open world game needs a gameplay loop, and a gameplay loop requires parameters.

I never said people were not allowed to dislike it. No game is for everyone, and if you think it sucks that's a valid opinion.

Like any game, BOTW/TOTK were designed a certain way. You don't have to like it, all I'm saying is that if somebody genuinely wants to get more out of them, adjusting how they approach it is a possible solution.

Zelda has never had great combat since going 3d. Most people are not gonna care. same with GTAV, and red dead just brain dead combat and they get rated the 97

I have yet to find one (and I went really high) were I can Ascend from Depths, though, from what I understand, they are exception to the rule. Had a fun time yesterday in Depths (though it does starts to feel samey after a while), but was really bummed I had to use fast travel to get back to surface.

Ascend do makes sense from getting out of Depths, pity there isn't more places to use it - though I think it would be better if they went with how D&D treats passageways to Underdark.

Exactly it's a cheap way of trying  the make the game more difficult. How about actually making a good combat system  where weapons don't need to break. This video explains everything wrong with the combat and stopping zelda from being on elden ring level. 

One spot is directly underneath the north end of Hylia bridge. Another one is below the mountain east of the Tabantha Tundra. They are visible as towers with a lot of lights in the depths. There's also some creepy music playing when you stand there.

Will check out. I go to Depths to search for map markers, so I'm mostly wandering blindly toward them, searching for high ground.

I got a bit further, got the ascend ability last night after messing around in the cold. I got to the top the 'wrong way' so hadn't encountered any spicy peppers yet. A burning weapon keeps you warm too.

It would be nice if things were more stream lined, there are so many steps to things. Why can't I cook in bulk instead of 1 by 1, waste of time. Then the Zonai cooking pot is single use per meal. Every arrow has to be altered on the fly breaking the flow, everything feels designed to slow you down. Weapon durability is still a pita, especially with the axe. No idea yet how to make new ones (fuse flint to a stick?) but they don't last all that long, especially with trees resetting all the time lol. So now I have 1 inventory slot taken up by the broken master sword, 2 by axes, thus only 5 left for weapons that break rather fast.

I'm using the bow more now since arrows are quite abundant as well as construct bows. I rather melee but got to conserve the weapons :/ Kinda disappointed I couldn't fell the big tree. Hoping I could build with that or at least get some thick sticks out of it. Yet the axe just passes straight through.

Sure it's fun in a way and tries hard to make you feel clever. Too slippery to climb, glue a bunch of logs together to use as a ladder. Clever or turning a 15 sec climb into a 5 minute tree hunting and gluing task. Want to cross a gap, same thing. It's like the realized oh shit climbing everything is too 'easy' so lets break the land up into islands with surfaces you can't climb.

I want to check out the depths but this tutorial island is taking a long time and isn't keeping my attention for more than an hour. After finishing the Ascend shrine I looked at the 'path' to the temple and thought, not now, enough. It's more a resource management simulator than an adventure game so far. Plus I keep running back and forth, hard to recognize where I have already been without fog of war on the map. Not that it really matters as even a heavily defended chest that only unlocks after defeating the guards just holds a generic piece of amber. Not worth breaking a bow and rusty claymore for, plus food spend staying warm and healthy. Those encounters feel designed to consume your resources rather than offer anything worthwhile. (Sure more Zonai charging thingies, dunno what they are for though. At least they drop a replacement weapon and bow. Just got to find more food again)

I get the same feeling as TWD S&S Ch1 to Ch2. Pushing the unbalance further out of balance. But can't deny it's fun to play in the little moments, just like TWD S&S despite its flaws. It's just not as good as BotW was. And I'll never complain about the UI in GT7 again, tons of steps to get anything done there as well. TotK UI beats that hands down lol. Still looking forward to play more, in short burst at night. (I find it too hard to see the game during day time, the low contrast of the world doesn't work with bright sunny days)

The fps still drops too btw, it's weird and kinda random since the patch. Ultra hand will sometimes severely slow down the fps, yet turn a little further and it's smooth again. Resolution is bad while turning (I guess dynamic) very visible drop, and the stutter is quite noticeable. But that's right after playing Red Matter 2 on PSVR2 which runs at a rock solid 4K 120fps. Putting Zelda on right after that really shows how dated the Switch is.

Crafting a balloon is also a way to get to the surface 

Isn't it obvious? There are stones lying around that are shaped in a certain way. Just fuse them with a stick. You can also fuse construct horns with a stick since they cut. Only spears won't cut trees down.