Overall, to cap the thread (I guess), I wouldn’t say the game is blah, once you realize you can do whatever you want.
I also wouldn’t say it’s 10/10 best Zelda ever, best game ever.
I guess it will be just like Ocarina, where a certain generation for whom it was their first big boy game will always remember it as the greatest of all time. And the rest of us will be forced to say, “Yeah, it’s good, but…it’s not that good.”
I mean, I’m an FFVII pervert, so I can’t be too judgmental.
In a more modern context, the game definitely feels like a fairly generic implementation of the type of open world that current technology allows (basically, really far-reaching horizons). If it weren’t a Zelda game, I’m not sure it would get much hype–though maybe the timing would have been such that it would still have made a splash. I think it probably would have needed some gimmick, compelling theme, or aesthetic.
So, I dunno. 8/10. Not that many games hold my attention this long, though the experience can often feel a bit bland.