You must described the very reason why I don’t like BotW/TotK. They don’t feel like Zelda. They feel like a Bethesda/Obsidian game where you just wander around bumping into things, except Nintendo doesn’t do it nearly as well. I say either go all in on the open world concept, and have proper RPG mechanics, or don’t do it at all. The modern Zelda games are big, empty worlds, with shrines instead of proper dungeons, and nothing fun to do in between except wander forever and pick up flimsy weapons that break after a dozen hits. The games barely even have a plot. That’s not Zelda to me. I want more games like Wind Waker, Majora’s Mask, and Minish Cap, not more boring open world BS.

Same reason why I don’t like Ubisoft titles. Big open world with nothing to do.