Far from perfect, there are a bunch of things throughout this game that didn't work for me; the intense proliferation of fetch-quests, food instantly healing you whenever you want making a lot of battles about little more than doing a bunch of cooking beforehand, the lack of in-game motivation to explore cooking beyond the same 3 or 4 simple dishes, the negative difficulty curve, forgettable boss battles (all the Ganon-variants having the same aesthetic really works poorly here), moments of overly obtuse reasoning, deeply uncomfortable usage of transphobic tropes, occasional frustrating or unsatisfying challenge design (Lost Woods was particularly rough for this).

All that said, the highs in this game are incredible; this world is one imbued with a very real feeling of magic, many of the views are breathtaking, and I never tired of clambering up yet another mountain to watch as the morning light breaks on the horizon and scout the land from high up for my next goal. I can't remember the last time a game not only created such genuine thrill over exploration but managed to maintain that thrill and excitement for most of its 50 hours. Not only is the world just wonderful to explore, with new secrets around every corner and over every hill, but the game is incredible at providing you a sense of direction in this gigantic world without ever holding your hand and rarely explicitly telling you what to do. That the game's world feels awe-inspiring yet never paralysing in all its options and potential experiences is a real achievement.

All this is to say I am more forgiving towards the game's moments of frustration or disappointment than I would normally be as the positive moments are really something special.