It's an improvement over Breath of the Wild in a few of places, but the bland writing/localization, underdeveloped plot, middling voice acting, technical bottlenecks and shallow game design choices are really holding this back from being really exceptional.
Addendum (5/30/23): Having now finished the game, and done a good bit of sidequesting, my feelings on this game are a little more sour. As I said earlier there's definitely some highlights and great moments of creativity, but it all comes back to this nagging feeling I had during the whole course of the game. That feeling being I was playing more of an expansion to Breath of the Wild than a full on sequel.
I can't say I'm a fan of the sage mechanics, the building system, or really a lot of the bosses outside one in particular. Overall feeling more disappointed with this game than anything, but I'm glad I at least gave it a shot and finished it at the very least so I could come to that conclusion.
There's some good fun to be had here, but I think there's more fun and creativity to be had in the first game. I'm honestly good on open world games for a while and I think this direction isn't it for Zelda, in my opinion at least. I miss the more linear structure that's a bit more laser focused than just throwing everything and the kitchen sink in.
Addendum (5/30/23): Having now finished the game, and done a good bit of sidequesting, my feelings on this game are a little more sour. As I said earlier there's definitely some highlights and great moments of creativity, but it all comes back to this nagging feeling I had during the whole course of the game. That feeling being I was playing more of an expansion to Breath of the Wild than a full on sequel.
I can't say I'm a fan of the sage mechanics, the building system, or really a lot of the bosses outside one in particular. Overall feeling more disappointed with this game than anything, but I'm glad I at least gave it a shot and finished it at the very least so I could come to that conclusion.
There's some good fun to be had here, but I think there's more fun and creativity to be had in the first game. I'm honestly good on open world games for a while and I think this direction isn't it for Zelda, in my opinion at least. I miss the more linear structure that's a bit more laser focused than just throwing everything and the kitchen sink in.