This was so conflicting of a game for me that's released this year. I have already marked the Resident Evil 4 Remake as my GOTY as of this review, it may remain that way (Baldur's Gat3 is a bigger contender). TOTK is a sequel that fixed the main issues I had with BOTW: much better dungeon design, shrines that are a little more diverse in challenge, and there are actually caves to explore in the overworld (something not many people pointed out). The new abilities are also better implemented, especially the Fuse ability. Combining materials to make new weapons reduces the lack of weapon durability, at least in a small margin. The Sages that you save, while useful, really distracted if you have them available on the field.
However, 50 hours in (which was how long it took me to beat BOTW), I was exhausted. Open-worlded out after playing this, and Elden Ring, now Starfield is coming soon, I wanted it to end, which is not a good lasting impression I want to have for any game, especially a Zelda game. Hyrule Castle helped push forward a bit, it was an amazing dungeon once again. However, the last 'gloomy' trek towards the final boss, on top of dealing with an enemy gauntlet, and no way of saving my progress after that gauntlet, caused me to grind more for another hour, when I thought I was ending it.
I can't blame the game for tiring me out, yet it felt too familiar to BOTW in some instances. It felt like I didn't put down its predecessor to begin with. At the end, I would still say it's better than BOTW, mostly because I find little reason to go back. TOTK has a larger world that I preferred exploring in regards to the Sky and Underground. Next time I would play this, it would just be to explore more. But now, I kinda want the Zelda franchise to take a break from this Open-World style, and go back to traditional Zelda progression for their next NEW game, but better.