I’m not going to deny that they are good games, they definitely are. However, there are some design choices made with BOTW and TOTK that really make me separate them from the rest of the series.
The item degradation, the voice acting, the open worldness, all these things aren’t what I want from a Zelda, and because of that, I doubt I’ll ever replay those games again. Again, not bad games at all, and if anyone said they were their favorite games, I’d totally understand that.
But does anyone else wish that we would get a more traditional Zelda game again?
Idk about that. OoT was a 3D adaptation of the 2D Zelda formula. The fundamental Zelda formula has changed very little since A Link to the Past.
My idea of the “Zelda Formula” is a structured metroidvania where each “dungeon” is basically a mini metroidvania centered around one item, and the path between dungeons is usually more story driven. Occasionally there are items and puzzles between dungeons as well.
IMO the only Zelda games that don’t really follow the formula are: