i'm surprised at just how much botw there is in totk.

on a technical level, the expansion upon the original game is undeniably impressive. ultrahand alone is insane - i don't even wanna know how long it took the devs to refine its mechanics.
however, a lot of the major expansions didn't really do it for me. i don't have the right kind of creativity nor the patience to experiment with ultrahand - even moreso given the constructs' bizarrely short durability - instead deriving enjoyment from seeing other people's results online. fuse was a fun way to spice up the breakable weapons, albeit a little tedious when firing arrows. especially for stubborn dumbasses like me, who played the entirety of the game wielding joycons with horrendous drift. ascend, when i finally remembered to make use of it (in the early game, i once thought i'd softlocked myself in a shrine because i forgot its existence) was my favourite of the abilities, not because it's anything exciting but because of just how practical it was. and recall, ironically, was pretty unmemorable.
traversing the skies and the underground was an exciting concept at first, but i quickly realised that most of the sky islands are copy-pasted, and exploring in total darkness is not an enjoyable video game mechanic for me. i didn't find it much engaging or inspiring when lit up, either.
and lastly, the sense of comradery you feel from having the spirits of your champion companions fight alongside you is kind of dampened when they're continuously getting in your way. tulin, in particular, was both the most useful and the most dangerous. i can't count the amount of times he remorselessly flung my spoils of war off a cliff into the abyss. hoarders everywhere are suffering under his merciless gales.

so, when you take away the new stuff, what's left? well, it's... botw again. the battle mechanics are functionally the same. you're still hunting down towers to record the map, shrines to improve your health and stamina, korok seeds to expand your inventory, and hell, you're still tracking down memories, even though you're not even an amnesiac anymore. for such a long game, this repetitiveness is kind of rough. botw was so much fun for me because everything was new, and therefore it was novel. as a sequel, totk doesn't have that advantage. you still can't even pet the dogs :^(

in amongst all of the sameness, the game still had some fun surprises in store. i really enjoyed exploring the changes they made to the already existing towns, though i still wish there were more of 'em. caves were a decent addition, with just enough differentiation between them to keep me interested. defending gerudo town was an entertaining change of pace that felt very hyrule warriors-esque. reuniting the travelling minstrels was a wonderfully charming quest. gloom hands were a horrifically delightful inclusion that traumatised me for life (gliding down onto a seemingly innocuous piece of land only for hands to erupt from underneath your feet is a -1000/10 experience, highly recommend). and of course, the first time a shooting star fell side-by-side with me was truly magical.
the additions of actual dungeons and unique bosses is also a very welcome one, despite the varying quality of results. the rito and goron dungeons were my personal highlights, while the zora dungeon was my personal 'why is this here, actually'. conversely, the goron boss was the most forgettable, while the rito and gerudo bosses were my most enthralling experiences. colgera for obvious reasons (see: giant dragon?????), and queen gibdo because, as previously established, i am a stubborn dumbass - one who refused to spend any time clearing out the additional enemies she was spawning. it made for a ridiculously chaotic battle. i was ridiculously entertained.

the last talking point i'll bring up is to do with the story, which had some very high highs and some very low lows. first and foremost: 'secret stone' is the funniest and most immersion-breaking name for a plot device i've ever heard, and boy do you hear it often. i couldn't take it seriously for the life of me.
aside from that, there are two major problems i have with the game's plot, and the first i think is caused by the game's open world nature. the ability to go wherever you like whenever you like hinders the way it presents its story, which is most prominent every time you clear a dungeon and then have to sit through the same 7 minute cutscene you've seen before, just in a slightly different font. maybe my memory of botw is simply not as fresh, but i feel like botw didn't have this problem? or if it did, it wasn't nearly as bad as this.
and then there's the memories. they're one of the more enjoyable parts of the game for me. seeing what zelda was getting up to with rauru and sonia was interesting, and the game gives you enough hints to piece together an understanding of the sacrifice zelda's made before the grand reveal. working it out is satisfying!
...as long as you're lucky enough, like me, to visit the master sword's geoglyph last. because this geoglyph doesn't just hint at the answer; it flat out tells you. it's pretty unassuming, for the most part, right up until zelda flashes back to mineru saying "to become an immortal dragon is to lose oneself". i'd be interested to hear the opinions of people who visited this geoglyph early on, because as someone who managed to figure out zelda's transformation before coming here, i'm clearly biased. but wow, does that feel so blindingly obvious. my gradual conclusion felt like a gratifying, if foreboding, journey before the final memory, but i'm not sure if it would have felt so impactful had i stumbled upon this first. at least the solution to this problem is simple: without that one line, the rest of the memory is perfectly serviceable.
my second major problem is with ganondorf. he sure is a guy who exists, huh? what an evil dude. you can't really get more muahaha-i'm-twirling-my-moustache than that. if you broke down the legend of zelda to the bare essentials, then at the end of the day, sure, it's a good defeats evil story. and i like those as much as the next guy, don't get me wrong. but that doesn't mean it couldn't have had a little more depth to its highly anticipated villain who hasn't been seen in fourteen years. i'm very happy for that one artist who finally got to make the handsome ganondorf of his dreams, though.
the best part of the story, hands down, was the final memory. watching zelda steel her resolve was heartwrenching, and the very moment where her eye transforms was absolutely breathtaking. it was devastatingly beautiful. opening your eyes to a field of silent princesses just twists that knife even deeper into your gut, and if you're anything like me, then the desperate chase of the dragon across the map immediately after finding this memory is an unforgettable experience. in that moment, there wasn't anything else on my mind other than reaching her. for me, the game was worth playing just for this.
the second best part of the story was the final final battle (see: giant dragons???????). "dive to zelda" was the most epic conclusion i could've asked for.

ultimately, totk would've been a much more amazing game for me, if only i hadn't already played botw. here's a very fun and stupid memory i have of it, though:
> me: at bottom of cliff
> cool ruins i want to explore: on top of cliff
> the intended route (a steady incline): ignored. when i want to reach something, i'll always take the most direct route. cliffs are at my mercy.
> i climb the cliff. i run towards the ruins. i freeze, because coming into view are three giant, terrifying dragon heads. they have their back to me. i am yet unnoticed.
> i decide to find a vantage point. i climb a pillar.
> i sink into the pillar. there's a click.
> the ruins open up to reveal a cave.
> i find the tunic of awakening.
and that's how i accidentally circumvented an entire sidequest.