How did totk manage to take one of my favorite classic 2d bosses and utterly ruin the experience? Hm?

I played - TLOZ: TOTK - 2023

There will be heavy spoilers cause I want to get all my thoughts out on this game and there is no other way of doing that. But a couple of general thoughts first.

What is Tears of the Kingdom? This is kind of a genuine question. It's a Zelda game, an open world collectathon, numerous fascinating physics systems. It's......uninteresting for the things I look for? Maybe I've just built up other Zelda's that I haven't played in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I played TOTK A LOT. IT RUINED MY SLEEP SCHEDULE FOR A WEEK BECAUSE I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH.

It has stunning vistas, interesting puzzles, and quirky characters galore. But there are many times when it does not do the interesting thing. I have to get into spoilers so I'll just say this. If you like BOTW, this is an astounding amount better. If you didn't, this....might hook you? But not necessarily.

***SPOILERS***

This game is packed with interesting touches and improvements. Did you know the lightroots are connected to the surface shrines? Or that the chasm geography is a mirror of the surface? i.e. mountains become pits, and lakes become impassible walls. You can drop things from inventory when opening a chest if you have too many things.

I think my biggest gripe is the main story. As simple as it is, it falters in small places. You gather four sages and are treated to a flashback each time that does...nothing different each time. The storyline attached to the modern day sages themselves is interesting, but the memories provided by the ancient ones provide nothing new. AND STILL, there were multiple times that I was smiling like an idiot for story beats. Using a stamina bar instead of health to get the master sword? Mineru and her construct as a sage? The entirety of the final fight? Even the opening hours leading up to obtaining the glider are good, if more linear. But there is also some amount of lacking. They could have given Ganon...something? If this is indeed the 'first' era of the Hero, Princess, and Demon King. Then they could have fleshed Ganondorf out just enough to justify his first thirst for power, and following corruption. But no. Admittedly I didn't expect this. The final true lack I felt, is a post-game. Arguably Gleeoks and the Chasm Bosses or Coliseums are End/Post-game. But what if after Ganon's defeat, they opened up some more side-quests and removed the monster respawn? Or at least give some other canon reason for monster respawning. Instead you are given a star, and a pat on the back saying, "Good job champ, but if you want to keep exploring, Ganon isn't actually dead."

The mechanics? Brilliant. Absolutely masterfully designed and architected. The tools they give you and the way they interact are endlessly fascinating to use, even if you never actually use them.

***END OF SPOILERS***

Ultimately BOTW and TOTK I think function as exploration games. The ability to just follow your whims. Are you interested in the combat systems? The Puzzles? Side Quests? Environments? You could focus on any one of those and have a full games worth of content for you. I personally enjoyed it so much because I enjoy all these elements and have a penchant for ticking boxes and ADHD. There's always something to do or draw my attention.

This game is everything I expected for better, and worse.