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Looking over this post, maybe I went a bit overboard. But anyway, here are some of my thought on Tears of the Kingdom. I want to stress that this is just my opinion, and it disagrees with some popular opinions.

As of this post, I've spent at least 140 hours on Tears of the Kingdom. I've finished all main quests and completed the story. There's still plenty of side content left to do, but I think I've done more than 50 percent of it.

Because Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, and because the former builds on the world and gameplay of the latter, it's hard not to directly compare them. So, I'll organize my thoughts as such just because it's an easy frame of reference.

This will not contain any story spoilers, but will have some mild gameplay and content spoilers. Nothing major that isn't already being discussed openly online, but just a warning for anyone looking to go in completely blind.

Things that were improved over Breath of the Wild:

Narrative – I didn't mind BotW's simpler story considering the game was a “back to basics” approach to Zelda, but TotK is a definitive improvement. I wouldn't go so far as to say it transcends typical Zelda narratives (it's certainly no Xenoblade), but I found it engaging and has kind of a cool twist.

On that note, it was also refreshing to play a Zelda game in which most characters already know who Link is, and acknowledge his past accomplishments.

Dungeons – You could say that the “dungeons” in TotK are just slightly dressed up versions of the Divine Beasts from BotW, but the tweaks here go a long way towards giving them more personality. In the main four dungeons, you're accompanied by a party member with a special skill, which somewhat takes the place of finding and using special items in older Zelda games. The puzzles are built around a theme as opposed to manipulating the dungeon, itself. Also, each dungeon is preceded by a sequence in which you travel to it with your companion, which provides a good buildup.

Bosses – I found the Blights in BotW to be rather dull. The bosses in TotK, on the other hand, feel more like classic Zelda bosses. They stand more on their own, and are much more fun to battle.

Enemy variety – In BotW, it tended to feel like you were fighting the same handful of enemies over and over, just with different colors and amounts of HP. TotK vastly increases the types of enemies, from minor enemies to large mini-bosses, and they all have their own characteristics. There are even super bosses now.

Challenge – BotW was already considered more challenging than previous Zelda games, and at first, death came fast and easy. But once you got the hang of things, it became fairly easy. TotK ratchets it up a fair bit. Enemies are even more dangerous and take off bigger chunks of health. And I'm not sure if it's my imagination, but the timing for doing a Perfect Dodge seems a bit tighter. It's also more balanced in the late game as things still seem reasonably challenging, even with upgraded weapons and armor. I still find myself preparing extra meals and potions before a major fight.

Costumes – BotW gave you a lot of clothing options, but TotK has way more! A lot of the new armor also has useful properties. (Finally! There's something that helps you climb when it's raining!)

The legacy outfits that you could unlock with amiibo are also back, and they even added a new one for the Link's Awakening amiibo that came out later. But better yet, amiibo are no longer required, as now they can all also be found in-game! (It really caught me off guard when I first stumbled across the Cap of the Wind.)

There are a couple of things missing, however. One is the Switch t-shirt. The other is Rex's salvager suit from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I can understand why these bits of cross promotion no longer make sense, but it's still a little disappointing. I'm hoping that maybe they'll patch the salvager suit back in when the Pyra & Mythra amiibo are released this summer.

Things that have gotten worse since Breath of the Wild:

Weapon durability – This may be a clichéd complaint at this point, but it's still an issue, and the devs did virtually nothing to address it. In some ways, fusing weapons with items makes matters even worse because now you're spending extra time customizing your weapons that will still break after using them a while.

Shrines – Upon repeat playthroughs of BotW, it became increasingly apparent to me that the shrines were a weak point for me. They're back in TotK, there are even more of them, and they're less fun to solve for various reasons.

Koroks – They're back, and somehow, the devs figured out a way to make them more annoying.

Well, they weren't really annoying in BotW. They just felt like padding, and a bare minimum reward for exploration. (Not to mention, the only purpose of their “seeds” is for expanding your inventory space, which is only necessary due to weapon durability, and you know how I feel about that.)

In TotK, there's a new type of Korok puzzle in which you have to reunite one with a another who is some distance away (and often in a really annoying location). These are all too common, and being rewarded with a whopping two Korok seeds still doesn't seem to be worth the effort. No wonder there are so many videos of people setting these guys on fire or launching them into space.

Sage abilities – Your reward for finishing a Divine Beast in BotW was a Champion ability. These were often extremely useful for exploration and combat. Well, I guess the devs thought they were too useful, because the Sage's abilities in TotK are nowhere near as good.

But the real issue is how they're implemented. In BotW, they were activated directly via controller input. In TotK, Link isn't given these abilities. Rather, an avatar of your companion follows you around, and you have to interact with them to use their ability. It's extremely clumsy, and it's too easy to activate an ability accidentally or not be able to use the one you need because your companion either decided to wander off or bunch up with the other avatars.

Other notes that didn't fit into the above categories:

Despite the poor implementation of the Sage's abilities, I do enjoy how you build a party over the course of the game. This is unique for a Zelda game, which are normally solo affairs. Your companions are otherwise pretty useful in that they are good in combat, and they even draw enemy agro. Seeing them run alongside Link on the overworld has a little bit of a Xenoblade feel.

However, the constant flashing effect for when they spawn and despawn as you navigate the terrain can be really annoying. Each Sage can be disabled in the options menu, but that means you also can't use their ability. There's room for improvement, but I still generally like what the devs were trying to do here.

Side note: You can no longer summon Wolf Link with the Wolf Link amiibo, and he isn't in the game at all. The Sages' avatars somewhat build upon the idea, though, which was something I wanted to see.

It has to be said, but I really dislike crafting. I know I'm in the vast minority on this, and admittedly, people have made some really clever things, but it's just not for me. I find it frustrating, and I get annoyed when the game forces it on me. Even doing the bare minimum is too much.

I have mixed thoughts about the exploration in TotK. It was one of the highlights of BotW, and TotK certainly tries to expand upon it, but there are some issues.

The world was extremely well designed in BotW. Everything felt perfectly placed. You could stand on nearly any plateau and see at least a couple of shrines or points of interest to go to. But in refashioning the same world for TotK, everything feels just ever so slightly off. Naturally, they've moved shrines and other things around so you're not just going to the same places and doing the same things, but their placement is less intuitive and often more obscure.

Also, after having played BotW so much, there's a sense of over-familiarity. I feel less compelled to get off the beaten trail, even if I know it will probably be different in some way or another. It just feels like ground I've covered before.

As for the sky, it's fairly sparse and oddly repetitive. It feels like I'm exploring the same small islands over and over. The underworld seemed a lot more exciting at first, but I quickly realized it's tedious to stumble around in pitch blackness. When you can see it, most of it is drab and gray anyway.

On the other hand, it's interesting to see the “progression” of the world, and how things have evolved since the previous game. It's suggested that about five or six years have passed since BotW (perhaps corresponding with the real life time between the releases of BotW and TotK). Characters have grown and formed new relationships. New settlements have formed, and some old settlements have been abandoned. It shows the world trying to rebuild after the events of BotW, and gives a strong sense of the passage of time.

It's interesting to note that Link is probably in his early-to-mid 20s at this point, making him the oldest playable version of the character in any Zelda game.

Finally, this might be an odd complaint, but TotK feels almost too big. There's so much of everything that it sometimes starts to feel like I'm being made to jump through hoops just to accomplish simple tasks. (Increasing the Energy Wells is a good example.) Yeah, you could argue that it's extra “gameplay,” but when there's too much, it's just tedious and exhausting. BotW was already a huge game. TotK can feel a little excessive.

Final thoughts:

I feel like I've spent a lot of time complaining, but I want to be clear that I've highly enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom, and I'll likely spend another few hundred hours on it. But given that it's a direct sequel and has been in development for a number of years, it's harder to overlook certain flaws.

I do appreciate, however, that the changes in Tears of the Kingdom help make it feel like its own distinct experience that stands on its own. Because of this, I don't feel like it's a replacement for Breath of the Wild.

I'm not sure yet how I'll ultimately feel about it once some time has passed. I think that'll come down to if I feel like replaying it in the future. Maybe some of my issues with it won't matter to me as much by then. Until then, I'm not comfortable with trying to rank it among other Zelda games. At this point, though, I can say that Breath of the Wild left a bigger impression on me, and still stands as my favorite in the series.