i experienced botw at such a weird time in my life. i had kind of just discovered zen and mindfulness and stuff so i like fell in love with the whole aesthetic of it. i was looking at the impressionistic music and the quiet hands-off solitude with big big psychedelic goggles. i liked the way all the shrines had that similar look that frees you of distractions and lets you have a little moment with the monk who's meditating inside each one. i went a really long time before i started skipping the dialogue at the end of the shrines because i wanted to treat it as a little moment of reflection.
i really didn't see eye to eye with the criticisms about weapon durability, which was the only criticism people ever seemed to have about botw. don't you get it!! the whole game is about nature and ephemerality!! in fact i sneered at the idea that the game should compromise on its aesthetic to make things more convenient for the player as if the world revolves around them. i didn't like that there were permanent upgrades you couldn't give up, which ruined the illusion of the game being a perfect little snowglobe simulation of real life where nothing is perfect or permanent and the only way to gain new things is to let old things go forever. i felt like upgrading armor was rewarding me for being attached to stuff when i thought the whole point was to avoid being attached to stuff. i wanted paragliders to break.
i don't think any of these opinions lasted to the end of the game though. i got through hyrule castle in like 30 seconds by swimming up a waterfall, beat the game while feeling the most unfulfilled a zelda game has made me feel since phantom hourglass, and proceeded to go on a rant where i suggested the game would've been sooo much better if all the runes were introduced inside their respective divine beasts instead of on the great plateau