Okay let me start with two heavy hitters right from the get go and don't forget these are only personal oppinions and I absolute understand if you like those games. Good for you!
Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Not a bad game per se, but I don't get the hype behind it. Sure the dungeons are fun but the world is so lifeless, the story non existent, the combat pretty shallow, the tower climbing is very much like FarCry but for some reasons it's okay here while Ubisoft gets the blame...like I said I dont get why the game is so beloved. Never finished it after the 20 hour mark and probably never will.
Red Dead Redemption 2 - Just like Zelda not a bad game, but imho highly overrated. Graphics and and atmosphere are amazing but the controls are clunky and overloaded, nearly everybody is an unlikable douchebag who I would love to shoot myself at the first opportunity (maybe except Jack and Abigail) but I have to root and care for them. The game is just so long and feels very stretched, you already know that you won't get Dutch because it's a prequel and for an open world game you often get handholded in your weapon selection or things you can do because you have to wait for them to be unlocked by the game. I'm now nearly done with the game, playing the epilogue at the moment and I would say the last chapters are more entertaining than the rest of the game, but I still can't understand why this game was on so many game of the year lists and I really wanted to put the controller down a dozen times.
So there they are, two highly controversial oppinions by me and now I'm really curios what your takes are and how highly I get downvoted into oblivion 😂
Maybe you are missing, or ignoring the context that this was like the big jump from conventional Zelda to... Well BOTW.
I don't consider myself a Zelda guy, but I have played several games, and I find BOTW a very good open world, yeah, it might feel empty, but at the same time it feels like you can do lots of things, kinda like making your own adventure, so I guess it needs commitment from the user side.
That aspect made me understand the context of the game and I have been having a lot of fun with it, if you see something you must likely can interact with it, or has a meaning.
This is very impressive for a Wii U/Switch game if you ask me, and also I feel like if I don't play BOTW before Tears of The Kingdom I would never go back to try it 🤣 (that is why I'm paying it).
My only real issue with it is that its soundtrack on the field is so dull, some people like it and say that it is to be ambient or subtle, but screw that, give me my epic tracks! I need something that moves my feet lol, there must be a reason why many RPGs (which are with us before open world games and provide a lengthy experience) have catchy tracks.
Breathe of the Wild is a great tech demo, but a terrible game... I feel like a total boomer playing Ship of Harkinian... but... sadly 3D Zelda has a worse fucking track record than 3D Sonic......
But it's okay when Nintendo does it