So I beat this game earlier this year and man I loved it. I had barely played the original for Wii so it was very much like a fresh playthrough. The story was very much a strongpoint for this game. I won't go through it for this review however. Instead I'll focus on gameplay and dungeons etc.
For my playthrough I played with button controls which even that took some getting used to. I would use motion controls to aim certain projectiles like the slingshot and bow. However with the sword I would flick the right stick in a certain direction. There's a little bit of lag with that but you get used to it. Of course when I was fighting the first boss it was a nightmare as most of my attacks he would block as I wasnt very good yet. Flying your bird is pretty fun too. Besides one airborne boss I didnt really have any issues with that.
This is a classic Zelda game in every sense of the word which is very diffrent from Breath of the Wild. And for the most part I really enjoyed this return to form. The dungeons are very good. The enemies are varied too. Some are easier to take down than others. The Bokoblins are the standard foot soldier you fight and go down easy. However enemies like Lizalofos and Stalfos take a lot more effort to beat.
Your companion Fi, who is basically the soul of your sword is mostly helpful. However alot of times she just tells you things and its like yeah I knew that already! She can give tips and provide you with your combat effectiveness with enemies.
The game basically only has about 4 diffrent areas and you backtrack alot. It kind of makes the game feel a little too linear but its not that bad. Collecting diffrent items like the clawshot for example open up diffrent areas for you to access. I didnt really do hardly any sidequests in my run but I'll likely do more next time.
Ok I've been trying to avoid spoilers here, but I gotta admit the bosses are mostly good. There's one you fight called the Imprisoned, which just involves you stopping it from reaching a temple, which is very annoying to fight. You fight it 3 times during the game and it gets harder every time. There are silent realms in this game too which are like stealth collectathons which can be very frustrating. I wouldnt mind them if there were only like 2...but there's like 4 of them.
The final part of the game is really a straight forward gauntlet where you fight tons of enemies then 2 bosses at the end of it. The actual final boss is tough as hell too. It really puts your abilities to the test. This was a difficulty spike I almost just was not ready for. Ultimately though this is a very good game. It's graphics are upgraded over the original and there's plenty quality of life improvements too here that I think make it worth your time; even if you beat the original.
Verdict: 9.0