Top 5? Probably looks a little something like
MM
BotW
OoT
LttP
WW
Believe it or not, not really much of a fan of Twilight Princess and never bothered with Skyward Sword (which I should probably remedy, I like the sound of the time mechanics with some of the puzzles)
Solid list, yours is fairly similar to my top 5 in the series. I'm not a big fan of Twilight Princess either, but it had a glimmer here and there of brilliance so I won't hate on it too much. I just think that it's a very dull Zelda game most of the way through. Skyward Sword is the worst Zelda game in many ways. That's how I feel about those two in a nutshell, basically
The problem with TOTK, and I'll save most of my criticisms for after I've completed it, but the main issue is that it does not unfold naturally like a great story should say, in a book. It's not a smooth transition from one moment to the next in this adventure because it is all so vast, and varied. There can be a lot of time you as the player in control can find yourself meandering, going in circles. The farming of resources in TOTK puts a really nice bandaid on this flaw because it's fun to collect items and gain more for use in the way of advantages and being a stronger knight, swordsman, etc. There's no denying it, the player must forage and explore and gain to become useful in this dangerous quest and overworld since Hyrule is riddled with highly dangerous monsters (for the first time in many, many years)
But what I'm getting at essentially is that BOTW and TOTK alike unfold more like a check list. The game plays itself out best actually, if you kind of treat it like a list, I've found. Which is pretty lame if you ask me, but that's how it's designed. The game is so massive that on the surface, you almost have to rely on willfully appointing the sidequests, side adventures, shrine quests, main game quests etc. and then go after them one by one. Many events will take place naturally at the start of the game and middle of the game with enough play. But now I'm finding that you sort of have to go down the line and start checking the list if you want to experience the game in full
I'm not really used to that as an old school gamer. I don't think anyone is too used to it. I'd call it poor design, in a way. The best games ever created have excellent pacing to them. They make you do all the work to earn the reward, but in a way it's also like a rollercoaster ride because the game naturally leads you without you even knowing. That's not the case in TOTK. Players must make use of the logs to see and do everything. That's not epic. That's a checklist adventure
The sidequests are a little better than BOTW's. But still, they need to improve upon their sidequests some. Those are some of my recent thoughts about TOTK
