Tears is actually unforgivable when you consider:
- How long it took to make (4x longer than Majora's Mask).
- How little it actually changed (blue became green. Now go collect those collectables you gaming plebs!).
- How barren the new areas are.
- How much it got to
reuse for free (more than even Majora's Mask, which created a brand new world/gameplay dynamic and gave the characters from OoT actual personalities) and how little it did with that generational priviledge.
- How much it destroyed the lore in just the re-booted universe alone, which is hilarious to me (Hyrule was now created by a furfag version of Rauru and his Negress Elf race traitor waifu - Holy Fuck Nintendo, what retard semite shit were you forced to drink?).
- How little twink Link actually participates in the "story" (AGAIN, they didn't learn their lesson after BOTW had no plot initiative whatsoever).
- How under-developed the """relationship""" between twink Link and failure Zelda remains after 6+ years.
The list actually goes on and on, and thankfully Tears shitting the bed so hard finally woke some people up to the fact that BOTW itself is supremely lacking, it's only claim being the best selling Zelda game on the best selling Nintendo console. NuZelda simply has no foundation, it sacrificed almost everything that made the Zelda series what it was for over 30 years, intentionally so, and it did it all just to court the aged Ubisoft Dream... It felt off right from the start imo, even moreso than Skyward Sword introducing the reincarnation retcon and the goddess Hylia herself (again, Fucking With The Foundation). It would be like J.R.R. Tolkien introducing Sauron's missing half-brother, during Return of The King. You can't just remove/introduce Gods and Goddesses on a whim into a universe that's already been established for over 3 decades.
When you got references in older Zelda games, there was typically always a purpose for it, thematic or otherwise. OoT Link isn't in TP just for a cheeky little reference to past games, he's actually a part of the story, and thematically carries the role of "passing the torch" to the next generation. Meanwhile, something like Koholint Island being in BOTW isn't there because it's connected to the story... it's there solely because REMEMBER LINK'S AWAKENING GAMERS!!?? Holy shit is it blatant in hindsight... the locations, the gear, the collectables, it's all surface level, it has no depth.
People WILL notice something is up and that your game is nothing but hollow references to the past, even if it takes them years - or just one 6-years-in-development 70$ DLC experience, which is what Tears of the Sloppy Seconds ultimately was/is. The prosecution rests your Honor.