So what are the chances everyone's going to hate Breath of the Wild until the next Zelda game?

For once, the reaction seems overwhelmingly, almost unitedly, positive towards all the new things. I think the only ones who are gonna hate it this time are the stragglers who would hate that it changed anything at all. But the changes made here are so huge, it's forcing all fans to confront their feelings towards change.

I think the root cause of the "Zelda cycle" is that ever since OoT, both fans and developers were afraid that too much change would take away the great thing they had. For a long time it was considered THE perfect game. Old gaming magazines would use language like "potential Zelda-killer?" to describe and generate buzz for competing AAA titles. But it was also generally understood that no change meant a certain demise for the franchise. So the changes were always cautious or "gimmicky", to the point that it seemed like everyone was afraid to even try to surpass OoT in terms of impact or legacy. This sort of collective fan attitude that all future games must use OoT's formula as a base, coupled with divisive opinions over what is considered an acceptable deviation or evolution, as well as Mr. Aonuma's propensity to play things safe and hold the players' hand, has been what has kept the franchise in a state of stagnation/decay.

The Breath can only be described as a stunning case of returning to form. I keep seeing it said that this will be the game that lets Zelda step out from under OoT's shadow.