I had a lot of fun wandering around it for all the 100-whatever hours it took to get through. In fact, when I was finished, I was only missing 5 korok seeds, which I then used guides for.
Comparisons to Elden Ring are good, that game's world building was without a doubt heavily inspired by how BotW made you explore.
I understand finding the world empty, but I'm not sure what people would have liked then to be honest. There something, be it a shrine, some korok seeds, some unique weapon or whatever, almost everywhere, is it because it doesn't feel rewarding enough? I think it's just a case of it not being for everyone and being repetitive to some.
Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to
azuarc
, the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.