BotW will go down as one of the greatest games of all time and there are so many lesons in that. You will find plenty of people who say it's too easy. And it is easy. But that's one lesson: players generally don't want "hard". A lot of people just want to chill out in video games.

What makes BotW is so memorable is how it makes you feell. And a big part of that is the world. Even just standing in a grassy plain with the wind blowing the long grasses has a better sense of being alone (while still being wondrous) that I can think of pretty much any game.

I'm not a Japanophile by any stretch. Kinda the opposite, actually. Dig beneath the surface and there are a lot of problematic things in Japan and Japanese culture.

Anyway, I have no issue with what inspiration the designers used or what they were mimicking. That's kind of irrelevant because you can do that well or badly. I don't think the world is so great because of Japanese archeology or even in spite of it.

It is interesting to see their inspiration but for anyone in the gaming space, just remember that what makes a lasting game is the emotional connection.