I'm sure OOT was great in its day but I never really found it that cool. Similar how I think BOTW could have been so much better. MM added so much to Link's story and so many awesome concept's. TOTK has fusing and sky islands but fusing doesn't add to the story and sky islands are similar to Skyward Sword, which I wasn't a fan of.
I don't think I could ever be neutral with OOT, I've beaten it more times than I can count and I never really gained anything from doing replays. I will consent to BOTW being a great game though. The amount of exploration is unbelievable, its biggest flaw is just that the reward for exploring isn't very good.
I actually think the best rewards for exploring is simply the view. Going to secret forests and finding unicorns, climbing to the top of snowy mountains and seeing the landscape, scaling rock walls. The beauty of the landscape is what makes BOTW so good, not necessarily the plot content. (Also Revali, he better be a playable character in TOTK)