Re:Veers away from classic Zelda (Score 0)

Never before has Zelda included required+very difficult mini-games (sumo training, jousting, sumo match, etc). While I enjoy the main game, and the control scheme is pretty intuitive, these mini-games make me feel like I'm playing something other than Zelda.

That's actually one of the reasons I am enjoying this game so much. Every once in a while it gives you a break from the "traditional" play and has you do something unique. This added a much welcomed challenge for me, which never got to the point where I was turning the game off in frustration. Sure it may take a few tries to win the jousting game, but that's what made winning it so satisfying. I don't feel that it took anything away from the main game.

The Zelda scheme has always been get item, use new item to beat dungeon, use new item to get to next dungeon, repeat. All sidequests/mini-games have been optional. That's what puts all the past Zelda's in the 'epic adventure' category of games. Z:TP falls in to the classic RPG category. While both are enjoyable, they should not be confused and Nintendo should not have moved Z:TP from epic adventure to RPG.

So you'd rather it be a cookie cutter Zelda game, just like the 9 others that you played? In that case I suppose you would be a little dissapointed. I, on the other hand, get bored with games that don't offer anything new. Thats why I bought a Wii in the first place. Twilight Princess is loaded with references/similarities to previous zelda games (particularly OoT). To say that it changed too much is a little ridiculous. I'm really not sure I understand your point about categorizing. Making sidequests optional qualifies a game to be an 'epic adventure', while forcing them qualifies as an RPG? Any game that requires as much real-time action as Z:TP could never be labled a "classic RPG" in my book. Zelda is adventure all the way.