I was arguing with strangers over my dislike of how modern Zelda games let you solve 'puzzles' any way you want.
For the sake of analogy, let's replace the game's puzzles with real life jigsaw puzzles. In order to complete one, we have to match the pieces by shape and color to make the picture on the box, and the puzzle is solved. The solution to games' puzzles is the equivalent to the picture on the box of the jigsaw puzzle.
In the old Zelda games, the puzzles have the same solution, but just like in real life with jigsaw puzzles, everyone uses different logic as to how we solve that puzzle. Some of us match colors first; others match shapes first; some just try fitting every piece together until they find the right match--until all the pieces are put together to get the same picture completed.
The satisfaction comes from seeing that completed picture match the one on the box, and knowing that you earned that by fitting ALL of the pieces in correctly with your own logical methods.
In the newer games, it feels like there isn't a picture on the box for us to match the puzzle to, yet we still have all of the pieces to the puzzle.
So we can still get creative with how we match the pieces, sure. BUT if we reach a solution that doesn't require all of the pieces the way the devs intended, then we end up with pieces leftover, and the picture is incomplete. An incomplete picture is not satisfying.
And if you have your instinctive way of matching the pieces, i.e. by color, then you can continue to solve every single puzzle in newer games with that single method. FOR ALL OF THEM. And if matching by color doesn't work, then you can simply move on to trying the next method of matching them, i.e. by shape. The same 2-3 methods of matching them will ALWAYS work, without the need for fitting every piece together or completing the picture.
So either way, you don't have to fit the pieces together at all to reach the solution. You don't have to actually solve the puzzle at all, so even though the game acts like you did solve it by letting you progress, we as the player do not get to see the intended picture, so it's not satisfying.
Even if we do see the intended picture, the fact that we don't need to actually fit ALL of the pieces together in our own ways to make that picture makes it less satisfying; you can just do the bare minimum and you're rewarded for it the same way.
I repeat: an incomplete picture is not satisfying.