Watched my nephew play the same Zelda save file I quit 4 years ago and he beat it in 11 hours
I gave up on the last divine beast back in 2021 and never went back, but he loaded my old file on a Tuesday after school and finished the whole thing before dinner. Seems the only thing that changed was me not being tired and annoyed at 11pm. Anyone else get shown up by a kid on a save file they abandoned?
The thing nobody talks about is how much muscle memory you lose. Your brain holds onto the map layout and shrine spots but the actual combat timing fades. Those guardians probably clapped you because you were a step slow after months away, not because you got worse at puzzles.
Your nephew also had one huge edge: zero map anxiety. You already opened every tower so he just fast traveled straight to the divine beasts. That first playthrough is mostly walking and wondering where to go. He skipped all of that on your save.
Kid basically ran a speedrun with your homework already done.