The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I wouldn't go as far as to say that the open world of the Great Sea is as expansive as what's seen in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, but I do think it's got the same idea with what technology would allow at the time. The game is still linear in the way that the majority of Zelda games are. There's dungeons you need to complete in a certain order to further the story. But the game heavily encourages exploration! You've got a whole ocean to explore!

Wind Waker's got one of my favorite stories in the series. Tetra, Aryll, Medli, the King of Red Lions...the cast of characters is fantastic. I won't spoil anything for you, just in case you've yet to play for yourself (and have somehow avoided spoilers for a game that's like, a month younger than I am). This Link is also one of the more expressive of the bunch. The cartoon style (hence TOON Link) allows for more exaggerated and clear facial expressions. It's nice when they let Link be a character of his own, instead of a stoic, blank face for the player to project onto.

I do advice playing the HD version over the original, specifically for the Triforce Shard quest. It's a lot more streamlined in the remake. But if you're a big fan of long fetch quests that require a lot of exploration, then the original should work just fine for you!