They’re very different games, though there are connections. The overworlds in Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess are pretty tiny in comparison and the games far more linear, but when you get given a new item it really pushes your brain figuring out the different ways to exploit it and Nintendo do that thing where they get every conceivable way of utilising it sprinkled throughout the game.
Twilight Princess has a slow start that feels like a remake of Ocarina of Time, and many towns and areas feel pretty remote, but the dungeons and bosses in the second half of the game are great. The Dark Realm where you play as a wolf will likely have aged horrendously now though.
Skyward Sword is highly divisive. I played it through twice, the only Zelda game I have oddly, and find aspects of it charming; the watercolour visuals, the animation, Groose, the story (it’s the official first chapter in Zelda’s admittedly nonsensical timeline). The combat, flying and repetition ground a lot of folks down and there is some fucking rubbish padding in the back half, but I largely enjoyed it a lot. It did feel smaller and more focused though than many of the other quests.
The issue most people had with both of those games was how much they held your hand; both companions pretty much tell you constantly where to go and any secrets are hidden discreetly as ‘Oh, I wonder if the chest APPEARS AT NIGHT BY THAT TREE THERE’. Which did get pretty tiresome. I think they’d be the biggest barriers post BOTW, along with traversal being limited and slow.
WindWaker is my favourite of the 3. Despite people in recent years finding out it’s unfinished, I never felt that playing the Wii U remaster. It holds you hand far less, the sailing is abundant but feels like you’re going on an adventure, each island feels unique, the story is wonderful (especially is you know your previous Zelda’s) and the combat is really good. It aged incredibly well and looks incredible even today. I had to use a guide a few times to know how to speed up sailing or find certain hidden isles but on the whole, it’s a joy.
Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask haven’t been released in an HD state yet, and probably never will be, just remastered for the 3DS.
All in all, BOTW will always feel more epic, open and mysterious than those 3 other games, But they probably have been puzzles, storylines and characters in them. A game that had both… just imagine.