No Z targeting? That's going to be tough from a camera perspective.
So... non threatening and feeling like you're at home? Really, Dark Souls reminded me of the Zelda I overworld and Dark World in LTTP. That's a good thing. Everything is in ruins thanks to Ganon. It really makes you feel like the hero. I never got that vibe from Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword.
Here's the thing I find odd about that, though. The most tragic, emotional, and even terrifying moments in Wind Waker took place in what is undoubtedly the brightest, cheeriest looking version of Hyrule I've ever seen. Is there a term for that, like dissonant atmosphere or something?
I feel like TP and Wind Waker were great in the "size" of Hyrule department, but the problem I always had with those games, especially Wind Waker, is that there wasn't much to do or look at as you traversed that massive overworld.
So again, I feel that yeah, Zelda could step it up in the whole "exploration" and "worth your while exploration" factors. I say this because, despite having more or less memorized where to go in the first few Zeldas, it is still a chore having to wander aimlessly across LoZ's map if you get lost, as things tend to look the same after awhile, and then there's the whole "Hey you found this cool tunnel in TP! Too bad it's only got rupees in it!"
I don't mind exploring. Shadow of the Colossus was nice and pretty, but I feel like there's more incentive for me to do it if there's something to look at or find. Like SotC's secret Garden. That's awesome. If they'd gone and hidden all the power ups around the map in places like that instead of encouraging me to ignore the entire world they'd built so I can kill Colossi faster, maybe I'd stumble naturally into stuff like that.
So for me, ideally, there has to be something cool to see/do/get when I go adventuring. Like, put a place where Link takes his hat off that's really out of the way, or hide a rod that turns enemies into cuccoos or put a formation of rocks that, when viewed at the right time of day from the right angle looks like a giant goomba or something.
Otherwise I'm still just gonna think "oh, hey, this is neat and I enjoy it but uh, I think I'll just go kill Ganon and have done."