I agree with most of what you're asking for, except for the difficulty. While I think that Zelda shouldn't just be a walk through the park like WW was, it shouldn't be near as difficult as FF has known to become. Zelda's always been a series that both adult and child gamers could enjoy. Ramping up the difficulty too high would take away half of the audience.
And Epona (or "horse") as white? I would prefer brown. White horses seem ugly to me, and besides, the black and white thing is slightly cliched. I think the horse always being similar to (or just plain being) Epona is going to be one of those things like Talon and Malon (and Link and Zelda of course). Just a small continuity thing.
I also don't see why Hyrule couldn't be
bigger than everything in OoT
And a pet peeve: It is spelled bloody GANON! One N! Geez, one game has a mistranslation and people stick with it. Have they not noticed it is Ganon, not Gannon, in every game since?
*shrugs and walks away*