[Kamaeru]

I agree with everything you said, and have put all of this into consideration. I have spent a whole lot of time contemplating on this, and like you said, I come to the conclusion that this sort of hybrid can be accomplished. Funny thing is, I'm hard pressed to think of an example where it has been done masterfully in such a manner as could be considered proportional to measures used in Zelda 3.
What I mean by saying that is that we're simply paving new ground here, literally. This concept, while trapped in a German prison, is something that has never been done. Like all things that have never been done or never been accomplished, a lot of notoriety may come to whoever succeeds.

In my recent playthrough (on dungeon 6 now), one of the greatest things I have noted so far is the exposing of binaries and subsequent breaking down of said binaries. Nintendo seems to have taken a closer look at the binary I might call "overworld/dungeon", and taken steps in the game to break down that binary. Especially in Dungeon 3, where the entrance to the dungeon is actually holes spread all over the Dark Woods, and the stereotypical "dungeon entrance" that players are used to seeing actually only contains an entryway to the Boss, requiring a special offensive item (which also breaks down another binary by existing) to enter.

Nintendo knows about these binaries and broke them down even further in future Zelda games, and is also very public about the fact that they wish to do more of this with the next Zelda game.