This part is actually my favorite section of the game and I think it's proof my brain is broken because I've only ever seen it criticized.

I don't know. I liked sailing around and hunting for treasure. I liked seeing that triforce slowly get completed. I liked all the little stories involved in finding the maps like the auction or that one hidden arena where you fight monsters for like 10 minutes. I liked how the maps didn't tell you exactly where to go, but instead showed you rough geography around where you're going, meaning you got intimately familiar with the world.