Graphics- TP
SS had obviously the greater quality-- there's no dispute there- but I prefer TP's artstyle. Not even simply its art style, its look, too-- its aesthetic. It seems to me so much greater thought was put into the arrangement of space, the lighting, the colors, the scenery, in that game.
Sound- TP
TP's soundtrack is my favorite in the series, by far; and, I'd say, the greatest musical achievement of the series thus far. What a fantastic score. SS did have orchestration, though.
Overworld- N/A
SS didn't really have an overworld, did it? There was a central hub town-- some empty space-- and thick, labyrinthine regions. TP, meanwhle, took the conventional "town and field" approach. Contextualized to their own games, they both functioned fine. I guess I prefer TP's approach, but it can'r really be said which overworld is "better."
Characters-TP
No contest. In terms of major characters, let's be real-- Midna, Zant, Ilia, Colin, Zelda, Renado, and so on, are by far more original and fascinating creations.
As far as supporting characters go, those in SS, taken both individually and collectively, are one-dimensional, weightless, and excessively quirky. They were funny, sure, but they added nothing to the world or story. They were all just chilling in Skyloft, the whole gaggle of them. They all wore the same clothes, lived in the same houses, spoke the same way, had the same friends; they all went to the lumpy pumpkin, all coexisted in the same social class, all were equally approachable, all carried their petty problems on their sleeves helplessly.
There were certainly less supporting characters in TP, but they were far more varied, all far more interesting and gritty. Very little time was wasted on quirky one--shot sidequest bait goofs. They could be taken seriously, and they all coexisted with n a staggered and far-reaching society. There were disconnections, realistic issues and social ills between them. Their dress, personality, profession, could be attributed to far more than what overbearing archetype they fulfilled among a plethora of wack job characters.
Story-TP
TP's story is the best of any Zelda game thus far, unquestionably.
Combat- Tie
At its best, TP"s combat is very fluent and rewarding. But it requires that the player, and their proficiency with the hidden skills, be tested against challenging enemies; and let's be real, that rarely happens.
SS' combat is the backbone of the whole game, and... it's definitely fun. But is falls into the pitfall of "this is where the enemy is unguarded, swing here," simply because the the controls weren't varied enough, too 2-dimensional. But it was definitely more challenging than TP.
Dungeons- Eh
Sometimes, dungeon rankings don't make sense to me. You can judge based on concept, aesthetic, gimmick, but the dungeon at its heart is a puzzle, and that's always been, room-by-room small obstacles and combat, with fairly obvious cues as to what to do next.. I don't think the quality of this system decreased at any point from TP to SS.
Aesthetically, They both had some original ideas. TP usually always had an original theme or flair, SS mostly.
Pacing- TP
They both drew themselves out and open toward the second act; where the player felt pressed for time in the first, their objectives are now more complicated and open-ended. But playing SS toward the end felt like watching a human get stretched out like taffy. ****ing tadtones