I think you're confusing the appeal of the premise with the mechanics of self-insertion, which is generally conveyed with choices and consequences based on what the player themselves want.
I write OoT like a television show screenplay, with set characters and the occasional small branch (go look at the people in this thread complaining about their gallery being broken when it turns out they just missed multiple scenes). CJ is a set character with his own personification, rather than someone you can determine the majority of actions of.
This is also foregoing the debate of who is the actual protagonist of OoT.
That's enormously different from something like MNF or WVM where the camera is glued to the faceless protagonist's forehead and you get choices on which lifeless doll you want to scar you for life.
The people who want more of that kind of WEG are the ones who get upset at OoT not being like that.