Hello and welcome to the forums, pretty sure only constitution affects weight, but I would recommend the GBA titles before the 3DS titles, i love the 3DS titles but i think the GBAs are better and are offering the challenge you might be after.
Hello and welcome to the forums, first off can I say Greetings fellow Zelda fan and AC. Now personally I am really enjoying Fates, just finished Conquest and now moving on to Revelation.
Hello and welcome to the forums, if you play Awakening you might understand why theres some hate, but otherwise I see nothing wrong with the characters.