Easily the best way to play Wind Waker. Shame it's trapped on the Wii U, though...
A great and colorful zelda game, a lot of ww later game consists of sailing to miniature islands boasting reused assets, small puzzles or gauntlets, whereas the final dungeon and story feels a bit rushed after a certain point, everything leading up to that point is a briskly paced fun narrative journey through greater islands and larger dungeons that really stands out.
The attention to visual detail is majestic with both Link, goblins or other enemies reacting with fully animated emotions to their surroundings and hazards.
Other environmental details like flower and trees swaying in the same direction as the wind. Or specks of dust blowing away from the ground as the wind changes, all adds for a very organic artstyle. Windwaker is still one of the prettiest if not THE prettiest cel shading around. And the HD version lifts up the presentation even further, with some exceptions.
The bloom effect hits some sour spots at times and the shading really doesn't benefit as much in the darker areas, but when the sun shines and you're out in the light there's a whole other spectrum of the visual quality.
While the game runs at a generally stable 30 fps there's some occassional framedrops whenever too much is going on at once. But thankfully the HD version has so much more added in that remedies most of the issues of the original gamecube version.
Alongside a higher resolution, better draw distance and new instruments added for the OST that really makes a handful of tracks stand out even more, the HD version also adds a lot of small fixes with a new faster sail, gyro aiming + 1st person roaming, aiming cursor for cannon aiming, real time inventory+map with the gamepad etc, a bunch of small fixes that just makes the gamecube version hard to get back to.
While you can tell they had to resort to recycling assets for the sidequesting, Windwaker is still a great journey with sound mechanics, a great OST and glorious visuals. It's very understandable how many would considers this their favourite LoZ.
The attention to visual detail is majestic with both Link, goblins or other enemies reacting with fully animated emotions to their surroundings and hazards.
Other environmental details like flower and trees swaying in the same direction as the wind. Or specks of dust blowing away from the ground as the wind changes, all adds for a very organic artstyle. Windwaker is still one of the prettiest if not THE prettiest cel shading around. And the HD version lifts up the presentation even further, with some exceptions.
The bloom effect hits some sour spots at times and the shading really doesn't benefit as much in the darker areas, but when the sun shines and you're out in the light there's a whole other spectrum of the visual quality.
While the game runs at a generally stable 30 fps there's some occassional framedrops whenever too much is going on at once. But thankfully the HD version has so much more added in that remedies most of the issues of the original gamecube version.
Alongside a higher resolution, better draw distance and new instruments added for the OST that really makes a handful of tracks stand out even more, the HD version also adds a lot of small fixes with a new faster sail, gyro aiming + 1st person roaming, aiming cursor for cannon aiming, real time inventory+map with the gamepad etc, a bunch of small fixes that just makes the gamecube version hard to get back to.
While you can tell they had to resort to recycling assets for the sidequesting, Windwaker is still a great journey with sound mechanics, a great OST and glorious visuals. It's very understandable how many would considers this their favourite LoZ.
I know a 1/5 seems harsh, but the new visuals where the bloom is so excessive it looks like you're staring at the screen through a smudged window and the conflicting lighting engines that turn models into clay when you approach a light source on top of the chugging frame-rate make this an unacceptable port to me in the moment-to-moment gameplay. It just looks and runs worse than the original too often.
Which is a shame because the addition of the Swift Sail, gyro-aim, d-pad item-mapping, shortened conduction time, and all the other QoL improvements are for sure nice.
I'll be sticking to the GCN version. It can be modded to have most of this QoL stuff anyway.
Which is a shame because the addition of the Swift Sail, gyro-aim, d-pad item-mapping, shortened conduction time, and all the other QoL improvements are for sure nice.
I'll be sticking to the GCN version. It can be modded to have most of this QoL stuff anyway.
This game's pretty fun, but it's got a few major flaws that hold it back. First off, the HD version makes some very good quality of life changes that smoothen out the experience. I like how it looks, but I still prefer the shading of the original in many areas. Now for the game. The dungeons are mostly pretty fun, but can be occasionally tedious. Exploring the ocean is cool, with a lot of fun stuff to find. It sometimes gets tedious. But the peak of tedium is the triforce quest, which takes forever and is extremely dull. Don't get me wrong, I like the game quite a bit. It's issues stack up way too much for me to put it above something like Twilight Princess.
Traveling on the open world was kinda boring but i like it. Like it very much. Dungeon's level design made me say "this game made by people who know video games." and i can tell you, the art desing is breathtaking.
The first Zelda game I finished. Probably still my favorite among the original style of 3D Zelda games.
Definitely the weakest Zelda I've played yet. I love this game's charm and personality, the characters and music are fantastic, and the combat is really fun and fluid. Unfortunately that is all brought down by the series's weakest dungeons, emptiest overworld, and most tedious sidequests. Everything about this game just feels so rushed, it's ripe for a proper open world concept with bigger islands that have full dungeons on them, but instead we get only two sages and a majority of the islands are specks. Would've loved for the world to properly open up after the Tower of the Gods, going through dungeons and getting triforce shards, but instead the two late-game dungeons have to be done in order for some reason, even through the game presents it as an open choice. It's just so frustrating bc this could've been great. Also it didn't use the pirates nearly as much as it should have.
i like water
POV: YOU CATCH ME DOING EPIC GRANDSON BEHAVIOR
Besides its standing as one of the best remakes ever, The Wind Waker is grand in ambition and gorgeous in presentation. Even with Breath of the Wild, this stands toe-to-toe as an essential Zelda game.
Wind waker hd is a gorgeous looking game with an charismatic set of characters and fun exploration, the atmosphere of the sea with your pirate friends is charming and has some of the best dungeons design in the series.
The downs are by far the last part, exploring the sea is fun, for the first time, not the second, or the third the games requires you to, the last proper dungeon it's confused and very narrow compared to other ones, and the last is really just reusing assets that by themselves weren't the best part of it's dungeons, it fells rushed like some other main Nintendo games from the era.
A gorgeous looking game to play and abandon after the dungeon with the lights, that way you can leave the worst part by the side.
The downs are by far the last part, exploring the sea is fun, for the first time, not the second, or the third the games requires you to, the last proper dungeon it's confused and very narrow compared to other ones, and the last is really just reusing assets that by themselves weren't the best part of it's dungeons, it fells rushed like some other main Nintendo games from the era.
A gorgeous looking game to play and abandon after the dungeon with the lights, that way you can leave the worst part by the side.
If there was ever a Zelda game that encouraged me to slow down, explore, and appreciate the world around me, it would be Breath of the Wild. But Wind Waker would take second. Out of all the traditional Zeldas, this is the one that I most enjoyed wasting my time in, if that makes sense. Charting the open seas, filling out the map, and basically ignoring the main quest was easily the most fun part of the game. For me, it was the journey of the Wind Waker that I most enjoyed.
And thank goodness for that, because damn did I hate the destination. Wind Waker has got to have the weakest story in the series. Every other 3D Zelda game has some narrative element that really hooks me. Some more than others, obviously, but there's always at least something: Ocarina of time has a rich thematic story about coming of age, shintoism, and the tragedy of Link having his childhood stolen from him, with the most intimidating iteration of Ganon easily; Twilight Princess has impeccable atmosphere, the best cast of characters in the series, the most compelling introduction by far, and my favorite version of Link; Breath of the Wild has a great setting, a great exploration of how the different places and races of Hyrule interact with one another, and while it has a weak plot, it tells its story through the world and its inhabitants better than any other game; Majora's Mask, for as mad as that game made me, has a tragic core and some of the most beautiful moments in the series. Wind Waker has... a companion who isn't annoying? Yea, that's something.
I'll be honest, nothing about Wind Waker's narrative grabs me. I like the motivation for saving your sister, and I like how expressive Link is. I think both of those things were done better in Twilight Princess though. Sure, Link in Wind Waker emotes more than any other Link bar none, but I know the Link in Twilight Princess much better and have a much better understanding of his dynamics with the people in Ordon Village and see how he reacts when things happen to them. Honestly the character in Wind Waker I feel for most is Link's grandma. Outside of that, I don't find any of the characters to be very memorable (except for the guy who runs the battleship minigame, I relate to him).
The plot similarly is just kinda there. I went through the motions so much when going from place to place, and after Aryll is rescued from the forsaken fortress it feels like there's a huge lack of urgency to continue the main adventure. Sure, Ganon's still a threat, but once Aryll is safe, Link has accomplished everything he's set out to do. Outside of being the reincarnation of the hero, what reason does Link have to go and stop Ganon? To stop him from conquering Hyrule? What is there left to conquer? The world is flooded and everyone lives their lives on their islands almost independently of everyone else. Ganon in OoT, Skull Kid in MM, and Zant in TP all demonstrate the consequences of their rule over their respective lands in a way that Ganon in Wind Waker doesn't. Breath of the Wild doesn't do a great job in this department either necessarily, but Ganon already won there making the stakes much different (plus I'm not going to argue that BotW is a narrative masterpiece). Seriously, am I missing something here? If I'm forgetting something please let me know.
Wanna talk about what else is really weak? How about those dungeons? This is the lamest set of dungeons in the franchise, easily. They're lacking in visual variety, they feel like they all play themselves, and every boss is super disappointing. Shoutout to this game for having maybe the most obnoxious final boss in Zelda history. Seriously, puppet Ganon can kiss my ass. The rest are all really easy, and some suffer from what I'm dubbing "Zelda Syndrome." Have you ever played through a Zelda game and gotten stuck on a puzzle, only to eventually find out that the answer was something you already tried but you didn't quite hit the sweet spot so it didn't work and you assumed that it was something else entirely and then you get really frustrated? Maybe that's just me, but I've experienced this in every Zelda game to some degree except for maybe BotW. Gohma took me an embarrassingly long time to beat because I tried to grapple Valoo's tail but I guess I wasn't close enough because the reticle just didn't appear at first. Oh well.
Speaking of Gohma, another thing that irritates me about this game is how similar it feels to Ocarina of Time. Call me a hypocrite because of how much I love Twilight Princess, but I never hear anyone talk about how similar this game is to its predecessor. It's a direct sequel to the point where the story outright references OoT multiple times, and outside of the fact that you're sailing the ocean in WW, the structure of the journey seems exactly the same. It felt like I was playing a sequel in the same way that a new generation of Pokémon feels like playing a sequel.
Ok, so time to be nice. Did I like anything? Yea, like I said before, the journey itself was fun. I loved sailing to each quadrant of the map and discovering each new island. I couldn't imagine completing this game, but charting the entire sea and finding all the fairies and fighting multiple big octos was cathartic. I hated changing the wind every ten seconds, and at the beginning of the game I was put off by the railroaded nature of the quest for the pearls and all the downtime and the emptiness of the ocean and the terrible pacing and how repetitive all the content in the great sea is, but I came around to it and just enjoyed vibing with the game. I like how the triforce quest is super open ended and you can tackle anything in any way you want, and I like how the fish give you clues about how to proceed with your adventure, that makes it feel like I'm discovering things on my own.
I think the music is alright. It has some bangers like Dragon Roost Island, the first part of the Forest Haven, Aryll's theme, the title theme, and Outset Island, which is probably the happiest song in video games ever, I love it. The rest I could pass on though; never been a huge fan of the Great Sea theme, but I think it fits really well when playing the game though.
The visuals are outstanding too, obviously. I could be really cynical and nitpick some elements that I didn't enjoy about them, but I've been mean enough so I won't do that here.
Aaaaaaaaand yea, I think that's it. I've wanted to play this game for a decade and I'm very surprised by how much I didn't enjoy it. The next Zelda I play will definitely be Tears of the Kingdom, I think I've had my fill of Zelda until that time. Sorry if this is your favorite game and I did almost nothing but talk shit about it; I'm learning more and more that Zelda is a franchise that I have complex feelings about. But lemme know what you think of my takes if you bothered reading this much.
And thank goodness for that, because damn did I hate the destination. Wind Waker has got to have the weakest story in the series. Every other 3D Zelda game has some narrative element that really hooks me. Some more than others, obviously, but there's always at least something: Ocarina of time has a rich thematic story about coming of age, shintoism, and the tragedy of Link having his childhood stolen from him, with the most intimidating iteration of Ganon easily; Twilight Princess has impeccable atmosphere, the best cast of characters in the series, the most compelling introduction by far, and my favorite version of Link; Breath of the Wild has a great setting, a great exploration of how the different places and races of Hyrule interact with one another, and while it has a weak plot, it tells its story through the world and its inhabitants better than any other game; Majora's Mask, for as mad as that game made me, has a tragic core and some of the most beautiful moments in the series. Wind Waker has... a companion who isn't annoying? Yea, that's something.
I'll be honest, nothing about Wind Waker's narrative grabs me. I like the motivation for saving your sister, and I like how expressive Link is. I think both of those things were done better in Twilight Princess though. Sure, Link in Wind Waker emotes more than any other Link bar none, but I know the Link in Twilight Princess much better and have a much better understanding of his dynamics with the people in Ordon Village and see how he reacts when things happen to them. Honestly the character in Wind Waker I feel for most is Link's grandma. Outside of that, I don't find any of the characters to be very memorable (except for the guy who runs the battleship minigame, I relate to him).
The plot similarly is just kinda there. I went through the motions so much when going from place to place, and after Aryll is rescued from the forsaken fortress it feels like there's a huge lack of urgency to continue the main adventure. Sure, Ganon's still a threat, but once Aryll is safe, Link has accomplished everything he's set out to do. Outside of being the reincarnation of the hero, what reason does Link have to go and stop Ganon? To stop him from conquering Hyrule? What is there left to conquer? The world is flooded and everyone lives their lives on their islands almost independently of everyone else. Ganon in OoT, Skull Kid in MM, and Zant in TP all demonstrate the consequences of their rule over their respective lands in a way that Ganon in Wind Waker doesn't. Breath of the Wild doesn't do a great job in this department either necessarily, but Ganon already won there making the stakes much different (plus I'm not going to argue that BotW is a narrative masterpiece). Seriously, am I missing something here? If I'm forgetting something please let me know.
Wanna talk about what else is really weak? How about those dungeons? This is the lamest set of dungeons in the franchise, easily. They're lacking in visual variety, they feel like they all play themselves, and every boss is super disappointing. Shoutout to this game for having maybe the most obnoxious final boss in Zelda history. Seriously, puppet Ganon can kiss my ass. The rest are all really easy, and some suffer from what I'm dubbing "Zelda Syndrome." Have you ever played through a Zelda game and gotten stuck on a puzzle, only to eventually find out that the answer was something you already tried but you didn't quite hit the sweet spot so it didn't work and you assumed that it was something else entirely and then you get really frustrated? Maybe that's just me, but I've experienced this in every Zelda game to some degree except for maybe BotW. Gohma took me an embarrassingly long time to beat because I tried to grapple Valoo's tail but I guess I wasn't close enough because the reticle just didn't appear at first. Oh well.
Speaking of Gohma, another thing that irritates me about this game is how similar it feels to Ocarina of Time. Call me a hypocrite because of how much I love Twilight Princess, but I never hear anyone talk about how similar this game is to its predecessor. It's a direct sequel to the point where the story outright references OoT multiple times, and outside of the fact that you're sailing the ocean in WW, the structure of the journey seems exactly the same. It felt like I was playing a sequel in the same way that a new generation of Pokémon feels like playing a sequel.
Ok, so time to be nice. Did I like anything? Yea, like I said before, the journey itself was fun. I loved sailing to each quadrant of the map and discovering each new island. I couldn't imagine completing this game, but charting the entire sea and finding all the fairies and fighting multiple big octos was cathartic. I hated changing the wind every ten seconds, and at the beginning of the game I was put off by the railroaded nature of the quest for the pearls and all the downtime and the emptiness of the ocean and the terrible pacing and how repetitive all the content in the great sea is, but I came around to it and just enjoyed vibing with the game. I like how the triforce quest is super open ended and you can tackle anything in any way you want, and I like how the fish give you clues about how to proceed with your adventure, that makes it feel like I'm discovering things on my own.
I think the music is alright. It has some bangers like Dragon Roost Island, the first part of the Forest Haven, Aryll's theme, the title theme, and Outset Island, which is probably the happiest song in video games ever, I love it. The rest I could pass on though; never been a huge fan of the Great Sea theme, but I think it fits really well when playing the game though.
The visuals are outstanding too, obviously. I could be really cynical and nitpick some elements that I didn't enjoy about them, but I've been mean enough so I won't do that here.
Aaaaaaaaand yea, I think that's it. I've wanted to play this game for a decade and I'm very surprised by how much I didn't enjoy it. The next Zelda I play will definitely be Tears of the Kingdom, I think I've had my fill of Zelda until that time. Sorry if this is your favorite game and I did almost nothing but talk shit about it; I'm learning more and more that Zelda is a franchise that I have complex feelings about. But lemme know what you think of my takes if you bothered reading this much.
I REALLY wanted to like this game, as it would have been proof that there was potential for me to like the Zelda game, but after 5 hours, I just couldn't get into the gameplay, story and world. I know there is something good here, but it's just not for me.
Holy crap what a fantastic game from start to finish. Any gripe or annoyance I had was loudly drowned out by every single positive beat.
Gameplay, story, the world, the characters and writing are all top tier. But as always with Zelda games I find myself appreciating the music the most.
There’s just something about how joyful this games soundtrack is that really sets it apart from other games in the series music-wise.
This game is a complete masterpiece and a 100% recommendation.
Gameplay, story, the world, the characters and writing are all top tier. But as always with Zelda games I find myself appreciating the music the most.
There’s just something about how joyful this games soundtrack is that really sets it apart from other games in the series music-wise.
This game is a complete masterpiece and a 100% recommendation.
the fallaciousness of the open ocean, the clean slate, speaks to the shortcomings of this type of narrative. this is still zelda: delightful, bossy, and dense with busywork. it treats its conventions like baggage but is happy to indulge them with little resistance. hyrule is buried and the path to the future is paved with more hyrule
This looks like a Nintendo 64 game disguised as a Gamecube one. What I mean by that? Everything is very bland and uninteresting: the combat, platform levels, boat exploration, enemies, and so on. Would this game be acclaimed if it wasn't a "Zelda" game? You tell me...
This review contains spoilers
Looking back on my time with Windwaker HD a few years later, it's not an exaggeration to say this game helped save my life. I was in a dark, terrible place. In the least cheesy way possible, this game helped me remember just how beautiful colors could be.
In late 2013, a younger, more hopeful me picked up a Wii U in preparation for Smash the following year. I bought a bundle that came with a digital copy of Windwaker HD, and really got into it. I played about 25 hours of it, getting about halfway through the game, and something cooler came along and I forgot about it. 3 days ago, I had the idea to dig up the ole Wii U, which has rightfully been collecting a lot of dust, and finish Windwaker. I remembered literally nothing about it, and indeed my last save was from November 2013. I fired it up and was immediately blown away by the colors.
My first point I want to make is that this game is beautiful. It is not afraid to use colors to their fullest effect, something games for the last 10 years have been afraid to do. The ocean is amazing, and I never got too bored just sailing for a minute or two to my next destination. The seagulls flying with you, the sharks swimming around you, the distant weather systems, it's all just so wonderful. I'm not a fan of Twilight Princess, and frankly Windwaker puts it to shame. There are more colors than brown, black, and dark green. Breath of the Wild is the only other Zelda that comes close to being this vibrant. I was immediately engaged.
Secondly, the absurdity of the design. Wizrobes are tucans now? I'm in. The Stahlchildren are big dumb brutes with hammers way too big for them to carry? Sign me up. Redeads screech and their heads inflate to 3 times their size? Terrified. The main thing about the color schemes and the ridiculous design is that they are so consistent about it. Each area looks more interesting than the last, and each character is immediately recognizable and memorable (I'm looking at you again twilight princess).
Third, the ending. I remember I had a hard time with main 4 bosses when i fought them in the dungeons, specifically the Sand Shark. When i realized I'd have to fight them all again, I groaned and didn't understand why they'd do this to me. But when I got in there... It was so easy. They even took away my new weapons and abilities and warped me back in time to the state i was in when i first faced them, so no powerups from the game side of it. I was better. I was able to take out 3 of those 4 bosses without getting hit once. I felt incredibly powerful. And then they threw me right into Ganon, and I was way more confident than I would have been otherwise. Excellent game design. I don't want to ramble forever, but Puppet Ganon was a great boss as well and super clever. I got a little angry fighting the caterpillar because I can't aim for shit, but other than that I couldn't be happier.
The triforce quests were a little too long and drawn out, and I honestly feel that there were too many of them with 8 shards. Other than that, I'm so impressed. I've been so burned out on games the last few weeks that I end up closing everything 5 minutes after I boot it up, including my old favorites. Windwaker made me remember why I love games so much, and how beautiful they can be.
In late 2013, a younger, more hopeful me picked up a Wii U in preparation for Smash the following year. I bought a bundle that came with a digital copy of Windwaker HD, and really got into it. I played about 25 hours of it, getting about halfway through the game, and something cooler came along and I forgot about it. 3 days ago, I had the idea to dig up the ole Wii U, which has rightfully been collecting a lot of dust, and finish Windwaker. I remembered literally nothing about it, and indeed my last save was from November 2013. I fired it up and was immediately blown away by the colors.
My first point I want to make is that this game is beautiful. It is not afraid to use colors to their fullest effect, something games for the last 10 years have been afraid to do. The ocean is amazing, and I never got too bored just sailing for a minute or two to my next destination. The seagulls flying with you, the sharks swimming around you, the distant weather systems, it's all just so wonderful. I'm not a fan of Twilight Princess, and frankly Windwaker puts it to shame. There are more colors than brown, black, and dark green. Breath of the Wild is the only other Zelda that comes close to being this vibrant. I was immediately engaged.
Secondly, the absurdity of the design. Wizrobes are tucans now? I'm in. The Stahlchildren are big dumb brutes with hammers way too big for them to carry? Sign me up. Redeads screech and their heads inflate to 3 times their size? Terrified. The main thing about the color schemes and the ridiculous design is that they are so consistent about it. Each area looks more interesting than the last, and each character is immediately recognizable and memorable (I'm looking at you again twilight princess).
Third, the ending. I remember I had a hard time with main 4 bosses when i fought them in the dungeons, specifically the Sand Shark. When i realized I'd have to fight them all again, I groaned and didn't understand why they'd do this to me. But when I got in there... It was so easy. They even took away my new weapons and abilities and warped me back in time to the state i was in when i first faced them, so no powerups from the game side of it. I was better. I was able to take out 3 of those 4 bosses without getting hit once. I felt incredibly powerful. And then they threw me right into Ganon, and I was way more confident than I would have been otherwise. Excellent game design. I don't want to ramble forever, but Puppet Ganon was a great boss as well and super clever. I got a little angry fighting the caterpillar because I can't aim for shit, but other than that I couldn't be happier.
The triforce quests were a little too long and drawn out, and I honestly feel that there were too many of them with 8 shards. Other than that, I'm so impressed. I've been so burned out on games the last few weeks that I end up closing everything 5 minutes after I boot it up, including my old favorites. Windwaker made me remember why I love games so much, and how beautiful they can be.
Like I said in my review of the first Zelda game, I've tried a few Zelda games in the past, but whenever I came back to them, I was completely lost. The Wind Waker HD was one of those games, and it was also the game that came with my Wii U back when I got it in 2015, along with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Once I got the hang of the game after recently picking up where I left off, it was pretty hard for me to put down, because The Wind Waker HD is an amazing game with a lot to offer.
I'm very new to the Zelda series, but out of the few Zelda games that I've tried out and even the ones I'm currently playing, none of them have really captured the sense of adventure that The Wind Waker HD managed to do so effortlessly. Sailing around the map and finding items and dungeons is a lot of fun, and the game's main dungeons are especially great. I also thought that this version of The Wind Waker looked absolutely gorgeous. While the Gamecube version is a good looking game that has aged well thanks to its cel shaded artstyle, The Wind Waker HD looks far better, in my opinion.
There are still a ton of Zelda games that I haven't played or haven't completed, but I'm not sure if I'll enjoy them nearly as much as I enjoyed The Wind Waker HD.
I'm very new to the Zelda series, but out of the few Zelda games that I've tried out and even the ones I'm currently playing, none of them have really captured the sense of adventure that The Wind Waker HD managed to do so effortlessly. Sailing around the map and finding items and dungeons is a lot of fun, and the game's main dungeons are especially great. I also thought that this version of The Wind Waker looked absolutely gorgeous. While the Gamecube version is a good looking game that has aged well thanks to its cel shaded artstyle, The Wind Waker HD looks far better, in my opinion.
There are still a ton of Zelda games that I haven't played or haven't completed, but I'm not sure if I'll enjoy them nearly as much as I enjoyed The Wind Waker HD.
Miserable traversal and overworld, overall meh to fine dungeons besides one, meh bosses besides the final one. Music and art are gorgeous, finale is notably good and this game has the best Ganon out of them all. Overall definitely not for me
was my favorite zelda game before TOTK, so beautiful and it still looks fantastic in 2024. i like the boat, if you dont like boat fuck you. immersive sailor experience. just need some handsome men to kiss and it would be 100% real
they took an already amazing game and gave it a red sail so you could play it faster
The only people who think this game has a bad art style are the people who think Unreal Engine Mario with clashing and stolen assets looks good.
this game is just pure joy tbh
Wind Waker fulfills the fantasy of going on an adventure and sailing the seas better than any game ever has. That's what makes it feel like magic. WW unlocked my desire to explore. Love the art too!
This is the best Zelda game
They will never make a game that feels like this much of an adventure again
there are few things that bring such an adventurous feeling as easily and powerfully as the sea does, a perfect setting for a zelda game.
crazy to think that both ocarina of time, majora's mask and this all released in a span of mere five years. that there were so many creative and fascinating new takes on the series all coming to life one after the other in such a short period is really something special that doesn't seem to be happening again for a long long time.
crazy to think that both ocarina of time, majora's mask and this all released in a span of mere five years. that there were so many creative and fascinating new takes on the series all coming to life one after the other in such a short period is really something special that doesn't seem to be happening again for a long long time.
After a month long hiatus, I finished wind waker for the Zelda replay, had some stuff going on and other games of course but here I am, to review again.
I will not go into too much detail here cause I already made a very long review a while ago, so I’ll just link that review below here cause it’s still accurate to my thoughts now
https://www.backloggd.com/u/ZeldaFan/review/278162/
However, there are a few things that I want to go over that I really didn’t say in my original review
One negative I’d like to bring up is how a lot of the time in this game, there’s a ton of moments where they forget the age old rule or “show don’t tell”, instead here they “tell don’t show”, the example that irritated me the most is when you fully restore the master sword, you go outside the temple and see the fish talking to the king of red lions about how the forsaken fortress is completely empty, this moment has like next to no impact and also very lazily transitions into “link, get the triforce shards”.
A way to fix this moment I think would’ve been to just have link go to the forsaken fortress after getting the master sword restored, then you see that it’s empty, maybe have a mini boss with another phantom Ganon or something, and have either ganondorf use some spirit magic shit to tell you like “haha, I’ve gone to hyrule” or have king of red lions connect the dots and tell link what’s going on…………ok this is very specific and nitpicky but I’ve played this game like 20 different times and I just notice this kind of stuff.
The moblins are one of my favorite enemy designs in the whole series, they’re extremely expressive and are great in general……..man I do not have much to say
I’ve basically said the few things I wanted to say, everything I love about this game I expressed in my earlier review so like, not much to add here except for these two things.
I mean, I literally know this game so well that I remembered where every single heart piece was, not even kidding.
Overall, it’s still my favorite Zelda game rn, though I’d say it’s definitely tied with Majora’s Mask now as well, both are my favorites.
And next up is Minish cap, never played this one so I’m excited to check it out
I will not go into too much detail here cause I already made a very long review a while ago, so I’ll just link that review below here cause it’s still accurate to my thoughts now
https://www.backloggd.com/u/ZeldaFan/review/278162/
However, there are a few things that I want to go over that I really didn’t say in my original review
One negative I’d like to bring up is how a lot of the time in this game, there’s a ton of moments where they forget the age old rule or “show don’t tell”, instead here they “tell don’t show”, the example that irritated me the most is when you fully restore the master sword, you go outside the temple and see the fish talking to the king of red lions about how the forsaken fortress is completely empty, this moment has like next to no impact and also very lazily transitions into “link, get the triforce shards”.
A way to fix this moment I think would’ve been to just have link go to the forsaken fortress after getting the master sword restored, then you see that it’s empty, maybe have a mini boss with another phantom Ganon or something, and have either ganondorf use some spirit magic shit to tell you like “haha, I’ve gone to hyrule” or have king of red lions connect the dots and tell link what’s going on…………ok this is very specific and nitpicky but I’ve played this game like 20 different times and I just notice this kind of stuff.
The moblins are one of my favorite enemy designs in the whole series, they’re extremely expressive and are great in general……..man I do not have much to say
I’ve basically said the few things I wanted to say, everything I love about this game I expressed in my earlier review so like, not much to add here except for these two things.
I mean, I literally know this game so well that I remembered where every single heart piece was, not even kidding.
Overall, it’s still my favorite Zelda game rn, though I’d say it’s definitely tied with Majora’s Mask now as well, both are my favorites.
And next up is Minish cap, never played this one so I’m excited to check it out
They took a great game and polished away a lot of the grindy B.S.
A perfectly fine way to play this absolute classic. The swift sail is great! However, the loss of Miiverse means that the Tingle Tuner/Tingle Bottle is essentially a completely cut feature, which is a pretty big blow for completionist fans of the original.