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.

The Wind Waker is one of those games that is instantly recognizable for its art style. Few games have aged as well visually as Wind Waker, and it looks even better with the new lighting in the HD Remake. Overall, The Wind Waker is a traditional Zelda game and plays out like you would expect. There are dungeons, unlockable items, and treasure to find. Its structure is quite different from other entries however, as it teeters near open-world at times with its emphasis on ocean exploration. Sailing around the seas of Hyrule is an interesting premise that makes Wind Waker stand out from its peers. Plus, learning how to do Barrier Skip even on a casual playthrough makes you feel like a part of history.

Pirates and Link are both cool, but it would have been even cooler if Link was a pirate

Gameplay:
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is very much a follow-up to Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask as far as core gameplay is concerned. Link controls much like he does in those games, but feels a tad more “natural” to control in a way that is hard to explain (perhaps because his animations were improved?). Like in those games, Link is able to run around and interact with the environment, primarily via his sword, shield, and items. The sword and shield gameplay is about what one would expect, similar to the two previous games but with a new element—a sort of quick-time-event where the player must press A at just the right moment to make Link counter an enemy attack. While cool-looking I feel that the addition of reactions arguably makes the combat worse than other 3D Zelda games since it can feel like a waiting game with little between. Not every enemy operates on this system, but I find it somewhat disappointing that most of the more challenging ones do. There is not much to be said about the shield, it allows Link to block attacks when held up. Items are rather varied in Wind Waker, and while I would not say it is the absolute strongest selection in the franchise it still feels quite solid to me. I would have liked if some of them were utilized more but even as is none of them feel like they drop by the wayside too greatly.
One last main feature of Wind Waker is sailing, a new addition. Since the world of Wind Waker is a vast ocean spotted with small islands, Link must sail to get between them. Wind Waker HD also adds in the Swift Sail, which makes the boat move several times faster than the normal sail. I am sort of split on this addition; in an objective sense it is good because it cuts down on the unnecessary downtime that comes with sailing, a task which is not very engaging. However, the Swift Sail does expose just how short Wind Waker feels. The game is rather small compared to other 3D Zelda games, and in some ways it is quite noticeable. I think this topic would be better saved until I have gone over other elements of the game, so I will shelve it for the time being.
The meat of Wind Waker, as with most Zelda games, is its dungeons. Unfortunately for Wind Waker, it has without a doubt the weakest selection of the 3D games in the series. That is not to say they are bad. Generally speaking, they are fun to progress through and feel rewarding to complete. The atmosphere is great as always, doing a lot of work to sell the unique vibe of each one. The problem for me is that they really do not feel like they offer any real challenge, which makes them a bit dull at times. Barring the last main dungeon none of them are remotely non-linear, and the puzzles and battles present require little-to-no thought on the players part. I can appreciate trying to warm the player up to the game slowly but when it takes until the last dungeon for the game to pose any sort of legitimate challenge, I feel there is a problem. I fully recognize that I am probably a much more experienced Zelda player than most, but even for someone less versed in the series I think a better difficulty curve would have been appreciated. As I said before, the dungeons are enjoyable even with their flaws, but I believe the game could have greatly benefited from having just a bit more complexity. Additionally, though I would not say it is as big a problem, the game definitely feels like it is missing a dungeon or two (which we know is in fact the case based on developer interviews). There are only five main dungeons, plus two shorter segments that are probably best categorized as semi-dungeons (the Forsaken Fortress and Ganon’s Castle). I am all for shorter, high-quality games, but Wind Waker does feel a bit strangely paced and I imagine having another dungeon or two in the mix would have helped.
Despite being somewhat negative in this section, I do think that Wind Waker has pretty good gameplay. The combat is enjoyable and the dungeons are fun to explore. Ultimately, it is just missing depth. If there was a little more to it all I think the game could be even better, but as is it feels unfair to fault it too greatly.

Story/Characters:
Wind Waker leans into having a story more than any prior Zelda game, and while it is nothing complex, I thoroughly enjoy it. Link’s motivation to become a hero is rescuing his sister, making the adventure feel more personal than maybe any other game in the series from the start. Link has a ton of personality in this game, in large part thanks to how expressive his face and animations are. That goes for just about everyone else too, though they also have the benefit of being able to talk. The pirates are all fun, Tetra is a delightful character, and Ganondorf is suitably menacing even with the characterization he receives. It’s just a very solid story overall, and one with a lot for the player to chew on as well as far as subtext goes (which, as I have mentioned in my other Zelda reviews, is one of my favorite parts of the series).

Presentation:
To the surprise of few, Wind Waker HD has excellent presentation across the board. The visuals are somewhat contentious from what I have seen online, but I think they look great for the most part and make the world pop quite a bit. New textures would have been appreciated in some areas, but I cannot say they seem at all necessary to me.
The music is a similar boat (pardon the pun). It establishes an immaculate atmosphere, especially in conjunction with the visuals. The world of Wind Waker feels vast and ready to be explored, like it is just waiting for Link to plunder its lost treasures. Though I would not say it is the absolute best music the series, Wind Waker’s soundtrack goes a long way in creating the game’s distinct personality.

Conclusion:
My biggest criticisms of Wind Waker are all about what the game lacks. I wish there was more complexity in the combat, puzzles, and dungeon layouts, I wish the ocean was a little more fun to navigate, and I wish the game were longer. But personally, I find it hard to fault a game for lacking things too much when what is present is already good. Wind Waker is my least favorite 3D Zelda game having now replayed all of them, but I can safely say that it’s still great and worth the time of anyone who enjoys the series. Personally I prefer the HD remaster, but I know some like the original more, and either way I think most will have a good time with it.

Score: 81/100

The Wind Waker HD might be a game for babies. Lots of hand-holding throughout the game, including in some dungeon puzzles that would otherwise force you to actually engage with the rooms you're in and connect dots (looking at you, Ganon's Tower), quest markers for the main quest, and that extremely annoying gossip stone. The King of Red Lions looks so cool, both as a boat and as a man, but holy hell he needs to stop talking.

The Great Sea is really cool once you get the swift sail. Being able to move around this big ocean at fairly quick speeds really helps sell the adventure feel that they pretend to be going for. Lots of the side content has charming writing and fun looking characters. The QoL improvements on the Sea are much needed (bomb cannon showing trajectory is a god-send). Without the quest markers throughout the main quest, I think the Great Sea would actually be a super fun area to explore. Of course, they'd also need to let you have items a bit earlier so you can actually do things before the finale if they wanted it to be engaging. Still, it's a good vibe to just sail around and fight the subs and outposts and fish up treasure from time to time. The Triforce Hunt is obviously improved, although it still felt somewhat lacking. In WWOG, some charts were in very simple to reach locations and you only had to beat a few rooms of super easy enemies to get them. The "hard" part was getting enough ruppees to pay Tingle to then begin the search for the shard. That sucked. In WWHD, all they changed was that most of the charts were updated to just be the shards. This means that some Triforce Shards are hidden behind a few super simple enemies, which feels absurdly underwhelming. This also cut the playtime drastically, which is a good thing because I'm not longer spending hours just grinding currency, but it also made the hunt feel less like a hunt and took away some of the grandeur I felt hunting in WWOG. Still, I'd take HD hunt over OG any day of the week.

Good music, fun bosses, solid dungeons (except Wind Temple fuck you Makar you slow piece of trash). Lots of fun islands that give neat lore if you talk to the fish, which builds up the Ghost Ship suuuuper well (even if the actual ship was a tad underwhelming).

The combat is actually pretty decent. Action commands are fun and feel satisfying to hit even if it's just a quick time event. I actually used a shield in a 3D Zelda game during some fights! There were some attacks where I had to sidestep or backflip to dodge! Wow! Remotely engaging combat in a Zelda game! Who thought it could be possible! Not me!!!!!!!!!

WWHD is probably a game for babies. But man, it's like I always say: "googoo gaga where's my baba binky."