Reviews from

in the past


I enjoyed quite a bit of this game, but there's also a lot that I just found super tedious and uninteresting. I really think Zelda games are a lot better when they open up and let the player go and do things in the order they want, and despite throwing the player into an ostensibly vast and open world, Wind Waker constantly goes out of it's way to do the exact opposite of that.

Outside of two dungeons that can be done in any order, pretty much everything in this game's main story is super streamlined. Given the structure of the game's world, this means that at points the game literally just has to have your boat go "lol nope, I'm not going that way" to make sure the player doesn't go off and do something they're not supposed to, which is super egregious in this type of game. And outside of the main quest, there isn't really a whole lot to do. Every quadrant has one island, and outside of the major story islands, pretty much every island has one or two puzzles and a treasure map attached to it, after which it pretty much becomes deadspace on the map. This arguably isn't any different from how a typical Zelda game's sidequest material would function, but with the more open structure of Wind Waker, it just makes the whole world feel so much more empty.

This problem is REALLY exacerbated by the game's main gimmick: sailing. Every one of this items is 2-3 minutes apart with very little interesting to do in between. You might encounter a copy-and-pasted enemy base, or maybe even an sea enemy that's more obnoxious to deal with than it's worth, but for the most part you pretty much just set the wind in the direction you need to go, and wait for the boat to get there. It gets super tedious, especially later on when you've already cleared most of the minor islands, and the fast travel isn't good enough to alleviate this.

There IS a lot of good stuff here though. Of course, the graphics are quite charming, and outside of the extremely over-exaggerated depth of field effect, most of it has aged quite well. The story is also probably the best of any Zelda game I've played so far, and the ending is especially good. But overall, I don't think it's quite as strong of a game as Ocarina of Time (and I'm not someone who's particularly fond of that game in the first place).

Tingle is a fucking con-man in this game. The quest for the triforce wasn't that bad but dear lord those prices?!? And he's a criminal! What happened to sweet Majora's Mask Tingle huh?!?

Anyway.

The game is really good.
Until you start traversing the over world.
I love the setting, the characters (especially Tetra), even Ganon caught me off guard with some surprising depth despite his absence for most of the game. The combat as well was really fun and flashy.
I adore the graphics and it allowed for one of the most expressive Links that I've seen. The humour was also really good and never failed to bring a laugh.

The game regularly asks it's characters to find courage, and through that courage we see character growth in characters like Prince Zomali. The game keeps this motif of courage ever present, and tells you that through courage anything is possible.

esse jogo é excelente (como a maioria dos Zeldas), desde os gráficos, a trilha sonora e os personagens.
ao contrário doq muitas pessoas acham, eu gostei de viajar pelo oceano e ir explorando cada ilha e matando cada inimigo que encontrava pelo caminho, mudar a direção do vento toda hora pode ser muito chato com o tempo mas compensa.
outra coisa falam muito mal é a quest dos pedaços da triforce, que eu adorei fazer e procurar cada mapa pelo oceano, e depois pegar cada pedaço, realmente não entendo o ódio gigantesco que sentem por essa missão do jogo.

tem algumas coisas que não deixam ele perfeito mas são poucas e que todo jogo tem em alguma parte.

the wind... it is blowing
this game will always have a special place in my heart. i used to play it with my dad and my sister when i was young. nothing beats the soundtrack, aesthetic and overall vibe for me.


One of my absolute favorite games ever. However, going back to the original without the changes present in HD can be painful sometimes. Despite these pains and the possibility of great improvement, its pros certainly outweigh many of its cons. Although I must admit I have a large, sentimental, and positive bias towards this game. So take what I say with a grain of salt.

Pros
- One of the best aesthetic presentations in a Zelda game to date. The graphics and art style still look great over two decades later. The musical score and sound effects are all fantastic, and the set pieces for bosses and cutscenes are usually outstanding.
-An excellent story the actively builds upon the lore setup by OoT while setting up something unique for the future. One of the best conclusions to any game I have ever played.
-Incredibly cool characters to support it. The two sages, Tetra, boat king, and especially Ganondorf all contribute to the incredible feel of the game. Side characters can be great too, such as Salvador, Tingle, and of course Grandma.
-Solid controls and gameplay, with some incredible item usage through grapple hook, a faster boomerang, etc. The Deku leaf alone is stupidly fun. There is a reason gliders were brought back in some form for many games after.
-Some really solid dungeon designs with neat themes. Each one feels unique and most feel well designed.
Cons
-Especially for new players, the game can have horrible pacing issues. The beginning feels like a longer slog than it actually is, blind Triforce charts take an absolute eternity, and going for 100% will take an extraordinary amount of travel time. This congests the middle and end of the game, making a slog.
-Some minigames are really poorly designed. Splish Kaboom is maddening without the help of the fanmade calculator, sword training heart piece is pure tedium, blind trading quest is incredibly boring, etc.
-For a game with 3 (or 4 if you include forest haven) major population centers, the meaningful content feels unfairly distributed between them. Dragonroost island really only has one meaningful non-story quest and its just the mail minigame, Forest Haven has statue collecting (actual hell with GCN version limitations), Outset has a tedious minigame and slowly moving a pig for a heart piece. There could be so much more.
- Given how many islands offer repetition or next to nothing, you could shrink the number by a decent number without negatively impacting the game.
-Lack of QoL features . Sail and Windwaker are a given when using the boat, which has two unbound d-pad keys. Why not use those so you can free up more item slots? Why do we have to watch the song cutscene every single time? What is even the point of paying a small fortune for all 8 triforce charts? Why is the Pictobox limited to only 3 photographs? The remaster of this game certainly adds needed QoL changes.
- A decent chunk of the game was apparently cut in favor of a rushed development, which just sucks in general.

I love this game so much! Everyone told me, that the HD version on Wii U is better...but nothing can beat the original from my childhood ever!

The first Zelda game I ever beat. Easily the biggest turning point in my time gaming as a child. It reshaped how I saw games and got me to start seeing game worlds as something you could genuinely get lost in and become a part of. I loved exploring the sea and watching so many stories unfold among the islands' residents. Also Molgera

Un Zelda único
Es algo fácil en cuanto a calabozos y jefes pero ptm la quest de la trifuerza es un asco hecho y derecho
Fuera de eso la historia es increíble, muy atrapante y el estilo de arte le da un toque especial al juego