There was a point in time after I initially completed the 3ds remake of Ocarina of Time when I was fascinated with Zelda and was clamoring for more. However, there was a problem, I was a kid who only got money on a few occasions throughout the year. Because of this inconvenience, it took me a pretty long while before I finally got to purchase most of them, but by that time, the Zelda craze I had was long gone so I didn't get far into playing them. Now that I've finally beaten Wind Waker, all I can say is I wish I played this sooner.

In terms of visuals, Wind Waker is a game that I personally don't think needed too much of an improvement as it still looks a lot more presentable than og OoT and MM partly in thanks to its cartoonish art style. Even with that in mind, the remake was still successful in improving how the game looks since it looks more beautiful than ever in HD.

For the most part, it's your typical 3d Zelda which pretty much entails that you will be exploring the overworld doing quests, venturing through dungeons, and solving puzzles. There is one key difference though and that is how you explore the overworld, sailing. It may not always be the most convenient way of traveling as you will have to change the direction of the wind multiple times, but exploring the seas is a fresh take for Zelda that I still enjoyed. The dungeons in the game were pretty enjoyable and filled with plenty of puzzles that while not absurdly difficult or cryptic will still kick your noggin into gear. Another thing that I wanted to point out is how quickly you go from each dungeon. While I did enjoy exploring around Hyrule in OoT and doing certain tasks before exploring dungeons, I still appreciated that you pretty much just go from one dungeon to the next until a certain infamous part of the game.

The Triforce quest while significantly toned down in this version based on what I've read was still an annoyance. Having to find the Triforce charts adds a repetitive step in getting the Triforce pieces and having Tingle decipher the Triforce charts is not cheap and also makes the quest more bothersome. The reduced amount of 3 charts to find and as a result, the fewer amount of times you have to visit the weird fairy-obsessed man, luckily only makes the whole quest slightly annoying. I can't imagine what it was like in the GameCube version knowing you have to find 8 charts and spend a ridiculous amount of rupees to decipher them all.

Triforce quest aside, its a fantastic Zelda game, GameCube game, and an even more fantastic Wii U game.

“But, since we're all gonna die, there's one more secret I feel I have to share with you: I did not care for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.”

“What?”

“Did not care for Wind Waker.”

“How can you even say that, Dad?”

“Didn't like... didn't like it.”

“Peter, it's so good. It's like the perfect adventure game.”

“This is what everyone always says whenever...”

“Eiji Aonuma, Takashi Tezuka... I mean, you never see... Koji Kondo!”

“I know. Great, great composer. Did not like the game.”

“Why not?”

“Couldn't get into it.”

“Explain yourself. What didn't you like about it?”

“It insists upon itself, Lois.”

“What?”

“It insists upon itself.”

“What does that even mean?”

“'Cause it has a valid point to make, it's insistent!”

“It takes forever getting in, and then you go through this really terrible stealth section, and then, I can't even get through it. I can't even finish the game. I've never even seen the ending.”

“You've never seen the ending?!”

“How can you say you don't like it if you haven't even given it a chance?”

“I agree with Stewie. It's not really fair.”

“I have tried, on three separate occasions, to get through it, and I... I get to the part where you have to power up the Master Sword…”

“Yeah. That's a great part. I love that scene.”

“It's noted in every annal.”

“And you’re just going from place to place through the dungeons. Like, it’s really repetitive and the stuff you’re doing isn’t that interesting. That's why I lose interest and I go away.”

“It’s giving you freedom of exploration!”

“It’s offering you a wonderous adventure through a magical world, something you don't understand.”

“I love Link’s Awakening. That is my answer to that statement.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, there you go.”

“Whatever.”

“I like that game, too.”

Wind Waker é um game que deixa o jogador bem confuso após terminar. Enquanto é lindo com uma mensagem bela e dungeons tão divertidas, é perceptível a falta de tempo que teve para o desenvolvimento. O oceano poderia ser mais rico em conteúdo, o jogo deveria contar com mais dungeons as quais foram cortadas e reformular a temida missão da Triforce da Coragem. Uma pena que o antigo conceito dos personagens envelhecerem durante a aventura não pôde tomar prioridade, pois seria incrível essa dinâmica e traria um sentimento incrível de fim de jornada.

O Remaster faz um bom trabalho ao adicionar itens novos, ter um inventário rápido e deixar a quest da Triforce mais dinâmica, porém ainda é ridículo a forma que o jogador deve descobrir onde os pedaços estão e completar o mapa com o peixe fomento maldito é muito demorado e chato. Caso você use um guia as coisas ficam bem mais toleráveis e até um pouco divertidas.

Por fim, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker é um jogo muito divertido e todo fã da franquia deveria dar uma chance para essa aventura tão bela, sutil e engraçada. Esse título prova que até em momentos de crise, o time por trás de The Legend of Zelda consegue fazer um jogo bom.

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.

Beating every Zelda in timeline order 8/20:

The Wind Waker is a game I've played through several times. I think a large part of the enjoyment I get from Wind Waker is the exploration. The first few times I played this game, I had a blast exploring every island, filling out my sea chart and just getting lost in the great sea. It's a magical experience your first few times through. Now that I'm on playthrough 5(?), I know where everything I need to get is. I'm no longer exploring, I'm just kind of doing. Without the fresh joy of exploration and discovery, the game feels a little small. It's not as robust as other Zelda games, at least in the core content. The dungeons are some of the weakest in the series. The Earth and Wind temples are the only things that feel like full dungeons in my opinion. There was a lot of times during the Triforce quest and the final dungeon where I found myself saying "oh okay, I've just got to fight a bunch of guys again." The overworld might be the best in the series, but everything around it felt lacking this time around. Unlike Twilight Princess, which still kept me engaged, even on my 12th(?) playthrough of the game due to its great core design in the dungeons and lategame pacing, this one left me feeling like something was lost in the replays. I don't think these things detract from the fact that this is still a wonderful time, especially on your first or second playthrough. I still love this game. It's charming as hell, all the characters are fun to look at and talk to, the music is great and the story ends so well.

If I could erase my memory of any game and play it for the first time, Wind Waker would be that game. Unfortunately, it loses some of the je ne sais quoi on multiple playthroughs.

Wind Waker HD is the weakest 3d Zelda I've played so far. This mostly stems from pacing being all over the place, clearly missing content and padding to fill a 20+ hour runtime. The third missing dungeon to get the final pearl and the recycled bosses for gannon's tower as well as the triforce shards quest hurt the game's pacing. You feel that the game is zipping you from one dungeon to the next towards a climax that's halted by a long fetch quest. You can't explore much between the dungeons because a lot of the islands on the great sea are gated behind dungeon items. Therfore exploring feels like a waste time. I preface my review with all of this to say that despite all of these flaws, I still loved and enjoyed Wind Waker. The presentation is the most charming Zelda has ever gotten. The art style is beautiful, timeless and pleasing to the eye. Toon link is the most expressive and therefore he's the easiest to like from the get go. The music stands shoulder to shoulder with the previous two games. Gameplay-wise the game controls better than the first two and the items are a blast to use. The dungeons, while simple, were very enjoyable and I kinda appreciated having a Zelda where I didn't need to look at a guide to beat a dungeon. Exploring the islands gets much more fun once you obtain the items necessary. Wind Waker is compulsively playable because of its presentation and charming atmosphere.

once upon a time I was marathoning zelda then something absolutely terrible happened… I forgor

so I came back to the original plan and decided to play this gem love this game absolutely an incredible experience in the franchise now if only twilight princess and like 10 others weren't real this couldve been a great contender for the best zelda ever apart from some shit game design decisions if i have a saying in this

ive tried to play this game like 10 times and for some reason I always ended up getting my saves wiped I literally have no idea what's up with me and some games that keep on deleting their save files on me like it's happened roughly 30 times with TITS and I still cannot go back to it because im so damn scared which is a real issue since I want to play trails from zero / azure whatever their name is

for as much as I'm aware l between twilight princess and this one its probably a good opinion to say that this is definitely the fan favorite one of the bunch and also with a big margin . lich rally shook the gamecubes scrawny ass when this released im not gonna lie

so the legend of zelda black flag takes a huge detour from what came before which was umhhhhh ????? ok anyway taking a huge detour from ocarina and majora this new “timeline” (zelda timeline are dumb don't talk to me) sees the hero of wind living in a world completely surrounded by water LITERALLY 90% of the map is panthalassa I have no idea how this people can live a life of their own this way but it could be islandophobic of me to say that

the main little incipit is probably the sweetest part of the game you get to know your sister and your granny some of the other townspeople that count to like 5 people total and living that sweet sweet isolated life until a bitch gets abducted by a giant bird and then you follow her and then you save her and then she's a girl called dazel which is a very suspicious name and then you make friends with her crew and then she says bye hoe I'm a pirate and I love scissoring and then link decides to follow her for some reason which could or could not be related to your sis being suddenly abducted by the sexy lord of dark ganondorf but im not particularly sure because I was too fucking occupied with the first dungeon which was also a STEALTH . FUCKING . DUNGEON who the FUCK decides to open a game with a stealth segment you have to be kidding me im still trying to get accustomed to the controls here and you push me into a this mess youre joking who's the director I wanna talk with the director

this is the premise the end along the way youre gonna meet a talking boat who could or could not be a daddy and get acquainted to the most wonderful part of the game: sailing !!!!! I don't like it

I mean its not that I don't liiiiiike it and they actually make a huge effort in the HD re release to make me like it MORE since theres a “fast travel” option which doesn't necessarily mean I'm actually gonna enjoy the ride BUT at least I don't have to think about where the fucking wind is blowing and its like 2 times the normal speed so I can work with that , my issue will probably fall in the realm of the mmmmm too adhd inducing for me like most of the time when you're sailing youre just gonna sit there and do nothing sometimes the game spices it up putting an enemy in the water which only makes me more keen to just leave him there and change direction who the fuck likes boat battles who the fuck likes BOATS and the sea is mostly empty apart from like a island each square which doesn't amount to much if you ask me but this is me nitpicking because it gets way more tiring later

I gotta say windfall island is possibly my favorite part of the game because its just so comfy there's a lot of stuff to so and it's one of 3 islands that actually have some people living in it I wanna see the birth rates of this population because was its gonna be a blast and here you're ACTUALLY gonna get into the groove of the game with the opened map the unending sea the dread of your sister getting @;£#ed by ganondorf and the envy because you want that to be you and for the most part it develops as a normal the legend of zelda experience minus the sea

most of the dungeons are fine the forest dungeon is fine and the rito dungeon is fine they are both fine I gotta say the fucking vibes are unmatched though literally jawdropping atmosphere in both and the items are pretty good for the most part I don't particularly enjoy using the little magic wand THAT much but they actually managed to recreate the feeling I had with the ocarina pretty closely even though the ocarina is way way way better

the story actually flows pretty fine and the actual narrative is always just hidden by these dungeon to dungeon little segments that add a lot to the lore of the game and the general vibe they were going for it is really superficial level nothing too grand but for a zelda game targeted for minors it's as good as it can get probably my only issue is that they rely too much on the ocarina of time linking lore while the main story beats are pretty straightforward which isnt an issue per se but I definitely wanted sumn more for the story apart from the inevitable link to the previous greatest game in the canon

i do really believe that the land gameplay is probably one of the greatest in the series toon link has this really wobbly but firm feel to it that it just feels really good to play as and when you add the fact that the combat is super satisfying and the items are all pretty great you get one of the most complete games for sure what really made me regret this whole idea is that the sea gameplay is abysmal im not a huge fan of boats in gaming in general so that probably hindered my enjoyment by a damn lot that being said the heart pieces are treated like shit in this one literally could not believe they went from the incredible reward of majoras mask to just treasure hunting which is definitely in tune with the whole pirate vibe but cmon is little challenge room across the map the best you can do and what's really weird is that I didnt really mind the sailing until SUDDENLY the game asked me to get 8 triforce pieces around the map and at that point I just wanted to kms

in a way the post-hyrule arc is my least favourite part of the game because you get 2 more dungeons that have a bomb gimmick of controlling your partner(s) to solve puzzle but its SUCH . A . SLOG they're not really that bad but going back and forth from links and the partners consciousness really killed my flow and I Don't think the dungeons were designed as well as the earlier ones in the game but the real issue is that youre gonna get to TRAVEL . ACROSS THE LAND . TO GET TRIFORCE PIECES girlie ion honestly sailing was fine for me until then but going over and over again around the same hollow map gets tiring after a whole ESPECIALLY when you have no idea where the fuck these pieces are and also in the GC og version was worse so I wouldve defo NEVER finished this game in the original rest assured

as a concept its not really that bad because again its thematically and mechanically in line with the whole premise but the execution is just a slog to go through FORTUNATELY THO the last dungeon was a great payoff not my fav one but it was good better than other last dungeons in the series that's for sure and the final boss was pretty fucking weird if I gotta say so myself

oh and the music is goated as always TLOZ just can't miss yknow thats what it is ughhhhhh am I missing something here oh yeah the zelda here isn't my favorite zelda in the series neither is ganondorf and the rito look like shit im so glad they entirely furry fied them later in the series as they shouldve

masterpiece with a lot of questionable design decision but still manages to be another fucking BOP in this series of absolutely unbelievable games thank you everybody next time its probably gonna be skyward sword let's see what's popping

My favorite entry in the series and one that I think should be played by all. This remake brought new life into the classic 2002 game with its new updated graphics, while still keeping the charm of the original's style. Though not adding much in terms of content, the base game itself is perfect, an epic tale with amazing combat, items and iconic characters. And the sea travel is my favorite mode of transportation in the entire series, as the sea is full of mystery and perils, making this game truely feel alive.

Inicialmente não tem como não reparar no estilo de arte fantástico desse jogo, vi que a recepção na época do lançamento não foi muita boa por conta dos gráficos cartunescos mas eu particularmente achei incrível, o design dos personagens e do mundo no geral é belíssimo.

Sobre a narrativa, ela é um dos pontos que eu mais gostei de Wind Waker, os personagens são muito carismáticos (já virou padrão da franquia) e os temas abordados na história são bem interessantes. Acho que Wild Waker tem o meu Link favorito.

A gameplay do jogo é bem simples, com certeza é um dos zeldas mais fáceis que eu já joguei em questão de combate e puzzles mas não vejo isso como um ponto negativo do jogo. Wild Waker tem seu destaque na exploração, a sensação que senti navegando por aquele mar vasto e azul é algo que eu não consigo descrever em palavras, foi um sentimento muito bom, porém, o conteúdo das ilhas varia bastante em qualidade e é preciso ter um pouco de paciência em alguns momentos com o backtracking do jogo, principalmente na fatídica quest da triforce.

Apesar de tudo, Wind Waker foi uma experiência muito gratificante, pois não esperava muita coisa e no fim acabei sendo surpreendido com mais uma aventura divertida que colocou um sorriso no meu rosto em muitos momentos. É facilmente um dos meus jogos Zelda favoritos.

”The wind will guide us!”

The original version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has, without a doubt, the WORST pacing of any Zelda game. Sailing takes too long, constantly having to take out the Wind Waker itself kills the pace, the Command Melody is annoying, and having to salvage each piece of the Triforce is tedious.

The Wind Waker HD fixes all of those issues.

The game gifts us with the Swift Sail, a sail that doubles our boat’s speed and causes a favorable wind to constantly blow in whatever direction we want, meaning that we don’t have to waste time pulling out the Wind Waker every five seconds to change the wind direction. The game no longer plays back every single song we play on the Wind Waker, which makes the Command Melody much less of a pace breaker; instead, it’s just another item in Link’s arsenal. Finally, five out of the eight Triforce shards are simply in the chests that you find, meaning significantly less time wasted hunting them down.

All of these changes make the game much faster, bringing it more in line with the masterful pacing of other Zelda games. Since I no longer felt bored and/or annoyed, I was able to soak in the experience of The Wind Waker.

The already gorgeous visuals have been given an HD overhaul and a new lighting engine; it’s pure eye candy. The story is stil magnificent. Even the dungeons, which I considered some of the worst in the series in the original, are actually… pretty good? They don’t stack up to the dungeons in other 3D entries and they’re still too easy, but they have solid puzzle progression and distinct visual theming. The Tower of the Gods and the Wind Temple are still awesome.

I partook in more side quests this time around. They’re not the best thing ever, but they have their charm. Windfall Island is essentially this game’s Clock Town, only much less depressing. Helping all of the residents with their problems is inherently satisfying and fleshes out the world of the Great Sea, showing you why Link needs to protect it from Ganondorf.

Speaking of the Great Sea, The Wind Waker’s oceanic overworld has a wonderful sense of adventure that only Breath of the Wild would be able to recapture. Sure, the Great Sea isn’t exactly dense, but there’s still lots to do and discover. So many mini-dungeons, so much treasure, so many Heart Pieces… it’s amazing. Exploring the Great Sea makes you feel like a true adventurer.

I honestly loved The Wind Waker HD. I still wish there were more complex dungeons, but I was more than satisfied with what I got. All of the little improvements and quality of life changes have boosted The Wind Waker from the most overrated Zelda game to one of the series’ best.

I wanted to like this game... Really... Beginning is super promising with lots of lovable dorks, pixar like colorful world, new mechanics to discover, a huuuuge world etc. It does have all the things I need really, until game starts to get broken that is...

First problem is... Do you remember there is an infamous ign review that says too much water? This sentence is appropriate for this game fully. Map is biiiiig and you use wind song again and again and again to go somewhere(until you get the swift sail) and it gets ooooolllddd... And sadly most of the islands are super small challenge islands rather than something suprising. The most interesting ones for me was the fairy islands because they give permanent upgrades to you... That's it... So what you left is... Mostly empty map that you are forced to sail between until you get fast travel(also you need to look a guide for it) and swift sail. This takes sooo much time, if there is a way to check the sailing time, I wouldn't be shocked if it's something closer to half of the game time with just spending sailing on empty sea...

Second problem isn't that big but still... first half feels a bit too similar to ocarina of time for me. How you ask? With getting the same items again mostly. Yeah they tried to use them in more inventive ways like using them for stealthing around, using boomerang as a wind, using grappling to steal things etc But I felt it didn't differ that much when it comes to solving...

Game almost saves it for me with the last two real dungeons tho. They are what makes this game apart from ocarina of time. These last two dungeons require you to use not just your items but also you use abilities of the people you escort in the dungeon. So you have to use your brain to both combine your items and the powers of the people you escort. Hell yeah that's the thing I like! Combining abilities for solving rather than spamming one dungeon item to beat everything.

But I said almost because... After that everything gets broken... There is something called tri force hunting that forces you to get loooooots of gems and fight on the mini combat dungeons(they are boring tbh). Not just that, there is no last dungeon... You just do a boss rush with fighting every boss again then now bum final boss here... HUH!? At least story is still fun and animations are colorful to watch but... In a gameplay logic, there is almost nothing new after that 2 dungeons...

That makes me sad because in the beginning I was like whoaaa this game gonna be awesooommeee mood and in the last half... I felt tired and saying that just breaks my heart

If this game didn't have such a godlike artstyle and soundtrack this would be 2.0 stars. I do not like the sea exploration at all, it's so huge yet empty...even with the fast sail it still fucking feels like a waste of time. The dungeons were fine but absolutely not enough to save this game...Toon Link's moveset had so much potential yet I feel like you're never really encouraged to do anything beyond spam the A button or whatever stupid ass gimmick the boss has if that doesn't work. I felt as if I would've loved the games story more since you have to save toon link's sister, a game that could have a story about family? That sounds fucking great to me but no...I felt nothing saving after saving aryll because after playing the game for a while I just stopped caring a out her. I had a feeling something important would happen with link's grandma too but no, I genuinely don't remember her doing anything important after the prologue.


I wish I liked this game because the artstyle and music is incredible but I just feel like I didn't have fun with 80% of the game...

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."