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.

Part 3 of my father and son 3D Zelda saga

To those who know the development of wind waker it’s no surprise that this game has its fair share of issues. From rushed development, to cut content and frivolous padding. I believe that on an objective level that wind waker is likely the worst 3D Zelda.

As I get older I get and the further away I stray from the nostalgia of my childhood the issues with this game become clearer and clearer, and I distinctly have had a diminished reaction to this game over time.

All that being said I do feel I have the most nostalgia for this game, and I think it’s because my mind is going back to how this game made me feel when I was a kid.

Playing through with my son, however, allowed me to relive that childhood through him. While wind waker has its issues and limitations, none of that matters to a kid.

My son adored everything about this game, from the artstyle, to the tone, to the palpable sense of true adventure. To a kid wind waker hit different, because a kid doesn’t know about the limitations of games, or problems with development. All a kid knows is that there’s a vast, open ocean and an entire world to save

As I grew up, without even realizing it, I became jaded towards wind waker. I believe that wind waker only works with a fresh and imaginative mind.

I will always love wind waker for what it gave me at the time of my initial playthrough

I haven't finished this version, but I can say that they definitely did some necessary QoLs everyone appreciated. Here's the thing, as most people agree on that: I don't like the graphics choice, the game has way too light while the original one managed to do a perfect balance with its gorgeous toon-shading.

Is it the definitive version to play by the gameplay? I wanna say yes, but the Tingle Bottle (that substituted the funny GBA function) doesn't work anymore since the Miiverse is forever shut down.

I will consider it an 8/10 because sure, at basis is Wind Waker: it plays like it and looks like it. Just not as good.

My suggestion would be: check both versions and see which one suits you better.

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

Wind Waker’s refreshing aesthetic and setting promise a Zelda that fully adapts the series into a high seas odyssey. Regrettably, the game doesn’t commit to charting that path but instead merely covers all the old tropes in a fresh coat of paint.

Wind Waker soars when you’re actually partaking in a seafaring adventure - sailing towards some curious silhouette on the horizon, uncovering treasure maps, solving riddles, and tackling puzzles and combat gauntlets that dot many of the game’s islands.

However, much of your time is spent retreading all the familiar Zelda staples - solving chores, playing games of NPC telephone, fetching doodads and whatchamacallits to progress past arbitrary blockers, and wandering through elementally themed dungeons with the usual stable of items. All these tropes have proven themselves by providing the foundation for multiple candidates for “best game of all time”, but here they fail to play to the game’s strengths or unique identity.

Despite this, Wind Waker is still a very good game as well as a sumptuous feast for the eyes and ears. It’s also patient zero for the series’ then blind devotion to the Link to the Past formula in place of innovation, as if the formula alone defines a Zelda game.